The Village Tearoom — Restaurant in Uttlesford

I have been to The Village Tea Room several times and had some delicious food there but unfortunately we had a really negative experience there today

We ordered afternoon tea for 3. I was very specific on the phone about 2 people not eating fish (I subsequently checked this with someone else in the office to make sure it wasn’t me and they heard me clearly state 2 non-fish) When we arrived we were told where to sit and they took our order. The afternoon tea platter arrived and had 4 quarters of salmon sandwiches on. I went up to the counter and said it should’ve been no fish to which they replied they thought it was 1 non-fish eater but would bring me another sandwich. This took around 10 mins to come which was fine but was shoved on the table with bad grace. The quality of the sandwiches was good, plenty of filling and tasty, albeit quite small portions. The amount of jam and cream for the scones was insufficient for 3 people so again we went up and asked for some more cream and also a pot of tea because despite the tea being unlimited at no point did anyone come over, check we were ok, or ask if we wanted a refill. 15 minutes later no tea. We then realised that one of the cakes on the top layer was missing and there was only 2 for 3 people. We also weren’t provided with spoons for the shot glass custard item. I asked the lady for this and she brought the missing item and spoons over in incredibly bad grace. Her attitude made us feel like we were lying about the item being missing.

Most of the food was nice but the amount for the price was poor value. Interestingly it wasn’t just us getting a very negative vibe from the staff or being surprised at the portion size. The people next to us were also commenting on how overpriced it was and asked if there was a refill on the stand. The response was “errm no. Order off the menu if you want more” They did which says a lot if you have paid £22 per head and are having to order more food! However, the most negative part was when we went to pay the bill. To our surprise we were charged for the extra sandwich. The reason given for this was that the 2 “extra” quarters of salmon sandwich were still eaten. Apparently it wasn’t acceptable for the fish eater to have eaten these, we should’ve left them on the plate. Hopefully they weren’t planning on serving them to the next person who ordered. At no point did they ask if we enjoyed our food which previously they have done. Our bill for 3 people was £69 which included the items pictured (plus the crustless 4 sandwich quarters they provided which are not shown)

It is a shame, we are passionate about supporting local and were very pleased to have found a lovely local venue to visit regularly and use when we take clients for lunch. I fully appreciate that good quality produce costs money and I have no issue with paying that but the attitude generally coupled with the poor customer service and value for money in this case means I am...

Been here a couple of times now. My honest opinion is as follows: The first time I came here I really liked it (28/10/21), although the portion was quite stingy for the amount you pay. They also had no vegan spread, but still charged the same price for the vegan breakfast (which was meant to include this). The second time I went here (11/01/22) I asked if they had any vegan sausages twice and never got a reply to 'I'll go and check'.. I was overcharged and I did point this out to them, but they acted like they had done me a favour when I got a small refund back.. I think this was deliberate if I am honest, I get a feeling they may rely on you not checking your receipt otherwise why would they have done this? The food itself was good, but portions again are minimal. I did see a guy have a regular English Breakfast meal and this did seem to be a reasonable portion, not sure if he requested extra, so lack of consistency I would say with what I have ordered. My party also had toasted sandwiches with coleslaw. They didn't bring out the coleslaw as we were told the menu had changed, even though the menu available was not updated! They did bring this out though. Others had a cream tea deal, a good few cakes, but not as many sandwiches. They were only allowed to get the same (re-fillable) hot drinks again, not a different one (which was offered as part of the deal) - another menu change... They took a while to clear the table too. All in all, I would now say I would not go back there as I feel they possibly overcharge on purpose and think they are overpriced for the amount of food you get. We paid (3 of us) just under £30 for what we had, no desserts either. We came from Wood Green (N22) by the way so a long...

Booked afternoon tea in the private booth for a small baby shower gathering for our Mum to be who was coming from Norfolk. We booked for 1.30pm.

When we arrived there was a sign on the door saying they were closing early at 2.30pm as another group had hired the entire venue for a Baby Shower/Gender Reveal. No one had called to let us know this.

When we asked what was going on the lady said 'yeah sorry someone should have called you but you'll only have an hour then you'll have to leave'.

In the end after a fuss and speaking to the manager, we were 'allowed' to stay for 2hrs.

No discount offered as an apology, in fact, they didn't take off our £50 deposit from the bill, we had to remind them. It set a disappointing tone for the start of our celebrations.

We happened to know someone from the other party who has booked the venue for exclusive use and its transpires our booking was made before theirs! Clearly they saw a better opportunity and no longer cared about our booking.

Having read other reviews this is not the first time this has happened.

Having said that, food and drink were all lovely (apart from the chocolate cake which was hard). A lady kindly took a picture of us all and gave us boxes to take left over cakes home.

The booth itself was very pretty, with beautiful pink flowers from the wall the ceiling. It's a separate intimate space which was ideal for our event.

Would I book an event here in the future? Sadly no.

Would I pop in for a quick bite to eat, maybe...