Bang average, with prices that suggest they're serving gold leaf…read more
TOMO Tea House is one of those places where the presentation is doing considerably more heavy lifting than the food.
The chilli wonton soup was genuinely good, probably the standout for me. I'd happily go back for that.
The cinnamon rolls were alright. I tried the Biscoff Crunch, Dubai Pistachio with Strawberry, Cookies & Cream, and Banana Pudding flavours. They looked the part and were decent enough, but nothing that had me thinking, "Bloody hell, I need another one of these."
The waffles, unfortunately, were a different story. They weren't cooked properly through the middle, chewy and gooey rather than crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. The Biscoff flavour was also barely noticeable.
The drinks are very much geared towards the social-media crowd: lots of milk, lots of toppings, lots of visual appeal. If you enjoy taking a photo of your drink before taking a sip, you'll probably have a field day.
And then there's the price. For what you're actually getting, it feels rather steep. The food is, at best, mediocre in several areas, yet the prices seem to suggest these ingredients were mined personally by King Charles.
Ironically, I actually would have gone back for the chilli wontons, banana pudding and Biscoff pudding. But the experience around their influencer/collaboration side left a rather sour taste.
If you're a collaborator or influencer, BE WARNED! No real communication or courtesy message. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but if you're going to deal with people, a simple response goes a long way. But then again, they perhaps cherry-pick whom to interact with based on their social media activity.
And finally, watching someone at the counter struggle with some basic maths while taking an order was certainly an experience. I'm all for supporting people, but perhaps the calculator deserves a little more screen time than the Instagram account.
Overall: some genuinely good items buried underneath a lot of hype, presentation and rather ambitious pricing. I'd happily return for a couple of the things I enjoyed, but I wouldn't be rushing back for the overall experience.
Food: 3/10
Value: 2/10
Presentation: 8/10
Social-media appeal: 10/10
Would I return? For the chilli wontons and a couple of puddings, yes. For the rest... probably not.