Soho’s Secret Tea Room

Good place for tea if near the theater. Affordable high tea. Unassuming atmosphere. Would go again.

There was a great selection of teas, the sandwiches were delicious, but my favorite part was definitely the scones with clotted cream and preserves!

Oh my I really really wanted to love this place. I had such high expectations. I was searching for an authentic English high tea experience and I went looking for it here.
Firstly whether you have an reservation or not you will not find this place via an entrance from the street. No no, you must enter the ever so dodgy Coach & Horses pub and ask the barmaid for access to Soho’s Secret Tea Room. If you don’t have a reservation like we didn’t, they’ll call the tea room to see if they have spots available. We happened there on a super quite day for lunch so yeah, they could accommodate us. You enter through the bar to the upstairs entrance, up the rickety flight of stairs which seemed to have been painted with the strips on the edges that warn you how small and thin the steps are and then into the tea room. It is small, cute and very English decorated. I felt like we’d entered into a life size traditional doll house, sans the dolls. It was completely empty so we chose our own seats by the window. We opt for the Afternoon tea for two, which is essentially English high tea, plus cakes and tea. When not serving high tea this café is a vegan/​vegetarian restaurant. We had a chance to examine their lunch/​dinner menu and it said as such.
Tea room it is so they had a huge range of the teas. Funnily enough every tea choice we choose they were mysteriously «sold out», until 4 tea choices later we chose Earl Grey and they had that one available. Such a shame because the first four tea choices looked very intriguing and sounded yummy. To run out of tea at tea time, I mean really, shame on you!
So unsatisfied, we settled with the ye olé Earl Grey, how boring. Tea was served almost immediately and which gave us little distraction to notice how long the food was taking to come out. When it finally did, well I thought it was very traditional but very underwhelming. All that wait time for this? On a rickety stand as well. We definitely didn’t get served the awesome Afternoon high tea as proven in other Unilocal photos. Our version was the version they serve when there’s no customers and everyone’s lazing around until the busier service starts again so let’s serve these guests halfheartedly despite the fact we’re still paying the same prices. The scones were rock hard and stale, the sandwiches were disappointing and disenchanting and the little tarts at the top were like something you’d buy at the supermarket.
I ended up ordering diet coke (as usual) and they managed to source it from the bar downstairs, not cold. So ice was requested. The waitress advised we could choose our two cakes from the cake bar ourselves, which my partner went and did.
Now the reason why I’m giving this place a 2 star is purely because of the service. It was shoddy and very inattentive. I mean we were the only customers for a good 2 hours. When she told us to get the cakes ourselves I was internally surprised. Usually you’re given a menu or at least told what choices are available from the table, you give your choices to the waitress and she serves them. But no, we were expected to go fetch the cakes ourselves like it were some buffet, so table service only went to halfway or whenever she felt like it?
When she gave me the bill I decided to cross out the optional service charge but she ended up charging me for it because «she didn’t see that I’d crossed it out», I told her that I couldn’t be bothered to wait for her to issue me a refund for her incompetence. How absolutely lazy.
Terrible terrible service for such a great idea when they really sell the service and the experience of this café on their website. Way way overpriced.
Definitely wouldn’t recommend or return. No doubt there are English high tea rooms a dozen in London that’d be better to go visit instead.

This is truly a secret tea room. Without Unilocal,I don’t think I would’ve found this place. You have to go into the bar, behind the counter, and up a set of narrow stairs. Fortunately when I went, it was a weekday at 4pm so no reservations were needed. If it was a weekend I would think otherwise. The tea room itself is decorated with antiques, giving off a vintage feel. The scones were massive and the selection of teas were pretty good.

What a great find! We used to visit a lovely tea house in Ripley when we would visit London, but we didnt have a way to get there this trip, which was outside of London. This place was a great surrogate. Its cool just getting into the tea room. It is hidden behind a pub bar, upstairs. Great ambiance and the England tea experience. Food and tea was great! If you want a tea/​scone experience this is it.

Sandwich was not fresh, loud and not so private at all, I would not recommend anyone to go there, unless u are starving to death.

I would say the service horrible. You go for the afternoon tea not just for the tea/​desert, you go to have a nice conversation with your friends. So after we spend 1 hour and half-​ish at the tea house, the staff came and asked us to leave because we reserved the table and they only gave us 1 hour and half! We haven’t finished our desert yet no to mention our conversation. Really an unpleasant experience. Don’t expect people to leave early when you run an afternoon tea place!

Tea & snacks: Great unique options for tea. The tea was very good and the descriptions definitely helped with tasting notes. The snacks were very good as well. We weren’t really huge on the tiny sandwiches but that is just a matter of personal taste.
Price: It is a bit pricey in my opinion but this was the first time we had a real «tea room» experience.
Staff: Incredibly friendly and very attentive!
Décor: Old fashioned with lovely tea cups and soucers. It is very small and intimate too!
Overall: I would check this place out. The only thing stopping us from going back is possibly the price but I think we could go back just for tea minus the snacks to stay within budget.

What a great surprise! For our first High Tea ever (so our apologies for having no authority on the matter) this was a perfect experience. Hidden behind a small stair within the kitchen of a brown pub, you’ll find this Wonderland where even Alice would feel at home. Very friendly service as well.

