Harrods is a great place to stop for afternoon tea while shopping in Knightsbridge. One of London’s oldest and most venerable department stores, Harrods has been in operation since 1849.

I arrived at the department store in the late afternoon, promptly heading up to the fourth floor to the store’s tearooms, appropriately named the Harrods “Tearooms on the Fourth Floor.”

The large and spacious room, which was designed in the Venetian style, featured a large glass dome ceiling that let in plenty of natural light. The tables were set with fine linens and large plush chairs in a deep shade of burgundy.

My server was a kind gentleman from the island of Sardinia in Italy. After telling him that floral infused teas were my favorite, he disappeared into the kitchen and quickly returned with a pot filled with an aromatic black tea blended with a rose petals, which he put together especially for me. This was just the first example of the top notch quality of service and hospitality I experienced at Harrods.

The savory course arrived first, on a rectangular shaped tray filled with four types of tea sandwiches: cucumber with herbed cream cheese and cracked pepper; Scottish smoked salmon with cream cheese and fresh dill; ham with English cheddar and mustard and egg salad with chives.

The sandwiches were beautifully presented, with fillings decorating the top as well as in the center.

The best surprise on the tray was the addition of two arancini, fried risotto cakes that were a deep golden color and smelled like melted parmesan cheese. The little fried cakes were stuffed with mozzarella cheese that oozed out of the center.

Next came the scones and desserts. On the bottom were the scones, one plain and one with sultanas, both light and fluffy, served with jam and clotted cream in shiny silver pots.

Four tempting varieties of desserts were on the top tier, including a banana financier cake, raspberry chocolate tartlette, passionfruit delice cake and a dark chocolate millefeuille that had the flakiest puff pastry I’ve ever had, filled with a dreamy chocolate pastry cream.

The amount of food served was very generous and my server made sure I left with a box of treats in hand and plenty of time to make my West End showing of Wicked the Musical.

Harrods‘ commitment to customer care and serving a high quality of food made this an excellent choice for afternoon tea in London. I highly recommend afternoon tea at Harrods if you are in the Knightsbridge area of London. It felt that no matter how many people passed through their doors on any given day, everyone was treated like a very special guest.