On a rainy May day tea for two at Gallery Mess, the restaurant and bar of the Saatchi Gallery, seemed like an exemplary idea. The room was warm, light and buzzing with the well heeled chit-chat of the Chelsea set  who were either finishing lunch or about to embark upon some afternoon shenanigans. La Hedonista was reminiscing about the 70s and the girl punks who would sit on a wall roughly where Gallery Mess is playing with their pet rodents…

The Afternoon Tea offer at Gallery Mess is at three levels according to how greedy you are feeling. Tea and scones (£9.50) comes with clotted cream and strawberry jam; the Afternoon Tea (£11.50) adds in some mini sandwiches and the piece de resistance, The  Pommery Champagne Afternoon Tea (£22.50) adds a glass of Pommery Brut Royal NV and some mini cakes.

 To honour the punkettes we went for the champagne option. The Pommery is a lively number and has notes of toasted brioche and apple, setting us up for the sandwich selection.

There were mini bagels and lox, egg mayo on little finger rolls with half a boiled quail’s egg on top and then ‘proper’ cucumber sandwiches. The savouries were all well executed with little twists in presentation or taste that added value.

Freshly  brewed Fresh mint and Earl Grey teas turned up at this point which was a good thing as we were out of fizz!

The next element in our tea-time odyssey were home made  Raisin scones served warm with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

To finish off we wolfed down the mini cakes. The Frangipani cake was deliciously dense, almondy and eggy.

Rose macarons were gooey and just faintly perfumed. La Hedonista thought that the Chocolate cream and marshmallow Tea cakes were like Wagon Wheels but I couldn’t possibly comment. Finally some Turkish Delight. I’m not really a fan of Turkish Delight but this was mildly flavoured and pretty good.

If you are shopping in Sloane St or the the King’s Rd, are a refugee from the Chelsea Flower Show or hitting the art at the Saatchi then Gallery Mess is a really good tea option, it also has a strong cocktail list or if you want something more substantial a full restaurant menu. It’s a cool space, the service is efficient and friendly and you’ll even get a chance to revisit your inner punk!

Disclosure: The Hedonist was a guest of Gallery Mess