Hello Kitty Secret Garden Afternoon Tea At Cutter & Squidge
My Hello Kitty love affair started as a child when my father, working for a Japanese company, would bring home kitty emblazoned sweets, trinkets and plushies. More than twenty years later, my affection for the cat with no mouth is as strong as ever. On a Saturday afternoon, cat-shaped food and copious amount of tea proved to be the perfect fuel for putting the world to rights with my best girls.
The Hello Kitty Secret Garden Afternoon Tea is the first official Hello Kitty pop up cafe in Europe and being at Cutter & Squidge means that all the products are hand made and 100% natural. The afternoon tea is available until 31st August and you can book here (by the looks of things it’s very popular so I’d recommend getting a reservation ASAP!).
Apologies for the grainy photos, the tea is served in the basement of Cutter & Squidge’s cafe and the lighting is not optimal for photography. I don’t want to ruin the surprise of what the afternoon tea involves so the above is just a sneak peak (you get a lot more than what I have pictured). Served in bamboo steamers to reflect Hello Kitty’s Asian origins the tea is vegetarian save for the smoked salmon sandwich which you could ask to be left off and substituted for more veggie sandwiches. All items are replenished on request and any leftovers can be packaged up for takeaway. While I don’t want to give away the tea itself I do want to share my thoughts because, you know, knowledge is power and forewarned is forearmed, even when it comes to cute kitty cats.
What I loved:– The novelty factor is obviously a huge draw for this tea experience and the whole bakery has been decked out in Hello Kitty style. The basement has been decorated and is super cute – it’s a small area but doesn’t feel cramped, even when our table was laden with tea and food. The service was better than some high end hotels, drinks were topped up quickly and the food items we requested more of were brought out without delay (I sometimes feel like afternoon tea establishments begrudge you asking for an extra sarin!). There was always a waitress on hand for flagging down when we needed something and they were super friendly (despite being very busy) and happy to take photos of us. The food itself was great – a little different to a standard afternoon tea but all the better for it. Despite being heavy on sweet treats the scones are thankfully savoury (and were lovely) and the sweet foods were not overly sweet, I wasn’t expecting to like the pink lemonade or the famous biskie but neither was sickly sweet and while afternoon tea isn’t exactly virtuous this one didn’t leave me needing to nap for the rest of the afternoon.
What I less-than-loved:– Our table wasn’t ready when we arrived at 2pm for our reservation but we were given somewhere to sit and our welcome drinks of pink lemonade. I knew that there was a table turning policy (an incentive not to arrive late!) and after an hour we were warned that our table would soon be needed. This didn’t come as a surprise and I understand how incredibly popular this tea is but just a warning if you are used to long leisurely afternoon teas where you can sit around for a while until the sugar rush wears off – this isn’t one of them! £40 per person is not cheap but for the quantity and quality of food its not bad, again, its a novelty experience and I think the price is justified but its very much a cafe setting and not as luxurious as a hotel afternoon tea of the same price. The menu mentions ice cream which didn’t materialise but we didn’t lack for food and, as previously mentioned, the timescale is quite tight so by the time you’ve marvelled at the cuteness, taken photos and eaten the last mouthful its time to leave.
If you’re a Hello Kitty fan I’d totally recommend this tea – I still have a smile on my face while writing this and a small dose of cuteness goes a long way.
This is so adorable. I love Cutter & Squidge, I can't stop myself from going in there anytime I'm in Soho!CxCharlie, Distracted
I am so so jealous of your afternoon tea here!
It looks super cute – it's just a shame about the tables! http://www.rhymeandribbons.com
That looks so awesome and so much fun! Shame you didn't have more time to relax and enjoy, I think that would have frustrated me, the last afternoon tea I was at and we were still there 4 hours later!
Oh my GOODNESS Lily, this is amazing! xx
This is so sweet! It's a little pricey but I love the attention to detail-those sandwiches are just too cute 🙂
Oh my gosh, how adorable!
Ahhh so cute! I've never actually been to a proper afternoon tea (I don't think haha…) but I'd love to try one this summer! 🙂 Great review xPolly Cat Contemplates
This looks so cute! Such a good idea. It always annoys me when they have table turn overs though – I like a leisurely afternoon!Jasmin Charlotte
Ahhh so cute! I've never actually been to a proper afternoon tea (I don't think haha…) but I'd love to try one this summer! 🙂 Great review x
Polly Cat Contemplates
This looks so cute! Such a good idea. It always annoys me when they have table turn overs though – I like a leisurely afternoon!
Jasmin Charlotte
It looks super cute – it's just a shame about the tables!
http://www.rhymeandribbons.com
I am so so jealous of your afternoon tea here!
This is so sweet! It's a little pricey but I love the attention to detail-those sandwiches are just too cute 🙂
Oh my gosh, how adorable!
This is so adorable. I love Cutter & Squidge, I can't stop myself from going in there anytime I'm in Soho!
Cx
Charlie, Distracted
That looks so awesome and so much fun! Shame you didn't have more time to relax and enjoy, I think that would have frustrated me, the last afternoon tea I was at and we were still there 4 hours later!
Oh my GOODNESS Lily, this is amazing! xx