So, I know, Tradescant Road beat me to it, and discovered that the Tea House Theatre had opened(ish) earlier this week. He has a fantastic post with photos here. Not to be done outdone, I had to pay a visit myself.
Well, wow. What can I say? The place is positively spiffing. I even visited twice in one weekend (once for breakfast and once for afternoon tea). Food is absolutely top notch. Cakes are to die for (even rivalling @CakeHoleLondon at Oval Market). Decor is exquisite (if still receiving finishing touches). The other SE11 Lurker was insistent that I mention the fabulous finish in the lavatories too. So, there we are... Staff are friendly and welcoming. It was a little quiet, but that's to be expected, and business was reportedly good over the weekend. And they're experimenting with the menu (of which I have a "this will continue to evolve") version to upload later. It's currently the only place (I think) it's possible to get a cream tea (ingredients all fresh, homemade jam too) in Kennington or Vauxhall.
Tea House Theatre is currently open from 9am - 6pm, seven days a week. They'll also be opening from 6pm-9pm on a Monday for Knitter Natter, for folk who want to knit, chat and drink tea. They're happy to open on other evenings too for special-interest groups and would obviously like to build up a fanbase of actors, artists and general tea-drinking Kenningtonian layabouts...
You'll love the teapots in their hand-knitted tea-cosies, and there was a great selection of tea which increased between visits on Saturday and Sunday. If you don't like, tea, I recommend the smoothies. Apparently, they will eventually offer coffee, but that won't happen for a while yet:
And if tea isn't enough, you can purchase some old fashioned sweet-shoppe goodness, weighed on old fashioned real scales (none of that digital nonsense here, thank you):
By one of the fire places (just out of shot as not quite finished) is this fabulous gentlemen's drinking corner... Looking forward to winter already. Pass the port old chap:
The new logo, to be emblazoned all over the shop. They've not yet finished the lettering outside, but I expect this to feature prominently. What I want to know is when the Tea House Theatre old-school-tie will be created. And preferably a scarf in blue and gold too.
All I can say is that civility has returned to Vauxhall. Fine bone china, and, dare I mention it, linen napkins. Yes, linen. This is a major competitor with Oval Market for lazy Saturday morning custom now.
In my bid to deliver you every last detail, I even photographed the rather attractive new bathroom. You're right. That probably wasn't strictly necessary, but with Tradescant Road hot on my heels, I'm clearly going to have to go just that bit further:
Tea House Theatre is slightly tucked away behind Vauxhall Spring Gardens, based on the site of the former Queen Anne strip pub, just next to Glasshouse Walk playground.
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2 comments:
I have tried on numerous occasions to enjoy the Tea House Theatre, but after my visit today, which will be my last, I decided enough was enough!
Credit where credit is due, it looks amazing and I think this is why I kept going back, wanting to be won over, but the fact is the services is awful, the staff are so rude, the food is shocking and the cake is disgusting!
The first time I went was with a group of friends, the waitress took forever to taker our order, we only had an hour for our lunch. The waitress ignored us half the time and was rude when we did ask for anything. Then the food took forever and we all left feeling really rather stressed, to make it worse the food was no better than a packed lunch !
The second time I went was for a mini Christmas lunch with the girls, we all order and when i asked if they did coffee (NEVER ASK FOR COFFEE)I was shocked at how rude the waiter was “this is a tea house, there is a Starbucks down the road, go there if you want coffee”. I brushed this off. Once again the food took ages, when it did arrive we were all under whelmed. My fried made the mistake of asking for pesto as they had forgotten to include it with her food. She poured it on her food before trying it …… big mistake. It had so much garlic in it, it burnt her mouth - her food was ruined! All the sandwiches were dry and the quality of the food was poor. My friend found MUD in her salad, she called the waiter over not wanting to make a big deal ….. big mistake. He basically called her a liar and said he would not tell the chef as she would hit the roof – nice. He would not stop having a go at my friend and left her feeling really uncomfortable and waiting to leave that instant.
The third time was today, I went with my boyfriend on my lunch break. Once again the service was so bad, the waitress was so rude. When I asked for a scone she simply said NO, and gave me a look, I was taken a back and ask about other puddings to which she replied “what! Cakes of puddings” after mubbling a list of cakes we picked Lemon Drizzle and a Brownie, the Lemon Drizzle was so dry and I could not taste the lemon, the brownie was burnt. The frustrating thing is the looks so good, but that’s as far as it goes.
All in all don’t be taking in by how lovely it looks, the staff are so rude and the food is so bad! I have never written a review before, this is how strong I feel about how bad this place is!
I too had a terrible experience there. I went with my boyfirned for a rlxing sunday morning breakfast. Really had high hopes for this place and expected to be wowed. I have never been more stressed waiting for my breakfast on a Sunday morning. It was like a comedy of errors. We waited 20mins for someone to take our order and an hour for our food- which was greasy and only lukewarm. The eggs were not cooked properly. We were supposed to get toast but we didn't. we were then given someone else's bill. Frnakly it was all rubbish and we left feeling angry and ripped off- we only got the tea for free. Don't go here it's not worth the time and they don't deserve your money.
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