Grilled Asparagus
The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel 35 Charles Street London, W1J 5EB, United Kingdom

Tea • Hotels • British • European


"Unfortunately unlike many other’s who have kindly posted reviews on here, our experience of Afternoon Tea at The Chesterfield was rather disappointing. The staff were very attentive and courteous and I really appreciated how welcome they made us feel. Unfortunately for some reason at our seating on a Friday at 4:30pm there seemed to be an issue with a shortage of cakes/pastries. When the afternoon tea came out, understandably there is not enough room on the tea stand to put out 3 of each type of cake, so I just enquired whether one of each type of cake for the three of us would be bough out later and the waitress said we could have more sandwiches and scones if we wished. I said thank you, we have one of each of those, it’s the cakes I would like more of please. I got the same reply offering more sandwiches and cakes. Just to clarify things, I said was I expected to cut each cake into 3 small pieces then ? She looked embarrassed and said I could ask for more of the one’s we enjoyed the most. I left it for a while and once we had had our thirds of cake each, when the waitress came back and asked which we enjoyed the most, I said the small pink cheesecake, could we have 3 of those please, again I was meet with the offer of more sandwiches and scones. I did not want to ruin my eldest daughter’s birthday treat anymore by making a fuss, so I didn’t pursue it any further but did contact the Manager a few days later regarding our disappointing experience. He suggested it was all a “miscommunication issue” on my behalf, that afternoon tea was an unlimited eating experience, and they only bring out a certain amount of cakes, so not to create food waste. This was clearly not the case, as everyone else at the sitting took home their uneaten items in food boxes provided by the hotel, which is usually the option when you go for afternoon tea and the kind waitress gave us 6 extra scones to take away with us, also extra sweets, trying to restore some joy to a very underwhelming and frustrating experience."

Akira

Akira

101-111 Kensington High Street, London I-W8 5SA, United Kingdom

Fish • Sushi • Asian • Japanese


"When the sashimi course came out, a different staff member mentioned “beef croquet” while describing the dishes. This raised a red flag, so I asked another staff member about it. She reassured me that it was potato and leek croquet and definitely contained no beef, apologizing for the confusion. I felt a bit more at ease when I cut it open, as it looked like a typical croquet. However, when I started eating it, the flavor reminded me of beef, and it made me feel ill—I almost had to spit it out. My partner also tried the same dish but didn’t recall tasting any beef. Since I was cautious about beef, I was more sensitive to the taste. It's possible they fried it in the same oil; I'm not sure. We each ordered a robata and a sushi omakase, with five courses each, but many of the courses were the same, which was a bit disappointing. Because of the croquet incident and the similarities in the courses, I would say this event turned out to be a mixed experience. The food was mostly good, though some dishes were not quite up to par. While the pricing felt slightly on the high side, it is London, so I suppose that's to be expected. I was also disappointed that the staff didn’t check in on how we were enjoying the courses when taking dishes away, especially in a restaurant of this caliber. On a positive note, the cake was delicious, the sashimi was excellent, and the grilled items were good too. I did find it a bit odd that some of the items on the plate were just sauces; I wouldn't expect to drink sauce like a soup. As for the deep-fried tomato, I would have preferred chicken instead, but that’s a minor detail. I think it would be helpful for the restaurant to provide a menu card so that customers can enjoy their omakase experience, particularly if they have any allergies."