VIVI at Centre Point provides an afternoon tea full of cakes, glorious cakes

VIVI is one of the newest and most exciting restaurants to launch within Centre Point in the heart of London’s West End this year. They serve traditional British cuisine with a modern flair. The restaurant is open all day for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, pre-theatre meals and dinner. So whether you are a local resident, working in the city, or visiting for the day VIVI has a British dish for everyone’s taste evoking memories of yesteryear with an innovative twist.

Back earlier on this year I enjoyed a three course dinner courtesy of VIVI along with some other members of Love Pop Ups London. This month I was welcomed back to enjoy a complimentary afternoon tea along with some other members to indulge in cakes, glorious cakes.

VIVI

VIVI is designed by the owners of Rhubarb who are the team behind Sky Garden and Verdi Italian Kitchen at the Royal Albert Hall. 

Located within Centre Point VIVI is their flagship restaurant which is open all day and serves British dishes which are deliciously bold, offer seasonal menus showcasing the very best of British dining, and a bustling bar serving all those age-old British classics.

VIVI’s beautiful dining room is open day to night; serving a wide range of breakfast options, light lunches, indulgent afternoon teas, and traditional British dinners.

Bar – a destination cocktail bar serving a sophisticated and imaginative drinks menu to enjoy alongside a concise menu of VIVI bites and light snacks.

Gallery – informal and relaxed area just of the main Dining Room. With long sharing tables perfect for lone diners, time-short guests or large groups. Guests in The Gallery can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner or order dishes from the main Dining Room.

Liquid Lounge – open from 8 am daily, with a menu of healthy smoothies and juices, virtuous porridge’s and breakfast bowls. This area transforms throughout the day into a casual lunchtime spot, afternoon tea destination and cocktail and dining lounge by dusk.

Dining – large dining area where British classics with a twist can be enjoyed.

Traditional afternoon tea at VIVI

Entering VIVI ready to enjoy our sweet invite I and Geeta plus Tash we decided to enjoy a cocktail each upon awaiting for the other members of Love Pop ups London to turn up.

I ordered an Espresso Martini, Geeta ordered a Pink Floyd Rhubarb and Tash ordered The Seifert.

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All the drinks were made effortlessly by the handsome barmen and ended up all looking fabulous. Plus they all tasted amazing and sweet.

Cakes, glorious cakes

Once everyone had arrived we were seated at a spacious large round table which sat the six of us nicely.

Upon given and looking at the menu we were curious why we were given a Vegan & Gluten Free Afternoon Tea menu but none of us questioned it as we was here on a blogger opp.

All sounded great which was on the menu but I was a little disappointed as obviously with it being a vegan menu there was no smoked salmon or meat.

We all chose the Champagne menu at £39 but me and Steve we chose to swap our glass of Champagne for a cocktail instead as we are both not keen on Champagne. There is also an option to have afternoon tea without an alcoholic beverage.

I chose to have a Virgin Strawberry Mojito which looked great and tasted outstanding and Steve went for The Seifert. My Mojito was very sweet and fruity. making the perfect drink to accompany the sweet on coming cakes.

For my tea selection to accompany my cakes I chose the triple mint which did not just look amazing with it’s tea leaves inside a glass clear teapot but the smell was immense. It made me feel like I was sitting in a field full of fresh mint and the taste was sublime pure mintiness.

When our afternoon tea arrived thankfully it was not the vegan and gluten free one and ended being the traditional afternoon tea which came with plenty of sandwiches, scones and cakes.

After being amazed and taking in the sweet smells we then requested to see the Traditional Afternoon Tea menu so we could read what we exactly were salivating over and ready to munch on.

First things first candy floss time as I cannot resist candy floss plus candy floss tends to melt quickly if any water hits it so as for it not to disintegrate in the air I consumed this very quickly and led me thinking about funfairs.

The sandwiches were a delight. They were not dry at all and very spongy as you can most likely see from my photo above. They were all cut to the same size and into rectangles and none of them were too overfilled with a filling. I particularly loved the first sandwich being salmon which came in light brown bread.

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The two scones looked amazing so golden. One was a plain scone and the other had currants. They did taste delicious and fresh but after a few bites did become a bit claggy as I feel they may of overworked the dough slightly to make the scones. Luckily the clotted cream and the fresh sweet homemade strawberry jam helped make them easier to eat.

Now time for cakes, glorious cakes which all looked so cute as none of them were too big as delicate in size and each looked amazing.

The Carrot Cake was fluffy, moist and tasted amazing making it one of the best carrot cakes I have enjoyed in a long while.

The Battenberg looked so dinky and had the most amazing pink colour. I think they were keeping in contrast with VIVI decor colour. I loved the chequered look of the coloured sponge and the sponge was wrapped around with a thin layering of marzipan. Was not dry and very fresh.

The Blackberry Macaron was a delight, not too crunchy and had a lovely chewiness to the meringue. As I had only just attended a macaron class before hand and learned that there is in fact two different versions of macarons one being French and the other Italian I assume this one used the Italian style recipe.

The Chocolate Eclair looked cute but once I ate some of it I found even though it was delicious the dark chocolate layering was too much for me. I personally think to keep in keeping with all the other pastel coloured cakes they should cover the eclair with a strawberry glaze instead of chocolate perhaps or even passion fruit.

The Victoria Sponge like all the other cakes again not dry, fluffy and very fresh. I loved the little gold leaf as well which sat on top of the cake giving it class as a Victoria Sponge is regarded as a royal cake after all.

Upon finishing the afternoon tea we were all full and very happy. I left VIVI satisfied and not too over stuffed by cake. Most afternoon teas I have always found that the cakes are too big and too much to handle two or three cakes gone but VIVI’s were just the right size making it easy to eat all of them without feeling stuffed.

Verdict

VIVI has a lovely nostalgic and relax feeling to the whole restaurant giving it a real atmosphere. With the tables and chairs all being spaced out well also made it a pleasure and a great way to just focus on the people you went along with rather than over hearing other people’s conversations etc.

The food at VIVI again did not disappoint as the Afternoon Tea was a real treat and delight from the look to the taste.

I would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for a great Afternoon Tea with a great atmosphere or a dinner with friends or family.  

Book

To book click here.

VIVI, Centre Point
11 St Giles Square
London
WC2H 8AP
Tel: 0300 500 0958

Opening Times:
Breakfast (Mon-Fri) 08:00-11:30
Lunch (Mon-Fri) 12:00-16:00
Afternoon tea 15:00-18:00
Dinner 17:00-23:00 (Sundays until 22:30)
Weekend Brunch 11:00-16:00
Pre-theatre 16:45-18:45
Post theatre 21:45-22:45 (Sundays 22:00)

Thank you to VIVI for inviting me down to enjoy an afternoon tea full of cakes, glorious cakes. All views are my own honest opinion.

Click below to read what the other community members thought of the afternoon tea and the write ups from the past dining experience I and some others enjoyed. All their views are of their own honest opinions.

VIVI restaurant