Afternoon tea at the Wallace Collection (Wallace Collection (London))

Member Name: ladyannie

Product:	Wallace Collection (London)
Date:	03/05/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well located in pretty square behind Oxford Street

Disadvantages: Very overpriced and very poor quality

I was invited to have afternoon tea at the Wallace collection, located in Manchester Square just behind Oxford street. Pretty house, pretty square, lots of trees etc. However I do not rate the afternoon tea at all, and very over priced.

*Cost and drinks*
The tea in April 2009 is set at £16.50 or £24 including a glass of wine. The restaurant is at the back of the house in a glass covered plaza with lots of plants, but the noise is rather echoy. I was in a party of 20 and the tables were laid and ready just a minute before our booking was due. The staff seemed rather stressed and instead of asking us what we wanted to drink, brought tea around in a thermos flask. There was one menu somewhere (which i didn't see until the end of the tea) with a choice of different teas on, so people could have chosen their tea and had their own pot, but the staff obviously wanted you to have the thermos tea. I asked straight away for a type of tea and had my own pot. The pot had obviously not been washed for a while and was quite dirty on the outskirts. No one was offered coffee.

*Food*
The food was very very mediocre, 3 sandwiches, one egg, one I can't even remember and one slice of white sliced bread with salmon on. The sandwiches were not elegantly cut and had obviously been made for a while as the bread was quite stale or dried out, in one of my sandwiches I did wonder if it had been toasted (it hadn't!). They bought out plates of quiche, nothing unusual or special. The scones were heavy and very very overcooked, I wouldn't have served them at home. They did not look nice. The cake plates again were not very elegant and none of our party ate any of the cakes. 2 types of jam for the scones, blackcurrent and strawberry but the jam jar holders were dirty.

*Summary*
Overall the tea was very poor, the price very expensive for what it was, and the staff seemed stressed and actually arguing behind the bar. Had I not been in a group I would have complained - and to cap it all we all had to pay £2 service charge each for being in a group.
Overall it was very very disappointing and I will not be returning.

Summary: Food of low standard, overpriced and staff stressed