London, UK: Breakfast in Café Regency, Tea with a Friend and a Stroll in Holland Park, Walking Around King’s Cross. Afternoon Tea at The Hansom at St. Pancras Station

Monday, October 12, 2026

London, UK

Breakfast in Café Regency, Tea with a Friend and a Stroll in Holland Park, Walking Around King’s Cross. Afternoon Tea at The Hansom at St. Pancras Station.

When we awoke this morning, both Llew and I were conscious of the fact that we had reached our last full day together in London. By the afternoon tomorrow, I will be leaving London for the Continent and by the evening tomorrow, he will be leaving for India. Hence, we lost no time, showering, dressing and excusing ourselves from breakfast with our host, Bande Hasan, as we had other plans for breakfast. So off we went…

Breakfast at the Regency Café in Pimlico:

I have eaten breakfast at the Regency Café in Pimlico on a previous trip to London, but since Llew had never been I was keen for him to see the place and experience its ambience as it is pretty unique. The place was established in the 1940s, soon after World War II ended, and it has retained much of its post-war décor and atmosphere. It is a bit of a hike to get there—again, a rather hard place to find and after a complicated journey by Tube and then a walk in a maze of streets, we arrived.

The Regency does wonderful old-fashioned meals (and very reasonably too), but it is best known for its breakfast by which I mean Full English Breakfasts. I always try to have one of those on each trip to the UK and this was no exception. You enter and hope you will find a seat—it is always a bit of a challenge and there is always a crowd. Sometimes, the line goes right out the door. Luckily, we found two empty seats and with our jackets placed on them to reserve them, we joined the line snaking its way to the counter to place our order.

Of course, both of us wanted the FEB (Full English Breakfast) by which I mean two eggs (done any style—mine are always scrambled, Llew’s are over-easy), sausages, bacon, grilled tomato, grilled mushrooms, baked beans, toast and coffee (and as an extra—for higher payment—I ordered black pudding as well). We had to wait for about ten minutes before getting to the counter and then about fifteen minutes for our order—so, this is not fast food, by any means! Still, when you do get your large platter, brimming over with greasy spoon goodness, you are floored. In fact, I found myself staring at a heart attack on a platter! But oh well…one does not eat like this daily. It was delicious and we polished up every last crumb on our platters, except the black pudding which neither one of us liked. Of course, we would not be eating anything until really late in the day when our next meal would be that other favorite of British gastronomy—Afternoon Tea!

Off to Holland Park to See Our Friend:

We traced our steps back to the Tube station and took it to Holland Park where we alighted and, using our phone map app, found our way to our friend, Frances’ home. I had visited her, a year ago, and been most impressed by her art collection, particularly her work by famed contemporary Indian artists. I was keen for Llew to see her collection too and so I’d made plans to meet her at her place for a quick cuppa as she had commitments for the rest of the day and so had we.

Making ourselves comfortable at Frances’ place is not tough as she is warm and hospitable and the two of us together are Motor Mouths. We can talk nineteen to the dozen—honestly, we never stop. She insisted we have the cuppa we had promised but neither of us had expected that we would be bursting after our FEBs---so we politely declined and told her we’d come for a coffee another time. However, we did enjoy the slices of fruit cake she put out for us. So, after we toured her beautiful home, we thought it was time we left. She accompanied us downstairs as she had to go out too. We took several pictures both insider her house and out and then we set off after sad goodbyes.

Strolling Around Holland Park and the Kyoto Garden:

Last year, Frances had led me on a stroll around her neighborhood—one of the most affluent in London—and pointed out the homes of all the social celebrities who had second city homes here—David Beckham, Lord Andrew Lloyd-Weber and right opposite her home is the one once inhabited by Duleep Singh, son of the Maharaja of the Punjab whose lands had been annexed by Queen Victoria and who felt remorse and guilt so acute that she brought Duleep to England and then raised him as her own. I pointed all these places to Llew (identified by the blue plaques). We also entered the famed Holland Park Mews where a lot of films are shot. The arch leading to the Mews makes a picturesque spot and we duly posed there. And then we walked ahead to the entrance of Holland Park which we entered.

