Terrible service!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Heard a lot about this place so I made it a destination point during my visit to NYC. When I first walked in, I was rather confused whether to seat myself or have someone seat me. There was no sign and none of the 3 staff members greeted me from the counter so I just kinda stood there while the waitress finished counting her tips. Finally she told me I could sit anywhere, so I did. She handed me a tea menu & food menu, then later came to take my order. I ordered the afternoon tea ($22)with some Earl Grey Creme tea. I got my tea, but wasn't offered sweetener or creamer. The couple that walked in after me was offered both so when the server came back, I asked for it. When I received my tray with the sandwiches, I had the ham w/cucumber and the chicken salad sandwich. The chicken salad sandwich left my mouth raw, as if someone sandpapered it. The next plate on the tea tray was a scone with a side of cream spread & jam. Silverware was never offered and the server never came to check - I used the teaspoon that came with my tea. The last item was my Oreo cupcake (the menu said I had the option of brownie, cupcake, or one other dessert, but the server only allowed me to choose from their choice of cupcakes). When I finished my tea & wanted a refill of hot water, no one came by to check. The whole experience left me wondering if I was supposed to tip the server because I wasn't exactly waited on like a normal restaurant but they made it seem like they did enough so that a tip was probably expected.
Being 6 months pregnant on a solo trip to NYC, I didn't expect to work so hard for service, walking out of my way to find this place for a $22 per person meal. I went back to friends and the next day had delicious dim sum in Chinatown with automatic refills on tea and it came out to $30 for 4 people; the following day, $50 for 9 people. I don't care for pretentious places that don't deliver and then expect to be paid above average.
Cons: bad service