The Assembly House in Norwich

I went for afternoon tea with my daughter as a treat for Christmas but was so disappointed the food was so bland and scones were so dry and fell apart . Ended up leaving a lot and putting some in a box only to throw away . The service was poor and very overpriced as the sandwiches were tasteless have visited many restaurants but this was one of the worst and for £65.00 would definitely not recommend.

Very overpriced and tasteless breakfast. Very disappointed. Table next to us sent food back. Expect more than bland, overpriced food. Standards have definitely slipped.

In a busy Christmas shopping day this was an oasis of calm and loveliness. The food was delicious and the service from Jane and Daisy was exceptional.

Best experience of my life so worth it!

A gorgeous house and lit up beautifully in December. I went to a candlelight music delight of Christmas carols and it was absolutely amazing. I would love to go to the Assembly House again for more events.

The food was absolutely banging!! Catered for me being dairy and gluten free it was a lovely afternoon tea with a beautiful environment would defo go again and recommend to anyone!

Assembly rooms in Norwich was a perfect setting for the Christmas concert Candle lights and string quartet…. What more do you need at this festive time

We were treated to the Nutcracker afternoon tea by our business associates this December, and I can honestly say it was one of the best dining experiences I've had. Every single thing was perfect, from the excellent customer service we received from the young waitress and waiter, to the food, and the ambience. We had the afternoon tea in the outside pod, which was kept regulated heat-wise, and they even had a Bluetooth speaker so that we could play music! The food needs a whole paragraph to itself! It looked beautiful, and every single item on those plates were delicious. The little white chocolate nutcracker were so cute. I asked the waitress (I'm sorry that I didn't remember her name) which items had onion in so that I could avoid them, as onion makes me very ill. She insisted that she would get the chef to make those items separately for me, minus the onion. They didn't have to do that, but it meant i didn't miss out on the tasty food. I have no criticism at all, the staff are a credit to the business. Very attentive and we never had to wait for anything. I will be returning for more afternoon tea, and after telling my cousins in Berkshire about it they're coming up after christmas to join us!

Speed of service was excellent, shame the young waiter didn’t listen to my order specifically and the different waiter whom brought it to the table just apologized rather that offer an option, didn’t ask wether I’d like it remove . Request for a menu a second time took 5 mins and then it was a waitress whom helped .

As ususl it was lovely. Good selection and service was great.

We had a great night of enjoyable music from the group of talented musicians with a selection of Christmas music, the hour long programme went to quick.

A fantastic evening with lovely, friendly staff, a wonder ambience and incredible music! Highly recommended!

Attended a candlelight concert here. Very intimate and atmospheric venue. Would recommend.

Absolutely delightful! Friendly and charming service, really tasty food - we had plenty on the cake stand but could have had more if we wanted to. Tea and coffee were also plentiful. I will definitely be coming back for more! Thank you

We had The Nutcracker afternoon tea on a Sunday afternoon. Service was slow and it took a long time to catch someone’s eye to order more drinks, and even longer for the drinks to appear. We were told we could have more sandwiches, but these were never offered. The food was nice, but the service wasn’t as attentive as I was expecting.

Such a nice way to spend the afternoon with high tea at The Assembly House, my parents (70s), my son (16) and me (50). Food, service and the atmosphere were all great.

Always a great meal in a lovely venue. We had the before noon tea which was excellent value

Overpriced and too many tables squashed into the room. Tired decor and toilets not pleasant.

Didn’t appreciate being greeted as darling by the front desk on arrival, when asked was there a waiting area as we was 15mins early for our booking was informed the area was shut for a private function and we would need to leave and come back (darling) as a middle age women being called darling I find very patronising and unprofessional, we asked twice for a jug of water for the table but didn’t receive. Couldn’t finish the afternoon tea so we was asked if we would like to take it with us on leaving.on receiving the box items we’re missing. 

Lovely afternoon tea, with a warm welcome. Will come again

We went for the Nutcracker afternoon tea, which was absolutely wonderful. The selection of sandwiches, savouries & scones was plentiful and everything was delicious. We couldn’t manage any of the cakes so brought those home to enjoy later on. Would definitely book again as it’s a lovely treat and great value for money. We even got to see the Assembly House made out of gingerbread- a masterpiece. Thank you to all the staff for a memorable treat which was really special.

Fantastic food and service. Couldn't have been any better. Lovely cocktails too. A really special experience.

We went for the Candlelight event .... it was beautiful 😍

We had the best afternoon tea ever. The food, service and ambience were exceptional. Will definitely be going back. It’s best to be hungry when you arrive as you get lots of different things to eat and some people were taking food home in a box. If you’re visiting Norwich, this is the place to eat.

Lovely venue , parking a bit tight

Fantastic quartet. Great organisation. Will definitely return for more events.