Holland Park is one of the lungs of West London. It is a vast space that lends itself to use by walkers, strollers, skaters, dog-walkers, etc. It is divided into smaller garden rooms each in a different style (English Gardens, Italianate Gardens, and the famous Japanese Garden—the Kyoto Garden which is my favorite). It is also a favorite space of mine because it is closely associated with my favorite TV series of all time, “As Time Goes By”. Every time I miss the UK too much and need my English Fix, I watch the series all over again! In the series, Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer) and Jean Pargeter (Judi Dench) meet of the first time, in their 20s, in Holland Park. Since she ends up, later in life, living in Holland Park, when the two of them reconnect after decades, much of the TV series is shot here. I love strolling in the frames of the series! So, I took Llew to these places this time round so that he too could relive the series.

As we first came upon the Kyoto Garden, that was where we entered first. Autumn was certainly evident in this garden as the Japanese Government that gifted this garden to the UK was very keen to see that they had plantings for every season. In the spring, the garden is filled with vivid color from azaleas and rhododendrons. Today, we saw maples that had turned a fiery red, copper birches with golden showers of leaves and silver barks, russets and browns and oranges that made such a vibrant backdrop for the beautiful cascade that is the focal feature of this garden. And, as if this horticultural glory is inadequate, there was wildlife too: Canadian Geese, scampering squirrels, large magpies, mallards in iridescent colors and even, get this…peacocks. Yes, the peacocks are a unique feature of these gardens (an Indian touch in the midst of the Japanese burst of color)! We walked all around the gardens, took many pictures and then walked out into the main gardens of the Park.

These main gardens (the English Gardens and the Italianate Gardens) are overlooked by the famous restaurant, ‘The Belvedere’, where I have had the privilege of eating dinner once when it was run by the famed chef, Marco Pierre White. (I don’t think he is still associated with it). I pointed out the restaurant to Llew before we disappeared under the colonnaded arcades of a red-brick walk admiring the Victorian paintings on the wall that ran alongside us. It was all very refined. I have to say that the gardens were being refurbished by an army of gardeners as they were taken from summer to fall—all summer plantings were stripped away and fall plantings had not yet gone into the ground. So, the area looked really forlorn as the fountain in the center had also been suppressed. However, the weather was simply perfect and just terrific for walking in a park—so I am so pleased we had the opportunity to undertake this too during our stay in England.

Disappointment at the London Canal Museum:

Another item on our itinerary this year is the London Canal Museum (a place that neither one of us had seen before). It is tucked away behind King’s Cross Station and takes some finding (our phone map helped). Sadly, after we’d trekked there for about 20 minutes after getting off the Tube at King’s Cross, we discovered that, being a Monday, the Museum was closed! Our fault, of course, as we ought to have done our research or, at the very least looked at the website! Anyway, there is always something you need to leave for the next trip, right? So, it was that we left and decided to move on to the place we intended to go to next—St. Pancras Station.

Exploring St. Pancras Station:

I’ve, of course, explored this area really well and know the inside of it too. But Llew is not too familiar with the area…so I suggested we go in there. Also, a few years ago, I had shown him the home of Sir John Betjeman (when we were visiting the Church of St. Bartholomew The Great—he lived very close by there) and informed him that, at one time, he was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and a deeply beloved poet. So, when I told him that Betjeman was chiefly responsible for saving St. Pancreas Station from demolition, he was shocked that so gorgeous a Victorian building was actually being considered for destruction. Why? He kept saying. Well, because it had fallen into disuse and because when the Eurostar Chunnel Train was being designed and constructed, the architects felt that they could use the space to build a spiffy, modern station in keeping with the modernity of the new technology. Betjeman and his pals (among them, Hugh Casson) objected strongly and through a public outcry, the building was saved. The back of it is still used as the entrance by Eurostar passengers, but the front was saved by conversion into a five-star hotel that was purchased by the Renaissance Group of Hotels.

