Please note, Camellia's Tea House is leaving Kingly Court in May 2015. See their website for more news, when available.

Camellia's Tea House is a calm retreat on the second floor of Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street, away from the hectic shopping along Oxford Street and Regent Street. 

You can visit for a pot of tea and a slice of cake but they also offer a full afternoon tea including a gluten-free option.

Plus, there are always gluten-free cakes and breads available if you would prefer less than the full cake stand.

But, I'm never one to shy away from the full afternoon tea cake stand so I went to compare the gluten-free and standard afternoon teas to see if both were something to recommend. 

For more afternoon tea reviews see:
Best Afternoon Tea in London.

Afternoon Tea Information

Venue: Camellia's Tea House 
Top Floor, 2.12/2.13 Kingly Court
Carnaby Street
London W1B 5PW

Nearest Tube Station: Oxford Circus
Use Journey Planner or the Citymapper app to plan your route by public transport. 

Opening Hours: Daily 12-7pm.

Afternoon Tea Cost: £17.95 per person (2014 rate)

Dress Code: No dress code. 

Photography: No photography.

Children: Welcome. 

Reservations: 020 7734 9939

Official Website: www.camelliasteahouse.com 

Camellia's Tea House Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea Review

This one room tea room is all about tea with a wall of loose leaf teas ready to buy, plus teapots, crockery, cake stands and more for sale.

There's always gentle background music and the sound of happy chatter from the customers.

Upon arrival at Camellia's you need to wait to be seated but then you do need to go up to the counter to place your order. There are less than ten tables inside (plus a few more outside) so if you are having afternoon tea it is better to book in advance.

Afternoon tea includes three finger sandwiches, two warm scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, and three sweet treats (cakes). Plus a small dish of seasonal fruit.

You can choose from over 100 teas as one of the founders of the tea house is a homeopathic doctor so has created many blends for well being. I really like the 'Beautiful Skin' blend but also came away with 'Dream Tea' after this visit.

Coffee is also on the menu which may be good for coffee drinkers but hearing the coffee grinder was a bit annoying as it can be noisy.

Every table has fresh flowers in a small teapot and sugar cubes in a teacup. There are no white tablecloths and linen napkins as there are wooden tables of varying sizes and paper napkins, and there's a very relaxed and inviting atmosphere here. It can get warm in the tea house in the summer and there isn't any air-con but they have fans.

Our tea was served in a black Chinese-style teapot with a small Chinese tea cup. While all the tea is loose leaf, it was tied into a sachet so no strainer was needed. A glass of water was kindly brought to the table with the teas and cake stands.

The gluten-free sandwich bread was good as this can often be quite dry. And I actually found the gluten-free scones even better than the standard ones. They were both warm but the gluten-free scone cut really nicely and didn't have the dense texture you often find.

We received three sweet treats (cakes) each and there was a chocolate brownie on both cake stands and I couldn't tell them apart.

I really enjoyed this gluten-free afternoon tea and was really impressed by the value for money too. I found this just as filling as other afternoon teas and we happily stayed for near 1.5 hours. I'll definitely be going back soon.

Do see more Recommended Gluten-Free Afternoon Teas in London.