Cedric Grolet at The Berkeley — Restaurant in London

‘Congratulations’ on overtaking sketch as the most overrated afternoon tea in London. I have been coming here for years and after the news that the wonderful Pret-a-Portea in the lovely Collins Room (which was by far the best afternoon tea in London) will not be continued, I was keen to try the new concept by an apparently famous Instagram Influencer turned pastry chef (maybe the other way around, hard to tell!). Long story short, this was my last visit to the Berkeley. As other reviews mentioned, I’ve had better afternoon teas at a motorway service station. Firstly, there was no menu? Only “sandwiches, scones, cakes”. The Pret-a-Portea had in addition to the regular afternoon tea a veggie and vegan option - in case you just fancied something else. There was also no tea menu…”just ask the waiter for a selection”. I loved browsing the 20+ teas to get inspired, here I just had to think of something hoping they had it (turns out, the peach tea that I often had at the Pret-a-Portea has also disappeared). The three sandwiches were mediocre at best, and when I asked for another one as I was hungry I was told that they would check whether there’s ‘a spare one’. There wasn’t. I was informed that “the sandwiches are all allocated to the afternoon teas”. Excuse me? At 85£ I expect to eat as many of the mediocre sandwiches as I like and you guessed it, at the Pret-a-Portea, there was an outstanding selection of those plus always a little surprise from the kitchen, in unlimited amounts. The scone is hard to describe as I must have accidentally inhaled it due to its smallness. The cakes looked as nice as from M&S Foods with the difference that M&S Foods baked goods are actually very nice and don’t just taste like sugar which unfortunately is the case at the Berkeley. The service was ok but not close to the one in the Collins Room. We had a reservation but were not told in advance that there will be building works so in addition to the atmosphere which can only be described as Waterloo station at rush hour, there was also drilling and hammering going on as the reception is being moved. Overall, a completely disappointing experience, in particular as the Berkeley used to have the best afternoon tea and has now made a 180...

It’s really difficult to put everything into words because not that I didn’t enjoy the lab dining experience but if you’re a big fan of desserts, you may find this rather overpriced (£151/p including 12.5%service). From the beginning, the lady who served us has already made a mistake by pouring sparkling water into my glass of still water. Another thing was that she kept bumping into my bag that was hung up on the back of my chair which eventually, I needed to move it out of her way to avoid damages. I adored the parts where you could watch chefs cooking from scratch, watching the puff pastries went into oven, then them being served fresh and warm right to you with an incredible bakery scent that filled the whole room. The chefs at the the lab did a fantastic job of immersing customers into the experience by handing you a fresh baking pan of madeleines and presenting a game of picking out an imitated vanilla bean surprise from vanilla bean stacks, etc. They definitely executed the texture of puff pastries really well. When it served fresh, the flakiness of the bread was everything. This is the chefs’ specialty when it comes to delicate, crispy texture. Although I adored most parts of the experience, I still find the dining menu quite dull. I wish there’re more variations. There were at least 3 out of 7 pastries composed of puff pastry/croissants. Apart from that, from what I observed from the whole table, 6 out of 8 people immediately took a sip of their beverages right after they tasted the lemon cake which I think the lemon cake is way too sour for most peoples’ likings. The cake was infused with yuzu and lemon. The problem of yuzu is that it’s harder than you think to master its flavor especially the zest brings out the bitterness. If selected correctly by using Japanese yuzu, I believe the flavor could be enhanced. The key to French desserts is the meticulous layers of textures, colors, flavors which I believe Cedric Grolet has so much potentials to improve on. Overall, I think that there are way more options to select desserts below this price point. However, if you’d love to experience the fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness, give it a go and see if...

Very very disappointed! We had reservation for afternoon tea, weeks before. We arrive 10 min before our slot. I would like to mention that we choose the place based on recommendations that it has “impeccable” service. Well, Let me tell you. At the entrance the person who was at the reception, responsible to greet and welcome the guests, he pretends he doesn’t notice us at all. He sees us then he quickly turns away, pretending he is busy. I thought, ok, someone else is going to assist us. I felt awkward because I knew I shouldn’t be in the line for takeaway but because nobody approached us, I choose to stay on the takeaway side, looking very confused, for sure. The person at the welcome desk decides to say hi at this point and asks us if we want take away. I said no, we have reservation for afternoon tea. At this point I could see he collected himself a bit and started to act like he cares suddenly. Well… he showed us to the afternoon tea welcome desk, asked for my name- totally unnecessary at this point. Ok fine. Awkward, very superficial treatment, felt uncomfortable. At our table the waitress was sweet but then another 2 waiters started serving us, telling us different stories about what is going to be served, palate cleansers etc that just DID NOT arrive to our table, again adding to the confusion and awkwardness. The person who served us the sweets literally told us that after we finished with the savory dishes, palate cleanser follows. Nothing like that, we were waiting awkwardly in between savory and sweet dishes. Next, 2 people arrived to the table next to us as guests… the same person who refused to notice us, makes a big welcome back scene with these guests, so loud that the whole salon could hear it. Ok. From then on, these guests were talking so loud, we had the feeling that we are sitting at the same table. We left quickly, very disappointed. We expected a classy classic experience. What we got was a cheap, ordinary service that left us feeling bitter to be honest. We travelled the world, been to the best restaurants but here we wasted both our time money and nerves. Raise your standards. 200£...