The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason — Restaurant in London

Firstly, when our party arrived at the tearoom we were greeted by a welcoming young man at the reception desk. The room is bright and beautifully decorated with live piano music. Once seated at our table we were impressed by our surroundings. Such an elegant room must mean an exceptional afternoon tea experience awaits us. Unfortunately that is not what was to come. We were presented with a menu by the young lady who seated us, which we did not have a chance to look at because our waitress was right behind her and she immediately asked if we preferred sweet or savoury foods in which I replied and then she picked up my menu and said that she recommends the sweet selection for me. She talked fast and l felt rushed. When my afternoon tea arrived it was a disappointment!!! Some of the sandwiches were made with stale bread. My selection of sweets were not to my liking and the eclair was not fresh. They should not have served it. I mentioned this to my server and she dismissed it. Unbelievable! The scones and lemon curd were their saving grace though my companion did not agree. It is important to mention that our waitress did not explain that about the complimentary refills. When I was asked about ordering more l did not order more because this small meal was already costing me 90 pounds ( $161.00 Canadian dollars) and l thought l would just go out for supper after this instead of paying more money for a few more sconces. I saw people leaving with boxes of food and that surprised me until I realized that they were ordering more complimentary food of their favourite dishes. I learned this from the lady sitting at the table beside me. Once I realized, late into our service, that we could order more without an extra charge I ordered a new plate of mini desserts. This selection was more to my liking but I still would not recommend it. I wish it was explained to us at the beginning that we could order more of the dishes we liked. Unfortunately it was not and we left unsatisfied and disappointed in our culinary experience. I can not in good conscience recommend a restaurant that charges what they do and offers in return that quality of food and rushed dismissive service. I would appreciate a reply from a manager in response to this review. I would hope that you care enough about your customers overall experiences at your establishment to reply back to those who take the time to give you...

Uniquely disappointing.

As new patrons to the establishment we were giddy with excitement as we were sold on a magical experience by close family and friends who have visited this location in the past. On arrival, roughly 20 minutes early, we were greeted to a cold and unwelcoming, "What is the the name on the reservation?" by the host. No pleasantries or welcoming smile. After providing them the necessary information to confirm my reservation I was shooed out of the waiting area, despite there being open seating and was told to get a drink in the bar until my reservation time.

We arrived back at at our scheduled reservation time and stood in front of hostess stand and after a few minutes without acknowledging myself or my partner, we finally decided to sit in the waiting area as we assumed our table was not ready. Approximately 10 minutes after our assigned reservation time, I approached the hostess and before I could speak she said in a patronizing and apathetic tone, "I see you. I will come and get you when we are ready." I politely listened to the host and returned to sit with my partner. A simple "I recognize that we are running a few minutes late. Your table will be ready momentarily. Thank you for patience, " would have been greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, our experience did not improve following our interaction with the host. We were greeted politely by the server and our order was taken promptly, but following delivering of the food, she did not care to check on us during the meal to ensure our experience was pleasant. I cannot speak ill of the food or tea itself, as it was well prepared.

Near the end of the meal, the server finally returned and asked if we would like any additional items to which my partner requested an additional scone. By now you may be able to guess what came next, she never returned with the scone. We sat talking and waiting for the bill for the next ~20 minutes and by this time, we were completely disillusioned with the experience and had to flag down the server to pay the bill.

My recommendation is to approach this experience cautiously (aka - "lower your expectations") or even more suiting find a likewise establishment that prioritizes the ambiance/service as much as they do the quality of...

Is it one of those touristy things you should do at least once in your life? Perhaps, if you have 86 pounds to spare per person (not including alcohol). Mind you, there were some posh Brits there enjoying tea as well, so not just for tourists although they make up 80 percent of the clientele if not more (like us).

I would recommend that each person in your party pick a different afternoon tea so that you can sample different things. We had both selected the savory tea and it was, true to its name, all savory and nothing sweet, so jokes on me as I really do appreciate a sweet scone versus a salty one (luckily, I asked the server if our second serving of scones be sweet instead of a savory repeat and they obliged). Was it especially tasty? Not particularly, but isn't that British food for ya? 😜

All jokes aside, I like how they had unlimited tea changes so both my partner and I were able to sample a range of teas and infusions so that we can then buy the ones we liked (unfortunately, we liked none of them enough and were looking forward to trying their signature Mason's blend or whatever it's called but they ran out?!).

Our immediate servers were kind and attentive enough but there's obviously some problem in the serving hierarchy of who is supposed to get what as the service was incredibly slow... we would ask for more jam or tea and they would come but bring them all separately and with big time intervals between each one so that we were just sitting there waiting for the items so that we could continue our tea. It was a bit irritating, truth be told. Good thing their 12.5% tip is included in the bill already because I am not sure I would have given them that based on my experience.

I also like that you can take out leftovers in a little box to avoid food waste.

In summary, ok for a one off experience but had I known it would be like this I would have rather kept...