Beautiful venue, polite staff and lovely event attended. Great atmosphere and the candlelight experience was worth every penny, will definitely be attending again.

Excellent stay at the Assembly house for my birthday ! Fabulous breakfast and wonderful service from all the staff A special mention for Jane who is front of house/ reception. What a tremendous asset she is to the hotel, we loved her customer service and attentive manner throughout the stay. In this day and age it’s difficult to always get the best in hospitality I must say the assembly house ticked all the boxes and we will be back!

Lovely Nutcracker Afternoon Tea. Service second to none - all perfect

Absolutely fabulous from start to finish! My 2 friends and I visited for the themed afternoon tea. Staff were very welcoming, polite and attentive. Food was delicious and looked incredible. I highly recommend a visit to the Assembly House.

Nice venue, friendly staff, quality food but expensive. Unfortunately it was not very warm in the dining area so my eggs Benedict got cold quickly & so did I.

Slightly slow service and waiting staff seemed little unsure about certain things. Afternoon tea was nice, but this time there were a few items on the list that we didn’t like, which normally we love it all, but that was simply a small thing and simply our individual taste. I absolutely hate the fact they add a gratuity on….but that’s just me! It’s a nice place to go for afternoon tea, but this time, couldn’t rate it higher than I have.

Lovely food and brilliant service. The food is great quality and full of flavour

Had an absolutely fantastic festive afternoon tea today. The service was exceptional & very attentive. Good price for how much food you get and even did my 11 month old some little nibbles so he could join in. The decor and attention to detail is always great and really gets you in the mood for Christmas. Was lovely to revisit a year after I had my baby shower here with our new addition! Thank you for an fabulous afternoon.

Great service from arriving to leaving food exceptional a little noisy but extremely busy so it was expected

Very low service and not overly busy - placed in area where children seats kept getting accidentally knocked as by kitchen area. Very disappointing against usually high standard

A disappointing experience, liquid scrambled eggs, soggy hash brown, dirty toilets , only one with toilet roll ,slow service, wouldn’t return

We had Before Noon breakfast and it was lovely! Lots of variety and just the right size fry up to accompany all the little treats. Everything was really good quality. Only niggle was that the table for two wasn’t really big enough to cope with afternoon tea stands, tea pots, breakfast plates, etc so it felt like we were a bit squashed and constantly moving things around to make them fit. Other than that, we had an amazing couple of hours enjoying the experience.

I’ve been to the assembly house for afternoon tea on a couple of occasions and always thoroughly enjoyed the food and service. On this occasion the service was very disappointing, we waited 40mins for extra sandwiches despite asking 3 times during this time when they would arrive. Which left us rushing through the scones and having to take the rest of the afternoon tea home to finish, as we were running late to pick children up from school. This made the experience a bit stressful, which was a shame as it was a birthday treat we had been looking forward to.

The quality of the food was disappointing. Excessively sweet treats, low quality sandwiches. We were herded into the cream tea hall, this no longer feels like a treat which is a shame.

A wonderful Afternoon Tea experience, I had a Gluten free option which was presented with the same items as a muggle option , exceptional

As usual a fabulous afternoon tea of a very high standard Excellent service

The vegan food was disappointing. The sandwiches and scones were dry and untasty. The lovely squash roll was cold in the centre. The service was slow as larger tables of younger people took priority. I was extremely disappointed and have definitely had tastier vegan food elsewhere.

Overall a really lovely setting with very helpful staff. Just thought the cost out wayed the value. Needs a good spruce up inside.

Always a magical experience at The Assembly House! Afternoon tea is delightful and great options for dietary requirements and children.

We enjoyed the food but unfortunately our tea and coffee was served late half way through eating we had to ask also when we had finished eating our afternoon they bought the scones .I have been here before and it was beautiful this was a treat for my husband on our 49th Wedding Anniversary his 1st experience which really didn't go down very well .i was very Disappointed as I know it's usually very good.

The experience was let down by indifferent service.

A beautiful venue and a scrummy afternoon tea as usual. I have now been 4 times and am booked to come again in February for my special birthday! It was my friend’s first time at the Assembly house and they agreed that it’s the best afternoon they’d ever had! The food is beautifully presented, tastes amazing and the venue was beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Lovely experience in a beautiful setting. Food and service excellent

Another amazing afternoon tea at the Assembly House. The selection of food is just perfect, lots of variety and the desserts are delicious xx

We enjoyed every bit of our Afternoon Tea at the Assembly House. The ambience and professionalism of the staff was only outdone by the fantastic Nutcracker themed food. All in all an experience which we want to enjoy every time we are in Norwich.

