The tradition of tea drinking is deeply ingrained in British culture. Tea is for everything. Yet proper old-fashioned tea rooms are disappearing at speed, replaced by hip cafés and coffee shops – and Brighton is no exception.
When I first wrote this guide back in 2019, I decided to seek out some of Brighton’s remaining traditional tea rooms before they disappeared. Fast forward a few years and sadly, all but one have since closed. So this updated guide features my favourite places for afternoon tea in Brighton today that work for various occasions.
From tiny old-fashioned tea rooms to elegant hotels and historic houses, some serve the full works – finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and all – while others are simply lovely places to settle in with a pot of tea and a slice of cake. There is definitely room for both in my book.
Best places for afternoon tea in Brighton
1 Leman
Best for: tea for two in Brighton’s tiniest tea room
Tucked up a side street close to the Kemptown seafront is this miniature tea room. In fact, with just three tables it could be Brighton’s smallest tea room. It’s especially fun if you end up with the place to yourself.
Everything about it screams out British tea room – from the lace table cloths, chintzy china and floral wallpaper to the cake stands in the window and bunting decorating its original facade – complete with checkerboard tiles.
It’s open for morning coffee, breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea and obviously serves plenty of cakes, as well as homemade sandwiches which come with crisps on the side. Nice touch. If you want, you can even hire the whole place for your very own vintage-style birthday tea party!
Find Leman at 15a Madeira Place, Brighton BN2 1TN
2 That Little Tea Shop
Best for: traditional afternoon tea in The Lanes
The cute lace half-curtains and cottage-like façade had me at hello. Tucked away on Meeting House Lane, That Little Tea Shop is exactly the sort of place you hope to find mid shopping spree. It’s run by one half of the team behind Kemptown’s tiny Leman Tea Room we talked about above. This means it has the same cosy atmosphere and chintzy style.
There’s the same love of old-fashioned English tea-room traditions, with plenty of nostalgic charm. Come for a traditional afternoon tea of freshly prepared sandwiches, homemade cakes and scones, or simply stop for a cream tea and a proper pot of tea while wandering around The Lanes.
Find That Little Tea Shop in the Lanes at 17 Meeting House Lane, Brighton BN1 1HB
3 Terre à Terre
Best for: afternoon tea with an eccentric twist
Brighton institution Terre à Terre has never done things conventionally, so it makes sense that its take on afternoon tea is a little different too. The three-tiered spread mixes sweet and savoury treats with the restaurant’s characteristically inventive flavours, bringing miso, soy and sesame into the traditional afternoon-tea equation.
It’s also a great choice if you’re looking for a vegetarian afternoon tea in Brighton, with vegan and non-gluten options available too. This is the perfect option when you want the ceremony of a proper afternoon tea without anything feeling too prim or predictable.
Find Terre à Terre at 71 East Street, Brighton BN1 1HQ
4 The Grand Brighton
Best for: dressing up for tea by the sea
We can’t talk about afternoon tea in Brighton and not mention The Grand, can we? The city’s famous Victorian seafront hotel has been part of Brighton life since 1864, and afternoon tea here is an unapologetically traditional institution.
It’s served in the opulent Victoria Terrace and Lounge, an elegant, a bright plant-filled room overlooking the sea, where you can settle into a green-velvet sofa and make an afternoon of it.
Expect the full ritual: tiers of dainty chef-made sweet and savoury treats, scones with clotted cream and jam and a proper china pot of loose-leaf tea. Compared with others on the list, this is the one for a birthday, celebration or simply an excuse to dress up.
Find The Grand Brighton at 97–99 King’s Road, Brighton BN1 2FW
5 ROYAL PAVILION
Best for: a very special group celebration
The old Royal Pavilion tearoom may have disappeared (see below), but this extravagant afternoon tea affair is the next best thing. The Regency Afternoon Tea Party takes place in the Adelaide Suite, where a three-tier spread of finger sandwiches, scones and patisserie is served amid the palace’s Regency splendour, with views over the estate.
There is one catch: this is a private group experience for a minimum of 12 people, rather than somewhere to pop into for tea à deux. Pavilion admission and an audio guide are included, though, with the option to add a glass of English sparkling wine.
Find the Royal Pavilion at 4/5 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton BN1 1EE
6 PAVILION GARDENS CAFÉ
Best for: tea and cake with a Pavilion view
For something altogether more casual, grab a table outside Pavilion Gardens Café for tea and a generous slice of homemade cake, with the fantastical domes and minarets of the Royal Pavilion as your backdrop.
The little café has a fascinating history of its own. It began life as a wooden refreshment hut in the gardens during WWII, after owner Herbert Tennent was forced to abandon his seafront café when Brighton beach was fortified against invasion. The current Art Deco-style building followed in 1950, designed by a Brighton Art College student, and remarkably, the café is still run by the same family today.
It’s not a formal afternoon tea; just a pot of tea, one of the café’s famous homemade rock cakes and one of the most extraordinary settings in the city.
