(this is where the tired old Slug & Lettuce used to be, on Putney High Street)
What a delight! Having had afternoon teas in many places (mainly posh hotels and tea rooms), paying exorbitant prices too most of the time, I cannot tell you how happy I am to have a very reasonably priced Afternoon Tea shop around the corner in Bill's Restaurant.
I have to say it is just as good as any I have had elsewhere, as far as the tea, scones, sandwiches and pastries go. Obviously the environment is not the same - it is a restaurant after all - but the staff could not have been more welcoming or accommodating (helping my wheelchair bound mother get to her seat), and they gave us such a warm welcome, we could easily have been old friends.
The tea is £9.95 per person, and they added the 12.5% service charge onto the bill, so for two, the total was £22.39. The full afternoon Tea (for two) included two scones (one each) with jam and fabulous clotted cream (I think they initially only gave enough for one person, but when I asked for more, it was brought quickly with a smile - no problem at all), four pastries including some fruit loaf, key lime/lemon curd (not sure which) tartlet, strawberry tartlet and the only failing of the day, a tiny TINY slice of chocolate cake (how are two people supposed to share that I wonder? Everything else was easy to divide, but not this - they should have given two small slices.), finger sandwiches, and of course our choice of tea.
Sugar lumps were provided in a small sealed glass canister which meant we had to fish around with a teaspoon or grab them with our hands (possibly they should provide a utensil that you can easily grasp a sugar lump?), so that wasn't the easiest task of the day but if that's the hardest chore in a day, then life is good!
We did have one small complaint, but it's so easily rectified that I don't even know if I should mention it - the music was pretty awful and very loud - my mother and I found it hard to talk - and a lot of it was headbanging/rock - but I know if we'd asked them to turn it down at all, they would have - we just couldn't be bothered and were more interested in our tea. I think the acoustics are a little tricky because there is the sound of traffic, plus the sound of people talking, and with the music as loud as it was, they talk louder - so it was a bit of a combination of things. Still, it was a tiny issue and one that is so easily resolved - next time we'll just ask them to turn it down a little, simple! Problem solved.
Nadia (I think the manager?) was delightful and as I said, made us so welcome - an absolute pleasure. I told her she should put a noticeboard up outside between 2.30 and 5 pm with a sign "FULL AFTERNOON TEA" or something like that, and they would be absolutely swamped, because I don't know how many people know they offer such a wonderful afternoon tea. You don't HAVE to have the full afternoon tea of course - you can have hot chocolate, or a single scone, or something else - but as a special treat, mum and I had the works, the full Afternoon Tea, and let me say, it was absolutely WONDERFUL. If you don't need the swanky hotel lobby atmosphere and just want a good afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream and jam etc., where you can relax, right on Putney High Street, then this is the place to come. WE WILL BE BACK! read more
