Mama Doreen's Emporium — Restaurant in England

bitterly disappointed

i wanted to try the take away afternoon tea for one after reading some great a reviews about the place. I came all the way from Leeds to Harrogate to see how good it is. Im not really a fan of cold sandwiches or cream, so i was happy to ditch it and enjoy the other items that came along with it. I was most looking forward to the mini yorkshire pudding with roast beef and macaron. The place looked pretty, staff were polite and friendly. I ordered my take away to be picked up later and asked the staff to remind me what comes with it etc After spending several hours in Harrogate i came to picked up my take away. Beautifully presented in two boxes, one for savoury and other for sweet. When i got home opened the boxes, and to my horror,no beef Yorkshire pudding or macaron in sight, substitue were i think it was egg mayo in brioche or might be a yorkshire pud but didnt try it.... my worse nightmare,i dont even like egg mayo or what ever it was. the quiche and scone looked fine as i like them. The mini sandwiches i wasnt keen, one was cucumber sandwich, the other was i think was smoked salmon, and something else. Not my cuppa tea so didnt eat them. Looked at the sweets.... to my horror there were no macroon, the substitue was a pastry tart, with i think squirt of cream and starwberry on top. so wasted £15, if they had told me that they had sold out then i wouldnt have got it, you cant just substitue a meat to a non meat, and macroon with a cream tart. im not saying i will not go back again i will IF next time i get what i...

My husband and I visited Harrogate for the first time last week. The weather was atrocious but what a lovely town! We hadn't booked anywhere to eat, thinking we could just grab a snack somewhere but then we passed Mama Doreen's and couldn't resist going in as it looked very enticing. Plus, a very quick scan of their website and menu had our mouths watering.

The place was packed! Indeed, the rear part of the restaurant was hosting a private party. However, they could squeeze us in, and boy were we glad they did.

Right from the get-go the staff were very lovely. They were all very friendly, and so helpful and attentive. As our time was limited we opted for a cake selection plate and a meringue the size of which I have never seen before, but it caught my eye on the way passed the cake cabinet.

Tables are beautifully laid out with mismatched vintage china plates/cups/saucers and the atmosphere as a whole was great.

I can honestly say the cakes were to die for. The owner advised they were all made inhouse and you can definitely taste that 'home baked' quality. We say a huge number of afternoon tea selections getting served and they all looked delicious, in fact, we were gutted to not have the time to experience one.

If you are looking for a fabulous afternoon tea, a slice of cake or a lovely lunch in Harrogate this is the place to visit. Yum! Our daughter is about to start university in Leeds so, finger's crossed, this will give us an excuse to return to...

I have been to Mama Doreens many times and it has become my favourite place to go, we don't even live in Harrogate but we came here from Leeds. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of coming here for the Easter Afternoon tea which was a massive disappointment. My friend and I asked for no fish on our afternoon tea which was met with disdain by our waitress (we were later told that this is not personal it is just what she is like - perhaps hospitality business is not for her?). Well, you guessed it, we got fish. Luckily we are not truly allergic to it but imagine if we were? I would have liked to say they were very busy because of Easter and that is why the service was subpar but I saw staff hanging about chatting so many times that I cannot possibly excuse the behaviour. The manager came over to apologise and was very friendly, I cannot fault that but there were just way too many things gone wrong and I would expect more for £34.50 pp. We also asked for tap water TWICE and that was not brought to us in the 90 minutes we were there. Funnily enough, it was on the bill. The amount of food was not much different from the usual afternoon tea you get for £20pp so this was very poor value for what you got. The sandwiches were tiny and tasteless. Some money off the bill probably would’ve helped with feeling less cheated. Therefore we left massively disappointed with the experience, it will be a while before I try this place...