A Right Royale Tea - living it up with an immersive theatrical tea in London

We love London, we love theatre and we definitely love teas, so there was little hesitation when we found out that one theatre company was putting on an immersive comedy dining experience in our home town!

Let Robert, who's now 14 tell you more:

"This weekend Mum and I travelled back to 1922 for an immersive performance and A Right Royale Tea. For the first time in my lifetime someone recognised my noble blood and, whilst Robert and Sarah entered the beautiful Amba Hotel, it was Lord Robert and Lady Sarah who exited. The hotel was directly connected to Charing Cross station and so was very convenient to get too – no long walks for the upper class!

After one of the servants took our names we were directed to a waiting room where we practised our formal greetings – “Air Hair Lair” ("Oh, hello" for those who don't speak aristocracy) before entering the hall and sitting down on tables of six or seven with other visitors. Throughout the afternoon we were introduced to Lord and Lady Right, their daughter Ginnie and the family’s witty and blunt members of staff.

[caption id="attachment_4471" align="alignnone" width="900"] The food - especially the sweet treats - was really delicious.[/caption]

The food:

Sandwiched in between the performance that recounts the lives and situations of our hosts was, well, sandwiches, as well as a variety of cakes and scones accompanied by tea and coffee to wash it down. There was egg, ham (which we didn't eat), cucumber and smoked-salmon sandwiches – as any acceptable afternoon tea should have, and as for the desserts there were lemon tarts, mini Victoria sponges, cherry drops and scones with jam and cream. We were both more than full by the end and there was definitely enough options for vegetarians.

[caption id="attachment_4472" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Patrick - who always referred to himself in the third person - was especially good[/caption]

The performance:

The storyline and actors themselves were very funny – in particular the audacious gin-drinking Lady Right and butler Patrick who refers to himself in the third person. We were treated to a performance of opera, a communal rendition of Oh Brittania and the audience were involved heavily. There were chances to take pictures with the actors in their costumes and plenty of breaks to chat within your tables. The whole event lasted around two and a half hours although it flew by and felt like much less.

[caption id="attachment_4473" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Lord and Lady Right and us![/caption]

Overall:

Mum and I had a really fun time at A Right Royale Tea and would definitely recommend going if you enjoy immersive performances or just want re-earth some old memories of yourself from 1922. If a similar experience ever came about I would definitely hope to be going."

Sarah adds:

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was fun to meet the other people on our table. The audience was a mixture of locals (from London or nearby) and tourists, and the actors were really good at chatting to everyone and getting involved. I felt the acting part of it started a bit slowly, but definitely got better and better and ended on a high.

A small niggle was that the smoked salmon sandwiches were put next to the ham ones (not great for those who eat fish, but not meat and wouldn't want them to touch) and that one of the three cakes (the cherry one) wasn't suitable for vegetarians and nothing else was offered instead. However, these were, as mentioned, small niggles and I have to say that we were pretty stuffed at the end (we didn't eat any supper afterwards, put it that way...). The sweet treats were really delicious and there was copious amounts of cream and jam. All the staff were friendly and helpful and it really was a different and fun experience - a step up from just going out for afternoon tea! Plus, I had no idea that the Amba hotel even existed. It's literally right next to Charing Cross station and inside it was amazingly large, quiet and plush.

The Right Royale Tea takes place at the Amba Hotel, Charing Cross, London, on Sundays across the summer, from 2.30-5pm, finishing on September 1st. Tickets cost £69.95 per adult, £59.95 per child under 12 and £65.95 for students and senior citizens.

Disclosure: We were given free entry to the Right Royale Tea in order to write about it for this blog. However, all the opinions contained in the post are our own and no one else had any input into them.