The restaurant is inside the Royal Horseguards hotel, which is a beautiful building. The atmosphere was nice, and the staff were extremely friendly although service was sometimes a little on the slow side. The food was very well presented, but quite pricey and portions weren’t huge. Even with a Groupon offer, the bill came to over £50/head for 3 courses and ½ a bottle of wine. I thought it was reasonable value for this, but would have been disappointed had I paid full price.
Sheetal M.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Sutton, United Kingdom
I booked this as a Mother’s Day present and we came here as a family for afternoon tea. I hadn’t heard that much about it but I’d heard that it was okay, pretty decent. I opted for the signature tea which included a selection of finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and an assortment of mini desserts and obviously the tea! We were seated very quickly and were given a menu to choose our flavour of tea. I opted for the earl grey, my folks opted for the spiced chai and my sister opted for the strawberries and cream — the restaurants signature tea. The tea came and was poured for us out of these amazing chintz type silver teapots and strained into our teacups. My earl grey was perfect — not too strong, just the right amount. When the food came, we took our time as although it doesn’t look a lot, it actually is quite filling! I had stated no beef when I booked the place and the restaurant were very accommodating, serving us chicken sandwiches instead which was good! We also had cream cheese and cucumber and tuna mayo. The scones were delicious and warm! My only complaint would be that they didn’t give us enough clotted cream! The little puddings were tasty as well. The actual restaurant itself is modern with a traditional twist. The service was very good however they don’t have good service on their card machine which resulted in a lot of waving the machine in the air, trying to get a signal! Also it is located between the river and Whitehall so quite a good location! Definitely one to try!
Aurobindo S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Alpharetta, GA
The setting is just OK(I mean, the hotel itself is lovely and all, but they use the same area for morning buffet breakfast …). The service is spotty — when they do come and chat with you, they’re very friendly and knowledgeable; but we were sitting for more than 10 minutes without being attended to, which I thought was odd, especially since the hotel wasn’t even crowded at the time. The food itself is excellent, but the portions are tiny(I was still hungry after my meal!). I would go here, but only in a pinch, considering the number of restaurants in the area.
Lucy A.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
Had the Champagne Afternoon Tea for 6 people on Saturday. We were sat on a low table with a sofa on one side but there are regular tables(this is worth considering if you are coming here older people who would probably prefer the regular hard back seating). The champagne was good and we eagerly anticipated our teas and finger sandwiches. These came out with a few warm savory snacks(egg, tuna), and small desserts(lemon cheesecake, chocolate pot, chocolate lollipop). The sandwiches had barely any filling, from the choice of beef, cucumber, coronation chicken. We got a second round offered which we snapped up! Scones were fresh and warm from the oven with a good jam. Tea was in a good size pot which they offered to refill throughout; this was really good. Atmosphere and service wise, with the soft harp being strummed, I wanted to feel transported in my mind to a time of regal London, but the service was not lavish as I’d expected. No service on my mobile which was great; glad for the peace! At £40 each it was a bit steep — we’d have been happy to pay it should the experience and food be better. Next time I’ll try another location for an Afternoon Tea.
Sylvanna Y.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
The Royal Horseguards Hotel were among the hotels that won the Tea Guild Awards of Excellence of 2012 so I had to try this place out. had 25%(or was it 20%) off their afternoon tea set, so it was basically a steal The place wasn’t as plush as other places I’ve been for afternoon tea but it’s decent enough. For tea I tried Strawberry & Cream(their signature tea blend) and it was really an odd concoction of Strawberries and Cream. hehe I should’ve known! I am used to traditional tea types like green or black so this new one was rather hard to taste at first. But as I went through the entire pot, I kinda got used to it and it didn’t taste that odd anymore. Also — their pot for their afternoon tea is a decent size! There was a place I went for afternoon tea and their teapots were dainty ones! It wasn’t enough for me to sit and chat with my friend because I would have gone through the entire teapot in a flash and dying from thirst half way through tea(that place charged for refill, I think). Anyways, One Twenty One Two provides free refills(I think) if you’re wondering — the waitress was kind enough to ask me for one, but the teapot was big enough that I didn’t need any. The pastries/sweets were a hit & miss and the sandwiches were decent. But the highlight of this visit was definitely the scones. The scones were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and when added with butter and jam was simply to die for! Really really loved the scones served here. They only had raisin and butter one for each patron, and I was full by the end of it but if possible, I would probably asked for more. The scones was so amazing, its weightage on the rating is a star! Would recommend this place solely for the scones but I dont want to be sued if it was a bad experience for you so um… go at your own risk!
Neal E.
Rating des Ortes: 2 London, United Kingdom
The atmosphere at the restaurant is OK, but it felt like a hotel brunch area(which it is) and therefore did not have the feel that I would expect. The food was OK, but nothing special and certainly more expensive than it should be for what was delivered. The highlight of the meal was the dessert, which was an innovative twist on a carrot cake. The best part of the experience was that they are on Taste London, so the meal was 50% off.