Sketch, Gallery, 9 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XG

Sketch, Gallery, 9 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XG
24/05/2014
www.sketch.uk.com

She said: I’ve been wanting to try the afternoon tea here for ages but he was principled about afternoon tea meaning you get repeat refills of food and drink. I got him on a good day and booked tea for two at £34 per person (with no refills). The booking was for 90 minutes! On arrival we were given a choice of space between the Glade room, an intimate beautiful, blue-hued saloon-like room or the Martin Creed Gallery which was a vast, colourful bric-a-brac space with mismatched furniture and crockery; we opted for the latter. Service was swift, attentive but friendly. There’s so much to say about afternoon tea at Sketch but in short – it was the best afternoon tea experience I’ve had. Everything was presented just exquisitely and the food was more than enough that if refills had been available it would have been difficult to have any more. The sandwiches were a creative mix including a toasted cheese and pesto which was just delicious, salmon on a tasty flatbread and egg mayonnaise. Normally at afternoon teas, the cakes can be a mixed bag – usually for me too much mousse, biscuit and sponge but not at Sketch. We were offered an amazing mix of beautiful pastries every single one a delicious and different experience from coffee éclair to pistachio macaroon, lemon meringue to opera cake; even the scones which I am not a fan off, were warm and juicy with a fig jam. Although Sketch does not provide refills of different teas, you can get another warm pot of what you were having when it gets cold. However I would say that given my point about being so full with what they offer, and the price, I doubt it would really impact Sketch to offer the true traditional tea which does include full refills; this would most likely end up being goodwill but make Sketch the absolute leader in afternoon teas in the world. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to add another 30 minutes to their table time as I could feel the staff gently clearing up and moving us on as we edged towards our 90 minutes…That said, it was still a damn good experience. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the famous Sketch loos: individual pods with their own non-musical soundtrack in a pure white loft of a space – unique!

He said: What I like most about Tea at Sketch is the wonderful contrast between the very hip setting, and the very twee, middle England ritual of mini sandwiches and gallons of tea. It’s like Dazed & Confused meets Country Life: total mind blend! But Sketch pulls it off, because the kitchen really put a lot of thought into making what’s on the plate as creative as what’s on the wall. When She would suggest Tea at Sketch, over and over, I always shrugged it off, thinking that it was just another cynical scheme devised by Sketch to squeeze more margin out of its location. I confess I got it wrong. For me Tea is best in the caf of some remote National Trust country house, after a bracing walk through Capability Brown type landscape on a soggy English summer’s day. But in London I rate Sketch as joint tie with Savoy for best Tea. They’re at opposite ends of the scale conceptually (v. trad vs v. hip) but equally matched when it comes to delivery. I’m definitely adding Tea at Sketch to my list of ‘Cool Britannia’ things to do with visitors from remote lands.