There is a place in London, that is very special to me! I simply can not pass by this department store without entering – (and coming out hours later with loads of signature turquoise bags in my hands). This place is a must-see for visitors in London – and literarily left me speechless the first time Frenchie took me here. Welcome to Fortnum & Mason!

Fortnum & Mason is known for being The Royal family’s favourite food hall! It is one of the oldest and most famous stores in Piccadilly – if not the capital! Quintessentially English, the historic department store owes its royal patronage to William Fortnum’s grandson, Charles’s years of service with Queen Charlotte

The department store opened in 1707 and has supplied provisions during both the Napoleonic and Crimean wars. Despite stocking a solid range of accessories, perfumes, furniture and homeware, the shop is, understandably, famed for its fantastic, upmarket food hall piled high with gastronomic delights and adorned with chandeliers and marble pillars

My favourite thing to do in Fortnum & Mason is to buy tea…

– and delicious biscuits as well!

The window decorations outside Fortnum & Mason are always quite adventurous! If you are looking for high quality Halloween treats – this is the place!

I am particularly in love with the famous hampers! And if the small model isn’t enough...

There is always a bigger size to go for! How can you not fall completely in love with this place?

If you are visiting London in the summer months and want to sink your teeth into a top-notch picnic hamper, look no further! Bonus-info: Fortnum & Mason has supplied hampers to high society types at events such as the Henley Regatta and the Ascot Races

How about an icecream-break at The Parlour on the first floor?

Or go even further up for the ultimate Afternoon Tea experience?

Welcome to The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon… This is the home for award-winning Afternoon Tea – and the place my mother and I were going to indulge ourselves for the next couple of hours!

Let’s take a look at this beautiful The Salon Menu, shall we?

What I really like about this Afternoon Tea menu card is, that you can choose between sweet and savoury. Of course there is the traditional Afternoon Tea Menu – but we were very curious about the savory version, so that is what we went for! 

The tea options here are vast – which is why you should make the most of the tea ‘sommeliers’ to get the right cup. You can choose as many as you like (one at a time however!) – and I honestly haven’t tried one yet, that wasn’t good. (No wonder the tea blends here are so famous)

I started out with a cup of “Queen Anne” – black, robust, strong and smooth-drinking! The Queen Anne tea made its debut in 1907, and is made from a carefully-selected blend of TGFOP Assam and FBOP Ceylon teas

My favourite part of the Afternoon Tea (apart from the food) is the beautiful china –  it is just so lovely! The traditional Fortnum & Mason turquoise coloured plates, teacups and teapots just makes everything look and taste a little bit better! 

No doubt Fortnum & Mason knows how to present their Afternoon Tea in the most tasteful way possible! My mother agreed with me – this place is a winner!

The selection of finger sandwiches included: Rare breed hen’s egg mayonnaise with chives, Cucumber with mint and lemon Butter, Glazed ham with English mustard, Fortnum’s smoked salmon and the Queen’s favourite – Coronation chicken! (it was mine too! Who knew, that The Queen and I have so much in common!) 

Countess Grey scone with smoked salmon and Norfolk ham hock with mustard scone! These were extremely delicious – and the best part is, that you can always order more free of charge!

Onto the Afternoon Tea Savouries: A beautiful selection of Smoked salmon on black pepper cracker, Caviar terrine de campagne with spiced peach chutney,  Stilton cheese cake on walnut biscuit, Truffle chantilly choux and Oeufs drumkilbo (We both agreed that the truffle choux was the best – and looking at the other guests’ plates, they agreed – many ordered more of just this little piece of heaven! 

Still hungry?

A few more cups of tea later I was so full and couldn’t quite manage the trolley full of extra cakes. These did however look amazing, so the waiter kindly offered if I wanted to take some home, which was met with a resounding yes – and so I took home a few slices of cake (for Frenchie to enjoy), which was wrapped in a beautiful ribboned box!

J’adore…

In love with the signature china from Fortnum & Mason? Well you can buy it all here and make your own Afternoon Tea at home!

I have a friend who would simply love these cute teapots and cups with adorable animal prints

If only I had won the lottery…

A few Christmas decorations are also available now – but if you wait a little longer, try to visit, when Fortnum and Mason invites you to the most amazing glittery Christmas wonderland. I wrote about this in a previous post here

We ended our lovely day downstairs at the foodhall

It was a good thing that our stomachs were so full – otherwise we might have ended up bying the entire store

Are you a fan of Stilton? Then you should definitely try this one! This Nottinghamshire version of the ‘King of Cheeses’ is creamy and sweet with a heavily veined texture and predictably full flavour. From the last family-owned Stilton producer in the UK, this cheese can be made only with milk from the three ‘Stilton counties’ – Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Rich, full-bodied and irresistible, it is potted in our Fortnum & Mason traditional ceramic jar!

I hope you enjoyed reading about one of my favourite shops in London! It might not be the cheapest place to go on a shopping spree, but at Fortnum & Mason you pay for good quality! It is as simple as that! If you have any comments or things you would like to add to this post, please leave me a message in the comment box below

Happy Halloween

X Louise