We were seated first and was the first ones in the room however were then served third. The room was very cold, didn’t seem any heating was on at all. The hot chocolate was not even hot, at best was like warm and expensive for a small cup. The food was ok however I feel the scones were offered late. We wasn’t offered any other drinks throughout our afternoon tea and I would have thought we would at least be offered tea. Most places offer that as standard throughout and are cheaper. 2 adult afternoon teas, 1 child afternoon tea, 2 cokes and a hot chocolate cake to just over £99 which I feel is very expensive However it is presented pretty.

We had family staying at the Assembly House and we booked afternoon tea for four of us. I cannot begin to describe how wonderful our experience was. The atmosphere was incredible, the service faultless and the food was amazing. We had a wonderful afternoon and will definitely return. Our family had a fantastic stay in one of your wonderful rooms. Thank you very much for looking after us and making our weekend so special🙏🏻

A really nice experience. We would most certainly visit again when next in Norwich

Lovely atmosphere and food you can really taste the high quality ingredients so don't be fooled by the size of the stuff because it's very rich in flavour however, I'm only giving 4 stars as I feel it's a bit cheeky to put a automatic tip on we where charged £30 on a £300 meal which is extortionate i get it the staff are probably on minimum wage but that's the owners fault for paying a bad wage.

Wonderful would gladly do it again they were brilliant

Definitely the best afternoon tea around. Food was delicious and the service was excellent. Lovely atmosphere with a Christmassy feel. Perfect!

As always the food and staff were excellent and the Christmas decorations were perfection.

The best afternoon tea you’ll ever have, the food is amazing and the service is impeccable

We had a wonderful time today at The Assembly House, the decoration and ambience were perfect, and the staff and service was excellent. Thank you for a lovely.

Lovely venue and beautiful well presented afternoon tea. Very delicious and servixd was excellent.

Delicious way to start Christmas festivities. Super food venue and service

The service was polite, friendly and professional as always. My friend and I had a pot of tea each. I enjoyed cheese scones with a delicious apple chutney and wedge of chesse. My friend had an enormous slice of carrot cake which she delcared moist and extremely tasty. The general ambience and decor is wonderful, esepcially beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. The Assembly House Hotel recently catered for a gathering to celebrate my late mother's life. Again the service and attention to detail was just wonderful. The food was delicious and we were extremely well looked after. I would thoroughly recommend The Assembly House for any occasion. You will not be disappointed.

Have been several times to The Assembly House unfortunately this time it was significantly different. The cheese scones were not cooked enough and doughy in the middle. The very few sandwiches were nice but had better in the past with you. Would be nice to have a choice of savoury only as not everyone wants sweet. A choice would be good. I’m sorry to say it was slightly disappointing.

Lovely afternoon teas But over priced you do not get any extra like you use to

Nutcracker afternoon tea was superb! Highly recommended.

A great place to visit for a special afternoon tea

Very well organised with lots of staff who were polite, professional and friendly. All food was amazing and as much tea/coffee as we could drink. The house is beautiful and extra special as there were fabulous Christmas trees dotted about. A wonderful afternoon tea!

Sadly service was very slow. We asked for a glass of water which never came and asked for more tea. A tiny pot for one was eventually brought even though there were 3 of us. When I asked for more, the waitress argued and asked if we specified. Last year was much better.

Lovely ambience, warm welcome and a lovely breakfast. Cheese soufflé with smoked haddock and a ‘mock tail’ of orange, bitter lemon and rosemary, served with a smile. The fantastic Gingerbread display made it feel very festive, incorporating a tribute to the sad recent loss of Chef Director, Richard Hughes.

Had a lovely afternoon tea, more than we could possible eat, Staff all very friendly Would recommend

Gluten free afternoon tea was almost exactly the same as the standard one and was priced the same too, which is very much appreciated. Very friendly service and a lovely setting.

Went for a birthday lunch,was nice except there could have been a choice of soups/There was only tomato and roasted pepper which i dont like.Perhaps a second option of say Chicken soup.apart from that,no complaints.

Great time and location. Really friendly and welcoming staff. Great communication by musicians. The room was a little cold and chairs too close together. A gap between them would be greatly appreciated. The candles made the room feel very atmospheric and gave a beautiful glow to the event.

Fantastic afternoon birthday tea for my daughter. Staff very friendly and attentive, made us feel very welcome. Highly recommended and we plan to visit again in the New Year.

Great festive afternoon tea. The decorations were beautiful.

We had a lovely lunch- food was very tasty and good value. Service was excellent- the waitress was attentive but also gave us time… we never felt rushed and enjoyed just being there! A really good experience- it felt special. We will definitely be coming back!

Wonderful afternoon tea! Really lovely staff & ambiance

Had a fabulous afternoon tea with family. Great choices, and service. Couldn't fault it. Goid value for money

The room was quite cold & messy. Tables around weren’t cleared. Background music was on a few minutes which was nice but stopped. I’m GF and good was good. It seem they had forgotten GF scones so they took a considerably long time to come out. Staff friendly & working hard but was busy so tables got left . Ours weren’t cleared & had to ask for top of tea etc as weren’t asked if everything was ok. Didn’t leave the full £13 tip added onto my bill as service wasn’t great. But they were helpful / friendly young people . Didn’t appear a ‘front of house’ or manager leading so young people did well.

