Frasers tea room — Restaurant in Chelmsford

This used to be one of my favourite places to go for afternoon tea, but not anymore.

Cost - used to be £15 for a standard afternoon tea. Now it has jumped up to £19.50 and the only tea/coffee included is standard breakfast tea/Nescafé coffee. Everything else costs extra on top of the £19.50 so I ended up with tap water as I cannot drink standard tea/coffee. Hygiene issues - server repeatedly wiping her nose on her hand and sniffing whilst serving us. Allergy issues - server told me she didn't know what was gluten free and what wasn't. To the point where I was taken into the kitchen and asked what I could eat! Non-existent theme - I had specifically booked in April because of their Easter-themed afternoon tea they had advertised with Easter cupcakes, Easter fudge etc but ours wasn't themed. There wasn't even a Mini Egg on the plate. Not relaxing - our slot was 3pm-5pm but at 20 to 5 the server came in, turned off the music and walked out the room. Making it clear it was time for us to go. She then cleared the table, including our drinks, so we had no choice but to leave. She then rushed out and jumped in her car as we left. Takeaway food - we asked for ALL of our remaining afternoon tea to be taken away with us. This was given to us in the bottom of paper bags (not boxes) and my sandwich had been thrown in the bin. Inappropriate conversation - the server pointed out two guests who had been "moaning" and told us more information than she should have about a couple who were not happy with their accommodation at Frasers.

I emailed Frasers with an incredibly kind email saying I wasn't trying to cause any trouble and just wanted to let them know my bad experience so others didn't encounter the same. I received quite an unprofessional response that did not address all of the issues and even said that my email had upset their server! No concern for the customer. I emailed back again that hygiene issues and allergy issues are very serious and that their response was quite hurtful considering I had been a regular customer for years and was only trying to help. That email was ignored by them and I haven't heard anything since.

Safe to say I will never be returning. Anyone with allergies or wanting a relaxing time or concerned about hygiene should steer clear. Obviously their concern is not...

Why have I not been here before now .... 10 minutes from home & a little gem. Afternoon Tea birthday treat for my 2 besties was the reason for our visit. I have a few dietary requirements, that, if not adhered to exactly can make me very unwell. I had a detailed conversation with a lovely young lady at the time of booking & details were also reconfirmed the day before. It was spot on & extremely tasty, we were told if we did not like a particular cake to let them know & they would try to accommodate us. Huge cups of delicious fresh ground coffee, good service, lovely atmosphere & an overall enjoyable afternoon. In my opinion great value for money, for the delicious homemade...

Really bad service was told food would be atleast 20 minutes. So I ordered a drink and some cake with my partner after 20 minutes still no cakes or even drinks they did not apologise and they even managed to serve the people that came in after us cake and tea but I guess just not us after 20 minutes of waiting we decided enough was enough and we left and not one of the 4 people serving that was there noticed us leave we even waiting to see if they noticed us. . The place is a joke how hard is it to service some cake that we was sitting next too and some bottled drinks nothing they had to make. . Will never...