Just off Oxford Street, not far from the London Edition Hotel, lies Lotus Realm, a new Chinese teahouse which provides a welcome escape from the nearby chains. As soon as you enter its doors, you feel more zen, thanks to its sleek pink and green interiors peppered with trinkets nodding to its Chinese heritage.
The café is one of the latest additions to London’s growing collection of Chinese milk tea spots. Led by big Chinese brands such as HEYTEA, the sweet drinks characterised by a milk foam topping are the capital’s latest obsession.
But Lotus Realm offers a more elevated take. Its drinks menu consists of a large selection of crafted teas, which layer traditional Chinese brews like Tieguanyin oolong and Wuyi rock tea with unexpected flavours such as strawberry, hot chocolate and even green sichuan pepper. They all have appropriately whimsical names like ‘A Cloud Never Dies’ and ‘Osmanthus Reverie’. Our favourite was ‘Last Summer’, a jasmine green tea with coconut, topped with a silky mint, sea salt and cream foam. For the purists, there are also traditional Chinese teas, brewed in giant pots on the counter top. You can choose to enjoy these hot or cold thanks to the fancy glass spiral flash chiller.
The highlight, though, is the sweet treats. The range of tea-infused mousse cakes and sponge cakes are truly stunning to look at. It’s almost hard to believe they’re real – or edible – but trust us when we say they taste as good as they look. If you order anything, make sure it’s the Cloud Rise cake – a Da Hong Pao Oolong-infused mousse with layers of apricot jelly and crunchy black sesame.
For those after something a little stronger, head downstairs to the bar and try a cocktail flavoured with, you guessed it, tea. Our concoction combined Shoumei white tea with vodka, dry vermouth, fig and blackberry and we were pleasantly surprised at how much the delicate tea flavour cut through the alcohol.
As London’s Chinese milk tea scene becomes more saturated, it’s refreshing to find a spot doing something unique in this part of town.
Key Information
Address | 4 Berners St, London W1T 3LE
For more information | @lotusrealm.uk
