BAFARAT CAFE AFTERNOON TEA | LONDON

I’m always on the lookout for new afternoon tea offerings, and I was undoubtedly excited to be invited to try the newly launched afternoon tea by Middle-Eastern coffee company, Bafarat Cafe, in Soho. Founded in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1952, they opened their debut cafe in the city in 2016, and the London branch is their first international cafe which opened in 2019. In charge of their patisserie section is French pastry Chef Thomas Alphonsine, who has previously worked with French chocolate company Callebaut. They have a good selection of their own coffee and teas – it was quite a warm day so I opted for an iced matcha latte.

The afternoon display itself is a work of art, made from chocolate and sculpted by hand into the shape of an artistic chocolate tree. Once everything was put together with absolute finesse, Chef Thomas guided us through each component of this stunning afternoon tea. Consisting of three different steps, we started with the trio of miniature savouries which included a warm Truffle Croque Monsieur with turkey and cheese, a lobster roll with spicy mayo, and a salmon & avocado toast.

We then moved on to the sweet patisseries, for which Chef Thomas explained the sequence that we should follow so that the stronger flavours of some of the patisserie do not overpower the more subtle flavoured ones. We started with the more vibrantly coloured selection: apple & cranberries tart, mango & passion fruit cheesecake, and a bite-sized pistachio eclair. The second half of the patisserie selection consisted of a peanut & salted caramel cookie, Belize Origine chocolat macaron, before ending with the Colombian coffee tart. Each pastry was delicious and unique in their own way, it was hard to pick a favourite! Although I must say that I particularly enjoyed the mango & passion fruit cheesecake very much.

As if the patisserie selection wasn’t impressive enough already, there were also four exclusive chocolate creations: a tangy yuzu bonbon, a chocolate nougat with hazelnuts and pistachio, a tender caramel and peanut creation that Chef Thomas mentioned was his favourite, and a single origin dark chocolate truffle. And of course no afternoon tea would be complete without some buttery scones with clotted cream & jam.

Afternoon tea is currently served from Tuesday to Sunday between 12.00pm and 5.00pm, and priced at only £25 per person which includes one drink of your choice. Guests also have the option to upgrade to include the chocolate tree desserts for an extra £8, which I would undoubtedly recommend not to miss out on. I have reviewed plenty of extravagant and luxurious afternoon teas and I can honestly say that this is most definitely one of the best-valued and beautifully executed afternoon teas that I have tried to-date. I’ll definitely be back to try their coffee and pastries the next time I’m in the area, which will most probably be very soon…

• My afternoon tea experience at Bafarat Cafe London was complimentary – views and photos are my own.