Restaurant Review: Ochre at the National Gallery of Art, London (5/10)
| Sara's Rating | Parts of the Experience | My thoughts |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Location | Conveniently located in the beautiful National Gallery of Art in Trafalgar Square |
| 1 | Atmosphere | Overall nice and beautiful, specifically arrogant |
| 1 | Price | Expensive |
| 0 | Staff | Did their job, no one stood out and one person was very rude |
| 1 | Taste | Pretty for pictures, not a memorable taste |
I was so excited to have afternoon tea at the National Gallery of Art. I was deciding between a few places to have afternoon tea and because of my affinity to the museum I chose it. I am so sad to give it such a low rating.
Location
The Ochre restaurant is located in the National Gallery of Art which is in Trafalgar square- a very popular tourist location in London. Having the restaurant in a Neoclassical building constructed in 1831 was a wonderful treat.
Atmosphere
The restaurant was beautiful, unfortunately when I was arriving for my reservation one of the staff asked a lady to have a seat. She declined and he said to her that she should sit and pointed to a chair and said it doesn't look good for the restaurant to have her standing at the entrance. That was my first encounter with the restaurant and I questioned my choice to come to this restaurant if people standing at the entrance are asked to move aside.
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Price
It was quite expensive. I was willing to pay for the afternoon tea experience in London. I think that it could have been better for the price. For one person, which I had to email and make a special request- it was £77 which was $83.84. It was so much food that I didn't have dinner that night. :) Oh and the tea and sandwhiches are refillable.
Staff
As I mentioned above the person that was so rude to the lady as I was coming in set a tone that was hard to shake. I was sat in the back corner and am not sure if they wanted to give me space or they basically forgot about me. The staff that helped me was fine and did their job. There was nothing extraordinary or special about the service I received and at times it was lacking. I waited a while to get their attention at times.
Taste
The taste was good, it filled me up. I prefer peppermint tea over Chamomile tea. And Scones and clotted cream with jam were to be my favorite thing to eat on this trip to England. The deserts especially were very photogenic.
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Would I go back? I don't know. I think it would be a different experience with another person or group of people. I also hope that the arrogant man at the entrance was having a rough day and doesn't usually treat people that way. I adore the National Gallery of Art and can't wait to go back. It will remain to be seen if the right circumstances present themselves if I will return to the Ochre restaurant.
If you have been and had a great experience. I would really like to hear about it!
Sources:
Afternoon Tea at Ochre