I just love going out for afternoon tea. I recently had a magnificent festive afternoon tea at Heythrop Park and I’m quite happy eating cucumber sandwiches and cream cakes whenever and wherever I can. But an Indian afternoon tea, well, that’s something completely out of the ordinary for me.
So, I was mega excited when The Indytute invited my husband and I to enjoy an Indian afternoon tea at Colonel Saab’s in High Holborn, London. The Indytute offers a carefully curated collection of different experience gifts, with the aim of fostering memories to last a lifetime.
Colonel Saab’s is in what used to be the old High Holborn Town Hall, a Grade II listed building, so my former London cab driver husband knew exactly where to find it. However, we decided to be green and travel up from Epping (our nearest underground station) – sorry Mayor Khan, but never again!
First of all, we couldn’t park at Epping Station as it was completely full, so we drove onto Theydon Bois, where we found a space but missed four trains as I tried to pay for parking. It took nearly half an hour before I finally managed to figure out the most convoluted series of button pressing you could imagine.
Changing at Stratford (we were stopping off at Highbury and Islington to drop our dog, Rollo, at our son’s house), two trains were cancelled before we finally managed to board – and, of course, there were no seats. All in all, it took nearly two-and-a-half hours for what would’ve been an hour’s journey in the car.
Still, our bus ride (using our free bus passes) to High Holborn was a delight – we had front-row seats and there wasn’t any traffic.
Colonel Saab’s, Holborn Town Hall
Walking into Colonel Saab, we gasped in amazement – the ceiling was covered in beautiful, Indian glass chandeliers from Firozabad, the centre of India’s glass-making industry. I can almost imagine that a specialist glass cleaner is flown in every few months to keep those stunning chandeliers glistening.
Roop Partap Choudhary is the founder of Colonel Saab; the restaurant is a homage to India and is inspired by his parents’ love story.
And onto tea. There was an extensive drinks menu and I chose the romantically named Persian Pomegranate herbal tea, whilst my husband opted for a turmeric latte. Both our drinks were so good that I wanted to buy some to take home. Sadly, they don’t have them for sale – yet!
I was so busy examining all the artwork on the walls, including two beautiful Persian silk carpets, that I didn’t even notice when our three-storey tea tray, laden with goodies, arrived. My husband had pinched a couple of yummy treats off it before I even had time to take a photo! So, not to be outdone, I joined in the munching.
I thought I should start at the top and work (or at least try to work) my way down. First, I tried a ‘Mud Cake Cup’ which was served in a little terracotta flower pot and was mouthwateringly delicious. As I put the flower pot down, one of the charming waiters told me that the pot was actually made of chocolate. Oh wow, I was in heaven.
There were raisin scones, a Bombay grilled sandwich, a fluffy flower cake, and lots of other things I’d never even heard of before, let alone tried. The food was totally unlike any Indian food I’ve ever tasted. It was sublime. Just take a look at the menu.
Naturally, no visit would be complete without checking out the loos. Tucked away in a discreet corner, the staircase down is lined with the most amazing artwork, and as you stand at the bottom of the stairs, you’re faced with the most glorious silver door.
Colonel Saab serves more than just afternoon tea and their various menus all look mouthwatering. Lots of the diners were celebrating birthdays, while the couple next to us, with their bottle of Champagne, looked like they were celebrating something very romantic.
To visit Colonel Saab is much more of an experience than you’d expect from a typical Indian restaurant. To me, it felt like I’d just stepped into Maharaja’s Palace – all I needed was a sari!
If you’d like to gift this afternoon tea, you can find information on The Indytute’s website.
For further inspiration, head over to the food and drink section of our website.
Do you enjoy afternoon tea? Have you been to Colonel Saab before? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.