THE DRAWING ROOMS, London - South Kensington - Menu, Prices, Restaurant Reviews & Reservations - Tripadvisor (2024)

Excellent160

Very good60

Average37

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Great experience

Afternoon tea, done well with excellent service!Refills in abundance, great sandwich fillings for meat and veggie alike.Good theatre of the presentation and the staff are extremely attentive and helpful.We do many afternoon teas and this little understated venue is a little gem....Recommend!More

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This is the best!

Best afternoon tea I’ve ever had in the world!!! Friendly staff and excellent food. I would definitely recommend this place. 100 stars.More

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Special treat

We were 2 adults and 1 child and the booking was last minute as the hotel had a cancellation the day before. This was a wonderful experience - the food was amazing and we had fun with the little experiments. My child is quite fussy...so we only order 2 x adult afternoon teas and the staff were absolutely fine with this. It’s pricey but as a one off experience for our day trip to London it was memorable and one of the best afternoon teas I’ve ever had. We also had a little box to take home what we couldn’t at. Definitely recommend for a special treat.More

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A great experience

This was our first time in London so we had to experience afternoon tea. My children love science so we made a reservation for the science themed afternoon tea after a visit to the Science museum. We were done at the science museum before our...reservation so I called the Drawing Room and they were able to accommodate us an hour before our reservation time. The space is lovely and so was the staff. Our boys had the kids science afternoon tea with hot chocolate rather than tea. My husband and I had the adult afternoon tea and I added champagne to mine. It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend going.More

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Great afternoon tea!

Booked the Science afternoon tea and it was a amazing experience. The room was beautiful as was the food. The staff were lovely and were really good with a toddler that was with us. We would definitely visit again!

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A memory for life

I took my children, a cousin and a school friend to the Drawing Room for their first ever afternoon tea.I believe that for the rest of their lives they will remember the Science and Jurassic afternoon tea as the gold standard afternoon tea. It...was amazing. On arrival, I was informed that usually the Drawing Room does not do the Jurassic afternoon tea, only the science one. I had managed to do the booking wrong. However, the staff kindly organised one for us anyway. It made my sons day.Everything was fantastic, from making your own drinks, excavating your own dinosaur to the volcano.The venue is calm and peaceful. As can be expected, it is visited by a lof of familles and I did not hear a single child throw a tantrum, such is the athmosphere.The decoration is has a cheerful theme and is beautifully made.The staff is attentive, professional and cheerful. They have the perfect level of being efficient and still taking the time to chat to the guests.I highly recommend this experience.More

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Sublime. Lovely. Anything positive!

Amazing doesn't even cover it! Five stars only is too small of a review to leave for this location. I attended on the 14th of January, for a Jurassic afternoon tea with my mother.Firstly I just have to give a massive thank you to...Julien, the manager, and Kyra, my server. Both were kind and gracious, Julien in communicating with me about dietary requirements and requests and Kyra was the most attentive, polite, friendly and courteous server I've ever experienced anywhere. The décor of the tea room was beautiful, so artsy, but so simple, and very much atmospheric.The food... Wow. Just wow. The gluten free and vegetarian afternoon tea I was served was just amazing. Some of the best food I have ever eaten. So beautifully constructed, flavours balanced perfectly, and all just so delicious. The grilled leek tartlets and black bean/tomato tapenade sandwiches I ate were sublime... It truly all was but those two items were my favourite. Mum had a regular afternoon tea and she absolutely adored every single item she had... Especially the lemon chicken mayo brioche rolls! What really surprised us was that we could have refills on any savouries we had been provided, and for £49.50 each it makes it way above value for money! Naturally, we both went home with something. Mum took her puddings home and from what I've heard, had a wonderful evening with my Dad sharing them with a cup of tea. The tea menu (whilst it's in my head) was beautifully detailed and explanatory and Kyra also explained each tea in vivid detail, and kindly provided some recommendations. The tea was also refillable, and we were informed if we wanted to try a different blend than what we had ordered, we could do so.I think it's safe to say we both felt valued, well looked after, and almost as though we were treated like royalty. I'll be recommending The Ampersand to all and sundry, it really is a truly spectacular establishment.More

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Nobody served us or bothered

This was a business meeting at the lobby of the hotel and was supposed to be over tea/ coffee. Had a meeting with my overseas partner for just over an hour. Guess what? No staff came over asking for service nor bothered.We were simply...furious over this, but the importance of our meeting and discussion took precedence so we couldn't care less. This is a well known and an established brand... and I wonder how they could go wrong ???More

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Everything is perfect ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nice place to spend a quality time with special friend, the earl grey tea is so perfect to me, i love it 💙

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Science afternoon tea at the Ampersand Hotel

