The Tea Cosy Reviews

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The Tea Cosy
3 George Street , Kemp Town , Brighton , East Sussex

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Craig Davies Craig Davies gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 0/5

Horrible!!

OK - in the past we have heard good reviews about this one, so was looking forward to a trip for a posh cup of tea.

Sadly the ownership has been taken over and the new personality-lacking owner has made it go down hill (see other reviews to confirm this!!.

OK my reasons:

1. The tea is TEA BAGS!!!!... do we go to starbucks to drink instant coffee???
2. Unlimited tea which was only good if you could find somebody to serve you
3. the smallest portions of food i have ever seen!!! i reckon half a sandwich and the sponge cake was only 5mm thick (you could see light through it and it crumbled on pickup!)
4. the cake and scones were obviously brought from a shop and not home made
5. had to pay to book table (£4) in advance and was additional on top of the bill!!! (as the rest of the tea room was partly empty it seemed very steep!!!)
6. complained about this and the response was 'the old owners told me to keep charging this' and then she walked off!!
7. was not a warm welcoming and she was moody when we walked out (not even a goodbye!)
8. no longer stand for the British anthem - was looking forward to this unique part of the visit
9. dirty toilets
10. very expensive - £10 for the basic tea meal. minimum 2 so £20 for a small cake stand.
11. our friends had to share our cream and jam????
12. vowed never to come back

Don't bother - this place is going down hill and no longer deserves to be in this area of Brighton - maybe whitehawk instead???

it requires change of owner immediately as this place has a unique look. Should be in a museum with fake plastic sandwiches and large dolls at the moment - people staring but waiting for a proper cafe

p.s. i don't normally make such a scathing review, just very disappointing

Reviewed 6th Jun 2010
Management Response from The Tea Cosy on 8th Jun 2010
Thank you for your review of the Tea Cosy, as manager I would like the opportunity to reply. We took over the tearoom on the 24th May 2010 and despite the fact that we have only been in business for two weeks we are still very disappointed and sorry to hear that your visit to the Tea Cosy did not meet your expectations.

I can assure you that everything is homemade on site, all cakes, scones, biscuits, jam and chutney; they are made either by myself or by my business partner. With regard to portion size we are looking into this but have had conflicting views about what a correct size is? Some people have commented that the high teas are too big and have been unable to finish it, so I think this is dependent according to opinion and perhaps appetite. We do in fact offer unlimited tea when ordering a high tea and I’m sorry that you felt this service was not readily available to you.
The cake stand was in fact not small but was a four tier stand for 2 to share, the jam and cream should have been for the high tea, if we forgot to give a separate jam and cream for your friend I apologise profusely, this was an error on my part and I thank you for pointing this out. If you had asked us for more jam and cream or mentioned any of the points you have made whilst in the tea room we would have of course been very obliging and apologetic.

We are currently in discussion as to whether we should use tea bags or loose tea and previously felt that for the time being we should use tea bags as the previous owners had done. However your opinion will be taken into consideration when making our final decision.

The toilet (we only have one) is cleaned and checked throughout the day, however it is an old cistern and we are looking into changing this as soon as possible.

The booking fee clearly states on the website that it is a fee and not a deposit, if that was misleading for you in any way we again apologise and have refunded the £4 booking fee (a gesture of good will). Just to explain; the booking fee is to reserve your table and is not dependent on how busy the tearoom is.

In regard to the national anthem, I can only say that this was indeed a technical hitch, we tried to do this on Sunday but unfortunately could not get it to work. In hindsight we should have made an announcement explaining this to our customers, we are trying to fix this problem as soon as possible.

Again we are truly sorry that you did not feel that the service or your visit met your expectations, we take all these comments seriously and will endeavour to fix anything that is factual and needs addressing.
Emma Emma gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 1/5

Right Royal Rip-off

I was really looking forward to coming here as I had read great reviews on the Guardian website, where it had been voted best place to have tea in the country. Eyes bigger than my stomach, but expecting to be delighted, I ordered the Lady Diana Spencer tea and I have to say, I was expecting much better fare than the supermarket cake slices, piles of chocolate biscuits and bourbons, cheese and pickle sandwiches and tiny amount of potato salad made with salad cream which I received for the queenly sum of £10. This was presented on a wobbly cake stand and had to be shared between three people. I cannot describe any other feeling other than frustration at being totally ripped off.
I also felt really uncomfortable as the manager stalked around us, giving me the distinct impression that he wanted us to leave so he could fill our table with more punters. The only time he appeared genuinely cheerful was when the mayor arrived offering him a photo opportunity which he hammed to the fullest.
I imagine this place once deserved the reputation it now clings to, but complacency and a touch of arrogance have made it more stale than the sandwiches.

Reviewed 17th May 2010

 » Management Response
Kate Kate gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 0/5

Tea Cosy

What a total disappointment. I had been so looking foward to visiting Tea Cosy after being told that it had been voted as one of the top ten afternoon tea experiences to visit (along with Claridges!!!). The decor was OK but it was dirty and mismatched (I won't even mention the state of the toilet!!!). Three of us ordered the Lady Diana Spencer tea which was a total rip off at £10. There were three smoked salmon sandwiches and some ham and cheese, a small almount of potato salad, one scone with jam and cream each and then a huge amount of chocolate borbons, chocolate digestives and shop bought angel cake, walnut cake and lemon cake and not of a particular high standard more of a shop's 'value' range. I at least expected home make cakes. The waiter was extremely rude and made us feel everything was too much bother, I found it rather insulting to be spoken to in such a way. I most certainly wouldn't visit this place again and definately would not recommend Tea Cosy to a friend to waste their hard earned money at.

