Archived Maison Cupcake restaurant review published in 2014 remaining available for reference. Either the venue has since permanently closed or the same menu/experience is no longer available.
Looking back at a Chocolate Afternoon Tea by Paul A Young. This chocolate themed afternoon tea in London was served at Grosvenor House Marriott Hotel on Park Lane throughout spring 2014.
Updated 2026 · Previously featured alongside Chocolate Orange Truffles
Although I don’t drink English-style milky tea, I love the visual presentation of afternoon tea. The delicate crockery, the elegant hotel drawing room venue. I can imagine sitting here like Helena Bonham-Carter in a Merchant Ivory movie, whilst Maggie Smith scolds me for getting crumbs on my skirts.
Fortunately those of us who don’t drink tea can raise a glass of bubbles. There’s an option to have Louis Roederer Carte Blanche champagne alongside this sugary smorgasbord.
The Chocolate Afternoon Tea Menu
Items on Paul’s chocolate themed menu included:
- Dainty finger sandwiches
- Scones with Chocolate and Salted Caramel
- Battenberg – always my favourite!
- Pistachio and Raspberry Slice
- Earl Grey Chocolate Tart
- Cocoa Shortbread with Chocolate Ganache and Raspberries
- Orange and Geranium Ganache
- A Selection of Truffles
- Tea infused with Madagascan Cocoa Nibs
The Grosvenor House chocolate tea is £39 (ten pounds extra for the champagne) and served for a limited season.
Things kicked off with a glass of fruity chunks of pineapple, mango and melon. I love this flavour combination, nothing too obscure but chopped into an elegant mirepoix in jelly, a perfect palate cleanser before the indulgent chocolate layers are dived into.
Our towers of goodies arrived. The neatly cut finger sandwiches included traditional favourite fillings such as Loch Fyne Scottish smoked salmon or scrambled egg but also curveballs such as cucumber and chocolate. I don’t think my husband would thank me for this eccentricity in his lunchbox.
The top layer had the most ornate pastries, including this playful arrangement of chocolate shortbread biscuit sandwiched with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.
The Earl Grey chocolate tart had immaculate shortcrust pastry cases, upright and sharp edged – a far cry from my rustic efforts at home – and an artful ball of lemon truffle in the corner.
I didn’t get a picture of the immense scones, thickly laiden with clotted cream and chocolate salt caramel spread. It was a bit much for me to be honest. I felt there was enough on the towers, without needing the scones, even if these were a highlight for everyone else and they’re an essential component of afternoon tea. It’s my personal view that scones over-egg what one might eat in one sitting. Or maybe I’m too keen to still have room for supper.
Rather, my favourite item was the Orange and Geranium Ganache in a glass, it was smooth and floral and the perfect serving size for a rich chocolate hit without being sickly. That said, I thought the big wine glass was clunky presentation and it might have been in a smaller serving glass.
Surprisingly, I haven’t been to that many afternoon teas which is quite a dismal state of affairs for a baking blogger. I went to one at The Lanesborough when a friend had a hen party for her older relatives and pregnant friends (I was amongst the latter thank you). My husband went to The Savoy once and tells a hilarious story how he and his father were required to don handed-out red blazers, because they’d not gone wearing smart enough attire.
I’m surprised my grandma, to whom I owe much of my baking know-how, didn’t instil a love of afternoon tea in me. I’ve inherited the crockery even if I have no call for tea cups and saucers. It must have been because despite her efforts, I point blank refused to drink hot tea with milk. That said, a Nuneaton afternoon tea might only mean jam tarts in Debenhams or Mr Kipling Battenberg slices from Spar in front of Antiques Roadshow.
As I left Grosvenor House and walked across Mayfair, it was one of those times I wished I could phone Grandma and tell her I’d been drinking tea at last, infused with cocoa nibs. I’m not a tea drinker either – sometimes I wonder why I get invited to these things at all – but this light black tea was delicate and I was happy to sip it from the gold edged crockery.
We were given little packs of Paul A Young truffles to take home, similar to the Chocolate Orange Truffles and the Port and Stilton ones made with Paul at the Chocolate Truffle Making Workshop.
Would madam care for another scone? Thank you, but in the words of my grandma, I’ve had elegant sufficiency.
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