Helenium Tea Room — Restaurant in England

This is the tea room at barnsdale gardens near Oakham, which I really like, and is well worth a visit. I came with my grandson, who is 13. We have a hobby of rating tea rooms based on ambience, food, friendliness, etc. I had told him he would really like this tea room. However, this is the first time I had been to the gardens in spring, and we found the tea room a bit cold, bare and lacking ambience. They did not offer cheese scones, so we had a bacon sandwich and a pot of tea. ( but no assam) The bacon sandwich was nice, but not memorable. The bread was OK, but a little dry. It was a big sandwich, but served whole and not cut in half, and no knife was provided. We asked for bacon well done, but it wasn't. The staff were OK, but not particularly welcoming. We just got the feeling that this is a tearoom that is out of season. They have a nice seating area outside. On a warm day, it was very nice during previous visits. We drove an hour for this visit, and it was a bit of an anticlimax. We did see hatching tadpoles in a pond in one of the gardens, which my grandson was very pleased about. This is a tearoom that I would use only if I was visiting the gardens. I wouldn't come here specifically to go to the tearoom....

Food is usually good. However, I really do not like feeling I've been ripped off. My husband placed our order whilst I sat down, I had chosen the meat chilli jacket potato, he shouted across 'do you want cheese on that', the staff member at the till had asked him. Thinking, as it was offered, it was included in the price, I said 'might as well'. My food came, with a small scattering of cheese, and was nice. However, when my husband gave me the receipt, I noticed that the total he had been charged did not equate to what I had worked it out as. Went to the desk to query only to be told the small scattering of cheese had cost us £2! It wasn't us that requested it. It was offered, so I really think charging for what was offered is outrageous. Probably will not stop us from visiting, but we will definitely check and query everything in the future. It's not like the prices are...

It's an afternoon tea experience I would not do again or recommend. Afternoon tea should be a lovely afternoon treat consisting of quality foods that are well presented. We were served tastless dry finger sandwiches in white or brown bed no speciality breads. Ham was gristly cheese sliced with no flavour. Egg no seasoning. Slab of dry cake you chose on the way in from an unappetising stand. Sausage roll was cold dry and had no flavour. Dessert in a glass looked so unappetising we didn't even bother to try it. A complete waste of money. Afternoon tea should be a nice treat consisting of quality ingredients that are fresh and well presented and leave you wanting more. This treat scored zero on each of the above. Carriages of Fen Drayton or Rutland Hall Always...