Top 5 tea places in London and Paris

It's winter again... Being a creature from the tropics, I take little pleasure in this chilly and dark season. So what keeps me going during these frosty months? The prospect of occasionally seeing some sunshine (even if for 5 minutes) and, of course, tea - lots and lots of it!! Here are my top haunts in London and Paris:

London

The Lanesborough. £££

A special treat. High tea is served in this hotel's beautiful and light filled conservatory. Great variety of teas (they even have naturally caffeine free rooibos) and the usual trimmings (sandwiches, crumpets, scones, cakes and pastries - as much as you fancy or your diet allows!).

The Dorchester. £££

If you are a cucumber sandwich purist, this place is for you: they offer one of the best in town. And they spoil you so much I bet you can choose to have nothing but cucumber sandwiches with your tea if you like (yes please!). Did I mention their tea is also very good and generously served? On the downside, you have to book loads in advance.

Yauatcha. ££

The ground floor of this revolutionary dim sum restaurant doubles up as a tea house. They have a vast Chinese tea menu (including bubble tea for the pundits!) and you can opt for either dim sum style (venison puffs, char sui buns and green tea scones) or western (sandwiches, scones and their beautiful pastries) formulas to accompany your precious liquid.

The Wolseley. ££

Great value high tea in this beautiful grand cafe. If the choice of tea is rather limited (after all they are not just a tea house!), at least the sandwiches and usual trimmings are delicious. Good hot chocolate too. Worth mentioning that The Wolseley is a strong contender against Yauatcha for the best patisseries in town.

At home. £

The coziest option! You may want to jazz up your home brew with take-away cakes from one of these magical places:

Yauatcha (as before)
The Wolseley (as before)
The Hummingbird Bakery
Ottolenghi
Macaron
Laduree

Picture source: Laduree

Paris

Hyatt. €€€

Original tea menu in beautiful fire side lobby. Service is really attentive (it almost made me forget I was in Paris) and, for those of you with a developed sense of smell it may sound strange but this hotel has a fabulous and unique scent.

Mariage Freres. €€€

This is the tea lover's mother ship. Over 500 varieties of tea (which you can also take-away from their tea counter) brewed to quasi-pedantic perfection and served in a smoke free environment (for Paris this is progress indeed!). The food is also something to enthuse about.

Toraya €€

Heaven on earth for green tea aficionados. These guys know how to froth up a respectable cup of matcha! This is also one of the few places I know (along with Zuma in London) featuring Soba cha, a "tea" made from buckwheat and naturally caffeine free. The Japanese patisseries are well worth a try and so is the "matcha hot chocolate".

T'cha €€

T'CHA La Maison de Thé
6, rue du Pont de Lodi
75006, Paris
+ 33 (1) 43 29 61 31

In the absence of a decent dim sum spot in Paris, this place is the next best thing since you can find a small selection of steamed little parcels among their delectable savoury offerings. Many varieties of prime Chinese teas and as much hot water as you like to refill your teapot, that is, provided you can grab the staff's attention (service is friendly but a little slow).

Zen Zoo €

A Taiwanese tea house in Paris. They specialise in bubble tea (aka pearl tea, boba tea) and have as many different flavours as you can dream of (my favorite is black sesame). If you are well acquainted with this milky concoction then this is probably part of your hit list already. If not, go and find out!