Inside, to honor the contribution of Betjeman, there is a life-size sculpture of the poet with his hand shading his eyes (as if from the sun) as he gazes at the ceiling of this beautiful station. We played around ourselves with our camera as we took pictures there. Then, we made our way to the Renaissance Hotel that was entered through a door that said “Booking Office”—these are the old signs from when the place was a Railway Station.

I took Llew to the back first to show him the staircase that is one of London’s best-kept secrets—it is a curvaceous creation that is well carpeted and reaches up to the topmost floor in a most visually stirring manner. Benedict Cumberbatch once told a magazine that it is his favorite hidden corner of London. Yes, we took pictures here too and then, as it was about 5.00 pm by this time (Afternoon Tea Time!), we went to the attendant at The Hansom and told her that we had come for the Afternoon Tea. She asked if we had reservations and I said “No”! Frankly, I had not thought it was necessary. But indeed, we had to. So she told us that she would need to find out if the chefs could conjure up two full Afternoon Teas for us—a few minutes of suspense followed. Would we be turned away in disappointment? Well, no. It was a positive respond. They could accommodate us. She led us to our seats (a sweet round table) and introduced us to our server who would take care of us for the rest of the evening.

Afternoon Tea at The Hansom:

A word about the space: It is just lovely. A very ingenious design conversion had led to a dreary Booking Hall being converted into a very swanky restaurant with a bar on one side, very soft and comfortable sofas sprinkled around and very attentive staff. I was thinking that this would be a great place to just stop by for a cuppa and a long sit-down, if one were in the area and needed a pick-me-up.

And now a Word About Our Afternoon Tea: In a word, it was lovely. There was a vast tea/coffee/juices menu and we could have as many pots as we chose. Llew chose the Assam and I had the Darjeeling. Later, I had a lovely herbal tea with mint and lavender and Llew had the Earl Grey. And there was also an amuse-bouche served to us while our real Tea was being prepared. These were tiny little tarts filled with what tasted like a mushroom filling, topped with cream cheese whirls and black roasted sesame seeds. Really scrumps!

Then came the three courses you associate with these teas: coronation chicken, a cheese and pickle sandwich (made with blue cheese, Branston Pickle and roasted hazelnuts which was incredibly good—can’t wait to try it at home), egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon with cream cheese and chives. They were all delicious and also unlimited. You could order a whole extra plate and take it home, if you chose to.

We enjoyed them all and then moved on to the second course: the scones. We received two types on another tier of our tea stand, wrapped in a white napkin to keep them warm: there were buttermilks scones and raisin scones and they came with pots of clotted cream and strawberry jam and we enjoyed them too.

But, our heavy FEBs still seated in our tummies, Llew could not believe that we were then required to look at a plate full of cakes. For yes, that was our third course: We received four exquisitely fashioned pastries—all different. One with lemon curd, another made with lavender, a third with macha and fourth with chocolate. But seriously, Llew had no room for them and we simply told the server to wrap them up for us. So, an extra helping of sandwiches and all our cakes went into two pretty carrier bags that we would enjoy for dessert. Llew told me to make sure that we never schedule two big meals like this on the same day again! Oh well…bad planning, I guess. Why did I think that a big breakfast and big tea were fine—as long as we would not eat lunch or dinner? Clearly, I was mistaken. Anyway, this cost us about 60 pounds per head—which is kind of middle of the road for Afternoon Tea prices in London—the high-end ones (in the five-star hotels) are more like 100 pounds and the el cheapo ones (in the pubs) go for about 25-30 pounds.

And with that very happy meal behind us and another item ticked off our London To-Do List, we boarded the Tube train to take us to Paddington. We were back in our friend’s home in time to have dinner but as we were so full, we could not think of joining him. However, he wouldn’t have it and we ended up pecking at his dinner items that he had ear-marked for us. We shared our Afternoon Tea Cakes with him for dessert and on that happy note, we called it a day.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…