Dartealing Lounge — Restaurant in San Francisco

Arrived slightly late at 1:15, there were only 2 other parties there and one left shortly afterwards, and we accidentally outstayed the other party so we had the whole place to ourselves later in the afternoon. Crumpets were served with this wonderful cinnamon honey rum butter spread and a slice of strawberry. The five of us each ordered a different tea and sandwich flavor and just as I remembered, the sandwiches are the thing that keeps drawing me back; we had egg pesto cream, meatball parmesan, fish & chips, curried chicken mango chutney, cucumber arugula, and ham gouda honey mustard. Tea selections were Parisian Earl Grey; Elementary, my dear Watson!; Debutante Ball; Lady Violet's Wisdom; and Riches of Highgarden. The sandwiches were all very good, but the tastiest items were the cucumber arugula and fish & chip. As for the teas, Lady Violet's Wisdom was incredible due to the intense grape aroma which needed no sugar to experience the flavor, the other teas were as expected, while Riches of Highgarden was overwhelmingly strong and offputtingly smoky. The sausage rolls, puffs, chocolate and raspberry cheesecakes, shortbread cookies, and marzipan petit fours were good; the scones and the brulee matcha cheesecake, not so much. The scones were a little too dense and doughy even though they're bite-sized, and the brulee matcha cheesecake had a hard crust, didn't really taste like matcha, and wasn't actually brûléed. One person ordered the savory tea service so we could try the smoked salmon scone and the tomato quiche; these were standard fare, but still very edible, and the fresh fruit and mint tile were refreshing to the palate after all that food. Our server came by every so often to ask if we wanted more hot water for our teapots but at odd times, but since we were the only party there from 4 pm onwards, they graciously allowed us to stay until 6 o'clock for our friends' reunion. Thank you, Dartealing! (Odds & ends: my dining chair was comfortable enough to sleep in, enabling my food coma. Parking was easy peasy...

There were very few positives, but I will start there. The tea selection is fantastic and the place is adorable. However, the overall experience was disappointing not worth the price. We had a reservation for 2:30 and did not get the tea menu until 3:10 pm. We were ignored for another 20 minutes before they finally decided to treat us as if we hadn't surprised them with a visit. They were scrambling to put it all together and mentioned that they weren't expecting us...even though I made the reservation in advance and paid the deposit, which they confirmed receiving. Still, if you're unsure, one would think a phone call to confirm the reservation wouldn't have been too much trouble? Then, they failed to prepare for the 2 vegans in our party - again, I had text messages confirming they could accommodate. No apology and they instead tried to blame us for not confirming in advance. They emphasized how hard they would try to accommodate us on the spot. I assumed the deposit and my request in the initial communication was exactly for that purpose but for some reason, they didn't bother preparing for a confirmed reservation. The first tier for the two vegans was literally a fruit salad with balsamic vinaigrette. The sandwiches were edible and the final tier was (again) strawberries with a fig bar and a few pieces of chocolate. They brought some toasted buns after our experience was over to accompany the jam that had been sitting on their plate for an hour. It was laughable to think about how much money we had spent on a plate of fruit. I couldn't help but apologize to my friends throughout the entire experience. If you'd rather not be in that position, go somewhere else. There are plenty of places in SF that won't make you feel like they did you a favor by...

Sunday tea service for 2 and we ordered the King's tea service since the server recommended it for first timers. Two choices in tea sandwiches and we chose the curried chicken mango chutney and honey lavender creme. For teas, it was Wolves of Winterfell and Kings Landing. This may not seem too important but their steeped loose so you have to use a strainer for your cup. Not a huge deal but just the first time I ever had to do that (I've been to a couple of other tea rooms). The teas came out first and we really liked the Wolves of Winterfell, rooibos with hints of toffee and caramel. Kings Landing was ok, it wasn't too strong in the mango flavor. The food came out in a two tiered tray - the sweets were on top and savories on the bottom. There were two different scones and both were pretty good. The sandwiches were good, nothing outstanding but I did like the variety in selection choices. Tomato spinach quiche and sausage rolls were nice and we were already getting full and warm due to the many cups of tea we were having. The place wasn't entirely full that afternoon and we noticed there was only 1 server - hard to get her attention though. The place has a very cutesy feel to it but you can't tell from the outside. It was still a good experience but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here next time. Since I'm from the East Bay, I'll stick with the one closest to me, the English Rose...