Tea Room Review: Afternoon Tea at the Henley Park Hotel in Washington, DC

As a long time DC metro resident, the only time I ever actually go into DC is because of work, a specific event (like a running race), or because someone who is visiting wants “to see the monuments.”

Since DC is the capital of the US, you can imagine how many tourists visit on a regular basis, how congested the roads are with impatient drivers, and how crowded the metro can get (when it’s actually running). I’m perfectly content limiting my time in the city to very specific events. 

In September, a very specific event arose that fit the bill. This event was Avatar: The Last Airbender in concert playing at the National Theatre which is in… DC. I enjoy symphonies, and as Avatar fans, this concert absolutely warranted an exception. Xak and I excitedly planned to attend the concert.

Since DC is also an excellent place to catch Pokemon, we decided it would be nice to walk around and make a full day of it. And when you’re us… a “full day of it” means finding a place to have afternoon tea.

There are several hotels that have afternoon teas, and the majority are quite pricey and require fancier clothing than I like to wear on the metro. Luckily, there are other options that don’t cost 3 digits per person. One of these options was the Henley Park Hotel.

Since afternoon tea is served starting at 12 on the weekends, this was perfect for us to enjoy some tea and then have a pleasant Pokemon Go walk on our way to hear the tunes of the Aang Gang at 2 PM. All the makings of an excellent day!

This excellent day took place on September 28, 2024.

About The Henley Park Hotel in Washington, DC

The Henley Park hotel is located in downtown DC on Massachusetts Ave between 9th and 10th Street, about a half mile walk from the Mt Vernon or Metro Center metro stations.

It was originally used as an apartment building over 100 years ago. In 1982, it was converted to a historic hotel including restoring the original architectural features and adding English Tudor appropriate furnishings to capture the time period. 

Now that Henley Park is a hotel, afternoon tea is offered everyday in the Tavern, Henley Park’s restaurant. 

Reservation Process

For groups smaller than 12, reservations are available online through Open Table or via phone. Anything greater than that requires an email to the catering team. 

Afternoon Tea is limited to select times at the Tavern in Henley Park, with additional times being dedicated to other meals served at the restaurant. 

When making the reservation through Open Door however, there’s nothing to indicate that you are visiting specifically for afternoon tea. Afternoon tea times are also different depending on when you go (weekdays: 3-5, Friday/weekends: 12-4), so it’s important to select the correct time when making your reservation.

Since Xak and I were planning on attending our Avatar concert at 2 PM, we opted for the first available seating on Saturday, which is 12 PM. 

Parking

Since I absolutely hate driving to DC, we opted to take the metro and then the 10 minute walk to get to the hotel. For those who prefer to drive, there is paid metered street parking and nearby parking garages which vary in fees depending on what you choose.

If you’re an overnight guest at the hotel, there’s also the option for $40+ valet parking. There are apps and websites where you can reserve your parking in advance, and I would recommend doing some upfront research to avoid paying more than you need to.

If it’s your first time taking the metro, you will need to buy and load money onto a metro pass (available at the stations). Delays are common, so make sure to plan accordingly. 

The Tea Room

Xak and I always leave much earlier than needed when we ride the metro since we’ve seen the metro leave the platform so many times right as we’re running down the escalator. On weekends, this means that you’ll typically have to wait another 20 or so minutes before another one comes. However, on this particular day, the stars aligned and we arrived about 45 minutes earlier than our reservation time of 12 PM. Who knew that the metro is capable of arriving when expected?!

Since our reservation was right when the restaurant opened, Xak and I decided to walk around the block a few times to catch Pokemon and also to stall since walking in 30 minutes early seemed a little excessive. At 11:45 AM, we decided to just go inside and see if we could get seated or if we needed to keep walking around the same street lamp another 4 times. 

In the lobby, we approached the front desk on the left and asked where we needed to go for our afternoon tea reservation. We were directed to the back where the main restaurant (the Tavern) was located.

