The Mercer Street Hotel is the new kid on the block. Recently refurbished and opened to the public. It’s a nice venue with a light, friendly atmosphere and excellent service. A great way to spend an afternoon in town.
We recently enjoyed afternoon tea in the Dial Restaurant inside the hotel. The restaurant is a nice, relaxed place with large windows looking out onto the street, light decorations and rich, purple fabrics to add character. The atmosphere was friendly and calm offering a great escape from the buzz that is Covent Garden.
We had green tea and English Breakfast but they were made with teabags. At this price point and in these surroundings we would have hoped for real tea, that’s what the competition is offering.
"We would be happy to visit the Dial Restaurant again once we were confident that the teething problems had been ironed out."
We also had some sandwiches. Egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, ham and mustard and cucumber on a mixture of white and granary breads. These were followed by scones and jam with cream, which were fresh, tasty and crumbled just how we like them.
The scones were followed by a selection of cakes and pastries that didn’t taste as fresh as we would like. They were a little too dry and so lost much of the taste, which was a shame.
Our review would be entirely positive had it not been for our perfunctory greeting. Being greeted with “How are you paying?” isn’t exactly conducive to an enjoyable afternoon tea in a new hotel of a global brand. A simple good afternoon would have sufficed. But that is exactly how we were met at the door. Not a great start, and something that will need to be addressed if The Dial is to succeed.
We would be happy to visit here again once we were confident that the teething problems had been ironed out. Afternoon tea isn’t from tea bags, cakes need to be absolutely fresh and we want to be greeted nicely. Address those issues and we will be back.
The Bill: £17 per person
