A historic baroque building within Kensington Gardens, originally built in 1704-05 for Queen Anne, now serving as an elegant restaurant for lunch and afternoon tea.
Steeven Gilles is a French Chef, Co-Founder, and Chef owner of several culinary ventures, including Osteria Papa, Salumeria Papa, Catering by Big Daddy's, and The Orangery brand. He is recognized for his leadership...
The Orangery is a historic restaurant located within Kensington Palace Gardens, housed in an elegant English Baroque building designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh in 1704-05. It offers a unique and traditional afternoon tea and lunch experience in a beautiful, airy setting.
Customers highly praise the beautiful venue, elegant ambiance, and excellent, attentive service, with specific staff members often highlighted. The afternoon tea, particularly the sandwiches and warm scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, receives positive feedback. While the overall experience is considered 'posh' and 'luxury hotel standard,' some found the cakes/desserts disappointing. Prices are noted as high, but many feel it's justified by the unique setting and quality of service. Reservations are recommended due to its popularity.
Additional Details
The Orangery building itself is a significant historical landmark, originally commissioned by Queen Anne. It was closed for a considerable period and reopened a few years ago, with some changes to its menu, such as the discontinuation of a previously popular orange cake.
Reservations are highly recommended, especially for afternoon tea, as the restaurant fills up quickly. It is particularly lovely for a summer afternoon tea, with options for outdoor seating.
5
The Orangery is our go-to place for a relaxing value for money afternoon tea in an elegant and beautifully restored English Baroque style mansion built in 1704-05. There were 3 afternoon tea options. We chose the classic (The Orangery Afternoon Tea). There was an extensive selection of loose leaf teas to choose from. The finger sandwiches were fresh and just the right amount. The simple but mandatory cream cheese cucumber sandwiches were spot on. The scones were served warm and came with clotted cream and strawberry jam. There was also a good selection of tasty desserts. Service was excellent but non-intrusive. Our server, Giorgion, was very attentive and came by to refill our tea and also to enquire if everything was ok. The restaurant fills up quickly and reservations are recommended if you do not want to queue for a table.
We had the afternoon tea, and the venue was beautiful. I would definitely come back, even just to sit in the lovely, airy building. It’s lovely for a summer afternoon tea. The waitress we had was lovely as well!
The sandwiches were nice, and although the scones were cold, they were nice. Sadly, the cakes were disappointing, and none of us were able to finish them.
The Pimms afternoon tea costs £70. For that price, you can find much better food elsewhere. However, the venue itself is nicer than most indoor alternatives, so if you choose to visit, you won’t regret it.
Afternoon tea at the Orangery was one of the highlights of our trip to London, and a big reason for that was our server, Nesa.
From the moment we sat down, she was attentive, thoughtful, and accommodating - often anticipating what we needed before we even had to ask. More than anything, she seemed genuinely invested in making sure we had a wonderful experience.
We enjoyed it so much that we came back a few days later for afternoon tea again. Even though we weren’t seated in her section that time, Nesa came over to say hello and ask how the rest of our visit to London had been. That kind of personal service is incredibly rare and meant so much to us.
Thank you, Nesa, for making an already special experience even more memorable. We won’t forget your kindness.
A quiet cafe/restaurant situated in the Kensington Gardens. From what I understand this cafe/restaurant has a long history and was closed for a very long time, it was reopened a few years ago. However the menu is slightly different. Apparently they use to have delicious orange cake, which is no longer on the menu. Nevertheless, this place is the perfect place to have tea and chill after a stroll round the gardens.
Weather was lovely the day we visited, and we sat outside to get the most out of the end-of-Summer weather.
The price is not cheap, they offer proper tea set but it's almost 100 pounds....we weren't that hungry so we had 2 pots of tea and a lemon tart to share. The tart was very delicious for both looks and taste, the teas were good teas too, you can tell it's not just the regular teabag tea.
The entire experience was very pleasant and the staffs were friendly. Pricing is high but the food standard is high also. I would it's a luxury hotel standard.
If you're looking for a posh English tea experience, this is definitely a good place to go to.
We had an absolutely wonderful experience at the Orangery Kensington Palace thanks to the amazing staff member, Ellen! She went above and beyond to make our visit special. Ellen even offered to take a photo of us, and the pictures turned out stunning ✨ like they were taken by a professional photographer! She is so kind, attentive, and genuinely makes you feel welcome. We truly loved her and the exceptional service she provided. Highly recommend asking for Ellen if you visit—she’s the best!
