Afternoon Tea at The Rubens at the Palace, Buckingham Palace

The Perfect Afternoon Tea Experience

My friends and I were on a holiday in London and had the. most wonderful afternoon tea at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel. The setting was classic and elegant. They offered a truly amazing assortment of teas. I chose the vanilla black tea. Everything you dreamed of in a traditional afternoon tea was served in abundance- mini scones with clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam, a variety of lovely tea sandwiches including salmon and roast beef with horseradish. The pastries were beautiful and just as delicious as they looked. Everything was served and presented by a charming staff who were all knowledgeable about each tea and all the assorted goodies. There was such an abundance of goodies that we took back a couple of boxes to our hotel for a late night treat. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Fun Afternoon

Great overall experience, service was attentive and the venue was awesome, overlooking the stables for Buckingham Palace.

The best experience!

I had a great time at hi-tea. The ambiance was amazing and it felt so regal. The staff were very kind. It is located right by Buckingham Palace and shops. Definitely a tourist area but the experience was well worthwhile.

Afternoon Tea with the girls

It’s was wonderful. We enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it if you are visiting London.

Fabulous Rubens Afternoon Tea

Our afternoon tea at the Rubens was lovely! A wonderful experience! Delicious teas! 3 different kinds of scones, about 5 different finger sandwiches, and 4 different desserts were beautifully presented and delicious! The people there are wonderful and take excellent care of you! I highly recommend anyone to come and experience the Rubens!

sweet doing nothing...

Nice environment. A great tea experience. Fragrant and quality tea. Both savory and sweet are excellent. The scones with the two jams are very good. Bello l'ambiente. Un ottima esperienza del thè. So-so service.

Relaxing and tasty!

This was probably the best time we had during our trip. If afternoon tea is about amazing tastes and chatting, then we pulled it off wonderfully! Very relaxed and enjoyable time for any group.

No recommendations

Pricy and far from worth it. Quite dull sandwiches and the pastry’s were all dry. You could tell that’s it all for the business and no quality of the actual food. The interior was nice though and the staff friendly.

Mother/Daughter memories

Worth every penny and more! A delightful experience to share with my equestrian daughter, while overlooking the Royal Mews. Service was fantastic, allergy friendly, and due to her special needs, they hot brewed chocolate tea, then poured it over ice to chill it for her. She drank the entire pot by herself 🤣 I cannot thank them enough for the precious memories they gave us!

Do not miss this experience!

This was the highlight of our London trip! The tea was fantastic, as were the desserts! I would definitely do this again! It was worth every single penny!!

First time experience

The wonderful young woman that waited on us taught us much about the teas offered. She kept us informed and made us feel very much like old friends. Highly recommend doing tea at the Ruben especially for a first time visitor to London. The experience can’t be matched. Thought about many future opportunities I would love to celebrate there.

A realistic review

The experience itself was good! However the booking experience was very daunting there was a booking error with Viator and Ruben’s apparently Ruben’s online booking did not reflect their true availability and my booking was no longer available and for the date and time I needed they were sold out. This was more a Ruben’s issue than Viator however buyer beware call the restaurant and confirm your date and time even after you receive your voucher. P.s : This experience takes place at a restaurant across the street from Buckingham palace (not) inside it.

High Tea

I thoroughly enjoyed the food, the tea, and the service. The Ruben was also very beautiful. I would gladly recommend this experience while in London.

Experiences to do again

It was a thank you to guests of holiday company we were treated really well by hotel staff nothing they would not do for us the experience was great to a point we are going again

Superb Service

Wonderful experience. Well worth it! Wide array of choices to create an afternoon tea experience. Friendly warm attentive service. Made us feel very welcome. Check it out!

Not my cup of tea.

Atmosphere was OK but the pastries were not up to standard. There are other places to enjoy this British treat at a better price.

Beautiful and Delightful.

Beautiful and Delightful. Soooo much food and treats.. far more than we could finish.. lovely tea room, very good staff. Would definitely return.

