Bea's of Bloomsbury

Food fiend ( 30s, Female, United Kingdom )

Id heard a lot about Beas – as a great cheap alternative to the expensive afternoon teas in town, so i was curious to see whether this was the case. General reviews on the net are mixed but most say the food is nice.

The place itself is easy to miss – quite far down Theobalds Road so not really walking distance from Holborn. The cafe itself is very small – perhaps 6 or so small tables and at the back is an open kitchen. Im sure the idea is youre meant to be wowed by the constant baking going on – but to me it looked like an industrial kitchen, no sense the homely baking style which i anticipated. There was just one person cleaning and cleaning and cleaning constantly, no baking going on, just piles of cake which looked clingfilmed to perhaps sell elsewhere.

I got there late to meet a friend and found several dirty plates sitting on the table, alongside my friend. She told me she had been waiting for 20m but no one had even bothered cleaning the tables. We had to order at the counter – but despite there being 3 staff there, all were chatting away with their backs to us – no one bothered to acknowledge those waiting to order at all. After several minutes of us trying to gain their attention (ok, we didnt speak, just tried to catch their eye in the small cafe!) but finally we got to order. Service was brusque at best.

Food itself was good – we only had cupcakes, which were very nice. However again, when going to pay, the staff hadnt a clue what we ordered, asked us to remind them what we had – and then had to ask around about prices of the cakes THEY SELL.

All in all – cakes are nice for takeout but service is poor. I only gave it higher than a zero as there was one brunette in a teadress who was relatively friendly when we asked a couple of questions. But the rest, truly awful. Id certainly not recommend this place for afternoon tea as its cheap looking, quirky – without the accompanying decent service. But saying that, try the cakes (takeout only!)