Afternoon Tea at The Savoy - Gallery — Restaurant in London

Savoy Tea is the ULTIMATE luxury afternoon tea experience. During my trip to London I knew I had to go all out for an afternoon tea experience. I actually told my boyfriend he can go do something else if he wasn't into it, but he said he would come along and be my loyal photographer. Goals!

I made our reservation on Open Table for the Savoy Tea experience for the Gallery at the Savoy as soon as we began planning our trip. Even on a weekday they were pretty booked. I know cause I overslept and when I called when to move my reservation I was only able to push it back 15 minutes. Thankfully everything worked out and I got to my appointment on time.

Upon arrival the hostess took our coats so that we can be comfortable for our experience. She welcomed us to our seats in a nice private corner. We were so lucky to sit in Wini's section. Since we said it was our first time there and my boyfriend's first afternoon tea experience, she explained everything thoroughly to guide us for the optimal experience. Wini is amazing. During our time there, Ione also came around and helped refill out teas, Archie cleared our plates, and there was another female staff member from Portugal who came by to give well wishes and even provided some travel tips. This whole team is incredible!

We decided to get the Afternoon Tea (£90/person) experience that comes with a selection of traditional sandwiches and savoury bites, signature Savoy scnes, and seasonal handmade afternoon tea pastries. The experience comes with a pot of tea per person. We got to get our own pots of teas. They have a great selection of black tea, green tea, oolong tea, white tea, fruity and floral tea, flowering tea, and herbal infusions. My boyfriend went with the Savoy Afternoon Tea blend to get the true experience. I started with the Flowering Jasmine & Lily and then when I finished that pot went onto the Earl Grey.

For the traditional sandwiches and savoury bites, they served a traditional coronation chicken on a malbran bread, spiced st ewe egg on white bread, cucumber on spinach bread, British salt beef on granary bread, Scottish smoked salmon on a brioche, and organic baked butternut squash in a savory tart. Yummmm. They were all delicious and creative. These are bottomless and you can request as many as you'd like. My boyfriend's favorite was the British salt beef and my favorite was definitely the coronation chicken. Yummm!

As for the housemade Savoy scones, these were accompanied by cornish clotted cream, strawberry jam, and lemon curd. I love the accompaniments but I don't love the cones. I am lucky to have a local farm to table afternoon tea concept near home who executes better scones.

The tea pastries were a work of art. There was a jasmine and red currant, apple and custard, chocolate and hazelnut, and a blue lady earl grey and blackberry. When you cut into the cross sections they were perfectly even. A true craft executed by a highly skills pastry chef. Absolutely incredible.

The Savoy Tea afternoon tea experience was no doubt a splurge but it was worth it to me because it was something I enjoy and it was an unforgettable experience. The food was amazing and the service was incredible. Wini truly did everything to ensure that we enjoyed our time at the Savoy. I am very grateful for...

Honestly, afternoon tea is not worth it.

This is my second time having tea here - the first was 10 years ago and felt a much more exciting and elite experience with a real buzz in the room. We were also advised of a loose dress code last time which adds to the sense of occasion, this time we dressed but people in the room were in hoodies and sweatpants as though we were just in a Costa.

On the previous occasion we were celebrating my Mum's birthday and they surprised her with a little cake and candle which was lovely. On this occasion we were celebrating my partner's birthday, which we told the waiting staff when asked. I'm not sure what you have to book to get the little celebratory cake but people around us were presented with these, and we weren't. Perhaps it's because those tables had apparently heterosexual couples and we are lesbians?

Service is variable - some staff are excellent, some are weirdly poor and overall we had some non-smooth service with three people overlapping, resulting in us being asked the same thing repeatedly in the space of a few minutes. This is the kind of thing I don't expect to happen in a supposedly luxury service venue.

We were charged wrongly (£50 for two glasses of champagne despite the menu showing these were £15 each and I'm going to kick myself for the rest of time for not arguing it, I was so confused by the bill I thought I was wrong - I can see from other menus people have uploaded that I wasn't). We were also charged £14 for a bottle of "purified on site" still water. The idea we need to go out of our way to order tap water in somewhere like the Savoy, rather than table water being a default part of the offering is ridiculous. I expect high end places to be concerned with the quality of a dining experience, not trying to extract silly money for distilled tap water.

A "discretionary" service charge is also added to the bill which again, somewhere of this level should just be paying their staff well above the living wage rather than rinsing patrons. I'd have been glad to tip if the service had felt worth it.

I was redeeming a gift voucher for the afternoon tea for two. With two glasses of heritage champagne, a bottle of water and service charge, I then had to pay £77. I genuinely don't know how you can anticipate that from the advertised prices. I wouldn't begrudge this price if the experience as a whole felt special, luxurious or otherwise unique. It felt like we were just being rinsed.

It's not that fancy, food (excepting cakes) was not exceptional, service was bumpy, and room was crowded/tables...

My partner and I have enjoyed afternoon tea at every possible venue from The Royal Crescent in Bath to the Plaza in New York City. Living in London, we have returned to Brown's Hotel many times, and had afternoon tea at The Ritz, The Wolsey, The Dorchester, Orange Pekoe, you name it! So I feel highly qualified to revue our first Afternoon tea at The Savoy since 2004.

On the positive side, the room has had a nice refurbishment, with the central feature being a grand piano surrounded by an attractive floral structure. The food as a whole was of a good standard - the sandwiches were varied, fresh and tasty. The scones were warm and a good size and the cakes were good, but not excellent. However, there were many negatives that put this at the lower end of our experiences...

Staff were constantly rushing around us, preparing tables for the conveyer belt of people constantly gathering in the foyer area. As a result we were left waiting several times, and weren't served our tea until we had almost finished the sandwiches. Refills were few and far between and the waitress didn't check to see whether we needed more milk, cream or jam - which we did. We actually felt like an inconvenience to the preoccupied staff. The cakes were just ok - there wasn't a great deal of love or finesse in them, unlike some incredible examples we've seen in Bath, and particularly Castle Leslie in Ireland. The pianist was generally good, although some of her choices such as Abba's Dancing Queen, didn't work so well on the grand piano. As an experience it was pleasant enough, and given the typical price of afternoon teas, we weren't too concerned about the less than ideal service.

But nothing prepared us for the bill! Bearing in mind that afternoon tea at top hotels ranges from £35-50 per person, we were shocked to be handed a bill for £168! That was for two Champagne afternoon teas at £75 each plus an £18 service charge. Had I been a less polite person I would have refused to pay the service charge. A silver service three course meal with drinks at The Ivy is cheaper than this, and we feel that The Savoy are taking advantage, and are offering a much lower standard of food and service than nearly every other hotel we've experienced.

In our experience, The Savoy fell well short and needs to concentrate on making customers feel relaxed and special. Were it not for the decent sandwiches and scones, I would have given it...