- Hey Google, what's the
best afternoon tea in London? (upbeat music) - [Phone] I found a few top
rated tea houses near London. (upbeat music) - Afternoon tea is probably
one of the most British things that I've come across during
my eight years here in London. It's basically a tea related ritual composed of scones, and sweet treats, and little finger sandwiches, and of course your
choice of tea or coffee. There are probably
hundreds of afternoon teas you can choose from in London, so how do you know which one
to choose when you're here? Well, I'm gonna try out and compare three of the top afternoon
teas here in London. We'll go from the ultra
classic and traditional one at Fortnum & Mason, to quite literally a state of the art one
at the Rosewood Hotel, all the way to Europe's
tallest afternoon tea at the Shangri-La in the Shard. I'm gonna show you some of the differences between the three, judging them on food, location, service, and cost. And I'm gonna be using my Google
Pixel 5 throughout the day. It's the ultimate Google phone with 5G and there are some features on this phone that I use all the time
that I will show you throughout the video. Right, I've got a long day ahead of me, so let me gather up my keys, my wallet, and of course my Google
Pixel all fully charged. (gentle upbeat music) (regal music) So we're outside Fortnum and Mason, we are in the heart of central London. To my right is Piccadilly
Circus, to my left is Green Park. We can eventually make our
way down to Buckingham palace. (bells chime) I've never actually seen that before. We just got lucky with the timing that we've come at 12 o'clock. We're gonna be having the
afternoon tea here in the Diamond Jubilee Tea
Salon, which was actually named after the queen. This is where she goes for afternoon tea. She was even here for the
opening with Princess Kate and Duchess Camilla. So let's go in. (soft piano music) (camera clicks) Okay, we just arrived. (orchestral music) This is like very classic afternoon tea. Cute little sweets up here. The scones, have to have
those when they're still hot and warm, my favourite part actually. And then we've got all the
finger sandwiches down here, which again, look like the
traditional, um, fillings that you would usually find
in a classic afternoon tea. And then we've got, of course
the jam two types of jam, I think for the scones
and the cream on top. Something I love about this
phone is the battery is really good at lasting the whole day. Even when I'm taking photos
and videos all around London, all, for like many hours, it
still lasts really long time. And then when I need, I can
put it on battery saver mode and that helps to
preserve the battery more. (uplifting music) I'm done with the strawberry jam, which I feel like it's a bit more classic. I like strawberry, but
also they've got blueberry. (uplifting music) We're gonna do the Champagne Challenge. I'm gonna start the timer
on my Google pixel and see how long it takes for me
to call somebody over, order a glass of champagne,
and how long it takes for it to arrive at my
table, ready to be drank. So, let's start. (uplifting music) A glass of champagne - [Waiter] A glass of
champagne? Definitely. - Thank you. Thank you so much. Just under
two minutes and 30 seconds Cheers! Such a lovely time at this afternoon tea. This is definitely a great
place for anyone who wants to be quintessentially British
classic afternoon tea. And especially if it's your
first time visiting London, this is gonna be a good entryway into afternoon tea in the UK. So let's go try another tea. (camera clicks) (upbeat music) (camera clicks) - [Main Speaker] Okay, we've
made it to the Rosewood. We're gonna go try
their new afternoon tea. Let's go. (upbeat music) Okay, we are at the Rosewood
in their gorgeous mirror rooms. And now this isn't any
traditional afternoon tea, this is an art inspired afternoon tea. It's actually inspired by
Yayoi Kusama and her art and her exhibition that's
currently on at the Tate Modern. Plus you might recognise her
famous pumpkins from this, but this tea is gonna be very art inspired and a bit different than
you would get other places. The tea that they have here
is from a tea company called Mariage Frères. It's the
oldest seed company in Europe, so definitely lots of history there. I don't like pouring my own
tea, so that's really nice. Finger sandwiches are
here, and they look good and they sound good. I like
this little thing over here with some avocado mousse,
and the pepper on it. But I think really the
amazing part of this tea is going to be coming on the way. Okay, look at how different
that these sweets are compared to like a
traditional afternoon tea. They're really small, and
they actually look like little pieces of art. They