Delicious tea, attentive waitress

What a beautifully served delicious tea. My sister and I were welcomed in reception, shown to the area serving afternoon tea, given one of the best seats (overlooking the entrance to Buckingham Palace) and given wonderful service by our waitress Kalpita. She was so attentive. She asked us why we were having the special champagne tea - coming from different parts of the country, London is an easy meeting place for us and we told her we were sisters and celebrating our Mum. The sandwiches were so fresh, the scones beautifully baked and such wonderfully presented patisserie. Needless to say, we both had doggie bags. Just before we finished, Kalpita brought out a slate with another delicious chocolate cake on which had been written ‘best sisters’. Such a touching gesture. The lady on the next table similarly had one for ‘happy birthday’. I can’t recommend The Ruben’s highly enough. A wonderful experience (to be repeated!)

Totally British

Get a taste of how the upper class lives!!!! Exquisite decor. Excellent finger sandwiches. Impeccable service. Worth every penny it costs. This is a do not miss London experience.

Harry Potter Tour

It was great and the little Insiders were very interesting. I really enjoyed it. The quizz was also very great and made it even funnier.

Extravagent and wonderful

We enjoyed the winter wonderland afternon tea at The Rubens. It was a truly special afternoon. We were seated immediately on arrival and the experience was explained to us in detail. The room was beautiful, as was our table with a wonderful view of the Palace. Our food, our tea, our champagne, and the overall hospitality and service left nothing to be desired. I highly receommend this experience when you are in London, you will not regret it. Bring your appetite and be prepared to be pampered. A true highlight of our time in London.

One of the best afternoon tea experiences in London especially during the festive season!

A wonderful festive experience that we all really enjoyed on NYE. If you’re after a traditional afternoon tea with a touch of luxury would highly recommend. It was a lovely, not too formal setting with a pianist also. All the food was delicious and the mulled wine served was the nicest I’ve ever tasted! Our kids really enjoyed their selection of treats too. Couldn’t fault the service either.

Worth the cost for special occasions

Having experienced approximately 20 different Afternoon Teas around London, this particular one stood out as one of the best. If you're fortunate, you'll find three sofas facing the street, allowing you to observe the hustle and bustle of tourists boarding and disembarking buses as you enjoy your tea. To me, a mark of a noteworthy afternoon tea lies in the quality of the sandwiches. Here, you won't find any "egg salad" or "cucumber cream cheese" – only delicious options like salmon, chicken, turkey, roast beef, and cheddar with tomato. They also provide refills, but with offerings like a cheese scone alongside the traditional plain and fruit varieties, we were so satisfied that we literally skipped dinner. The desserts truly steal the show, and they are fantastic. My personal favorite was the pistachio log, though every option was exceptionally good. Lastly, the service matches the excellence of the food and the prices. It strikes the perfect balance of attention and courtesy.

Lots of food for an...

Lots of food for an afternoon tea. Everything is refillable. Service is very friendly. Views can be quite good.

Perfect afternoon tea

This is the nicest ever place for afternoon tea at Christmas. My friends and I come back every year and the food, drinks, service and atmosphere are all brilliant and it is so comfortable and Christmassy. Such a lovely treat and would definitely recommend!

Exceptional Tea Experience

Outstanding Afternoon Tea. My family & I had a wonderful time at the Rubens Afternoon Tea! From beginning to end, the entire experience was amazing; the food, the staff, the ambience and of course the Teas!!! Simply delightful!!!

Extremely disappointing, misleading and overpriced

The description on their website reads "There is no better place to enjoy traditional English Afternoon Tea than sitting back in our Palace Lounge overlooking the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace". The Mews is actually one of the back entrances on a busy road where tradesman vans enter Buckingham Palace. There is a constant stream of traffic and tourist buses passing by the windows. The music is piped. The atmosphere is soulless. The staff were friendly and helpful, afternoon tea average but I feel severely overpriced. We booked The Champagne Royal Afternoon Tea at £90 each which is the same price for afternoon tea at the well known 5 star hotel in Piccadilly.

Nice afternoon tea

Sucka lovely afternoon tea. The food and tea were delicious. It was a beautiful setting and great service.

Great tea

It was nicer than I expected, we felt fancy. The Rubens was beautiful. It did say dress casual but a few people were dressed in sneakers/work out gear. The tea was delicious, you can buy it online too, my daughter bought some to ship to our house. The food was higher end.

The location was...

The location was beautiful but they sat us in area with severe sun exposure and did not have another place to offer us to sit, so we ended our experience early after only trying two teas because it was very uncomfortable.

A High Tea afternoon

This was a wonderful experience. It is one of those events that allow you to relax and think about all the other sites you have seen in London and the surrounding area. Highly recommend.

A must do!

