If you’re looking for a beautiful location to spoil someone with afternoon tea, you’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere with the same artistic elegance as JOIA Bar. World famous hotel group art’otel knows how to put together aesthetically-pleasing spaces, and JOIA Bar is no different; decked out in dusty pinks and pastel shades, with colourful terrazzo tabletops, JOIA Bar’s art deco styling makes it a beautiful spot for afternoon tea. That’s before you get to the stupendous view of Battersea Power Station through double-height panoramic windows, where you can look out onto the Power Station's famous chimneys, and the south London landscape beyond.
The afternoon tea here is as artsy as you'd expect from art'otel, with an offering that is a little more compact than some others around the city. Sandwiches take a classic route, with options such as salt beef, horseradish and watercress, and egg mayonnaise with Dijon mustard. Inside JOIA Bar is modern and distinctive, but again with scones it sticks to tried and tested - fresh baked plain scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream is a combination that will never go out of style.
The piece de resistance is the final sweet course, where a selection of elegant patisserie and cakes emerge. There’s a cinnamon custard tart with raspberries, a chocolate and banana mousse with white port and lime cream, and a pear and almond choux bun piped with passion fruit cremeux. As usual you can upgrade your afternoon tea with a glass of Telmont Brut Reserve Champagne if you so choose, and JOIA Bar also has a hefty selection of white, black, green, herbal and oolong teas to choose from.