My daughter loves afternoon tea – the chance to chat somewhere luxurious while scoffing delicious sandwiches and scones. So when I found out that the Pan Pacific London, an excellent Five-Star rated hotel just by Liverpool Street Station, had teamed up with luxury children’s brand, Bonpoint, to offer child friendly afternoon teas, I suspected they were on to a winner.
Even more appealingly the experience seasonal swimming pool takeover so that following the afternoon tea we could head up for a swim in one of the nicest swimming pools in central London.
The new Bonpoint Children’s Afternoon Tea itself features finger sandwiches with cream cheese, ham, cucumber, egg mayonnaise, grated carrot, and cheesy apple slaw. Scones with berry jam are followed by a selection of patisserie in Bonpoint’s spring colour palette, such as chocolate almond macarons, cherry lollipops, and madeleines with orange blossom icing.
Then for me the clincher: while I could order the traditional adult afternoon tea, with doubtless delicious sandwiches (think handpicked crab sandwiches with chives, sour cream, lemon and Pickled Apple or coronation chicken cleverly made with apricot) there was also the option of an Asian afternoon tea. £58 per person either way, which is a very reasonable price for five star hotel afternoon tea.
Dim Sum! What would you do? Thought so.
And in case for some reason you were unsure, let me tell you what was on offer: a Siu Mai basket with Cornish Prawn Tofu Puff (fresh prawns, tofu puff, spring onion); Sarawak Pepper Beef Bean Curd (celery, radish, wasabi tobiko, Angus Hereford beef); Tofu (tofu, carrot, chinese cabbage and spring onion), Fried Chicken Roll (corn-fed chicken, onion, carrot, fungus Mushroom, shiitake mushroom) and a Pork Xiaolongbao all served with Soya, Sweet Chilli and Miso Sauce.
And grief were they good. The prawn tofu puff delicately crumbled to let the taste of the sea flow out. The fried chicken roll was an indulgent crisp cylinder of umami wonder. And the Xiaolongbao… This is proper grown up, delicate dim sum. Superb and a refreshing combination of my two favourite things
Best of all (1) you get to order as much as you want (keep em comin’) and (2) you still get all of the wonderful pastries and scones at the end, which for the record were superb albeit my daughter diligently and effectively stripped my share of them bare. The ones I managed to defend and actually try were delicious. My daughter assured me that the others were too. The afternoon tea is also clearly popular with all the tables taken on our visit and the right sort of mix of languid Londoners and curious visitors.
Then up to the infinity swimming pool, which is a particular delight. Most often these are buried in the basement of hotels, but this is on a mezzanine level overlooking the square and through to Liverpool Street. And it is a big pool with two storey high glass windows through which to enjoy the view. And there is something that feels naughty, or at the very least decadent, about lounging in the pool while the London rain drums onto the windows.
There are specific dedicated children’s swimming hours at the pool, and as part of the Bonpoint takeover children can enjoy a playful paradise with mini deckchairs, pastel cushions, umbrellas, and custom pool floats.
There are even specially designed children’s spa treatments, available for children aged 6-16 years’ old, on the hotel’s dedicated wellbeing floor SENSORY. These include the enchanting Fairy Tale facial (£100 for 30 mins) and the rejuvenating Dreamy Treatment (£100 for 30 mins; £180 for 60 mins), both designed to nourish the skin and promote total relaxation of the mind and body.
Speaking of costs, the Bonpoint afternoon tea is a ridiculously reasonable £29 per child. That is simply superb value for food this good in a five star environment like this. We had a wonderful day, both eating great food and trying fragrant unusual teas. Then a few hours in the pool! What’s not to like? The next time the forecast is for rain – which at present is every day – you know where to go.
Pan Pacific Hotel – 80 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7AB – 020 7118 6888
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