Inexpensive but Nice place for brunch / tea in London?

[52andblue]

Does this even exist?

A friend has offered to treat me to Brunch or Lunch or Afternoon Tea at the end of this month, and told me to choose.
I really don't want to choose something expensive as they are paying.
We only meet once a year so really want to enjoy it. It needs to be central London, which I don't know well & I imagine prices are high.

I like the idea of brunch at 10am (I could offer to pay?) and Afternoon Tea at 3 (we have 10-6 as a time slot) but I imagine Tea is wildly expensive even if not in a 5* hotel with fizz (we don't need it to be this glamorous, just not Greggs...) .

Any suggestions for a country mouse like me please?

Canova Hall in Brixton is really nice for brunch, I think £26 per person for the bottomless menu. A little bit out of central but the markets are great for a look around.

www.thehansom.co.uk/afternoon-te is lovely & very close to KX.

OK, for anyone new to this thread, this is the brief:

OP is spending a day in London with a friend who she hasn't seen for 2 years and is looking for suggestions for brunch (10am) and afternoon tea (around 3pm, finish by 6pm), in Central London. Budget is £25 per person, for each meal. Comfortable and calm places. OP isn't very familiar with London.

OP is arriving in London the day before (Kings Cross station) and spending the night in a hotel (originally Westminster area but is open to staying in Kings Cross area instead). Friend is coming into Waterloo on the day itself.

IMPORTANT: OP walks with two crutches so can't do too much walking and would like sit-down opportunities during the day. Friend is happy to travel across London to meet OP.

So, having looked at the locations of the two possible hotels (Premier Inn Hub in Westminster and Kings Cross) I would stick with the Westminster option as it's a more interesting part of London, sightseeing wise. It's close to Parliament Square (tick Big Ben, although is it still covered in scaffolding?), the Thames, Whitehall, St James' Park, Buckingham Palace etc. I don't know what distances you can cover on foot so Google Maps/Streetview is your friend here. The Kings Cross location is OK but you'd need to travel into the centre to see any sights, and it seems a shame not to have them on your doorstep for such a short visit.

For brunch I would suggest the area north of Trafalgar Square (Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane) - you can get there by bus.

(I was going to suggest the restaurant/cafe at the National Gallery but it doesn't look like it's open.)

St Martin's Lane options (all restaurants so probably more spacious than the cafes):
Cote www.cote.co.uk/restaurant/st-martins-lane/menus/a%20la%20carte/?category=january-specials
Browns www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/restaurants/london/covent-garden
Dishoom (Indian, people rave about it) www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/

Charing Cross Road options (cafes, so probably more busy):
Patisserie Valerie (called the Leicester Square branch) - www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/pages/patisserie-finder
Ole & Steen (Danish bakery) - oleandsteen.co.uk/

Some of those could be either brunch or afternoon tea, but you might not want to spend the whole day in that area. Maybe you could walk to St James Park, or book a (free) ticket for the National Gallery (indoors, seating and access to toilets!). Or just meandering - it's close to Covent Garden, Leicester Square, China Town etc. Or you could get a bus or tube if you want to go further (use a contactless payment card to travel on public transport).

Will you have an overnight bag with you or do you need to return to the hotel to collect it? If the former you could have brunch in one area and then travel close to Kings Cross for afternoon tea, although I'm not sure if many of the eateries in that area are geared up for afternoon tea.

Does anyone have suggestions for inexpensive afternoon tea (max £25 per person, doesn't have to be a package) in the Kings Cross area, that doesn't involve lots of walking?

Just gonna repeat my Balans suggestion in case you missed it!

I booked an afternoon tea 2 hour river cruise from Tower pier with Coty cruises for me and DH in July, managed to find a discount code and got it for £54.

City Cruises !
We’ve stayed at the Travelodge between Euston/Kings cross before, it was fine.

Cote = a really good suggestion. Their set menu is good value.

Hilton London Euston looks like it does afternoon tea for £20 pp.

Sorry, I've been absent moving house (likely to be patchy next few days too).
Some great suggestions here - thank you!

I'm now thinking: arrive KX lunchtime, tube to Westminster PI Hub, dump small bag, spend afternoon having a look at the sights, and grab a light salady meal, prob early night as tired from travel.
Friend comes to meet me for Brunch (somewhere around there, will go back and look at suggestions properly - thank you!)x
Then we either do the river cruise and Tea (sounds lovely)
OR head straight across to KX area and have Brunch there then see if the GT N Hotel there will do Tea for us - handy for my train at 6)

THANK YOU all so much for all the lovely suggestions - I have a heck of a week coming up (moved house and two kids with ASD starting new schools / college...) but will have a good plan this coming weekend and am feeling really excited about my 'mini break' now :)

Fortnum & Mason or The Wolseley for afternoon tea.

Check out Brasserie Zedel for a beautiful space, good food at incredibly low prices. In Soho. And perhaps Balthazar, also beautiful, reasonable brunch prices, Covent Garden.

F&M is really not inexpensive.

Kings Cross has lots of nice places. I think the German Gymnasium might do afternoon tea, but not sure how much if so.

Vinotica does a reasonable fixed price lunch/early dinner iirc.dinner

Spiritland is a nice, chilled bar with snacks such as hoummus etc.

The Brasserie of Light in Selfridges is fun and a beautiful (if slightly over the top!). Menu has options at lots of price points - e.g. full afternoon tea is £35/head, but they also do a cream tea at £9/head. Worth a cup of tea even if you don’t eat!

Echoing others - I would try to find somewhere independent - there are affordable places and it seems a shame to go to a Cote/Bills etc. you could go to elsewhere! Agree with the Wallace Collection and Brasserie Zedel - would add Dishoom as a great brunch option near KX - great breakfast menu and free chai tea refills.

Yes to Dishoom for brunch! Would be sensible to book rather than just turning up. The chai is so good and it's very reasonably priced.

I think the Wolesley for brunch is lovely menu

I'd go there if I were you.

otherwise there are loads of places in Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard which fit the bill and it's a lovely place for you and your friend to sit and people watch. As pp say Dishoom is fab. Also Barrafina if you fancied tapas and a glass of something.

Ok.
Dishoom at king’s Cross for brunch.

Book tkts to sufragette exhibition at British library or got to Wellcome collection

Then tea & cake in the museum cafes. Both are good. I prefer Wellcome though.

It sounds as if you need a great cafe that does good cakes and maybe a toasted sandwich, rather than one of the formal ‘afternoon tea’ affairs.

Update:

Actually my friend had booked the Cafe at the V&A so we went there.
But it was lovely, we sat in the big posh room with the beautiful stained glass and ceiling rather than the side 'Ikea' type area I've sat in in the past. It was a complete treat. The food was only okay but the space itself & time to sit and catch up with my friend was amazing.

I will carry over your great suggestions for a future trip, thank you all.