Candella Tea Room — Restaurant in London

Appalling Experience – Extremely Rude Service

I had the worst dining experience of my life at Candella Tea Room.

I made a reservation for afternoon tea a month in advance, and the email confirmation stated we'd have 1:30 for our meal. When the day arrived, we called to notify them that we'd be 10 minutes late and to check if it was okay. They assured us it was not a problem. However, upon arrival at 18:10, the waiter rudely claimed we were too late and would need to rush as they would close in 50 minutes.

When we mentioned our prior phone call, he became aggressive and asked to see our reservation, even though there were empty tables. After viewing the email, he begrudgingly allowed us to sit without a welcoming word. He dropped the menus and urged us to be quick, continually checking his watch. Our order was taken hastily, and we were not provided any information or recommendations about the menu.

When our food arrived, another waiter briefly mentioned the items and left. The initial rude waiter showed no interest in our satisfaction, even rolling his eyes when we kindly asked for more milk. We inquired about additional sandwiches, which are common in afternoon teas, but he claimed they had run out of them. When we requested more scones instead, he agreed but in the end charged us more than £3 each, which was not expected, let alone mentioned by him. Throughout our meal, he repeatedly approached our table just to remind us to hurry, even though that was precisely what we were already doing: eating very fast and feeling extremely embarrassed.

As if this wasn't enough, before 18:00, he brought the bill and the card machine, demanding payment while we were still eating. This was not only extremely rude but also unsanitary, as we had to touch our cards and the machine while consuming scones with our hands.

Despite the good tea and scones, the terrible treatment overshadowed everything. It seemed as though the staff was rushing to close, even with other tables. When we were hurrying to put on our jackets inside the restaurant at 18:05, he aggressively told us, "The restaurant is closed." When we left, he didn't even say "thank you" or "goodbye" to us. This experience was a waste of money, and I've never felt so poorly treated in London.

We understand about closing time and were concerned enough to call beforehand to inform about the 10 minutes of delay. We ate as quickly as possible and didn't attempt to prolong our time at the table. However, none of this justifies such inhumane and rude treatment.

I hope the management takes this feedback seriously and improves their service, as it's unacceptable to treat...

This is a piece de resistance in afternoon tea experiences whether you eat inside or out. Yes you can choose to visit a fancy hotel or a place in the country but please consider how obliged you feel to dress up, the extreme hassle of planning your journey and the profound disappointment when your single estate tea is served in a tiny metal pot ( l kid you not ! ). This precious gem sits in the lower curve of Kensington Church Street. Your tea comes in pretty individual china pots...so no mistaking whose it is. The tiered stands for your dainty sandwiches, cream scones and cakes are easy to extract your items from. No Jenga balancing act. Your options are plenty. Just tea, tea and cake, cream tea, afternoon tea, prosecco tea and so on. The venue is full of artistry and charm as is the service. No request falls on deaf ears. I was allowed to sniff the loose Earl grey tea before l chose it. Some of our birthday party were vegan so we asked politely if any of the cakes were vegan. Unfortunately the answer was no.They may be on catch up with this but they said we were perfectly welcome to bring a vegan purchase from elsewhere to eat alongside our tea spread. Nor did they mind me producing my goats milk flask for my tea.

Candella has a huge loyal local clientele who possibly won't thank me for this glowing review that might make it even harder to book. We were here on a Saturday at lunch time having negotiated a large outdoor table on a lovely sunny shine filled day with a side of hair sweeping breeze. Can l please thank the kind gentleman at the adjoining tea table who helped us clear away the last empty prosecco glass before the wind crashed it to the pavement. Everyone here has impeccable manners. A glorious time was had by all. This is somewhere I'll happily...

Recently had afternoon tea with an associate here. Here is my honest assessment:

Value: 4/5. Just enough food for two people. Reasonably priced. Food quality decent, especially the scones (1 per person). Decor was nice too, albeit a bit cramped. Cozy might be a better description.

Service: 3/5. Not particularly friendly or inviting. Almost left because of two loud children at a nearby table, however they seated us farther away and once the kids left, the ambience improved.

Bathroom: 1/5. Waste basket was full, so there were wads of toilet paper and other garbage on top of the lid, even on top of the toilet. Someone had put water in the soap dispenser so they could wash their hands as the soap had run out. No paper towels (had to use toilet paper to dry hands) or hand sanitizer either. I was leaving at that point, so didn't bother complaining. Door also opens directly in front of some of the dining tables, so I made sure to close it after I did my business to spare the diners nearby  from having to look at a dirty bathroom. One lady smiled at me in apparent gratitude as the previous user had left it wide open.  Frankly, I've seen better maintained bathrooms in fast food restaurants. It was not particularly busy while we were there, so there is no excuse for this, especially as the bathroom is located right between the kitchen and dining area (i.e., not far away).

Overall score: 3/5, mainly for the food quality and price.

Final comment: Okay if you're in the area or are very price-sensitive, otherwise I would consider spending the extra money and trying one of the myriad...