Valerie’s Tearoom — Restaurant in North Tyneside

Save time and money, Go to Costa!

Underwhelmed beyond belief. Having lived in Whitley Bay for years, we finally thought we'd give it a go. 4 for us for coffees, should be easy enough? Nope. Walking inside, the place felt mildy chaotic, with uncleared tables. Food debris on the the floor and a mop and bucket. Just what you want to be greeted with. Not knowing how the ordering works we naturally went to the counter to order. A queue of 4 different sets of people we were all greeted by a bellowing "do you have your table numbers for ordering?" I can only assume she had watched us walk in. At this point we must have looked confused (we were!) And the voice bellowed again with a passive agressive tone "you need to go, pick a table, look at the menu and come back with your number so we can take your order!" So this we did. Sat ourselves down at the cleanest table we could find that seated 4. Signs everywhere advising that the tables were cleaned to within Covid safety standards. Clearly Covid has dropped its standards lately then! Sticky, crumby tables, wiped with a half arsed effort, clearly! Anyway that aside we went to order which was fun as the menus only show the hot menu meals. Nothing about coffees and cakes so we all had to wander up and down the stairs to work out what we wanted from the counter and 2 of us went to order. The same bellowing matron served us with her passive aggressive manner, struggling to hear the order so taking her mask to to hear better 😒. When asking for just 2 white coffees we got a smart arsed response of "you mean you want 2 Americanos with milk" (if thats what you want to call it then ok but working in customer service myself, I would have just put the order through and said that in my head! But some people can't help being smart arsed can they! ) Order done. Order comes, delivered by the most socially awkward girl (how do they keep these customer service jobs!) who proceeded to place our teaspoons down first, on the menus of all places - nice to know in covid times that people have common sense (menus get placed anywhere and everywhere! ) , and then spilt half of the Americano on the saucer. Now, I personally, would apologise at that this point. Maybe offer to wipe it up but instead she looked awkwardly at my partners friend, said they you go and trotted off.

The drinks were average as were the cakes.

So all these little things thrown together with the fact that none of the items in wor Vals is cheap, has completely discouraged me from every setting foot in this...

I was extremely disappointed with Sunday's wedding fayre event (29/09/24) at Spanish City. My fiancé and I arrived at 13:50 and our goody bag had been given to someone else, no effort was made to really apologise or to provide anything alternative even though we had travelled for over an hour to get to Spanish City from Hexham and after getting caught in long tailbacks on the A1 following an accident. I signed up well in advance and had the misfortune of my email contact details being shared without my consent and against GDPR twice to a full mailing list of attendees, both emails never recalled; I am frustrated and appalled.

In addition we spent the time we did have at the fayre thinking everything was in the small room overlooking the seafront and totally missed seeing the stalls that were in the round gallery area - we only noticed these as we left and saw suppliers packing away and exiting with their displays.

Most upsetting was after driving for such a long time to get to Spanish City, I asked the lady serving in the downstairs cafe where the toilets were and was directed to a public toilet block outside, further down the beach. When I realised she had given me directions to public facilities away from the building, I asked if there were any toilets inside as I had left my coat in the car and was told I wasn't allowed to use the toilets on the premises as I wasn't a customer. I hadn't even been given the chance to be a customer (I'd actually quite happily have purchased a coffee and cake) but after such a humiliating experience, I would never wish to give my custom to this horrid place. I'd heard such good opinions about Spanish City and my fiancé had tried unsuccessfully several times to secure reservations for the apparently very popular restaurant but after today's experience I never want to go there again. Hugely disappointing and...

Following the easing of lockdown, there appears to have been a reduction in the number of tables indoors plus removal of all table adornments to make cleaning easier, which is understandable. However, as clean as the surroundings may be, they did not take contact details as advertised around the premises and as per section 2.1 of the current governmental guidance, which is downright irresponsible. The coffee is ok but I still feel like I'm being robbed blind in places like this when I cough up 10p short of nine quid for two unspectacular lattes and a piece of caramel shortbread. This tearoom is the preference of an elderly family member, although heaven knows why, as they complain to me about the dryness of the shortbread after nearly every visit. Their choice of venue is indulged to keep the peace, but I personally wouldn't choose to visit otherwise. The staff are courteous, but I'd rather their impeccable manners were matched by conscientiously doing their bit towards the NHS Track & Trace efforts as advertised. I'm fortunate that I can overlook the steep prices - apart from the £3.50 double espresso out of principal - but the lack (or at least inconsistency) of adherence to contact tracing is a concern right now, particularly given the appeal the place has for the more susceptible older generation.

Update: on a subsequent visit a couple of weeks after leaving this review, my contact details were taken at the till before even placing my order. Credit where it's due, glad to see it's being...