Once Upon A Tea Room — Restaurant in Cheltenham

A friend and I booked a vegan afternoon tea yesterday (a Saturday) and arrived early but the tearoom didn't open until 15:30 which was the time of our booking, so a member of staff suggested we popped next door for a drink which wasn't a problem. In doing so, we ended up being 20 mins late (our own fault) and the same woman didn't then recognise us when we turned up and mentioned we might be charged extra as they thought we were a no-show (despite having seen us a few minutes earlier and knowing we were next door!). Luckily they decided not to charge us. She also didn't seem aware that I'd booked two vegan afternoon teas until I mentioned it. So all in all, not a great or the friendliest of starts although she did make an effort to be friendlier from then on.

The decor was very nice in the tearoom but somehow lacked atmosphere and it was cold in there. When our food finally arrived I was surprised that quantitywise we only got two small hummus sandwiches and half (why half?) a cucumber sandwich per person – these are quite bog standard vegan fillings so it would have ideally been nice to see something a little more inventive given that this was their new vegan menu. We had a small scone each with a choice of jam, plus some lovely vegan cream which was a nice touch. There was a chocolate cake in a teacup which was lovely and rich, and some kind of fruity/creamy treat in a very small shot glass.

While the food was nice enough, and I didn't want to say anything to staff at the time as I didn't know what my friend was thinking, I'd say it was a basic and small afternoon tea in my experience, and not worth £30 per person – I think it should have been nearer the £20 mark, and my friend agreed with me when we spoke about it later. Given the average nature of the food and the frosty welcome, I won't be returning here or recommending...

I'm finally getting around to reviewing after an outstanding Pudding Evening in December. I attended as a party of 4; me and a friend and my 2 daughters.

Where to even start....

The food was incredible, we had 10 desserts served to us and every single one was made to perfection. A favourite of mine has to be the crumble, I've never had one like it and can't wait to have it again.

My eldest daughter managed 8 of the 10 desserts, my friend around 5 and myself and my youngest a mere 3 between us (poor effort on both our part) but the hosts were more than happy to supply us with boxes to take away anything we hadn't managed.

The staff were all lovely, with 2 in the kitchen who popped out a few times to see how everyone was enjoying the evening and a lovely Welsh lady serving us our drinks and desserts and nothing was too much trouble for her.

The atmosphere was cosy and intimate. The lights were low and string lights lined the beautifully set table. I think there were around 15 guests and although we were all on one long table, it was easy to separate yourselves into your own group if you wanted to.

We spent the evening playing charades (from the Christmas crackers provided), chatting and laughing as if we were at our own table at home.

Thank you Once Upon A Tea Room for a truly magical night and perfect start to our festive...

Went for afternoon tea with some friends. We had chose this place as I had heard really good things about it. A couple of things disappointed me. We weren’t given a menu so we didn’t know what the afternoon tea included. The food was average except for the very small portion of sausage roll which was lovely! The scones although cooked were very pale and small and the cakes were ok, nothing special. Service wasn’t great, I appreciate it was busy but little things like they didn’t know what the cakes were when we asked (if we had seen a menu we wouldn’t of had to ask) and they didn’t clear our plates/cups away. My friend asked if she could swap the ham sandwich as she doesn’t eat ham and was told no as the sandwiches had already been made. I was so looking forward to this afternoon but was left feeling disappointed. £30 is too much for the quality and service. There are much better places in Cheltenham for...