Upon my arrival, the welcoming service was good; however, when my friend arrived at 2:45, she ordered a hot chocolate, as she doesn't drink tea or coffee, this was followed by ordering the afternoon tea. By 3:20, there was still no sign of the hot chocolate or the food and there had been 2 other couples in after us, who had been served and were eating. My friend asked a waitress if we'd been forgotten about, so she went off to find out. A waiter returned with the hot chocolate and explained that he didn't know what had happened and apologised for the mix up but it was still another 5 minutes before the food arrived. The food was ok, sadly not much flavour in the savoury scones, no flavour to the green macaron and far too much pink buttercream adorned the small sponge cake. Nevertheless, the chocolate Black Forest cake was delicious as was the trifle.

Lovely afternoon tea for my mums 70’s, I did mention it was for her birthday but nothing special or not a mention.

I did book for 1 vegetarian which I didn't recieve. Luckily it was just a croissant as we had the beforenoon tea. I didn't want to make a big fuss by changing and I've had so many afternoon teas with you which are always so lovely as was this one.

Lovely place.Food was very good and plenty. We had to take left over food home!We enjoyed the atmosphere too.Staff was was very nice too

We were sat in the side room. Which was cold and had no atmosphere. No music. The waitress wasn’t attentive at all. She didn’t check back in good or ask about a second drink and I had to go find her to order scones. Then again I had to walk up to the host post to pay. She spent way too much time talking to one table and seemed to ignore everyone else. The hot components of the afternoon tea were cold. Really disappointed. We come regularly and have never complained before.

I love the Assembly House afternoon tea, it has a lovely atmosphere, staff are friendly and helpful, and the surroundings are great, lovely chandeliers, ambient background music and delicious food. We've never managed to finish everything so far, so always take some cakes for later, and for those with more of an appetite you can have extra sandwiches. A great venue for a special treat.

Saw fantastic string quartet here. Absolutely brilliant. Minor moan is the amateur Spielberg's at then who insist on holding phones as high as possible for as long as possible. All I saw was bingo wings and tattoos for the last 5 minutes

Always a beautiful atmosphere and great tea and pastry options,love the English old style very classy

Not a cheap option but quality. Excellent service.

Having attended many of these themed Afternoon Teas … the experience & food on this ocassion was not up to previous expected standards. Disappointing.

As someone with dietary requirements going out to eat can be stressful but not at the Assembly House. The staff were extremely knowledgeable and helpful and the food was lovely. It was the first time my gluten free options were so similar to the regular offering and tasted delicious, would definitely recommend.

Great environment. The staff were very attentive and helpful. The food was well presented. Excellent quality and quantity. Would definitely recommend.

Booked an afternoon tea for my Husband's birthday. We were here for the Nutcracker III afternoon tea. We were placed in a beautiful and luxurious room with chandelier and were given a large and comfortable table. The ambiance is really nice although it can be quite noisy when it's busy. The afternoon tea was beautiful! We had sandwiches, few savoury treats, cakes and of course scones. The sandwiches and savoury treats were delicious and generous. The cakes were beautiful and well themed. It was so cute! The food was good for the price and quantity generous. You can also ask for refill of tea and sandwiches if you want. The only thing that could be improved is the service. They were lovely and quick but needs more professionalism. For example, when it was time for the scones and cakes, they left us with the same plates. We asked for new ones and they only gave us plates, no new cutlery. Also tea was not warm enough but it's only a minor thing. We were definitely pleased with out experience! The price is so affordable for the quality and setting of the afternoon tea. Also it was very generous.

The staff were very attentive and very friendly catering to all our needs. The afternoon tea was delicious and we were provided with a box and bag to take the food we didn’t eat home.

A wonderful treat, for a 90th birthday celebration. Nothing was too much trouble. Beautifully presented food. We had someone who didn’t like sandwiches and this was not an issue they put alternatives out. Also a lovely gesture was a slice of cake with a candle for the birthday lady! Highly recommend, we had the afternoon tea, so much food even the hungriest tummy was satisfied🥰 thank you again to the wonderful staff.

The service and quality of food was excellent. A lovely building as well

Stayed 4 nights while at an Art Fair in the Assembly House. It is really comfortable. Great location. staff super helpful and friendly. Highly recommend it.

An excellent hotel in Central Norwich, friendly and efficient staff and superb themed high tea and accommodation.

Can’t beat it, afternoon tea at the assembly rooms. Go hungry as they are very generous.

Always very welcoming staff are friendly and nothing too much trouble. Food and attention to detail is excellent!