Our party consisting of two adults and one child arrived here at 12.40pm and we were happy to wait in the bar a short while until a dining table became available to us.
Service was prompt and we overall enjoyed the classic afternoon tea for two, plus burger and chips for one of the adults in our party.
I do suspect though that the cakes were not produced onsite, as they did not have a ‘homemade’ taste. The tasteless mini quiche were not freshly baked and had soggy pastry. The sandwiches were also very small, even by afternoon tea standards.
We were willing to pay for the overpriced food here as we were expecting to enjoy a unique venue with fun 1940s style vibe, decor and fashions, however we were disappointed as the waitresses were wearing cheap polyester polka dot dresses and headbands that looked as though they had been sourced from a low-end fancy dress shop. The girls also looked plain miserable, if truth be known.
The walls were painted in a strange combination of mustard/sienna and red, more suited to a Mexican restaurant, using a rag-rolled paint technique last seen in the 1980s .. totally incompatible with a 1940s theme and a wholly unconvincing way of achieving an ‘aged’ look. Whoever organised this has appallingly bad taste and a complete lack of knowledge of 1940s era interiors.
The 1940’s themed posters plastered everywhere did not compensate or help to produce an authentic 1940s vibe but instead amped up the tackiness.
The music played sounded era-appropriate but was played at an uncomfortable volume.
We have visited other period tearooms done much more authentically and with a sense of fun and spirit sadly missing from this venue.
What really spoiled it for us, though, was the pressure we felt from waiting staff towards the end.
As the dining room filled up, we observed an elderly man standing at the till, glancing around the room impatiently, glancing at the waiting staff, who in turn seemed to become anxious. I presume this was the owner or manager of the business. We then began to feel an unpleasant pressure from staff to finish up and leave.
First, a young male waiter approached us while we still had not finished eating, to ask if we would like a box to take away the cakes still remaining at the top of our cake stand!! We declined his offer and pointed out to him that our child was still eating.
In decades of eating out at many different types of restaurants, we have never before experienced a waiter with the cheek to proactively offer a takeout box /doggy bag without being asked for one, and we did not appreciate it.
Next up was a young female waitress who asked if she could clear away our plates, to which we replied that she could clear away the 2 x adults plates but to leave the cake stand and our child’s plate as they were still eating. The waitress flashed us an insincere smile and told us “take all the time that you need, we don’t close until 4”!! After this piece of sarkiness, we did end up hurrying in order to leave as quickly as possible.
I checked my watch as we left, and it said 2.05pm, so we were seated at the table for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, excluding the 10 minutes or so that we sat waiting at the bar. The harassment from waiting staff probably started inside the hour.
1 hour and 15 minutes sat at a dining table is FAR from an exceptionally long time when you are spending over £80 at an overpriced venue.
A serious question: why not just convert your business into a fast food joint or takeaway if you want all of your customers to leave promptly inside an hour? Otherwise, your staff need to learn patience and manners, and for this reason we do not choose to return.
We would especially recommend parents of young children to avoid this venue.
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