Reviewed by Emma Rogers
Konditor & Cook’s afternoon tea, for Afternoon Tea Week: 14-20 August 2018, is at their Cake Hole shop at 22 Cornwall Road, Waterloo, SE1 8TW.
The brand Konditor & Cook are known for their quaint shops, fresh, decadent bakes and extravagant wedding cakes, and this week, to celebrate Afternoon Tea Week, they are offering a special meal of unlimited tea or coffee and a full plate stand of some of their signature cakes.
Cornwall Street is on the edge of the conservation area behind Waterloo Station. For anyone who hasn’t been there, it’s a time warp, trapped in mid-19th Century London’s pub-on-every-corner, soot festooned worker’s houses. Hardly anything has changed for 100+ years as you amble through the surprisingly quiet streets, and brush upon the purple fronted Konditor & Cook’s shop front. The window leaves you making no mistake that this is a cake shop, and a surprising amount of people fit into the shop to buy their cakes, light bites and coffees. Out back, there is a little parlour, fit for a private afternoon tea, and that’s where we spent our hour with coffee and cake.
The afternoon tea isn’t the traditional tea with sandwiches and scones; this special weeks’ offering is 24 mini cupcakes on a pretty cake stand with unlimited tea and coffee. The cakes include their signature Curly Wurly cake with richer than most icing, and the Red Velvet mini bake, which was my favourite. They also had Victoria Glory, the usual sponge but with fresh berries and raspberry and vanilla meringues. Every afternoon tea needs chocolate though, so this one had a chocolate mini bake with chocolate frosting.
The private room we sat in gave a view of all the people coming into the shop and most of the cakes on display, plus views of the walls which are decorated with the types of cakes they can cater for. The mini bakes were tried were all made on site that day, and probably iced not long before we got there because it was absolutely fresh as well as the right kind of ‘bite’ where the cakes haven’t been left out in the heat for hours. 24 cakes doesn’t sound a lot, but we only managed 4 of the little mites each and 2 cups of tea! They did box up the rest of them and let us take them home. It’s a lighter afternoon snack for cake lovers, or those wishing to hide away after perusing around South London on a summer’s afternoon. The staff were lovely too, lovingly boxing up the cakes for us and offering tea upon tea…
Afternoon Tea at Konditor & Cook is only available this week, so get in there quick if you want to sample some of their best delights! Cost is £25 for 2 people, including unlimited tea and coffee.
Rating: 4/5
For more information visit konditorandcook.com.
Konditor & Cook, 22 Cornwall Road, Waterloo, London, SE1 8TW | 020 7633 3333
