Tea Box

I use to go to the Tea Box all the time when I lived in Richmond in early 2011 but today I brought a potential bride and her fiance to chat about me doing their wedding photos as a business meeting- the service was embarrassing as I venue I use to take potential clients. I arrived early before the owner as I know she is lovely but her staff is terrible and gave little or to no attention to the tables that were occupied in the tea house. One couple was very angry for their tea being cold as well food and were told they had to pay service charge even though they were not happy. It was sad we had to listen to the argument and the customer should always be right no matter what. When my clients arrived the server was very sharp with us and all of our tea was cold when served. Also, they had forgotten we had ordered a brownie and it took over 20 min when it was not a heated product. It's prices are premium so I would hope the service would improve to justify the spend. I think the owner is fab and her staff does not reflect her hard work.

To Christine Goodwin

Many thanks for your feedback below and we are sorry if you felt pressurised to leave. It is not unusual for people to spend 3-4 hours in the tea house as they enjoy its atmosphere so much. We train our staff to be attentive and I am sorry if you found on this occasion it was too much. We also train them to remove the used tea strainers as soon as they come out of the pot onto the table as they look messy and take up alot of room on our small tables. Sometimes we can get unusually busy, sometimes with queues to get in the shop! I know from talking to staff it was very busy that day and we had a member of staff on holiday. I sincerely hope you are able to visit again and enjoy a more relaxing experience that many of our other customers tell us they have had in the tea house.

My husband and I visited this morning for tea and scones. They were lovely but sadly the service was not. It seemed that the waitresses could not wait for us to leave, having asked us at least three times if everything eas alright, which was very annoying and then wisking away the plates and tea strainer while there was still plenty of tea in the pot. A little more customer friendliness would not go amiss.,

Went here with a friend and my baby for the first time yesterday. There was space for the pram and nobody batted an eyelid when I fed her so from a mom's point of view, it was comfortable. Our first waitress couldn't have been lovelier- friendly, helpful and prompt. As we decided to stay a little longer, we ordered extras from other staff who were friendly but seemed a bit stressed. The reason for three stars is because when I went to the bathroom and passed by the staff station where they prepare food etc., it was so cluttered and untidy plus the waiters seemed stressed, especially when I paid. He wasn't sure about how to process the card payment, asked his colleague for help and she was too busy. I get the impression that some of the staff are lacking training and there is a heavy reliance on a few experienced people. Food was quite nice- we had sandwiches and scones. Tea was lovely; I had vanilla black. I'll definitely go back

the pleasure to be gained from sampling a wide variety of teas is by no means sufficient compensation for the level of service. they really have an extraordinarily bad service culture in this place, maybe emanating from the owner who i understand to be quite, ahem, 'formidable'. the staff have the kind of up-themselves attitude you would generally find at a swank west end place; it's not acceptable there and it certainly ain't acceptable at a richmond cafe serving nice tea and pitiful food. Fail!

I've read through the reviews here, and they do reflect the experience I've had with this place aswell.
I work at a specialiced tea and coffee place in Norway, and was delighted to be invited to a place that looked as if it would have everything I'd dreamed of. Unfortunately though, you didn't have any Nepalese tea. Which is fine. What was not, is how my waiter took to being asked about Nepalese tea. His look CLEARLY said "how can you be so f** rude as to ask for that one thing we don't have?!". And afer that it felt quite unpleasant whenever he came by our table, as he was not in a good mood.
The place with it selections of teas and apropriate "bits on the side" to tea would have gotten 5 stars from me. But the staff needs to relax more, be less patronising and try to act with a SHRED of professionalism whenever customers don't come inn and say "I'll take whatever you want me to".

Amazing selection of teas, as well as brilliant tea-inspired sorbets, cakes, scones, and lunch food. A really great atmosphere and helpful, knowledgeable staff - all reasonably priced. Highly recommended.

I am really surprised by the mix of comments here. It's a shame some people have had a bad experience as my first visit to the Tea Box really made my week (and it had been a particularly stressful one)! I was ridiculously indecisive, but was looking for a tea that was similar to something I had at an underground tea house in Prague, and the lady who served me suggested Obamarama that did not disappoint! I was thrilled, and having seen the aray of cakes asked predictably for the chocolate cake, instead she suggested trying a brownie picked specially from Notting Hill after much research. It was quite honestly the best brownie I have every tasted. The owner was obviously rushed off her feet yet she took the time to make sure I had the best experience possible. I will definitely be returning for more!

