I have the longest travel bucket list. Experiences and places that I dream of visiting. Enjoying afternoon tea at the most world’s iconic hotels is a whole bucket list of its own and we were so excited to take high tea at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel during our stay. Read on for our full review of afternoon tea at the Taj.

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The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

One of the most iconic hotels in the world, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai is a shining example of luxury hospitality right on the waterfront. One of its original bars, The Sea Lounge, sits up on the first floor. Guests enter through the lobby (on the far right on the frontage) and then make their way along the first shopping arcade and up the beautiful floating staircase.

The Sea Lounge has a slightly muted, mid century feeling and it has been hosting the great and good of Mumbai for over a hundred years. Business deals have been forged here, special occasions celebrated and many an arranged marriage given the seal of approval here.

The Sea Lounge

We arrived half an hour after the first guests arrived for their tea so all the window seats were taken. These are the prime seats and cannot be reserved so if you want them, arrive early. Looking around, we chose a sofa and comfy chair as it felt a little less formal that the wooden chairs and tables. A couple of people jumped into a window seat as the first people left. Very shortly after, another table cleared but we decided that we were nice and comfortable where we were. Plus, we had our own room in the hotel with the view of the Gateway of India and the next customers may not be staying so this would be their only chance.

The Afternoon Tea

There are two choices when it comes to the afternoon tea at the Taj.

• Sea Lounge Afternoon Tea Buffet ₹3000 – The Sea Lounge Afternoon Tea Buffet includes a buffet stacked with hot Indian and international snacks, finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and street snacks. This is all served with tea or coffee. The selection of teas and coffees were very impressive with two full pages of teas including delicate jasmine, refreshing mint tea, the house blend of Darjeeling and Assam, and robust, spiced Mumbai Masala Chai..
• Maharaja Afternoon Tea Buffet ₹4500 – All the above, plus prosecco. At ₹1500 extra, we thought the Maharaja Afternoon Tea would only include one glass of sparkling wine. They were selling at the bar downstairs for ₹1300. However, it turns out, it is unlimited. Of course, you cannot pour it yourself, but wait to be offered. Actually, the table next to us asked for top tups a couple of times so I guess you don’t even have to wait. It’s a total bargain of an upgrade!!

The Buffet

Along the edges of the area were a series of hot stations. Here we could pick up a selection of Indian and international hot snacks. The bao buns, based on pav bhaji were the best for sure! We also had some fantastic prawn balchao tostadas, pasta lamb sliders, chicken croquettes (which were a little dry) and chicken apricot skewers (that were perfectly tender). At this point, we had no idea how much food was to come so we probably had one or two too many nibbly bits.

We grabbed some sandwiches too. There were traditional finger sandwiches with very neat little paper wraps for picking up. Then I selected a mini salami ciabatta which was delicious enough to go back for seconds. The salmon croissant was a bit stingy on the salmon front, not even filling the inside of the croissant.

Drinks

On the side, there were three drink dispensers. Chocolate milkshake, virgin Bloody Mary (spicy tomato juice) and tropical berry. These are an excellent addition for those only expecting hot drinks, and especially for people that don’t like tea and coffee (many children…or Mr Fluskey).

The Royal Charlie

The three tier afternoon tea stand, sometimes called a curate, is presented by the staff. It is referred to at afternoon tea at the Taj as a “Royal Charlie”, though we still haven’t worked out why.

There are so many delicious morsels supplied with the Charlie, that they even had to bring a couple more little bowls. I am going to be honest, when the waiter was explaining all the sweets, we were just smiling and nodding with grins on our faces, wondering how on earth we were going to eat it all.

The Top Tier

We actually ate this top tier last, as it had the sweets on which came from all around India. Now I’m not going to lie, this was full of textures that I struggle with. There were sweets made of almond, sweets made of almond and coconut, saffron soaked sweets, and sweets made with milk and sugar.

The Middle Tier

I did not catch what any of these were specifically but I believe they were all kinds of vegetable dumplings. One had spinach and paneer, one was chickpeas and they were all very delicious. On the side we had idli in a sweetened yogurt and apricot which I quite liked but Mr Fluskey wasn’t keen on. We also had small chicken kebab pieces. The moiced chiclken combined with punchy spices was very tasty.

Tier Three

Fried delights! There were two items on the bottom that I really liked. The fish fingers were a firm favourite. These are obviously not Bird’s Eye style but cuboid fish mince coated in gram flour batter and fried. There were two samosas, or which the little lamb ones were the best. I also enjoyed the potato pakoras which had very thin slices of potato in the batter. Finally, and the winner of best thing on the Charlie, was the egg. It was like a scotch egg but with really thin pakora batter. It was the epitome of fusion afternoon tea.

Street Snacks

I was caught lusting at the street food stand. “How do I get some pani puri”? I asked, eyes gleaming. Pani puri, also known as golgappa, consists of small, fried semolina cases. Inside, you find sweet and savoury fillings ike chickpeas, yogurts and potato. Then, on the street, the whole thing is dunked into spicy or sweet water before being popped into your mouth whole. At The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel high tea, the flavoured water is served in a shot glass, ready to pour into the puri and demolished. You also get a few chaats.

The Scones

No afternoon tea is complete without scones (and that is scone like gone, not scone like groan). We got two plain scones with cream and jam. This was probably the weakest part of the afternoon tea. The scones were a little dense, round topped and not that fluffy. The jam was more like compote which was nice and fruity, but didn’t spread that well. The cream wasn’t copious enough. I am sure we could have asked for more but we were so incredibly stuffed by this point that we could only manage half a scone each any way.

The Cakes

Instead of a small selection of mini cakes, there was a selection of I dian sweets, some mini delights and a whole side covered in full size desserts! We were so stuffed by now but couldn’t leave without sampling some. We figured that, as the Charlie had featured some local sweets, we would focus on the cakes.

The little basque cheesecake was bang on taste wise but I think it had too much bottom. It’s so hard to make miniature versions so I will entirely forgive it. The mini chocolate eclair was a little dry. I think it needed more fresh cream filling to balance it out.

Then we picked up a sliver of the fresh fruit cake and it was divine. The fresh cream was so refreshing and it was incredibly moist. I kicked myself for not having more room as this was the best cake I’d had in a long time!

The Bathroom

If you need to use the bathroom, make sure your afternoon buddies know you may be a whille. The bathrooms are outside of the Sea lounge, along a coriddor lined with photos, documents and paintings all celebrating the history of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. You will find famous guests, original materials and lots and lots of other distracting diversions.

Final Thoughts on Our Afternoon Tea at the Taj

I am surprised we managed to squeeze out of the door at the end of our mammoth 2.5 hour afternoon tea. It is incredible value for the amount of food and drink you get. We even had to take some away (which we ate the next day for breakfast). I met someone today who said they wanted to go for afternoon tea at the Taj for their birthday and I made sure to advise them against eating too much breakfast!

Rosie xx