Reviews - Afternoon Tea at Hillsborough Castle and gardens Cafe
Reviews
9.3of 10
Ratings and reviews can only be left by guests who have booked with TheFork.
Kerry D. • 1 review
8 March 2025
10/10
Lovely afternoon tea. Pretty presentation with real flowers. All very fresh and really tasty. Staff were great. Will definitely be back.
Margaret D. • 2 reviews
8 March 2025
10/10Delicious food and a lovely young lady provided excellent service. Highly recommended.
Gemma W. • 1 review
1 March 2025
9.5/10Beautiful food in lovely setting. Staff very friendly
Anisa W. • 1 review
1 March 2025
10/10We really enjoyed our afternoon tea. Our only issue was the cream it’s needs to be clotted or unsweetened. Overall it was great. Thanks
Rosemary H. • 1 review
22 February 2025
10/10Staff immediately made us welcome and looked after us attentively. Food selection was wide ranging and everything was delicious and looked picture perfect. Superb
michele c. • 1 review
14 December 2024
5/10Service was excellent and the soup was very tasty. However the ambience was tantamount to that of a motorway cafe. Not the intimate, Christmas-like atmosphere we expected. The menu advertised was not the same as the one served and whilst the waitress did replace/add some items we were told we couldn’t have our expected menu as the order was already prepared. This was obvious as the sandwiches had a hardened crust. The remainder of the food was passable but nothing special. Very disappointed.
Lynn M. • 1 review
6 December 2024
10/10Beautiful surroundings adding to a lovely afternoon and attended to by a great team of staff. Highly recommend
Muriel J. • 2 reviews
8 November 2024
10/10We had a gorgeous afternoon tea at Hillsborough Castle. The food, service and setting was excellent.
Victoria D. • 1 review
2 November 2024
10/10The food and the staff were so good
Margaret T. • 1 review
20 October 2024
10/10Afternoon tea was fantastic. Staff were extremely helpful. Will definitely be back again.
Muriel J. • 2 reviews
28 September 2024
10/10We were a party of 22 ladies who were shown to a beautifully dressed table, even the napkins matched the crockery. The food and service were excellent. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend afternoon tea at Hillsborough Castle. The ladies want to know when we can go back.
Ann W. • 1 review
7 September 2024
6.5/10Great for gluten free but for remainder of party thought proportions small
victoria r. • 1 review
5 September 2024
10/10
Visited for a birthday and everything was lovely and staff could not be more helpful despite it being a very busy afternoon. Special mention to abbie who looked after us she is a Credit to the staff 👏
Adam R. • 1 review
3 August 2024
10/10The service was exceptional, though at first we had a young inexperienced lady who didn't know if the coffee was espresso or drip. The food was top notch, every single item was delicious. It's a proper afternoon tea; don't expect to have lunch with this. But do expect to have lovely tea and tasters of the best. I had the Royal Tea. Add a dash of sugar, and you may need to ask for a little more tea leaves if it tastes bland to you.
Richard H. • 1 review
25 July 2024
10/10Brilliant place, food is top notch, although afternoon tea is served in the main restaurant, so it might not be as nice as some other places but it’s more than made up for in the service and the food.
Vivienne M. • 1 review
19 July 2024
10/10T customer service and t fact it was all sourced Locally made it edible. The 2 ladies who served us were exceptional. Will b back soon.
Stephen F. • 1 review
27 June 2024
9.5/10Excellent Afternoon Tea, including many ingredients from the walled garden/kitchen garden. Really well looked after at the table with attentive service and great interpersonal skills (didn't get name of service). Overall very enjoyable experience, nice atmosphere and pleasant surroundings. Would recommend.
Heather I. • 1 review
15 June 2024
10/10A warm welcome from staff. Table set to perfection beside requested window. Attention to detail on every level and most importantly food was delicious, varied, a lot of thought and effort put into the choice using all seasonal locally sourced ingredients, from demitasse of soup to mini desserts. Chef has to be commended for innovative choices.
Caroline C. • 1 review
22 June 2024
10/10We had the most delicious afternoon tea which was beautifully presented, with dainty flowers decorating the cake stand. Our waitress was delightful, the table offered a lovely view and the privacy we had requested and the menu was perfect. Excellent quality food and service.
Ruth S. • 1 review
15 June 2024
9.5/10Very helpful and pleasant staff Food excellent Only slight issue is noise as busy restaurant but other than that excellent
Tina J. • 1 review
15 June 2024
10/10It was so lovely the food was delicious, and we had a ball, staff was so kind even toke a group photo for us.
Jenni H. • 1 review
13 June 2024
10/10Linda was so friendly and helpful. The food was delicious and fresh. There was just the right amount of savoury and sweet. Really enjoyable experience.
Wendy K. • 1 review
2 June 2024
9.5/10Delicious food and Great service
Carla E. • 1 review
31 May 2024
8.5/10
The food was exceptional. The tea selection was also excellent. The service was really lovely both attentive and professional. The only negative and unexpected thing was having it in the café. We had expected it to be held in the stable room or a more high end environment with a table cloth and this was not the case unfortunately.
