Bea's of Bloomsbury

Pastry chef Bea Vo is famous for her delightful cakes, biscuits and other sweet treats. The good thing about Bea's is that you don't need to book weeks or months in advance to enjoy an excellent afternoon tea with a modern twist.

The full Afternoon Tea, at a very reasonable £19 per person, consists of a freshly baked scone with clotted cream and jam, a cupcake of the day, a selection of mini meringues, marshmallows, brownies, blondies and killer brownies, as well as mini savoury baguettes. Tea is provided by Jing Tea and the champagne afternoon tea is also available.

The full Afternoon Tea is available at the St Paul's venue, from 14.00 to 19.30 Monday to Friday and from 12.00 to 19.00 at the weekend. It's only available at the original small shop in Holborn at the weekend from 12.00 to 19.00. Book online for the Full Afternoon Tea. I did this just 2 days in advance, although it was for a mid-week tea and not the weekend. It's extremely popular by the way!

However, no booking is required for the Afternoon Sweet Tea version (without the savoury baguettes) at either venue, Monday to Friday from 14.00 onwards (although I would book anyway, just in case).

Bea's offer tasty lunches and coffee & cake if you don't want afternoon tea, and a simple breakfast is served at Maltby Street Market on Saturdays from 09.00, where all the sweet treats are also available.