Somewhere under the depths of Soho is a tiny glimpse into the magical realm, complete with sweet treats, bubbling potions and your very own potion master. Cutter and Squidge (arguably one if the cutest names for a bakery ever, even typing it is making me want to go all Mary Berry and start testing sponges for bounciness and tapping the bottom of a pie) is currently running another of its beautifully detailed and themed afternoon teas at their Soho cafe on Brewer Street named, The Potion Room. It is absolutely not in any way a loosely Harry Potter themed room…*ahem*…I hope you understand.
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I was invited along by my friend Alice, I suppose just a rather passive magical themed afternoon tea where we were given a tower of food and left to our own devices but oh no, The Potion Room is part afternoon tea, part interactive theatrical experience. We took our assigned seat at the school desks and before long we were joined by Professor Vinkeltron, an enthusiastic eccentric potions master with a penchant for exotic pets. She led us through some exciting experiments full of surprises before we were treated to a heaving cake stand full of treats. I opted for the veggie plate which had some amazing sandwiches, pies, and miniature delights on it before we enjoyed some warm rock cakes with clotted cream and jam. The supply of food was plentiful, the tea seemingly endless and lots of enticing sounding cocktails were available for an additional price.
Somehow The Potion Room struck an ideal balance between interactive and engaging entertainment as well as giving you enough space to sit and chat with your pals and have a giggle as you waved your wands and drank your themed tea. The room itself is a pokey basement room that lends itself perfectly to the notion of a dungeon classroom. It has been decorated to within an inch of its life and you honestly feel utterly immersed in this magical realm for the duration of your afternoon tea (around two hours).
The grand finale of the event is the trolley witch making her way past your desks to offer you a treat or two to take home with you. It’s the perfect way to end the evening and I loved taking a slice of cake (I think it was dragon snot flavour!) into the office with me the next day as a treat for my colleagues.
The Potion Room turned out to be just the tonic after a day at work, and provided the perfect amount of escapism and carbohydrates to have fun with friends and taste all the amazing pastries and cakes Cutter and Squidge has to offer. I even treated myself to a London Fog (which I NEVER see on menus in London so was very excited by!) for the journey home.
For any Harry Potter fan, or fan of the wizarding world in general, I would highly recommend a trip to The Potion Room. Nobody does bizarre and brilliant quite like the British, baking in a basement.
that emily 