Reviewed 2nd May 2010

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Lea Lea gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 5/5

Cream Tea

A real brighton Gem to be tresured! ok..... the food is average (although the victoria sponge is excellent), the service relaxed and sometimes a little slow on a busy weekend but the all around 'experiance' is fantastic and very much a touristy tounge in cheek kiss me quick wit. The whole place is very very Brighton and the fist place we think to take our visitors. Let the queen reign at the Tea Cosy for a long time to come!

Reviewed 1st Apr 2010

 » Management Response
Cassie Cassie gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 0/5

Birthday Treat For A Friend

I took a very dear friend for a treat to the Tea Cosy. When I popped in 20 mins before I was told I could not reserve a table.

When we came back 20 mins later we were given a table and the place was very busy. The banter was quite rude to customers considering the etiqutte on the website.

We went for a Lady Diana Spence Special of which was a min order for two - more than 8 people could eat.

After about an hour the tea room emptied very sparse and we were told to leave as the table was booked.

I did feel very robbed considering we orded the top end of a high tea, no customer service and be prepared to get insulted. Very disappointed.

Reviewed 31st Mar 2010

 » Management Response
Cathy Cathy gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 1/5

Sunday Afternoon

Visiting Brighton for a weekend ( my parents used to live in Brighton, but I had not been there for nearly 20 years) myself & husband stumbled across the Cosy Team Rooms. My intial reaction was ' WOW ' this is magical, I must try this.
It was very busy ( which I thought was a good sign) and we were lucky to get a table.
The menu and food was very disappointing and they seemed to have run out of most things. My first choice was not avaiable so I had to make a rushed decision and decided for a cake ( no choice , only Victoria Sandwich) When it arrived, it was enough for a least 6 people and it was stale ( I think it must have been made for Queen Victoria herself) My Husband's choice of food was equally disappointing.
I noticed a table nearby where a lady , with her young son,, were ploughing through a large plate of biscuits,the biscuits were not anything special i.e straight out of a Family Circle tin. It was obviously 'pile it high' but in relation to the quality of the food, it was not cheap.
My Husband observed an couple who wanted a table,told to come back later and when they did ( a little early ) did not receive a good reception.
Such a shame, could have been wonderful.

Reviewed 30th Mar 2010

 » Management Response
Disappointed Disappointed gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 0/5
I went along to the Tea Cosy at half term with my 10 year old son. I had been looking forward to it after reading the reviews and was hoping for an entertaining & memorable experience of the best of Brighton 'campness'. The whole experience was as memorable as it was disapointing! On arrival the very jaded waiter greeted us with a tired 'Yes dear' and half heartedly waved in the general direction of a table at the back. As we had been given a voucher as a gift, I enquired what that entitled us to. Fortunately the waiter summoned up enough energy to point out the options. However one of them included smoked salmon sandwiches and my son pointed out that he didn't like smoked salmon, there was no effort made by the waiter to suggest other alternatives & because of his attitude, we felt very rushed to decide.When it arrived,the food & tea were unceremoniously plonked down in front of us. It comprised a cake stand containing welsh rarebit (cheese on toast) 2 crumpets (buttered, lukewarm) and about 16 slices of cake and a pile of chocolate biscuits together with a cream jug of jam with a sprig of parsley in it(?). Oh and 2 scones with jam & cream. On the plus side, there was plenty of it. However, the quality was distinctly lacking, the cakes weren't homemade, they appeared to be an inferior bought cake and the biscuits were chocolate digestives and bourbons, I think, certainly not the fare I would expect when having a cream tea in an internationally reknown establishment like the Tea Cosy. As for the cakes, the waiter didn't even give us a choice we had coffee cake & Victoria sponge, (my son doesn't like Coffee cake!)

Reviewed 8th Mar 2010

 » Management Response
Des Des gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 5/5
After seeing The Tea Cosy in our paper I wanted so much to visit, So 2 Years on we came to London My daughter Booked for our Family to come for tea!!!!! AND WHAT A TEA WE HAD !!!
Thank you Mr Daly so true to the paper hard faced and ready to go, How you keep the tea room in hand. You are a credit to your City, I can see why you are so busy and also see how some people just don't get it !! If people where to read about you first then visit I'm sure they would understand, We had a ball and loved the fact you told our Daughter off for dunking... Now back home in Oz we are talking about you and your Tea Rooms. As small as you are you have that room eating out of your hands. I hope you get to read this Thank you so much for such a great time I wish you so well... God Save the Queen (David Daly)

Reviewed 6th Feb 2010

 » Management Response
John Cov John Cov gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 2/5
Too Much Hype About This Place. First impressions of this place are a small quaint tea room. Yes it's full of high camp clutter some of which is interesting. However, the place smells stale and there are odd chairs, dirty table mats and tired table cloths. The service is acid and on our visit there we on cakes. We also noticed that someone was smoking downstairs and the smell rose up the stairs which wasn't pleasant. All in all there are far better places to enjoy tea and spend your hard earned money in Brighton.

Reviewed 29th Nov 2009

 » Management Response
Kathryn Kathryn gave The Tea Cosy a rating of 3/5

November

The tea cosy was a bit of a mixed bag.

The place itself is everything I love about Brighton - eccentric, flamboyant and totally original.

The service was everything I hate about Brighton - rude and elitist.

They have a set of rules about tea etiquette and yet they feel quite within their rights to speak in a cold and dismissive way to their visitors.

Do they really need to look down their nose upon every potential patron? Can't 'cool' be partnered with 'polite'?

If you're hard as nails and don't mind being spoken to like an inferior nobody, brace yourselves and step in. I'm not sure it's worth it, but it certainly is an experience.

Reviewed 17th Nov 2009

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