National Theatre Afternoon Tea in Lambeth

This was a present for my 70th birthday together with a tour of the National Theatre. The tour was fantastic (see separate review) but the tea was a huge disappointment. There was little variety in the food we got despite the flowery and appetising descriptions of each item on the menu. We were promised "Lady Bracknell Triangles" ("cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on white bread.") These were were dry and under-seasoned.The "Guvnor Sandwich" ("a hummus sandwich on wholemeal bread with "cheeky carrot and spicy cumin"") was completely tasteless and the "Stromboli" ("a tasty spinach, olive and mozzarella pastry") was unappetising and stodgy. The macaroons were OK - as good as you would get from any London patisserie and Mrs Lovett's Pie ("a deliciously crumbly pork and onion pie") was passable. However, the "home made scones with rich clotted cream and strawberry jam" were completely inedible and tasted like wet cardboard. They had obviously been recently defrosted and were totally undercooked. Our waiter, Jo, was friendly and tried hard to make the experience pleasurable. When we expressed our disappointment he offered us free glasses of Prosecco. The manager gave us his email address and asked us to put our concerns which we had articulated to him in writing. This Afternoon Tea cost "29.50" per person without any alcohol. Our children paid for my husband to accompany me and they fully believed it would be a wonderful present. At a total cost of £59.00 it was a complete rip off and I would not want anyone to else to have the same experience.