When we entered the room, we saw windows on the wall, several tables and chairs, and a large bar, but nobody was in the room. As we were standing awkwardly at the entrance wondering what to do, a restaurant employee approached us to confirm our reservation and then took us to another connected room where we could choose our preferred table.

This room contained more set tables of various sizes split between two levels, mirrors and wall art, but again no other guests. Xak and I chose a two person table next to the exit door.

Unfortunately, the table also happened to be located directly next to a small speaker on the floor that played elevator/hold music and commercials, which we found out later during the meal.

The table had been set with teacups, glasses of water, silverware, plates, two small jars of Dickinson’s jams (likely for the scones) and cloth napkins on a white tablecloth.

Menu and Tea Choices

We were handed menus to select which afternoon tea we wanted, and which tea flavor.

There are two types of afternoon two experiences: Royal Tea and English Tea

The English tea includes a selection of savories, dried fruit scones with condiments, and Harney and Sons tea for $50.

The Royal Tea includes everything in the English tea as well as desserts and fresh berries with whipped cream for $60. 

Since Xak and I always prefer getting the option with the most food, naturally we chose the Royal Tea. 

The list of Harney and Sons teas included 10 options split into four categories: Black, Green, Floral, and Decaf. We decided on English Breakfast and the Paris teas. The menu also included a small list of alcoholic options for an additional cost, but we opted against that. I did note that unlimited mimosas are available (if that’s your thing)

Food

After making our selections, the meal started with a chilled bowl of fresh mixed berries including strawberries and blackberries with a large amount of whipped cream which put a large smile on whipped cream loving Xak’s face. Although I do not share Xak’s love for whipped cream, I do love fresh fruit so I took a big bite of the fruit with a much smaller amount of whipped cream than Xak. Surprisingly, the whipped cream had a pleasant vanilla bean flavor which went well with the fruit. It was a very nice way to start the meal.

Our individual tea pots were brought out to our tables along with a pitcher of milk. Each one had a labeled bag so we knew whose was whose. Only sugar packets (no cubes) were available to sweeten the tea. 

After we finished our fruit, the dishes were cleared away and a three tiered tray with two pairs of servings tongs was brought out and placed on the center of our table with the following courses:

Savories

• Curried Egg Salad
• Shrimp Salad
• Cucumber with beet radish
• Roast Beef with caramelized onions and horseradish

Scones

• Peach Cinnamon with clotted cream, lemon curd, and Dickinson’s preserves

Desserts

• Macarons
• Mini Chocolates
• Strawberry tart
• Strawberry and lemon bundt cakes

Savories

Although the bottom tier contained the scones, we typically start with savories first. Savories is always my favorite course because of the variety of flavors and textures. However, I am not as keen on open face sandwiches because my fingers or my face always gets messy. 

I normally don’t see too many roast beef sandwiches during tea time so I was eager to try that. Although we were informed that the bread was rye, it tasted more like gluten free bread to me. Gluten free bread isn’t bad; it just isn’t rye. However, I did like the caramelized onion since it added a nice flavor and the creaminess from the horse radish.

The curried egg sandwich was spread on a rectangle of unidentified white bread with what looked like a grape tomato half in the center. I’ve had my fair share of bland egg sandwiches which are perfectly fine, but the curry was definitely a nice addition of flavor. 

The shrimp salad was served in a round cracker receptacle. Unfortunately the cracker was a little soft, but the shrimp salad itself was flavorful with a good amount of salt and some spice that reminded me of Old Bay seasoning. This is now the third shrimp salad sandwich I’ve had IN A ROW (First being at Prince Tea in New York, and second at The Chattaway in Florida) and I’m realizing that I’m digging shrimp salad!

The final sandwich was cucumber and watercress. This was served on the same bread as the egg salad and topped with some beets. Honestly, the beets didn’t really add much of anything, but at least it didn’t make the sandwich taste bad either.

