Cynthia
User's reviews
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Sugarplums & Tea
With 5 years of tea room business experience in two different MD tea rooms as a server and baker, I visited this tea room yesterday. I was excited about the 150 varieties of teas that were purportedly offered. However, I had to ASK for this menu. It's a special one, and then don't offer it readily. It was like pulling teeth to get the server to bring it out. Needless to say, the service was poor. The server made my boyfriend get up to check what kind of tea he wanted and seem put out by questions. She had no idea what desserts were being offered. I would have never been this way to a customer. Service is essential in the tea business. Your goal is to make the customers feel special, so read up on your tea selections and daily desserts. Tea is an experience. This is not Chili's. She was young, so perhaps this was her excuse. The one thing that sets tea rooms apart is how the high tea itself is presented. Completely lackluster and disappointing. Tea should be properly steeped using a tea timer BEFORE bringing it to a patron. Period. I should not have to time it myself and then fish out a wet tea bag and set it on the table (no plate was offered, and the wet bag sat there the entire time). The cups and saucers were glass (which does not hold heat the way fine china does), and nothing matched. Taking tea is an art, and decor and proper, elegantly appointed place settings are a huge part of this art. The overal ambience was confusing - are we in a barn? Porch? Not surprisingly, the food was lacking. There were no scones. Scones should always be offered and not be an option. And no clotted cream. What is high tea without clotted cream? The food looked inventive and ambitious when it came out on the very large (too large for the table) tier, but the taste of the meal fell flat on the palate. Everything tasted the same. Sad to say that 40 bucks later, we did not have a good experience.