The Willow Tea Rooms — Attraction in Scotland

Not impressed. We didn't have a reservation but were seated immediately upstairs. Now, me and my fella aren't the smallest of people and despite there being 3 empty tables along the back wall, the woman sat us at a round table right in the walkway from the kitchen to the cafe floor. As such, my chair was getting brushed every time someone went past. That's a small issue. My bigger issue is with the service. Yes we were seated quickly and our order taken relatively soon after, my tea-cup was brought to the table.....and then we were then left waiting for almost 25 minutes for our food. For a tea, a coffee and 2 scones. That is a ridiculous wait time for a very simple order. I thought that maybe the food was coming out in order of which table ordered first - until a table after us were served their kitchen prepared food before us. I was ready for walking out as finally our drinks arrived. His saucer was dirty, my saucer was dirty, the scones didn't taste fresh, mine was very chewy, stingy with the jam which was runny. Nobody spoke to us from placing the order to the order arriving, not even to check in and say it wouldn't be long. Nobody came back to check if everything was ok when we finally got our order. Just all in all a very poor experience. Having worked in hospitality myself for many years, I feel you need to train your staff to be more efficient. There were at least 6 different waitresses on the floor in the time we were there. For around 45 covers? I used to handle 60-70 covers by myself. They are running backwards and forwards to the same table with various items in their hands - 4 glasses of prosecco, 2 teapots per hand, 2 waitresses to the same table at the same time with 3 items between them. Use trays. More efficient and much safer. I still won't be...

This was on my bucket list and I wish I had left it there! As a treat, myself and my sister booked an afternoon tea at Buchanan St and it was so disappointing. We asked for some sandwiches without butter/marg/mayo for myself and I was given 2 cucumber with cream cheese and 2 salmon with cream cheese. I ate the cucumber ones but couldnt eat the salmon ones as the salmon was chewy and rubbery. Sister got 1cucumber and cream cheese,1 salmon and cream cheese,1 ham, 1 egg mayo. I am sure that the kitchen had ham, chicken or even cheese that I could have had as a selection instead of just these 2. Also, salmon is not something that everyone likes so maybe asking if that would be ok with the customer should be something they are asked. Asked for 2 plain scones and got 1 with fruit in it. Asked for more tea and waited 15minutes for it. To be honest, the tea was the only good thing about this experience but at that price I should have just gone home and made myself a cuppa there. Staff were friendly enough, especially the young asian girl whom I believe was called Joy. She was very nice. Like I say, this was a treat but it really did not deliver as one. Such a shame. Not sure if I would even try the Sauchiehall St one as this has put me off. I hate to complain but as someone on a very tight budget that was having a very rare treat with her sister I think I have to complain on this...

A bit of an underwhelming experience, given the hype and the 5-star reviews. The booking and front desk service were great, but the wait staff seemed rushed and not very knowledgeable. We were told that the cheesecake of the day was salted caramel, but a strawberry one showed up instead.

It was also very weird that only the afternoon tea came had scones served with clotted cream, while the scones ordered separately came with either butter or whipped cream - which is not normal at all... I've never seen whipped cream served with scones! It's almost as if they wanted to cut corners and save money by not offering clotted cream outside of the afternoon tea, and serve cheaper whipped cream instead.

On the positive side, the goat cheese salad was excellent and the sandwiches were quite okay. The plain scones, sadly, were dry and not served warm. The tea was okay (we tried two different varieties - the Scottish breakfast and the Assam Darjeeling blend), but nothing to write home about. Coffee was average, unremarkable.

All in all, it was a bit of a disappointing experience and we've definitely had significantly better afternoon teas and scones elsewhere in the UK. I think this place may have fallen victim to being featured/advertised on the tour buses and travel blogs, and the hype surrounding the history. Maybe it used to be great, but it seems like they need to revisit their...