Homage at The Waldorf Hilton

Hi, Visited her last week with the family before going on to see a show, noticed mixed reviews but mum liked the look if the hotel from the web site. Service took a while to get going but once it did I found it fun and friendly, every course was really delicious and there was no delays. be back again soon for afternoon tea me thinks :)

Considering I had afternoon tea here using a livingsocial voucher, I was pleasantly surprised. I have had many afternoon teas, including some of the big-named hotels, and this one is definitely in my top 5. I agree with the previous reviewer – it was difficult to find the room, but the remainder of my experience is very different. We were treated very well by staff and servers and our waiter was very helpful. We did have to wait longer than I thought was usual for our first orders and for the tea to arrive and the tea wasn't actually piping hot, and was only luke warm by the end of the tea session. However, our waiter was happy to refill with a fresh brew. We ordered 2 glasses of champagne to have before the tea, and I can say that was very lovely indeed. The sandwiches arrived first on a single plate, which is different to my previous afternoon tea experiences – normally they're on the 3-tier stand. Once my mother and myself had finished these, we were offered more (which doesn't normally happen if you're using a voucher). We declined as we'd seen what was on the 3-tier stands of other tables and we knew we wouldn't have room to fit it all in. The stands had fresh cooked scones, clotted cream and jam on the bottom tier; a finger sponge cake (lemon drizzle), an eclair with pink icing and a carrott cake on the middle tier; and the more exotic sweets on the top tier. We had plenty to eat and drink and had to leave two cakes. We weren't rushed to leave and we didn't have a time limit on the table, so we took our time and relaxed, there were a few empty tables so we weren't holding anyone up. A harpist played throughout the tea which was also very relaxing. I haven't given this full stars as (1) it was difficult to find; (2) the room was quite cold and I was rather chilled by the end (my coat was out by reception, otherwise I'd have put it on); and (3) because the tea wasn't piping hot. I've only had one or two better afternoon teas which have cost 5 times as much (Fortnum & Mason's and The Grosvenor hotel), but I've certainly had worse (Searcy's, St Pancras station), so overall, I think this was a very nice afternoon.

Visited Homage at the Waldorf Hilton for their special dinner offer of 3 courses and a glass of sparkling wine for £25. The first difficulty is finding the restaurant. There is another outlet at the hotel called Homage at street level with a clear sign on the door saying Homage entrance. Peering through the window at 7:00pm there was no sign of customers or staff and the restaurant appeared to have been set up for breakfast service. Apparently that is not the restaurant which is inside the main entrance. I am sure we were not the only people to be confused by this. The question is why have 2 outlets with the same name in different parts of the same hotel. The food was not good. The consistency of the fish cakes left a lot to desired. There were hard pieces in the fish cake and the accompaniments lacked flavour and colour for presentation. I opted for the Coq au Vin which was strangely served with roast potatoes rather than mash. The quality of the chicken was very poor with quite a lot of gristle that had to be discretely removed from the mouth. 2 of my fellow diners ordered the pork chop which they said was very tough and hard to cut. As we were all having cold deserts we were a little surprised that it took almost 30 minutes to deliver our dishes. The Stilton Cheesecake was certainly a creative option but not one that I would ever wish to repeat. They did offer us complimentary teas and coffees to try to make up for the poor service of the deserts. When the bill arrived, 2 of us were paying our part by credit card. The waiter put them into the bill folder and headed away. I asked him why they didn't have a credit card machine they could bring to the table as credit card companies are constantly warning us not to let the cards out of our sight. He said he didn't know the answer to my question but would talk to his supervisor. No one came to the table so I must assume the supervisor was not there or didn't wish to talk to us. It is not a restaurant I would wish to return to. In summary, decor average, food below average, customer service dreadful.