Betty
Blythe, 73 Blythe Road, London W14 0HP
28/09/2014
She said: I was so excited to visit this off-the-tourist track ‘vintage tea room’ in a quiet residential street in Kensington so was equally disappointed when it so horrendously failed to meet my expectations. These expectations were simple things like being served in a timely manner, the joy of seeing the tiered plates of cakes arranged beautifully on vintage china while wrestling with what order to eat my sugary treats in and spreading a thin layer of clotted cream and huge scoop of jam across a warm scone. Instead, the tea room was an uninspiring and very hot space with three tables squeezed in. Our tea arrived around 20 minutes before a plate of standard sandwiches (cucumber, egg and salmon). We then had another long wait before a plate of pre-spread scones were brought to us at which point we proceeded to scrape away the humongous lump of clotted cream plopped on the scone and try to make the most of the tiny spoon of jam atop. I’ve done my fair share of afternoon teas and this is the first time the scones have come pre-loaded with the cream and ration of jam. As the waitress removed our plates and noticed the scraped slabs of cream on the side, she commented ‘you don’t like cream’ to which I simply replied ‘not that much’…Still, I waited for the highlight, the tiered presentation of yummy cakes but instead came a mini brownie on a single plate. Hmm, okay, I ate this, it was good but what was going on? 15 minutes later one mini loaf of lemon drizzle on a plate which we cut in half and shared. Again fine. He thought this was it but I thought surely not…Another 10 minutes or so later we were offered a choice of macaroon flavours, I went for pistachio which again arrived on a single plate looking very lonely and tasting very sugary with little evidence of any nut flavour. And then we came to an end. A rather bizarre vintage tea experience. There were some attempts at fun, like the box of vintage hats we were encouraged to wear when we arrived but these all looked a bit manky and made me hot and itchy. It did make me reflect on how anyone can open a room, bake a few cakes, spread some sandwiches and brand it vintage but equally appreciate the few that get it right.
She said: I was so excited to visit this off-the-tourist track ‘vintage tea room’ in a quiet residential street in Kensington so was equally disappointed when it so horrendously failed to meet my expectations. These expectations were simple things like being served in a timely manner, the joy of seeing the tiered plates of cakes arranged beautifully on vintage china while wrestling with what order to eat my sugary treats in and spreading a thin layer of clotted cream and huge scoop of jam across a warm scone. Instead, the tea room was an uninspiring and very hot space with three tables squeezed in. Our tea arrived around 20 minutes before a plate of standard sandwiches (cucumber, egg and salmon). We then had another long wait before a plate of pre-spread scones were brought to us at which point we proceeded to scrape away the humongous lump of clotted cream plopped on the scone and try to make the most of the tiny spoon of jam atop. I’ve done my fair share of afternoon teas and this is the first time the scones have come pre-loaded with the cream and ration of jam. As the waitress removed our plates and noticed the scraped slabs of cream on the side, she commented ‘you don’t like cream’ to which I simply replied ‘not that much’…Still, I waited for the highlight, the tiered presentation of yummy cakes but instead came a mini brownie on a single plate. Hmm, okay, I ate this, it was good but what was going on? 15 minutes later one mini loaf of lemon drizzle on a plate which we cut in half and shared. Again fine. He thought this was it but I thought surely not…Another 10 minutes or so later we were offered a choice of macaroon flavours, I went for pistachio which again arrived on a single plate looking very lonely and tasting very sugary with little evidence of any nut flavour. And then we came to an end. A rather bizarre vintage tea experience. There were some attempts at fun, like the box of vintage hats we were encouraged to wear when we arrived but these all looked a bit manky and made me hot and itchy. It did make me reflect on how anyone can open a room, bake a few cakes, spread some sandwiches and brand it vintage but equally appreciate the few that get it right.
He
said: In short Betty Blythe is over-rated. Perhaps people are excited because
it’s in a random part of town (Earl’s Court) where there’s not that much going
on, unless the dog grooming show, or the ideal home show are rocking the joint
around the corner. Maybe a Time Out boffin lives nearby and has been busily
tweeting about Betty’s. Don’t get me wrong: it’s fine, but there really ain’t
much to write home about, or to go out of your way for. BB’s goes for a homely
vibe, being set in the ground floor of a corner terraced house, with lots of
knick-kacks to play with (feather boas, hats, etc.). But our first experience
of it, having arrived a few minutes early, was a frosty reception; of course we
couldn’t take our table early, despite nearly all of them being empty. It turns
out that the ladies dunking the tea bags are actually French, so I gave them a
pass; by Parisian standards we had got the star treatment. Everything was ok,
but both food and drink were unmemorable, and served really slowly in dribs and
drabs. The chuckle sisters just couldn’t cope with loading the pre-prepared
goodies all at once on the three-tiered stand; so much for the traditional
experience. I actually saw them turn away a bunch of people who walked in just
wanting to order take away coffees. I guess they’re not in it for the money,
but for the love of tradition. Don’t bother, unless you’re nearby.
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