Small Talk Tearooms Romford — Restaurant in London

I visited the tea room last Saturday.Upon arrival I waited to be seated. I was approached and as a solo guest offered a table of 6 in the window at the front of the tearoom. I said no thank you, I would like to be seated further in the tea room to enjoy the atmosphere. The tea room was 3/4 empty. I was promptly told "that" is not actually allowed in her i.e be pleased your being offered a table at all.This was with reference to my rigid active wheelchair.

I had noted that there was a very large mobility scooter parked outside the tearoom that would be classified as a class 3. Understandable this classification of scooter has restrictions around its use due to size/speed and doesn't have the green light to be used on public buses and the underground let alone a tiny tea room.

In contrast i was using a rigid active chair with a third wheel attachment which is a very different piece of kit. I highlighted to the server that I was sat in a wheelchair not a scooter and I would like to be seated inside the ' fully wheelchair accessible venue' as highlighted on the website. I also noted that I had been before and this had never been a issue, what has changed? I was not provided with a answer.

I was offered a table but was informed it had a reservation so I only had 45 miniutes. This was accompanied by a follow up comment that this should be long enough. I was having a early lunch at 12.30 due to a commitment and presumed the 3/4 empty tea room was about to get very busy with the lunch time rush and did not think anything of it.

This is were my irritation starts to increase.

Post seating me the server immediately went over to a group of servers and starts making comments about my insistence of being seated in the restaurant, implying that I was difficult. Which resulted in my bring stared at by various employees. The service was also very stilted and lacked any warmth.

5 minutes after I sat down a couple arrived asking for a small table. They were warmly welcomed and told to avoid the tables in the center of the room as they were reserved but that they could sit anywhere they liked. - a stark difference to how I was treated not even 10 minutes early. The only reason I was treated differently is because I am a wheelchair user and this is discrimination under the Equal Opertunities Act of 2004.

I checked the time post my soup and tea and clocked that I only had 10 minutes remaining before the reserved guests arrived. I didn't want to rush my treat of cakes and tea and overall my experiance had been thoroughly ruined. I was very angry and upset and just wanted to leave the tea room.

I decided to telephone and ask to speak to managenent to explore how staff are trained to recognise different types of mobility equipment and general professionalism around talking and assisting disabled customers. There is no contact details on the website. I provided my name and number and asked for a callback. I didn't reciece one which evidences a lack of commitment to customer care for ALL guests by management.

It's been 5 working days so I decided to leave a review reflective of my experience.

The food was lovely, the general ambience of the tea room was delightful but as a disabled guest I didn't feel welcome and thus it spoiled my...

Came across this tearoom on Google and decided to check it out because it had good reviews. I rang up and booked in for the afternoon tea, which I had to pay a £10 deposit for, which gets taken off the bill. I told them that my guest doesn’t eat fish, so could they have chicken instead of salmon, but I would still have the salmon sandwiches and they said that was fine.

When we turned up, they first sat us at the wrong table and we had to move. Then when they bought out the afternoon tea, they had bought out the following sandwiches: egg & cress, chicken & Mayo, ham & cucumber. They had given us both chicken sandwiches, when I had told them I wanted salmon when I booked and the chicken was for my guest; so I had to ask for the salmon ones for myself, which they bought over a few minutes later. They got my tea order wrong, I ordered chai tea and they gave me a green tea, which you can see in the picture. I had to go up to the counter and ask for the correct tea, which they bought out a few minutes after but they forgot to bring me milk, so I had to ask for that aswell. Sandwiches were nice and soft. Scones were warm but bone dry. Cakes were also dry/stale; they also only gave 1 of each cake, so we had to cut each one in half ourselves. I wouldn’t come back here again for afternoon tea - the only good thing was the sandwiches. The service was too disorganised.

Giving them 2 stars because the decor is very pretty & cosy, and the afternoon tea for 2 was cheap (£30 in total...

It’s a terrible place that should be avoided at all costs. The owner is a rude and disrespectful woman who lacks the proper training to manage a business and serve customers. We visited with my young daughter, hoping to have a nice time. When we arrived, they informed us that the kitchen was closed but could serve us tea and cakes, so we decided to sit down.

However, just five minutes after being served, they asked us to hurry up and leave. We questioned why they allowed us to sit there if they were closing soon and why they hadn’t informed us in advance. The owner never apologized and was insulting instead. They acted dishonestly by asking us to pay before letting us know they were closing. It felt like they were only interested in our money while providing incomplete service for...