We visited The Drawing Rooms at The Ampersand Hotel for an amazing and highly memorable afternoon tea experience for three adults and two children.Being located 5minute walk from both the Science and Natural History Museums the hotel was perfectly located for lunch on a...day full of learning for our two kids. The hotel is not too close to be mobbed by the hoards of tourists but still within easy walking distance.The hotel is smart, clean, has all the facilities you would expect. The reception is welcoming, dining room beautiful decorated, well laid out, light and airy. Toilets were cleaned regularly and in impeccably presented.The hotel does three adult afternoon tea options: standard, vegetarian and vegan and two children’s very special afternoon teas: science themed or history themed each tailored to go with a the Science and Natural History Museum experience.We opted for the children’s science afternoon teas as they love experimenting. The science started strait away as gestures and mini mixing flasks were brought to our table and the kids were shown how to mix their own lemonade drinks.The afternoon tea comprised the usual afternoon tea format of sandwiches / scones / cakes but all with a surprise, fun element for the children.The adult food was great quality, really delicious, good portion size and we were encouraged to ask for extras and refills all free of charge.The staff were all extremely attentive, knowledgeable and friendly, patient with the children and happy to assist in any way possible.This really was an exceptional experience that we and the children will remember. We would HIGHLY recommend this experience and will be coming back to do the History afternoon tea some time soon!More

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A fantastic treat

Lovely food, lovely setting, great welcoming friendly and knowledgeable staff working hard to make sure you have a wonderful experience.

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Fun twist on the classic Afternoon tea

My sister booked an afternoon tea tor my Birthday and it was great! After spending the day at the museums, this was the perfect way to finish. The waiters were so lovely and explained everything so clearly. It was one of the waiters first day...and he was SO good and careful not to miss anything. I’m shocked I hadn’t heard of this themed tea as it should be a MUST do if you’re spending the day in London.Don’t worry if you don’t like something on the menu- you can swap them for whatever you like. The vegetarian menu is much appreciated . Thanks guysMore

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Interesting concept and some delicious food

A great idea with some whacky food ideas. The savoury food was delicious as were the scones. We were less excited by the main sweet foods although they did look beautiful. They had run out of somethings but didn't tell us and left it to...us to spot that the tea wasn't what was on offer. However, I'm sure this wouldn't have changed the overall experience but I would have been more impressed if they had mentioned it at the beginning.More

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Good fun and friendly service

Just been for afternoon tea and it was good fun. The staff took time to explain about the menu and were really pleasant. The food was fun themed and thought had gone into its planning and preparation. My friend needed gluten free food and they...catered for that (although I had pre-warned). They also catered for vegans and vegetarians. The price was about similar to others we had looked at. We enjoyed it.More

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Really disappointing

Poor value, poor food, minimal science theming. For the price, which would buy you a proper meal elsewhere, you get one very sweet brioche with very bland, dry roast beef, another very sweet brioche with a nasty chicken and tomato puree (both taste like school...dinner on cheap cake), one salmon canape on which the salmon is cut unchewably thick, a tiny mini quiche that had no taste, two very dry, very bland scones I gave up on after one mouthful because no amount of cream and jam could make them palatable, and a small selection of bland desserts. The only science elements are 'mix a fizzy lemonade' (the bicarbonate they gave us was damp and it didn't work), a little bit of dry ice in a bowl, a 'dig for dinosaurs' (generic dino chocolates in a box of biscuit crumbs to 'dig' for- except they're literally just in a half teaspoon of biscuit crumbs- why bother?) and a pipette stuck into a macaroon. They suggest you squeeze the liquid in the pipette into the macaroon. The microsecond you do so the macaroon obviously dissolves into a sticky mess between your fingers. The staff speak poor English and are so clearly bored by the whole thing that they can barely be bothered to mumble through the explanations. Not suitable for food lovers, science fans or children due to being bland, lazy and boring. I sincerely regret going and resent having wasted my money.More

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They have a platform lift at the main entrance for step-free access. More info on access is on the website of the Ampersand Hotel. Hope this helps - enjoy your visit!

Dear GuruLark,Thank you for your question.You do not have to order a full afternoon tea to enjoy our Drawing Rooms.We offer a selection of cakes, light dishes from our a la carte menu which are available daily from... More

Dear GuruLark,Thank you for your question.You do not have to order a full afternoon tea to enjoy our Drawing Rooms.We offer a selection of cakes, light dishes from our a la carte menu which are available daily from 9am.Our afternoon tea or cream tea is served from 2.30pm until 5.30pm weekdays and 12.30 until 5.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays.I hope it answer your question.Please do not hesitate to contact us to book your table.Regards,Thomas