Oh, what a delight — an old-​fashioned tea room in the heart of Soho! If I didn’t know any better I would have guessed this place used to be where the ladies retired while the men held on to their pints downstairs. The fact that the staircase is positioned behind the bar adds to the excitement. Not so secret any more, though, the place was well attended on a Sunday afternoon — by men and women alike.
The cakes all looked amazing but we all went for the cream tea option — who can resist a homemade scone?! The tea menu is impressive but I hardly ever veer from my trusted Early Grey. Served in proper tea pots and strained into mismatched crockery — and you are offered a refill!
This is some serious competition to Maison Bertrand next door …

Sehr urig. Wichtig: rein in den Punkt und nach dem Tearoom fragen — auch im Pub sind keinerlei Hinweise auf den Tearoom. Cream tea für 7,5 £ war sehr lecker und die scones waren warm ;-)

Cool entrance. You go through the bar below. I was told you had to have reservations, so you might want to plan accordingly. Fortunately, for us, there was not anyone scheduled, so we were told by the owner of the businesses that we could go on up.
There were like 3 other groups of people there, and we noticed the «Looking for help» sign before we went in, so when it took a while to get served, we were cool with that. All four groups (including ours) were American. The kind woman running the place stated they get a lot of Americans and Japanese in there. I blame Unilocal for this.
Quite a variety of teas, and great baked goods. Definitely a worthwhile, proper tea experience.

A cute little tea room above a vegetarian pub. I ordered the dragon well tea and it was fine. What I liked most was the ambiance, so adorable!

This was such a lovely treat! Went over the Thanksgiving holiday last year with a friend. Highly recommend, very polite staff, delicious snacks, very good tea and prosecco, only knocked off a star because the bathroom is a bit of a trek.

Such a cute place and what a neat idea! Who would have guessed there was a full tearoom above the pub. My friend was visiting from the U.S. so of course we had to have high tea. Our first mistake: we didn’t make a reservation. Happily, they had room at the time, but usually people call at least two weeks in advance.
We got the cream tea for two along with a round of sandwiches, and left nearly bursting at the seams we were so full. We shared a pot of English Breakfast which was served with the traditional strainer for the cups. I will say the scones, although served warm, didn’t seem fresh and were fairly dry. The sandwiches were definitely not fresh (I watched them take them out of a Tupperware from the fridge) but not bad. Wish I had a chance to try the various cakes on display.
Overall the ambiance is incredibly charming and definitely worth a trip. A very traditional English high tea.

A true hidden treasure in London I have experienced. Had to ask Coaches and Horses (a bar on the first floor) staff for entrance which it was surprisingly behind the «bar».
Warm service and good tea. Scone was warm and a homemade jam and butter is a plus.

This is a must-​do for a group of girls visiting London! I came here with two girl friends and we had a blast sipping on tea, eating cakes and tea sandwiches, and sipping on some bubbly.
The tea room is upstairs above a bar. You have to walk behind the bar to get to the stairs that lead you up there, which added to the experience. The tea room itself is small but cozy. They definitely pack people in and it was totally full the Friday afternoon we went. Beware of getting stuck at one of two tables that face a wall if you’re in a party of two. The people sitting there looked uncomfortable.
You get a lot of food with the tea service. It’s a nice selection of sandwiches, cakes, and other sweets. We couldn’t even finish all of it. The service was great and although we were surprised to have an American serving is she was very attentive and nice.
Highly recommended for ladies in London!

Adorable ambiance, convenient location, cute entrance (fun to have the bartender call up the tea room for you to come upstairs), and delicious teas!
My friend and I shared a full on afternoon tea and a cream tea, and it was so much food. I have to say while I liked the sandwiches, I wasn’t very impressed with the pastries in the afternoon tea, and I’d probably recommend the cream (scones + tea) over the full afternoon.
The scones with clotted cream and jam, however, were delicious, and my rosebud tea was truly FANTASTIC. I believe I had to pay extra for it, but I think it’s well worth the extra money to have such a fragrant, flavorful, and incredible tea.
Overall, a lovely way to spend an afternoon and to experience afternoon tea in London. Highly recommended!

My wife and I loved this place. We wanted a traditional Afternoon tea experience and this place didn’t disappointed. Make reservations as we walked in and there was no one there and then 30 minutes later all 10 to 12 tables were packed. We caught it a low time.
We opted for the traditional tea for one and then my wife just got scones for herself. We shared the tower of cakes and pastries that came with the traditional afternoon tear. It is set up with 30’s /​40’s theme and tastefully decorated. I would highly recommend this place as the major hotels in the area charge 55 quid per person where as this place was around 18 quid per person.

I think I enjoyed the location and how you got here just as much, if not more than the tea experience. Just as everyone mentioned, you get to the Coach & Horses Pub and tell the bartender you are here for tea. He then phones upstairs, and walks us behind the bar, and through a little narrow staircase that brought us up to the Secret Tea Room. The stairs are so tiny and narrow as it spiraled up, I made sure I was holding on to the rail. When you get upstairs, it’s basically a converted apartment to tea room. Very cute– no other way to describe it.
The ambiance was quite nice, your typical tea room feel, though the music was quite annoying. There was a soft humming/​thumping noise the whole time. I could hear it, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did my husband who got a headache from it.
Aside from that, the items were not bad. As everyone said, the scone was my favorite as well. The cakes were just average, as were the cucumber and egg sandwich. Overall, cute experience for an inexpensive price. While I was looking up other tea places, i noticed this can get really pricey, so it was nice that this was affordable.

It’s really hidden. You have to go through the pub Coach & horses. The first pub in UK to be vegan. I think. Something like that.
Anyway, you have to ask the bartender to let you go through, behind the bar after she rings upstairs and ask to see if you can go up. It’s best to have a reservation since it is a tight squeeze. Look at my picture.
You go up these tight steep stairs and walla, you’re in a tea room above a pub. How freaking cool is that.
My tip is… You cannot be morbidly obese to enjoy the feast. You go through some tight ass corners up there. After my experience, I felt the need to be buttered up just to go back down. Because I just simply indulged way too much.
The chocolate cake and the crumpets were my favorite. I ate more than I should have and felt like a beast. A happy beast.
Word!