We tried the Champagne Afternoon Tea at St Pancras Grand making use of the same half price offer we had used earlier at The Portrait (Normal Price £25.00 per person, with the deal £12.50). Off the two venues The Portrait easily won, with its buzzy atmosphere and friendly service. At the St Pancreas Grand, the room is certainly much grander. However the place was rather lacking in atmosphere and we had no qualms about not paying the discretionary service charge. Main complaints (apart from how dull The Afternoon Tea was) are:-
1. No one to greet us at the door.
2. Room was deserted of waiting staff on more than one occasion.
3. Very curt, disinterested waiter.
4. Getting a Tea Strainer took about 30 minutes and two attempts.
5. No offer of a top up on the tea (although the deal specifically mentioned unlimited tea), and we had 2 teapots between 3 people, so not exactly a fair distribution.
With service like this, if you were planning to catch a train…..you’d miss it!
We have been to the Portrait Restaurant, in the National Portrait Gallery quite a few times now (for breakfast, brunch and lunch). It is on the top floor of the Gallery on the left hand side, going up the main escalator and taking the lift to the 3rd floor will get you there.
The place is normally busy and buzzing, so best to book. It also has a good view of Nelson’s Column.
We went for afternoon tea, taking up a special January deal of £12.50 per person for a Champagne Tea. A Bargain!
We had been planning to do a post on Age & Sons for a while. When it opened last year it was seen as a place that could put Ramsgate firmly on the Restaurant circuit. The chef is Toby Leigh formally of Kensington Place and gastro pubs The Anchor & Hope and Heston Blumenthal’s Hinds Head.
Age & Sons is actually more than just a restaurant. It is spread over 3 floors, the top floor is the main restaurant, the ground floor is a more casual dining area (laid out a bit like a french kitchen) and the basement houses a cosy rather stylish cocktail bar. It is not the easiest place to find. We arrived on an off season Saturday night to a fully booked restaurant whose clientele consisted of well heeled locals, out of towners, people from the yacht club and foodies like us. I particularly like this places eccentricities – the eclectic range of “Granny” style side plates, the squeaky cheese trolley. It is definitely not one of these manufactured venues with catalogue decor, it has it’s own style.
I started with sweetbreads and damsons. While full of damson flavour it did religate the sweetbread to merely a texture rather than a taste. For main course I went for Kentish lamb and my companion went for the pork (as far removed from the pork I had in Harveys earlier that day, as it is possible to get). The portion sizes were huge so this was more comfort/hearty food than any pretension of fine dining.
What is also refreshing is that in such a busy place the service was professional and friendly. Taking the time for example to enquire how we enjoyed some of the more unusual cheeses in our cheese course. On that front we particularly enjoyed the whiskey flavoured variety from Snowdonia.
On leaving we noticed just how buzzing the downstairs was. This really made for a great ambience and one that most restaurants would kill for.
Marks out of 10 – October 2009
Food 5.5
Service 6.5
Ambience 7
Diner – October 2009
Extended outside space – July 2010
Lunch – August 2011
UPDATE : July 2010, Age & Sons now have a much larger outdoor space for drinks and food, it’s a good spot to relax in the sunshine. It even does tea and cakes (not a big selection – they only had muffins on our visit, but they were actually rather good, especially the marmalade and ginger one). They were also selling jugs of Pimms and Ginger Beer, which makes for a nice change from the normal Pimms and Lemonade option.
UPDATE : August 2011
We had a late lunch out in the lovely courtyard. Age & Sons has really upped its game. My Mushroom and Ricotta Ravioli was particularly good.
KiA friend reserved a table for the Pret a Portea at The Berkeley – the famous fashionista’s afternoon tea. Not that I qualify in any way for the description of fashionista, but there were plenty of them in the room to make up the shortfall.
The table was beautifully set, with individual stylised menus and a personalised name card. Our only criticism was the size of the font on the menu (see vent number 21). We also had some concerns when only one cake stand was set on the table for four people – there was only two handbags!. However the waiter quickly reassured us that the plates would be swapped out as and when we finished them. He was true to his word as we discovered following multiple plate changes.
The sandwiches (we had 3 rounds each and were offered more!), savoury spoonfuls and cakes were all of a very high standard. In fact I actually enjoyed the afternoon tea more than the lunch we had a few months back in Marcus Wareings restaurant!
We also had a few glasses of champagne – they offer standard or couture. The waiter serving the champagne was particularly proficient as he single handedly poured the champagne, smoothly swapping from one hand to the other. He also used a small laser pointer to individually identify and describe the sandwiches and cakes! I jokingly commented that he put on a better show than the Fat Duck. So you can imagine my shock when Heston Blumental walked by a few minutes later. The Berkeley will be a rival to his planned new Restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental just around the corner (see Foliage replacement – the gossip!), so I guess he was just being neighbourly!
Had afternoon tea in Tate Britain’s Rex Whistler Restaurant. It is actually a real bargain at £6.50 – just work out what the equivalent cost would be in the cafeteria next door to see what I mean.
The afternoon tea is not grand in the way it would be in a top hotel, but it’s a pleasant way to spend a hour or so.
The sandwiches were presented on individual cake stands, which also held a tiny but rather delicious piece of chocolate cake. While good value it was not something to go out of your way for.
They also have a breakfast menu. We made a return visit for the Full English breakfast, which is substantial but pricey.
5th View Bar & Food is a standout for a cafe/restaurant.
Surprisingly it is also located in a book store. It does really good inexpensive cocktails. We spent a couple of hours there relaxing over cocktails, sharing a meze plate and finishing with coffee and cakes (the carrot cake has to be one of the best I have had – sweet, light and moist).
The menu choice is limited, but what they do provide is simple, good quality, nicely presented food.
There are two dinning areas, one of which has a lovely view over the roof tops.
