Paisley's Tea Room — Restaurant in Issaquah

3/4 stars. Came a year ago with family and had a lovely experience so we decided to make it a tradition. Just visited for the second time and it wasn’t quite as pleasant as last year.

We booked a few months in advance and got a voicemail two days prior saying there was a reservation right after ours so we were welcome to come a half hour early if we wanted a little more time. “Just letting you know” the message said. Not sure why they scheduled another booking so close that they needed to give us a heads up to come early. The first of our party arrived 15 minutes early and were turned away from an empty room because they were early. When I arrived a few minutes later, I explained that they told us to come early, and the staff behind the counter seemed a bit put out but we were (reluctantly) seated.

Throughout the service we received conflicting information: “There is a party right after you but you still have the full two hours regardless” “You have exactly 75 minutes” (It looks like at least one other review mentions a similar experience and confusion over reservation length. There is a big difference between two hours and 75 minutes!) “You can reorder any type of tea you like when your pot is empty” “Once you order, you get free refills of the same type of tea”

I called ahead to tell them of vegetarians in our party, but when we were seated they asked again and I had to explain all over again at the table to a staff member who, again, seemed a bit put out.

Half the staff were lovely, kind, and gracious, the other half seemed irritated, inconvenienced, and impatient. Throughout the booking process and tea service there was a notable lack of consistency and communication among them which negatively affected our experience. This should be an easy thing to remedy.

I totally get having an off day or needing to clearly explain the parameters of the reservation, but the impatient energy was apparent to everyone in my group and kind of threw off the whole service.

As a personal preference, the new addition of bottomless lattes made the whole service explanation even more confusing and it was much simply last year when it was only pots of tea on offer.

Sharing all of this in the hopes they read it and make some adjustments...

The Paisley Parlour provides a good value for afternoon tea. Before I visited, I made reservations a week or so earlier. A day before the reservation, they called to confirm and asked if there were any dietary restrictions which was a good touch. I then visited the next day on a Saturday afternoon with family. The décor is very whimsical and evokes tea parties that young girls would throw. Not really my cup of tea, but it totally makes sense given the type of food they’re serving. The service was really cordial and all of the staff were approachable. As for the food, it was pretty good. For the afternoon tea reservations, each guest gets to choose from at least 20 types of tea for their own pot of tea. I was impressed with the selection of tea. I ended up choosing Jasmine pearl tea, not a typical British tea, but it was a good choice. When it comes to the food you get the three tiered tray that includes cookies, scones, and finger sandwiches. I was pleasantly surprised by the finger sandwiches. I especially enjoyed the cheese sandwich with some type of garlic Boursin-like spreadable cheese, the open-faced sandwiches with cucumber, yogurt, and dill, and the pesto sandwich with ham. My favorite part of the meal were the scones though. They are great quality – buttery and flavorful. They went well with the clotted cream and strawberry jam. When I visited, the afternoon tea was about $25 per person, which I think is a good value compared to other tea rooms in the...

Been several times with different friends. each time I took a different friend they said they wouldn't return. They thought service was really bad. We couldn't understand why drinks came in paper cups even though we sat at a table. Scones never served on a plate but in paper bags. Always had to ask for a plate, knife & butter for our scones which always took a long time to get when they were obviously quite. When it did arrive it wasnt butter but margarine. disappointing but I thought maybe it takes time to get things running smoothly as its a relatively new business. Today my husband & I ordered drinks & a scone. Asked for a side plate & butter to go with the scone. We sat at the remaining free table that the person who took our order could see we did. When our drinks & scones were ready she told us, by the same person who took our order, we had to leave as our table was reserved. We asked her why she didn't tell us when we ordered. She seemed to think we should know despite table not having a reserved sign on it. We asked if we could have butter to go but were told because we couldn't eat in, since there were no table available, we couldn't have butter. it was not handled nicely which has left a bitter taste in our mouth. Won't...