The Garden Court
(8 reviews)2 New Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA 415-546-5010 Website Suggest Changes
Recent reviews
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Tanya
I was very excited to have Christmas tea at The Palace with a close friend. We traveled from the Sacramento area for a special day in SF. Reservations required. Tea for two with tax (excl. champagne - $86.80). Our menu (per person serving): Five quarters of white sandwich bread, open faced with four different toppings. The toppings were sliced very thin see picture for size). One medium sized black currant triangular scone. Bite sized desserts (mini pecan pie, mini pumpkin pie, chocolate colored strawberry, shortbread dipped in chocolate), personal pot of tea. I write this review in comparison of wonderful teas I've experienced in the past in other countries and States. Positives: The ambiance and beauty of the dining room. We enjoyed beautiful music by a live harpist. The servers made sure our teapots were full. We were able to sit and relax for 2 hours, never feeling pressured to leave. We highly recommend the Oriental Spice tea. Negatives: If you do not ask, they will refill your teapot without new leaves. The sandwich bread was dry as if sandwiches were made the day prior and sat out. Two out of the four were somewhat tasty, the turkey was horrible. The scones were ok. Lemon curd was good, cream was ok (not clotted), and we could not determine the jelly flavor. The desserts reminded us of Costco. The strawberry was hard and tasteless. Unfortunately, we were moderately annoyed by several young girls weaving through the dining room as their mothers enjoyed their lunch. We talked to the very friendly maître d' (after one hour of this) and he kindly offered us sparkling wine. We were also asked if we wanted an additional scone. This great service made our afternoon much more enjoyable. Overall, for the price and reputation of The Palace Hotel we expected an exceptional menu selection and taste. We do not recommend and will not return unless the selection and taste improves.
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Georgia
This is by far the best tearoom in San Francisco for elegance of setting!They often have a person playing a harp.Comfortable and relaxed,no rushing to have you leave.My children enjoyed the wee tea with crown and candy wand! Another time we took a couple after
a busy day in the city to unwind.
The service was great,the food delicious. Excellent all the way!
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Bridget
What a shame that this gorgeous setting houses such a poor afternoon tea experience. We were so excited to come here and in awe of the beautiful atrium, but when we arrived, we were seated at a table that already had our tea stand on it with the food already on it. (There are no choices here)
Needless to say, the sandwiches were dry and becoming stale. After 15 minutes of trying to flag down a server and nibbling on our food without our tea, we were finally given Earl Grey tea which is not one of my favorites. It was not piping hot, and no refill to our pot was ever offered. The prices are outrageous, especially for this kind of quality. Sadly, we won't be back.
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Annie
I visited once in 2004 and the tea, food, service was mediocre, but the atmosphere and harp music made up for it. Unfortunately I was completely humiliated for suggesting the place when I returned in late 2005 with a large group of friends. For $35+ a person, we didn't have enough scones to have 1 scone per person, and for a large table only two small trays served. Not only could were we unable to try all the variety of desserts, we were charged for an additional plate of sandwiches after we complained that there wasn't enough to go around and they brought out another plate. It's really not the cost, but the concept. We're paying $35+ for a small pot of generic tea (lack of selection) and some mediocre pastries, so really, we're all there just to enjoy ourselves in the atmosphere of the place and have a nice afternoon. That extra $15~20 for a plate of sandwiches doesn't make a difference to the cost, but the service and the attitude of the waiters makes it extremely difficult to enjoy your time there. Never came by once after taking our order and dropping off the food (note, the tea/plates were really just 'dropped off' and not 'served'), and we tried/waited about 30 minutes to get his attention to deal with attitude and impatience. Definitely never returning, and I wonder how many people would return after they've been treated so badly despite the beauty of the place. What a shame.
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Kelly
The atmosphere was nice, but the food was just so-so. A lot of empty tables had the prepared food just sitting there already, but the waiters eventually took them back inside. Our table did not have food on it, but when our food came, we must've gotten one of those prepared earlier because the bread was very dry and the choices are limited. I wouldn't go back there again.
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Pamela
What a disappointment for such a beautiful place! Other than the atmosphere, there is no reason to here. It took us 30 minutes until a server finally came over and took our tea order. The tea was weak and lacking any flavor. The prepared food stand was already on the table when we came, so things sat a long time, as we wanted to wait to enjoy them with our tea. The waiter never came back to check on us until he dropped off our check - $35 each for the poorest service I have ever received. Boy, did I feel ripped off!
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Colorado Springs
The environment is extraordinary and the harp is an amazing touch. The selection was good and tasty although service is slow even on non-holidays