even have the little polka dots on the top of each of the little pastries that is signature of Kusama. You've probably seen her
stuff with lots of polka dots. Um, this looks almost like a
little bit too nice to eat, but we're still gonna eat it. (upbeat music) Oh my God. These are so cool. They look so cute. So the chef has made this
display box basically to show what you see when you're at
the mirror room that's in the Tate Modern right now and um yeah, you kind of get like all
these like duplications from the different mirrors. So cool. (upbeat music) Two minutes, and a few seconds over. Okay, we've just wrapped
up the art afternoon tea in the mirror room at the Rosewood Hotel. Overall, this is a fantastic
tea. Had a great time. I'd recommend this for anyone
who doesn't want to do like the really traditional tea,
but still wants elegant, and high-class, this is great for that. Also anybody who's an art fan
and obviously a Kusama fan, this is like the thing to do. And finally, anyone who loves
the sweets when it comes to afternoon tea, the sweets
slash the pastries are, they steal the show. They are just like absolutely incredible, and you get two courses so. Plus this tea is really photogenic, so actually got a lot of great
Instagram photos and stories on my Google Pixel 5. For a location, we're
right in central London, just a couple of minutes
from Holborn station. You could walk to a
million different things while you are here. (camera clicks) (lo-fi music) We're at the Shard,
which is Western Europe's tallest building, and we're gonna go to almost the top, to the Shangri-La Hotel, where they have restaurant called Ting and we're gonna try their
afternoon tea, so let's go. (camera clicks) Okay. Just took the lift up to
the 35th floor of the Shard, which is the tallest
building in Western Europe. So we're having the cloud
forest afternoon tea here at the Shangri-La, and obviously the
views are gonna be amazing. I mean, it's hard not to
just stare out the window the whole time that you're up
here. So let's try the tea. (lo-fi music) Oh, that's nice and refreshing. (lo-fi music) They've brought us the savouries
for both the regular tea, and also the vegetarian,
because I'm vegetarian, so that's what I'm eating naturally. I quite like how the
savoury stuff is not just the finger sandwiches and
it tastes really good. I love Asian food, so. Although now I have my
finger sandwich left. (lo-fi music) So we've got the traditional
scones down here, and then the traditional jam and cream, and then also one that
has pandan mixed into it. Quite interesting. And then
we've got three of the sweets up here, which are again, a mix
of British, uh, classic teas also with, uh, more of an
Asian influence as well. So let's give it a go. (lo-fi hip hop music) Okay, I think it's time for
the Champagne Challenge. So let's start the clock. Ready and go. Thank you. - [Waiter] Somebody will be here shortly - Perfect. Thank you. I've had it before, so, oh
that sounds very pretentious, but I have had that one here
before actually (laughs). Okay, champagne in hand. It
was five minutes to get it. Finished the afternoon
tea, and it was fantastic. This is great for anybody
who obviously wants to have their tea with a view,
also great for anybody who likes a theme. They change the theme
of the tea here every couple of months or so,
so it's always gonna be something different and they
really go all out with it. And finally, if you prefer
the savoury stuff over sweet stuff in afternoon tea,
this is a good place to come because they really kill
it with the savoury stuff. Especially with the mix of
British and Asian inspired little treats that come with your tea. (camera clicks) Okay, I'm back home and I'm
thinking about the three completely different afternoon
teas that I've just had. The beautiful Fortnum
& Mason was definitely the most traditional, and
I also liked the vegetarian and the vegan options
that they had for the tea. The Rosewood is almost
like going to its own art exhibition with
the, probably craziest, sweets and pastries I've seen ever. And the Shangri-La at the
Shard, I mean, of course, how amazing is it to have
your luxury afternoon tea looking out all over central London? As usual, my Pixel 5
performed very well today. I was taking photos and videos
throughout the entire day, and I still have a tonne
of battery life left thanks to the battery save mode. I also got some amazing
pictures and videos using features like portrait
mode, and ultra wide, and even night sight. And those pictures and
videos are gonna be on the Levin London Instagram. For more information
about the Google Pixel 5, click the link that is in the
description box of the video. And for lots more videos
about what to do in London, then click one of the
boxes that's popping up right around me.
