Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason Dubai – the first store outside the UK

I’ve always been a huge fan of Fortnum & Mason, I love their tea and the packaging is a visual feast for the eyes. But as the only stores were located in the UK, visits to one of their stores were few and far between. So I was beyond excited to learn that a Fortnum & Mason had opened up in Dubai!

Fortnum & Mason is located in Downtown Dubai, opposite the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building), and offers a huge range of their products for sale from tea and spreads to gift packs and fine crockery.

We head upstairs to the Dubai Tea Salon & Restaurant on the First Floor for their world famous afternoon tea. After perusing the menu for a while I settle on the Fortnum’s Afternoon Tea, which is 245AED per person. It comes with a selection of sandwiches, scones, desserts and tea, which is what every self-respecting afternoon tea should involve!

It was also a good chance to brush up on my afternoon tea etiquette. For example, did you know the reason the famous Fortnum’s clock hands are always set to four o’clock? That’s because this is considered the traditional time for afternoon tea – a sufficient distance from lunch, and not too close to dinner.

And when eating a scone, instead of cutting the scone in half you should break it off piece by piece. Then spread it with clotted cream and then jam.

I definitely broke both these rules, but still thoroughly enjoyed myself!

I started my afternoon tea off with a cup of Fortnum’s Royal Blend tea, which seemed fitting for the occasion. I adored the mint green and gold accented crockery that was used throughout the store.

Shortly, our afternoon tea stand arrived and I eyed it off hungrily.

From top left, clockwise – afternoon tea cakes, Fortnum’s scones, Welsh Rarebit (available on the high tea menu) and finger sandwiches. The sandwiches on offer were cucumber with mint butter, rare roast beef with gherkin and caper dressing, Coronation chicken, Fortnum’s smoked salmon with lemon dill butter and rare breed hen egg with mustard cress. Each dish was freshly prepared, flavourful and delicious.

The scones were served with Somerset clotted cream and a choice of Fortnum’s apricot, lemon curd, raspberry, strawberry or wild blueberry preserve – all served on their own stand! I mainly stuck to the strawberry jam for my scones, but I did sneak in a spoonful of the lemon curd – it was divine.

How gorgeous is this Mondrian-inspired cake of a Dubai flag?

And last but not least, me posing excitedly in front of the Fortnum & Mason ice cream stand out the front!

If you are after a little indulgence when you’re in Dubai, I highly recommend giving Fortnum & Mason a visit. The service was impeccable, the food freshly prepared (and the scones are top notch) plus the stunning views of the Dubai skyline are second-to-none. And the shop downstairs is the perfect place to stock up on presents for the loved ones at home.

Fortnum & Mason Dubai

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