Patisserie Valerie Bristol in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Whilst most staff were friendly, the older waitress was so rude it ruined the whole experience. When she brought our drinks out, I noticed my cup was dirty so before pouring my tea, I asked for a clean cup. Whilst she was fetching that cup, I noticed the tea spoons (all three) were filthy. I can cope with a bit of a tea stain but it almost covered the whole head of the spoon and it easily scratched off so I don’t fancy putting them in our drinks. I apologised to the same waitress and asked for clean spoons too. She didn’t say anything just took the spoons and stormed back to the kitchen. Annoyingly I then noticed that there was food crumbs stuck to the inside of the milk jug - not just a tea stain but lumps of stuck on food! Not a great start to our meal and to be honest I felt really conscious that I was going to have to flag up a third problem so soon. Trying to minimise the awkwardness, I walked the milk jug over to the same waitress at the counter to save her coming back to the table. However, she was obviously annoyed that we had spotted so many problems and was very apparent in how annoyed with us she was. In all of that, she not once apologised for the dirty cup, spoons and milk jug. She never spoke to us, just dumped the replacement items and stormed off. It is not my fault that everything was dirty and you’d think she would be a little embarrassed rather than frustrated with the customer. The spoons were still a little dirty and subsequent plates etc were tea stained but I daren’t say anything. It is not cheap to eat here and to have such dirty crockery and cutlery is bad enough, to then be rude to us because of it is another thing all together. They never asked us if everything was ok or how our experience was come the end either. They still had a service charge added to the bill though! We didn’t grumble as what good would it do. Only giving 2 stars as some of the staff were polite but if dirty unwashed plates, cups and cutlery and chance of rude staff is what you are after then this is the place for you!

After a lifetime working in 5-star international hotels I admit to being a tad picky and usually shy away from what I call 'generic' type cafes. What a nice surprise I had. Our brunch was stunning. I had juicy, fat fish fingers in a brioche bun with a nice mix of fresh salad leaves on the side with a lovely dressing. My friend had cheese & ham in a crispy roll & loved it. The coffe was also very good. The chairs, goodness me, what comfort plus back support which is very unusual. Menus were in pristine condition, the staff were absolutely great - what can I say, it was just amazing & we will be back!

Absolutely perfect afternoon tea! We had a voucher to use. The staff were great, talked us through the plentiful drink options which were refillable and interchangeable. They asked about sandwich fillings, checked for allergies and were very accommodating with preferences. The scones were warm and they didn’t scrimp on the cream or jam. And it just got better with the cake layer with the macaroons being perfection. It was just the right amount of food - no left overs for us! Lovely restaurant, and very friendly and helpful staff. Will def return.

Had afternoon tea voucher for my birthday. What a lovely pleasant afternoon. Staff were great & couldn't do enough for us. We were served by Lucy & she was so polite & friendly. She is an asset to your company. She even boxed up what we couldn't eat so we could take it home. Will definitely be back soon

Christmas shopping trip. Got a table had to order via the app, rather than a person. Asked waiter (terse and unhelpful) how we could give food allergy warning. Told at the end you can put in notes to the chef. Automatically took £5 tip!!! Drinks arrived after about 15 minutes food took almost 45 minutes by which time we had finished our drinks. Food allergy information had been ignored. Took back to kitchen arrived less than 2 minutes later and it was obvious they had just taken the unwanted items out of the baguette. No apology we said to take it away so 3 of us had food 1 nothing Food received was mediocre at best. Had to ask twice for refund plus insisted tip refunded. Overall it was dreadful.

We purchased a Groupon afternoon tea and were looking forward to a lovely time having experienced it previously in Stratford Upon Avon. How disappointed we were. They were not very accommodating when it came to providing vegetarian sandwiches- plain cheese and only 2 fingers. This meant my wife was shortchanged. The wouldn’t change a hot drink to a cold one. The scones and cakes left a lot to be desired. The cake display looked magnificent when we arrived, macarons, eclairs etc all looked amazing BUT you didn’t get to experience any of these. Tiny eclairs that were tasteless. Both the chocolate and strawberry slices while moist sponge had cheap tasting fillings and toppings and the scones were dry and over cooked. It wasn’t worth the Groupon price but SO glad we didn’t pay full price. Service was very slow as well. Only good thing was the breakfast teas and latte but costly for 2 drinks. Won’t be returning.