Loved it- I also went to another tea at Fortnum, but preferred this one by far! Smaller venue, more interesting, very good service. I went alone and it was great- very comfortable seating with a view. The bar in the hotel (if you arrive early) is also very good. I will definitely return to the Rubens on my next visit. Highly recommend!!

Charming and relaxing

We had a busy tour of the British Museum and were just dead on our feet. How wonderful we had booked the afternoon tea at Rubens. Ambiance was elegant and welcoming. Service was impeccable. The tea offerings were delicious and very abundant. A delightful, restorative respite! Highly recommend.

Sadly disappointing...

I'll start by saying how excited I was for this experience. I did my research, read the reviews and chose this afternoon tea based on all of that. First, we ended up in a (much plainer) room towards the back rather than the lovely red room overlooking the mews that was advertised. We were greeted quickly and sat down for our tea. We each selected 3 teas to try throughout and the first was brought - it was good! 45 minutes later, we still had the first (now cold) tea and no treat/sandwich platter, even though other tables who came after us had theirs. We had to flag someone down for the that and then again to get the second tea that had been pre-ordered. We never got around to the third tea and barely got to enjoy the treats due to timing and inattentive service. Overall, a big disappointment on what could have been the highlight of our visit.

Afternoon Tea

Wonderful experience. Excellent service! Beautiful atmosphere. Seated immediately with reservation. Casual wear acceptable. Shorts not recommended. Food was plenty and delicious. An assortment of finger sandwiches, dessert. Accommodated Gluten Free foods. Teas were delicious and lots to choose from. Recommend 100%

An amazing experience

Kate and Muna were amazing wait staff, those girls deserve a raise. Also Jakub, whose description of each item in the afternoon tea made everything taste even better.

It was ok

It was ok I wasn’t blown away by the interior (a bit tired )the actual food was just ok. But one thing I will say is the staff are very attentive and good at their job

80th birthday celebrations

The friendly staff and gorgeous food made my aunt's 80th birthday celebrations a very special occasion

Don't bother going

Very poor,for the cost,the staff weren't that attentive and I had to ask for milk 4 times,for my tea,which finally arrived half an hour later.Very expensive and not that great.

Wonderful

The service was excellent. Highly recommend!. The attention given to the customer was excellent. The place was beautiful and clean.

Disappointed

Food was very average. A big disappointment considering the price we paid. Scones were lovely and also the sausage rolls but tge cakes were a bit of a let down

Do not miss this on your London trip

The care and friendship of all staff along with an unforgettable afternoon tea The sandwiches were delicious and so were the scones but I could not manage the amount of cakes which were also delicious

Great afternoon tea

Extremely polite. Wonderful service. Delicious food and tea. Excellent experience. A great afternoon.

Fantastic afternoon tea!

Came here as a group of 4 and this was the best afternoon tea experience we have ever had! The food was all so tasty and very filling. You could even ask for more if needed. All was served perfectly and swiftly. Professional and friendly service from start to finish. Will be returning.

Must do!

Wow! Our first tea and it was splendid! Highly recommend this one. The staff especially Serena, was very attentive. The food was excellent and of course the tea was refreshing

Mother daughter time

Food was good and staff was very friendly and attentive asking if we wanted more tea sandwiches and desserts.. Had a lovely tea date with my mom.

Great!

The atmosphere was definitely high brow!!! The pastries were superb as was the tea!!! The only tricky part was that we couldn’t quite understand everything the waitress was saying due to a thick non-English accent. We had to have her repeat some of the instructions & still didn’t quite understand, so we felt bad continuing to try, so just smiled & nodded. The treats were super, though, and we had a great time as a family!

A Lovely POSH Experience

It was lovely from beginning to end! My granddaughter’s 18th birthday celebration with me her grandma was made very special. From the doorman treating us and having a picture with her upon entry to me having picture with him as we left and everything in between. Food and tea and champagne was all really good! The desserts were delicious and not too heavy! Just right! A very POSH experience. 😍

AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

It was amazing to sit by the window and look across the street and see the beautiful buildings and people passing by. There were enough sandwiches, scones, and pastries to constitute a whole meal, and everything was delicious. The staff were so friendly and helpful and willing to refill sandwiches, scones, and tea! We had a wonderful experience.

Greay

Most enjoyable afternoon great service great food great atmosphere wonderful setting and outlook. Highly recommend