York Gardens & Tearoom

"What a lovely place to have afternoon tea! And they offer a smaller cream tea (tea, scones, jam, and cream) as well as high tea, which is wonderful as I can never eat everything served for high tea. Service was friendly and attentive, the atmosphere is relaxing, prices are more than reasonable, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. (They also support the Wes Strong Foundation, something very close to my heart.) My one suggestion would be to serve clotted cream instead of the York cream, which I found a bit too sweet, but that's my personal taste buds. I definitely will be back to try the quiche !"

"My son & I enjoyed the Duke of York high tea here recently. Everything was excellent. I especially liked the scones. Even though they were plain scones, they were the best scones I’ve ever tasted! The little apple tart on the dessert tier was a pleasantly delicious surprise. So fresh & tasty! My son still talks about them. All in all, there was a lot of food. Sandwiches were delightful. We took some home & enjoyed them for lunch the next day. It was such a enjoyable experience, especially on a cold winter.day. The tea warmed us & the food nurtured us. Because I would like to see this establishment be successful, I would recommend they have a bigger sign to point out their tearoom. I wouldn’t want someone to pass them by & miss out on this enjoyable experience."

"The restaurant is cute albeit a bit dated and run down. The server was nice and attentive. I would never go back though because the food just wasn’t very good. We ordered two quiches that were completely unpalatable. We took one bite and couldn’t continue. They also smelled disgusting as if they had been made with rotten, moldy cheese. We were refunded for the quiche but what remained just wasn’t worth the money. The cream for the scones was oddly sweet, nothing that would ever be served with a scone at a legit high tea. The sandwiches were okay, not the soft bread that is typically served but were edible. The tea was served with cream and honey, not the sugar cubes of a traditional tea which I found weird. The desserts were okay. Overall, the tea was mediocre and way overpriced for what you are served and the disgusting quiche made me never want to eat egg again. I would not recommend."

"Besides overlooking the building restrictions - no sunlight, bright windows - which make for a pleasant environment, the tea itself was served in a tiny metal industrial teapot which was half full, and lukewarm. High teas are fun festive affairs but this had a more gloomy and antique-shop-like atmosphere. Scones are hard to master by most, the strawberry one while not a scone was good, the blueberry was undercooked, $15 for a cup of tea and 2 scones."

"Worst afternoon tea I've ever had. Don't waste your time or money. The bread on the sandwiches was dry. The "pot" of tea you get is smaller than the cup and leaks horribly when pouring. The scones weren't scones at all but more like cake. And the "York cream" is NOTHING like clotted cream, don't let them tell you otherwise. The taste and texture are very different! It wasn't good at all. And look how much they give you for two scones, about 1 tsp. Pathetic! And the dessert was not at all worth eating. We took one bite then left. I lived in England for 3 years, I know what an afternoon should be like. This wasn't even on par by American standards. Go elsewhere for your tea."