Adeline Restaurant & Bar - The Memoir Club — Restaurant in London

A friend and I attended the number twelve restaurant for afternoon tea. I had stated in email correspondence, twice, that we would like the vegan afternoon tea, as the buy a gift voucher was for vegan afternoon tea.

We arrived and were seated quickly. About 10 minutes after arriving we were told we had not made a request for vegan afternoon tea. I explained the buy a gift voucher was for vegan afternoon tea and that I had also stated in my last email to them that we would like it to be vegan. I attempted to show the email but the server was not interested. We were told we could still have the vegan afternoon tea but there would be a 20 minute wait for the scones to bake. I said that was fine and we were told we could have our drinks in the meantime which we accepted. We were given dairy milk and I had to ask for soya milk, despite the fact they knew we were having vegan afternoon tea.

Over half an hour went by and we still didn't have our food. The restaurant was not very busy - from what we could see there were only three other small parties who all received their food a good while before us, despite us arriving before them. A server came and told us they had checked in the kitchen and the scones still were not ready but said we could have the sandwiches and cakes in the meantime. We agreed to this due to the health concerns of my friend, and I again double checked it would be vegan as I am vegan myself. We were given our afternoon tea and assured it was all vegan. There was a single cheese and tomato sandwich on the plate which we found strange as there were two of each of the others. My friend (who is not vegan) tried it and said it tasted like dairy cheese. I asked the server in the restaurant to check if it was dairy, they went to the kitchen and returned with two cucumber sandwiches. They said 'these are cucumber sandwiches, they're vegan' and walked away. I said 'excuse me, was the cheese not vegan then?' and they said 'no' and walked away again. We didn't receive an apology.

I emailed the restaurant about the service we received but have not had a response over a week later so do not expect to hear now. We have taken it further and contacted buy a gift.

I do not recommend going to this restaurant. I feel like the staff didn't care, and didn't even have the grace to apologise to us. I just hope this doesn't happen to someone...

Afternoon Tea at Number 12 is definitely a tale of two halves.

Let's start at the beginning, the restaurant is a short walk from Euston Station and easy to locate, the decor is modern and clean and the staff friendly, approachable and attentive.

The experience though goes into a state of decline when the food comes out, yes it's all presented extremely well, but presentation alone is not a saviour for a good afternoon tea. Small details such as a tea timer so you know when to pour that first cup are missing. Food is also bland with slices of sandwiches on surprisingly thick bits of bread and very delicate filings (an egg mayo sandwich which lacked flavour and merely tasted of butter).

Yes the pictures that we all post look great...

The scones which are more rock cakes and crumble from that first slice, the jams are extremely tasty and with plenty you can drown your crumbs with enough cream and jam to stick it together and consume!

As well start on the provided cakes, it was alarming that the stuff were unable to identify the cakes or explain what lay beneath those petite slices of sugar. This to me is a fatal error, waiting staff should know exactly what is being served and be able to describe something without some uncertainty, more alarming when a second member of staff also is unsure and then randomly guesses (brownie or carrot cake)... Let's flip a coin...

Finally for the price this should be avoided for afternoon tea, if this wants to be compared to the likes of Scoff and Banter or other successful Afternoon Tea locations it needs to step up it's game; screw top Prosecco, paper napkins and a bowl of sugar and sweetners just...

DIETARY REQUIREMENTS? THEN DON'T BOTHER -If I could give 0 stars I would. I booked afternoon tea for my mum and I, and neither of us can eat wheat or gluten. Most places are accommodating and they promised they would be. The normal afternoon tea had sandwiches, scones, fruit tartlets, a chocolate delice, macaroon and a small cake. Ours had sandwiches which were okay, scones the size of macaroons that crumbled like sawdust when you cut them and 4 mini triangles of dry chocolate cake and 2 mini triangles of fruit cake. There was no attempt to be creative or offer the same dainty, elegant appearance as their normal option. I know gluten free baking can be tough but I can make lighter scones than the bullets we had, and have been to other places that can. Other places would also not just serve 2 cake options, perhaps a meringue, or a macaroon (gluten free anyway). Their service was appalling and tea served way before the food in the hope you would pay for more. No one checked in on us and after putting our napkins on the table, on our plates, no one came to us until a good 30 minutes later. I was really embarrassed as I had booked it as a special treat for my mum. I left feeling hungry as the food just wasn't worth the calories and very...