Scone

We moved back to the scone tier which contained two warm peach cinnamon scones for each of us and small bowls of lemon curd and Devonshire cream. It’s a rare thing these days to get two whole scones for yourself, so both of us were quite excited.

The lemon curd seemed fluffy and aerated which I spread with lemon curd on one side and the other with the Devonshire cream. We also opened the Dickinsons jam jars to spread on our second scone.

The scones had lots of fruit in each bite, however there was some slight bitterness on some of the slightly overdone exterior fruit.

Desserts

As we reached the final course, we also got hot water refills for our tea to make sure we had enough for dessert. Each of us received one strawberry tart, one chocolate, and two macarons (different flavors). We each took one mini bundt cake (different flavors) to split between us.

The strawberry tart had a creamy mousse filling and was topped with more fresh strawberries (although sadly for Xak, this time no whipped cream). There was some difficulty removing the bundt cakes from the doilies on the stand, but managed to get most of it onto our plate. The strawberry cake was a nice sweet bite, and even the frosting (which usually I’m not a fan) was tasty as well. The other cake was lemon, which is one of my favorite flavors, and I enjoyed that even more. 

The macaron flavors included a toasted coconut which had a strong flavor, raspberry, almond, and chocolate, which had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Finally, to finish the entire meal, we ended with a salted caramel chocolate truffle. I am a firm believer that every meal should end with a piece of chocolate.

Payment

Our server returned one more time for us to ask for the check which ended up being $120 for two Royal Teas, $12 for sales tax, and $24 for 20% gratuity which totaled $156, which we were able to pay with a credit card. 

After signing the check, we headed out the exit door in search of a restroom.

Restrooms

Of course, the restroom was nowhere in sight and we had to ask for directions.

The restrooms were actually to the left after exiting and down a flight of stairs (good thing we asked). The restroom had multiple stalls which were all unoccupied. I’m not sure what else is on that floor, but I guess not too many guests hang out there at 1 PM on a Saturday. Xak and I met up together again in the lobby on the main floor and headed out excitedly for our concert.

Final Thoughts

It’s always an interesting experience when you are the only people in a restaurant. Since we were at a hotel, I figured there would be other guests taking in a late meal or a few stragglers finishing up. Since afternoon tea is offered daily, I assumed that it must be a popular offering and I was surprised that there was absolutely no one else there during the 1.5 hours we were seated.

Regardless, both Xak and I had an enjoyable time at the Henley Park Hotel. The amount of food was reasonable for the price we paid, however as of May 2025, I’ve noticed the price has gone up by $10. This is still less expensive than other hotel teas, and also less fancy. If you’re looking for live harp music and a strict dress code, this isn’t it.

Strangely enough, my favorite part of the meal was actually the bowl of fruit with whipped cream. This is especially weird considering I don’t even like whipped cream but this one was really tasty. 

When visiting tea rooms, I usually prefer actual tea leaves versus tea bags, however I don’t mind Harney & Sons. The tea selection here is limited, but as long as you’re not too picky about tea flavors, you’ll be fine.

Bonus: Avatar the Last Airbender in Concert

The National Theatre is about 1 mile away on foot from the Henley Park hotel. Luckily we arrived without sweaty back stains and with a fair amount of time to go before the show started.

The merch line was absolutely insane, but we did want to see what was available. Surprisingly, the merch line moved fairly smoothly and we were able to purchase everything Xak wanted and find our seats.

If you’ve never seen Avatar: The Last Airbender (the actual animated show, NOT the movie…), I highly recommend you correct this immediately. Although this show ended in 2008, the auditorium was extremely full of excited Avatar fans (Xak and me included). 

Since there was a strict “no camera policy” when the show started (which the guy directly in front of me ignored several times), we sat back to enjoy the show. There were laughs, tears, and just an aura of appreciation and excitement throughout it all. It was an absolutely excellent experience and it made me want to go home immediately and pop in the season 1 DVD for a marathon binge session.

I still hate having to go into DC, but this concert was totally worth it!