The Tea Rooms — Restaurant in Folkestone and Hythe District

I was invited along to a afternoon tea to celebrate a friend's birthday. She had a voucher birthday gift for the classic afternoon tea. It was very poor. She was advised that the cafe do not earn much from the voucher schemes. This information should not have affected our experience. But the quality of the afternoon tea has really let this business down. What we received was not the products on usual sale. We had 3 mini sandwiches that were dry and stale tasting. 2 tiny mini scones that were dry - not the scones that are usually served on the counter. The other items were 2 choc rolo size items that tasted poor chemical tasting. A piece of dry choc cake in a square that was also poor. It was as if they purchased very cheaply from cash and carry and tried to fill up the rack to make it look like a afternoon tea. I felt very sad for my friend. Her birthday and she was served very low quality. But I felt sorry for the business. As they have really given a poor impression of what they serve - the choices on the counter looking so much better. A afternoon tea should surely consist of proper sponge cakes or cupcakes or gateaux. The sandwiches should be moist and tasty and should be more than a sliver. The classic afternoon tea states unlimited tea. But nobody came to offer more tea - I asked and received 1 second cup. The best part of the package was the small pot of jam. At least that tasted as it should. But for 2 people to believe they were having a special afternoon feast of sandwiches and cakes to celebrate a birthday. To then receive a very light selection of items that tasted chemical and manufactured and not at all tasty was such a disappointment. These packages cost £18. We would have enjoyed a large toasted tea cake and a proper sandwich far better. And that cost would not have been anywhere near £18. We are members of a local ladies walking group. Over 100 ladies. So this experience would have been shared and talked about. So no chance of re bookings after such a poor experience. The business really needs to look at what it offers on this classic afternoon tea. Really unpalatable items. Such a shame for a...

I wish I had taken a photo. I was unsure about 2 or 3 stars. I wanted to support what seemed like a cute new tea room....small business rather than spend a load in Costa etc... but I won't be visiting again for lunch as I over paid nearly £9 for a small jacket potatoe with a small spoon of tuna on it (it was described as tuna crunch on the menu with spring onions and celery but this was missed for reasons of it apparently being a new menu....I did mention it and was offered a small bowl of chopped up spring onion to mix in myself....not quite the same as what you expect from the menu description). No money off was offered at the error or any sort of compensation, which led to me not ordering our planned cakes and tea for dessert. My daughter had egg mayo sandwich on white bread and enjoyed this....hence the 3 stars (but it was still expensive). I think the cakes look nice....just baffles me when an independent shop doesn't seem to care when they make an error and surely the cook serving up a small jacket with the smallest size of tuna knows they are trying it on charging £8.75. One white bread sandwich with egg and my potato with 2 diet coke cans was just over £19. The home made slaw is served in one of those small white ketchup sauce dishes....tiny but nice. It would have been all fine if I paid £5 for my plate to be fair....just expected more considering the prices and an error should be put right. Reading the other reviews...I can see it is probably hit and miss and yes...it is...

Soup is very nice in the cafe, however it a very small portion for £6.45, I'd rather have a big bowl of soup less bread. Yes I did mention it I was told that the bowls you use are big, actually they're are a standard bowl size, it's a lunch menu option not a starter so the size of bowl only half filled up as your standard is why I wrote the review because that's not a full portion especially at the top price, unfortunately I left feeling ripped off and on another point the price on the wall says 4.95 for soup, and that's also misleading you should have a price advertised for very small eat in soup 6.45 and then also the takeaway price. It also seems you have a few reviews about portion size so maybe if you're going to charge top prices for a tea room it also needs to be good portion sizes, so people don't go away still feeling hungry and I've just seen on on Facebook page a picture of soup and it's a full bowl of soup in the picture so I'm pretty steaming about it especially as I did say about it and yes it is difficult times and that works both ways, I was most definitely ripped off with that serving and it's the second time it's been that size so clearly you think perhaps people won't notice, I'll not be back now unfortunately I can't justify treating myself to lunch when it's not even a adult...