Londons’ Magical The Potion Room Afternoon Tea : Review

This Soho based Magical afternoon tea in London is perfect for Harry Potter Fans and anyone magically inclined. Within a decorated potions room, donned with cloaks and wands- this interactive experience definitely isn’t your classic afternoon tea! With options for Vegetarian, Vegan, Wheat-free and Dairy-free menus, everyone can get involved at The Potion Room afternoon tea at Cutter & Squidge !

There is really only one of two ways that an interactive , cloak-wearing, wand-swinging magical afternoon tea could go : Awfully cheesy or Fantastically genius. I’m happy to say that The Potion Room afternoon Tea at Cutter & Squidge is definitely the latter. Professor Englebert Slaptyback, our Potions Master really made this experience for us. He really didn’t take himself too seriously and that’s what kept this experience from ‘cheesy’ territory. With constant quips, just enough interactivity to make you feel included but not anxious if you’re someone who is quite socially awkward ( like me!) – this really was an Afternoon Tea in London to remember!

The event hosts ‘Cutter & Squidge‘ are an all natural bakery whipping up delicious looking cakes, cookies, biskies, dreamcakes and Ice cream. Recently having launched a range of ‘Volcano ice creams’. Definitely on my list to go back to for a further review!

Descending down a staircase from the Cutter & Squidge bakery into a basement potion room, it’s instantly clear the effort they’ve put in to create an immersive experience. The walls are lines with potion bottles, magical ingredients and various other knickknacks that transport you away from the busy streets and into a potions class for a very different afternoon tea in London. The classroom-style desks are paired up with a tray of ‘potion’ ingredients waiting for you. Wands at the ready!

The Potion Room Afternoon Tea Experience:

Note*- The experience isn’t affiliated with Harry Potter at all but is DEFINITELY a brilliant gift for any HP fans!

Without giving too much away- The 2-hour experience is made up of two interactive potions ‘classes’ followed by a long period of time where you are left alone to enjoy your food and drink and then a little bit of interactivity again right at the end ( leave some extra tummy space or bag space for some surprise goodies!).

The potions classes themselves are fun and Professor Slaptyback comes around the ‘class’ to mark your efforts in a way that is hilarious and , once again, not embarrassing or awkward ( and that’s taking into account that I pretty much bombed my second ‘potion’! Pfft!).

Somehow Rhys got convinced to go for the VIP experience ( an extra £30). This includes a ‘The Potion Room’ canvas bag, mug and other item as well as two free drinks ( on top of the tea, of course). I’d say that if you like having collectables and you’re wanting to get alcoholic drinks- at around £9.50 a pop otherwise!- then this options would be good for you. As it is we didn’t need it but, Rhys paid as part of my birthday treat so…… *shrug*

The Food:

Before you ask, even though this is a themed event and there can be a worry that this takes away from the actual food of the day. I’m happy to say that both Rhys and myself were super happy with the food presented. I chose to have the Vegetarian afternoon tea menu and Rhys chose the standard one.

As part of the menu you receive a collection of sweet & savoury dishes inspired by British classics including a ploughmans sandwich and leek & potato pie. You even get the cutest, dinkiest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen ( think thumbprint-size!). You also get to take home a couple of treats too!

Without spoiling too much – I’ll say that I was very happy with the first two ‘potion’ items. Unfortunately the first one included a lot of Ice, which had melted quite a bit, and so watered down the taste a bit too much for Rhys’s liking. The second potion was a winner from both of us though! *smacks lips* DELICIOUS!

When the main afternoon tea food was presented, Rhys eagerly wolfed it all down with no complaints. I found one sandwich that came in a brown bun was a bit too ‘bread-y’ compared to filling. I was also too stuffed to even try the ‘Knickerbocker bite’. The Butterscotch Biskie was amazing though! Super soft and melt-in your mouth filling sandwiched in soft cookie shells.

If it weren’t for the fact that R & I were heading straight to crazy golf after the afternoon tea and then spending the evening at a Vegan Night Market , we definitely would have picked up a few ‘biskies’ from Cutter & Squidge to take home!

My one main niggle was that the tea wasn’t served with sugar. Cutter & Squidge are an all-natural bakery that try to reduce the fat & sugar content in their products so we assumed that might be the reason and so didn’t ask if we could have some , to avoid any embarrassment. Unfortunately, as someone who drinks tea about 3 times a year ( I know. Gasp!), I find that it needs a tiny bit of sweetness to really bring out the flavours. Especially with a fruity blend. Rhys drinks 5 mugs of tea a day practically and also missed the sugar. Once again – we didn’t actually ask if we could have some though so that’s not to say that they don’t have the option.

As we got the VIP ticket ( one to share which means we still both got a free drink) , Rhys took advantage and ordered a ‘Rumbutter Float’ with Dark Rum & Butterscotch ( Which I would imagine is inspired by a certain drink from a certain franchise!). It was actually hilarious watching his face as he drank it though as it was apparently VERY strong! I don’t drink much alcohol anyway and wasn’t feeling all that well that day ( just my luck!) so stuck to Passionfruit juice, which was delicious!