Lady Bea’s English Tea House — Restaurant in Western Mature Area

I was SO excited to come here as a longtime afternoon tea foodie and food writer. I dressed up for the occasion, made a reservation, and even shared my excitement with friends beforehand. Unfortunately this was one the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had :(

I pre-ordered the vegan afternoon tea set (they offer both gluten-free and vegan options on their menu), and my partner (not vegan) planned to order a la carte. Even though we arrived a few minutes before our reservation, we had to stand in the entrance with the door open in the cold for 10 mins to be seated. When we were finally checked in, I mentioned that I had preordered the vegan set and was told “you can tell your waiter”. We were seated (the decor was beautiful!) and placed our orders. I asked the waiter what came with the vegan set and he didn’t know (I was worried it wouldn’t actually be vegan since I knew this place was newly opened, and I don’t always trust that restaurants — especially new restaurants — know what vegan means). My partner ordered a coffee and the soup/smoked salmon sandwich.

Unfortunately, the coffee was terrible (watered down) and my tea never arrived. I waited 45 minutes to get my pot of tea and I had to ASK again for it. I was getting jealous of the tables around us who arrived after us and were being served faster and all received tea timers (I did not). My partner’s soup was served cold, and his sandwich was tiny. They brought “milk” to the table for us to share but I had to ask if it was non-dairy and then the waiter had to go and check and come back later with non-dairy milk (but I had no tea to put it in for a long time!) The scones I received were tiny and rock-hard — I think they were gluten-free — but the worst scones I’ve ever had :( and had to stare at them for 20 mins before even trying them because I was given no knife. We also had a really hard time flagging down any staff even though there seemed to be a million people working. We were also freezing sitting by the window and had to wear our jackets. Note that the tables are crammed in there really tightly too so even getting up to grab my jacket and put it on was an ordeal.

We were actually considering just getting up and leaving at the 45 min mark when I still hadn’t received my tea.

However, I insisted we wait because “maybe the tea tray will be good??” Unfortunately, the tea tray was very very sad in comparison to the non-vegan photos I had seen online. It was 4 little crostini bites, one half little sandwich (with all the same spread on each one), a dry (what I’m assuming?) gluten-free super sugary cake, some little mini donut thing covered in sugar, and 3 ROTTEN, WET chocolate covered strawberries. For $52 I would have expected MUCH better — at least proper tea sandwiches (!) — not little bites. When I mentioned to the waiter that our strawberries were rotten, he just said “sorry” and didn’t offer to bring us anything else.

My partner was getting very upset the whole time we were there. I left a 10% tip for the poor service and this came to $85 (!!). We actually went to another restaurant afterwards since I didn’t feel like I had an actual meal.

I appreciate that they have options for vegan/gluten-free, but please don’t offer this option if they’re going to be terrible. I wanted to give benefit of the doubt but my partner’s food was bad too, the $52 I spent completely not worth it, and the time we spent waiting was a waste of our afternoon. This place has so much potential (it’s beautiful inside) but sadly I don’t want to take the risk...

So the food and tea was delicious to start off positive, but the experience makes me not want to return.

So I booked for seven people and a baby almost two weeks a head of time since I know the place gets busy. I couldn't register for that many people online so I called. They didn't pick up so I texted and then started the reservation process. I asked if the baby counted and if so, we could just use a chair and then the baby can stay in their babyseat in case they don't have high chairs, which is completely fine no problem. I get the reservation sorted and even respond to the text confirming the order a few days ahead of time.

When I arrived today it was busy, as expected. I tell the front of house staff that there will only be 7 of us since the baby is being babysat and apologize for not telling them earlier. They said great and then looked me up in their system. I guess there was a double booking with the same name so the manager asked if we could go upstairs. Sure, no problem. We go upstairs and there's 6 chairs, but the table is only set for 4 people. I tell the server, who looks completely overwhelmed and not wanting to be there, maybe first day nerves, that I had a reservation for seven people. They said ok I'll add a chair and she leaves.

We sit down, but quickly figure out that there's not enough room for 7 adult people at the table. I explain this to our table server when they arrive and they say that they will look into this. When they return they said that they are fully booked and that they can't move us.

It took a bit of time to get the rest of the table set, I had to bother a different server to get the remaining three menus and honey for my tea, and then the wrong tea was provided to the wrong customer. These are all minor issues, but with a not so great experience to start off it just doesn't help.

Throughout the entire meal there was unused tables that if they combined with others, there would have been enough room for us, unless it's against the fire code and then that's understandable. We had to move our plates and tea pot onto the side tables so we had enough room on the table for everything. Even our table server said that there was no room for food and our tea when delivering. The server tried to make light of the situation and I appreciate all of their hard work.

There was no compensation for the error and no apologies. I understand we are human, we make mistakes, but it would have been nice if the manager checked in with us or even offered a bit of a discount since the error was on their end. It was clearly understaffed and this was not the experience I was hoping for. The food, tea and our server were great and the reason I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1. I recommend if you have a larger reservation than 4 people to go...

TLDR: Nice atmosphere, cute place, but way too little food for the money. I left hungry, even though I had spent over $50 with the tip.

Long version: We went to Lady Bea's today to get some lunch. I want to start with the positives.

First of all, Lady Bea's is a charming place with a great atmosphere. From the moment you walk in, you get that feeling of being in a tea parlor. We had made reservations in advance, but the restaurant wasn't overly busy, so we had our pick of where to sit.

The service was good and attentive. We were checked on adequately, and we were not rushed.

I decided to try the Sweetheart Afternoon Tea, which costs $39. Initially, I thought these prices were for two, but they are not- they are simply for one person. I wanted to try it anyway, so I decided to order a cup of soup for $7 as well. My friend ordered the soup and sandwich combo, which was $22.

The food was good. However, there was not nearly enough of it for the price. For $39, you receive a pot of tea, five pastries, and two scones, along with clotted cream, custard, and preserves. Which sounds like a lot, but each pastry was perhaps 1 inch in diameter. There were only pastries- it didn't include finger sandwiches or anything savory (the filling stuff). You could have walked literally down the road and gotten twice as much from Duchess Bake Shop for half the price.

I have attended high tea before, and I know it can be expensive. The last high tea I attended was at the Hotel Fairmont in Lake Louise, Alberta. It was the same price per person, but there was far more food, which was far more filling —and that's at a luxury hotel that charges hundreds of dollars a night!

My friend agreed that the food was good but overpriced. Her sandwiches were tiny. If she hadn't been sharing my already small tea tray, she would have left hungry just like I did.

This is not a place to visit if you're looking for a meal. This is a place to visit if you don't mind splurging on some nice vibes and relaxing tea.

Overall, I would consider visiting again, but only if they improved their portion sizes and expanded their...