Find Pavilion Gardens Café in the Royal Pavilion Grounds, New Road, Brighton BN1 1UG
7 Café Rust at Preston Manor
Best for: renowned homemade cake in an Edwardian manor
One of Brighton’s newest tea rooms is tucked inside one of its most historic houses just down the hill from Fiveways. Café Rust hides in Preston Manor, the one-time Edwardian home of Charles and Ellen Stanford overlooking Preston Park, home to an overlooked walled garden and pet cemetery.
The setting is one reason to come: it occupies one of Ellen Stanford’s favourite rooms and has proper old-fashioned tea-room vibes, with creaky floors, dark wood-panelling, and a garden view, watched over by Lady Stanford’s collection of Chinese Dogs of Fo that fills a cabinet behind the counter.
The other is the incredible homemade cake Café Rust is known for around Brighton – think generous slabs of carrot, lemon drizzle or vanilla fudge cake – take your pick. Add a pot of tea and you have my kind of afternoon tea.
Find Café Rust at Preston Manor at Preston Manor, Preston Drove, Brighton BN1 6SD
8 Brighton Regency Routemaster
Best for: afternoon tea on the move
I’m bookmarking this for my next girls get-together! For an afternoon tea on the move, climb aboard a beautifully restored 1965 Routemaster bus and eat your sandwiches and scones while touring the city.
The 90-minute journey takes in Brighton landmarks including the Royal Pavilion, Palace Pier and Regency squares before heading along the seafront towards Rottingdean and Saltdean.
The traditional afternoon tea comes with freshly made sandwiches, cakes and the obligatory scone with clotted cream and jam, with Brighton Gin and Prosecco versions available if you fancy making more of an occasion of it. Maybe it’s a little touristy, but in a nostalgic way and certainly memorable.
Find Brighton Regency Routemaster departing from Pool Valley Coach Station, Brighton BN1 1NJ
9 The Trellis, Rottingdean
Best for: a proper chintzy old-school tea room
Set inside a pretty flint cottage with a front garden dotted with colourful parasols, The Trellis is one of the last traditional English tearooms in Brighton. Inside feels a little like someone’s grandma’s house, with patterned carpet, dark wood furniture and table lamps adding to the perfectly chintzy atmosphere.
I love the selection of homemade cakes displayed temptingly on plates and stands on a dining table rather than behind a slick glass counter. Come for the old-fashioned atmosphere and stay for the chunky homemade scones slathered in cream and jam – it’s also an excellent excuse to escape Brighton and spend the afternoon exploring Rottingdean.
Find The Trellis at 2 High Street, Rottingdean, Brighton BN2 7HF
Gone but not forgotten
The tea rooms below are the places that originally made up this guide. They’ve since closed, but I’m reluctant to simply delete them, partly because I have fond memories of them, and partly because they capture a little piece of Brighton that has disappeared.
So I’m keeping them here. Think of this as a tiny archive of Brighton tea rooms past and a reminder of just how quickly a city changes.
The Mock Turtle
The Mock Turtle was Brighton’s chintziest tea room by far, tucked up a slowly gentrifying side street near the seafront around the corner from the scruffy coach drop-off point at Pool Valley.
It was homey, full of Spode crockery and although it had seen better days, the tea was refreshingly good and the cakes comforting. I loved ordering a rock cake to have with a pot of the Mock Turtle tea blend.
The Mock Turtle was at 4 Pool Valley, Brighton BN1 1NJ
Talk of Tea
Whenever I found myself on a shopping spree around Churchill Square, I used to love making a beeline for Time for Tea. It had a lovely location on a pretty residential side street around the corner from Brighton’s secret museum in a private shopwindow.
The space was quiet and traditionally decorated and the tea list was extensive. From the usual classic black mixes to fruity concoctions like ‘sundown’: lemon balm, peppermint, blackberry leaves, lemongrass, camomile, lavender flowers, rose petals, orange blossoms and heather.
They served the warm homemade madeleines – four for £2.50! – doorstep sandwiches, toast and jam, big slices of homemade cake, and a full ‘afternoon tea’ works.
Talk of Tea was at 26 Spring Street, Brighton BN1 3EF
Royal Pavilion Tea Rooms
These exclusive tearooms were the Royal Pavilion’s best-kept secret and you could only access them with a ticket which meant they were pretty quiet most of the time. They were set in two rooms thought to have been the dressing room of King George’s last mistress, Lady Conyngham – a doorway in here led to a secret staircase which goes directly to the King’s bedroom on the floor below (which emerges behind a door to the right of his bed…)
It was fun to bear this in mind as you tucked into your Prince George Afternoon Tea while gazing out over the Pavilion Gardens from your little window seat – or from the balcony in the summer.
Chard
When this was open, I could pretty much find a reason to include this place on every blog post I wrote on Brighton at the time. It isn’t technically a ‘tea room’; it’s more of a cafe-restaurant, but its beautiful dining room makes a lovely spot for some tea and contemplation.
I loved nabbing one of the tables at the front for some people watching. I’d order up a pot of tea, a chunky slice of carrot cake or some warm buttery banana bread.
Chard Restaurant was inside iGiGi General Store at 31A Western Road, Hove, BN3 1AF
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