We got married in Richmond and chose to have our reception at The Tea Box. It was PERFECT. Just what we wanted: intimate, cozy,unique and fun! Gemma and Mike were so supportive of our ideas and worked hard on making our day truly special---they even prepared a special tea for us inspired on our personality characteristics. We then gave it to all our guests as a treat and they could take a little box with them as well. In one word: AMAZING!

no complaints about choice of tea though their tea strainer contraption is a bit cumbersome..was i using it correctly? seemed odd to lay it on a sideplate after use. anyways....my complaints really rest on very poor quality cakes (tiny portions, dry, poorly presented...esp the carrot cake) and what came across as a rather cocky attitude from their staff; one young stripling in particular who looked like he was barely out of short trousers. they are getting it wrong i believe.

I stumbled upon this great little place by accident one Friday night with a friend, and am now a regular visitor to their poetry and story telling events as well as enjoy just popping in for a quick cuppa.

I found 'The Tea Box' to be a charming, cosy tea house with great interior decor, an interesting menu and a superb collection of adventurous tea blends. I love the way each tea is served in it's own unique style of pot, and how they pay attention to extras like tea timers and beautiful little tea spoons. My favourite is their 'Obamarama' tea, a stunning blend of loose leaf tea (not sure which type), infused with chilli.

I found the staff to be friendly, and they all have excellent knowledge about the food and teas that they serve. I also really appreciate the owners' efforts to support the arts, and admire their efforts to always try something new. They are clearly passionate about what they do!

Falling at the final hurdle is the most appropriate way I can describe The Tea Box. Though less a fall and more a complete collapse.
The tea and food are good, the place clean, warm and comforting.. but the service couldn’t be further from matching the above.
Aggressive staff who feel they have a right to be argumentative and rude to paying customers. It's an absurd business model.
I hope that rather then defending a position against this review the owners take stock of the situation and analyse the benefits of positive word of mouth as the place has a lot of potential. However I fear the only strategy would be new management.

There are plenty of mixed reviews about the Tea Box, but hoping we would be on the positive side, we took a wander in on a Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately we got the negative side.

If you want Tea, then fine, they have plenty of choices, and you can't really go wrong. Just boil the water and bring it to the table.

However, if you want to eat anything, take your tea to go.

I opted for a Ham salad which contained out of date salad, plastic ham, and just lots of lettuce leaves. ALL FOR £7! I wondered where the £7 had been spent in preparing it, and then realised they used about £7 of balsamic vinegar!!!

Awful.

Way too expensive, and butchering a salad actually takes effort.

With so many places to chose to eat, why go to Tea Box - there are plenty of better choices.

To Mary-Louise, We are pleased you enjoyed your afternoon tea. Our staff are trained to provide every tea-drinking customer with the characteristics of your tea, a perfect tea timer and removable strainer to ensure our customers can brew their tea to perfection as it says on the tea timer. We apologise if you found this patronising, the majority of our customers find this extremely helpful.. We are also pleased that your waiter satisfied your need for hot water altough it clearly states on the menu "Please do not be offended if we refuse hot water refills'". Regarding the scones for which we are renowned in Richmond, these are all home baked and by default are unique. A high percentage of our many returning customers relish the unique tea box experience of learning more about the nuances of loose leaf tea as we explore and expand our own knowledge of tea.

Just got home from having afternoon tea here with a friend. We were really enjoying ourselves until I had the temerity to ask for some hot water to dilute my portion of our shared pot of Earl Grey. "What are you going to use it for?" asked the rather too patronising waiter, before lecturing me on the fact that the Tea Box does not usually allow customers the extravagance of extra hot water. He went on to ask us if we were to become regular customers, because if we were, we should have done as we were (patronisingly) told at the beginning and removed the tea from the pot when the desired strength was reached. But he did condescend to bring me my water, as I explained that I preferred a weaker brew than my companion, and this met with his reluctant approval. When we subsequently sent back a rock hard scone, we were informed by the same waiter that "because the scones were home made, they can never be consistent." Funny, we were under the impresssion that we were paying customers in a professionally run and staffed tearoom. Not so, we were told, so we should not expect uniformity in the baked goods at the Tea Box. All of this is a real shame, because our sandwiches were very good indeed. Next time we feel the need for a little abuse and/or correction of our tea etiquette, we shall return.

Amazing tea and a lovely, relaxing place to sit and have a chin wag! The Moroccan Mint was fabulous! Great change from the boring world of Costa Coffee!!

Just visited the Tea Box - what a great place. I love tea and it's so exciting to find a place that is tailored towards serious tea drinkers for a change. The friendly owner recommended the Russian Caravan tea and it was delicious - just what I wanted. If you love tea - go!