Review of Balmer Lawn 4*

A friend and I booked for ourselves plus another friend for afternoon tea on 26th October as it was to be the third friend's birthday treat. We were booked for 1430 and arrived around 1415. We presented ourselves at the reception desk and were told to take a seat and 'someone would be over to serve us'. After 20 minutes, no one had been near us, so I went to the bar and spoke with the waiter who checked our names were on his list. He said he would be over. At 1450, still no service so I again approached the waiter and asked if we could at least have a pot of tea whilst we waited for our food. This duly appeared followed by a board with six scones and 3 very tiny pots — one with clotted cream, one with a very, very runny jam and one with butter with a very strange texture, not at all enough for six scones. I enquired about the sandwiches, which should come first and he looked very confused, but eventually brought them with a very poor selection of cakes. The tea itself was disgusting — two teabags in a large pot which did not improve after stirring and allowing to brew and had a very strange taste. We were never asked which blend of tea we would prefer. With past experience of cream teas in several venues we have always had a choice of tea and loose tea has always been provided. For the above we were charged £18.50 per person — a real rip-off! Such a disappointment for us and our friend for whom this should have been a birthday treat. In his defence, the poor waiter was rushed off his feet with a bar full of people and no-one to help him until much later.