After our tour of Down Street tube station, we had the second part of our visit to The Athenaeum Hotel for afternoon tea. We met up at the hotel before our tour of Down Street station and were told the history here and had biscuits and tea before being given the tour. An additional trip needed to be made to enjoy the second part of the tour, which was afternoon tea at the hotel. I thought that we'd be having both at once on the day, but it did not end up this way. Afternoon tea is served at Galvin at The Athenaeum, and Galvin have a couple of other restaurants in London.
The front and side of the hotel is impresive as it is covered in green plants.
Inside the hotel is the tea room, located at the front along Picadilly Street with views toward the park.
We were served a selection of sandwiches and scones with lemon curd, rhubarb jam, and clotted cream. I had darjeeling tea, and the bloke had a jasmine tea.
The top plate consisted of the pastries, and they had to inform us of what each was as they were not included on the menu. I'm not sure if this is 100% correct, but the macaroon was an orange macaroon. There was also a pear tart with a dollup of cream on top.
The green item above is a pistachio lightly-filled pastry.
There was a vanilla slice with flaky crust and a rhubarb tart.
Here comes the difficult bit. I am always honest in my reviews, and they are not sponsored. In my honest opinion, I must say that this was my worst afternoon tea experience to date. And this is a shame, because the Galvin brand is considered to be a strong brand with great food, and the hotel is located in Mayfair with the other expensive hotels. The food was actually not too bad, but where we were let down was the service.
The service was a let-down from the moment we entered the door; we were not welcomed. Also, bear in mind that I had spoken to them over the phone the previous day and stated dietary requirements as well as asked other questions and was given the wrong information; I asked about our voucher and they said I needed to show it and not print it and they wanted me to print it. When we did receive the food, we were not checked back on. I ran out of tea and waited for over twenty minutes before having to call the waitress over and ask for more. She then left and another twenty minutes passed; I still did not receive the tea. I had to go up to the desk and ask after it and waited for another ten minutes before it arrived. Needless to say, I had the tip removed and walked out.
I would not recommend The Galvin for afternoon tea. There are much better venues in London with much better service and food.
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