The Chocolate Teapot — Restaurant in East Suffolk

Not an experience we will repeat. We booked afternoon tea for 5 people 48 hours in advance stating all our options. You would expect this would ensure the food would be ready in good time. We arrived early but accepted there would mean a wait. The waitress asked what we would like to drink but didn't tell us that our choices were not part of the package. At no time during the meal were we asked which coffee or tea we wanted as part of the afternoon tea. There were only 2 other customers seated at the time so we expected that there wouldn't be a lengthy delay in our food being served after the time booked.

We were wrong. When the food eventually arrived 25 minutes after the booked time, it was only the savoury items. A few other customers arrived and were served their food (not pre-ordered) before us. Eventually after we had eaten the savoury items and waited for a considerable time for the sweet items we enquired when they would be served. This resulted in a senior staff member coming to our table and instead of giving any reason or apology for the delay she proceeded to argue with us in front of the other customers saying it was our fault!!

The savoury food was tasty but the scones were heavy and pale and in some cases lacked fruit. The jam was cheap and devoid of fruit. The cakes arrived later and appeared undercooked.

The service was inefficient and slow considering how few customer they had. During the lengthy waits we were regaled with inappropriate music and lots of chatter and giggling from the kitchen. When the savoury plates had been cleared away and the sweets eventually arrived we had to ask for plates to eat from.

At the point of paying they attempted to charge more than £26 extra for our drinks but we hadn't even been offered or served the coffees and teas included in the package. Eventually they offered to reduce the over charge by £16 not the full over charge.

Not the enjoyable experience we expected...

Dreadful!!! Do not be swayed by the 5 star reviews, you will be disappointed. This place is as good as it's name! The service was unbelievably slow considering there were more staff than customers. The food, when it did eventually arrive, came in dribs and drabs, was disappointing and incredibly overpriced. Eventually tea and coffee beverages were offered and served (part of a pre-booked afternoon tea) . Walk-in customers were frequently seated, served and prioritised over those who had pre-booked. The toilet facility was disgustingly dirty and the journey to get to it included stepping over a vacuum cleaner abandoned in the doorway. When we eventually gave up waiting for the remaining part of our meal to arrive, I decided to enquire as to how long this would be as we had been waiting a very long time, I was then rudely confronted by the person in charge in the middle of the restaurant who proceeded to discount my concerns and argue with me in front of the other diners, not great customer care at all. To finish the whole experience off, the beverages that had been advertised as part of the afternoon tea were added on to the bill, £25.34 per person. I cannot express how disappointing this experience was, please don't make the same mistake as we did. I would have given 0 if this...

I went there today with my family and I'm sad to say I was frankly disappointed. The service in this place is incredibly slow!

Upon arrival, the table wasnt cleaned, and customers sitting next to us also had to ask for their table to be cleaned, which was covered in water and cake crumbs.

For the amount of people that were actually inside eating, we had to wait nearly 40 minutes just for our drinks order to be taken, and we were overlooked about 3 times by other customers coming in afterwards, and the waitresses even walked past our table 3 times, without even checking to ask!

On a positive note, the food (despite waiting ages for) was worth the wait and was cooked nice and fresh.

Just a few pointers for the business owners, there is no baby changing facilities in the bathroom, or any diasabled access for wheelchair users.

This could be a much better establishment, but due to lack of space its quite hard to facilitate, and I would reccommend training some of your staff on customer service, as we didnt really receive a very warmly vibe, which would make you want to...