Elizabeth A. • 7 reviews
24 May 2024
7.5/10We had a really delicious tea. Great service by Abbey the delightful waitress. Unfortunately you do feel that you are sitting on the edge of a cafe. Why do they not have a separate area for afternoon tea service? The food quality deserves better.
Bev A. • 1 review
17 May 2024
10/10The Afternoon tea was excellent , just a little bit different and everything was truly delicious. The service was very good and there was a lovely atmosphere where we were dining. Would highly recommend & I will definitely be returning.
Robin B. • 1 review
12 May 2024
9.5/10
+3We had a really lovely afternoon tea after a most excellent tour of the castle/palace. The treats were delicious and looked so very pretty on the china. I would definitely return if in the area in the future.
Tanya D. • 1 review
9 May 2024
6.5/10Difficult to locate where afternoon tea was being served, in an extremely busy café. I had to seek a member of reception staff who kindly sought out a member of cafê staff. My 94 year old mum-in-law was a bit put off by standing in a large crowd of folk. It's a shame that there is no designated area for afternoon tea, away from main cafeteria...there was space in a more pleasant eating area, directly beside the café. A pleasant young staff member took us to our table in the very crowded and noisy cafê. My mum-in-law and I shared a view of boxes of napkins; thankfully, my husband (whose 65th. birthday, we were celebrating,) and daughter, had a view of the terrace. Nice China on table...but no tablecloth or napkins!! When we got some, there were of the cheap paper variety, jarring with the pretty china! And the noise...not even some pleasant background music, befitting an historic castle cafe! We ordered prosecco, which was warm!! Good selection of teas, tasty soup and afternoon tea delicacies. But overall, a disappointing experience! I am unable to recommend the afternoon tea experience to friends and family; we are retired and eat out regularly and it has been a long time since I regretted my choice. I would however return to the café, say early morning or late afternoon, hoping for quieter setting, or to sit outside, ans enjoy coffee and a sweet treat, as the food quality and presentation was very good.. Such a pity, that in a beautiful place, the afternoon tea wasn't served in the quieter section with some instrumental music...it would be worth £30 per head, for that!
Hannah M. • 1 review
27 April 2024
10/10All the staff were so friendly, they were so attentive. The girl that served us was lovely, (sorry can’t remember her name). The food was excellent and I loved how you could try a number of different teas and coffees. Would highly recommend.
Julie M. • 1 review
13 April 2024
9.5/10We had a lovely afternoon tea with friends.
Seana G. • 1 review
7 April 2024
10/10A lovely afternoon tea experience for a birthday and our server was on point with making sure we had enough tea and water and we received the food quickly as well. We just had a lovely time. I will say that you don't have to buy tickets for the garden if you don't want to or you can buy them afterwards.
Pamela S. • 1 review
22 March 2024
10/10We had a lovely afternoon tea The setting, the service and food was impeccable - can not recommend highly enough.
Barbara M. • 1 review
14 March 2024
10/10Thank you to the wonderful Fork team at Hillsborough Castle for a wonderful afternoon tea birthday experience. The staff were all excellent, attentive yet not intrusive, and any requests were no bother at all and all swiftly attended to. The selection of sweet and savoury treats were amazing and delicious… and the birthday plate a lovely touch for the birthday girl… thoroughly recommend the whole experience…thank you
Elaine A. • 1 review
16 March 2024
10/10
We'd an amazing afternoon. Food and service brilliant and veggie options so good.
Joanna M. • 1 review
10 March 2024
10/10Delicious afternoon tea for Mother’s Day. The cups and saucers were really pretty and we enjoyed having soup and savoury items rather than all sweet things. Perfect portion sizes too.
Roberto P. • 1 review
10 March 2024
10/10Family outing for Mother’s Day. Excellent!
Nuala M. • 1 review
24 February 2024
8.5/10The staff were great but we were disappointed with the portion sizes. We have never before had an afternoon tea where we managed to eat absolutely everything! There is usually a little ‘doggie’ bag to take home.
Lorraine S. • 1 review
5 January 2024
9.5/10This was a xmas present for my parents and they both really enjoyed. Reported back that the food was excellent and they were well looked after by staff.
Robert N. • 1 review
17 December 2023
10/10Beautiful setting, attentive service and the best Afternoon Tea we have ever had.
Laura G. • 1 review
2 December 2023
9.5/10
My mum and I thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon tea at Hillsborough Castle. The service was fantastic from both girls serving. The food was amazing and had a great variety. It wasn’t the usual afternoon tea options. I particularly loved the pie and soup. The set up was beautifully decorated with lights and fresh flowers. We loved the beautiful china. Would highly recommend and I thought it was good value for money as it included access to the gardens. The only negative was that visitors kept coming in to the area thinking it was a cafe which did get a bit annoying. Maybe a sign up outside stating it was closed or afternoon tea only would be helpful. It wouldn’t put us off coming again however.
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