The RA Cafe in City of London, Westminster

I HAVE BEEN USING THE R.A. GRAND CAFE FOR A LONG TIME AND HAVE TO SAY THAT EVERYTIME A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE HAS ENSUED. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FAULT THE QUALITY OF FOOD, SERVICE AND SPACEOUS SURROUNDINGS WITH SOME NOSTALGIA THROWN IN....A BETTER TIME COULD NOT BE HAD EVEN IN FORTNUM AND MASONS...!

Very nice bar once inside the Royal Academy. Lots of places and a calming atmosphere. Many offers in terms of food: from ready meals with vegetables, fish pies, and more to sandwiches with chicken and avocado and those with eggs, bacon etc. Large variety of desserts and pastries (looks promising). The quality (of the sandwiches) is unquestionable. It's a bit reminiscent of the freshness of pret a manger. The only thing is the price (slightly high). The pictured sandwich with chicken, avocado and pesto was £8.75. But if you come here you can also make an effort and pay slightly more. Advised!

This is a review for the cafe near the keepers house. The banana cake is inedible. I can barely swallow it. Used to be good but this is just so awful - like a hard dry brick. So disappointing.

great breakfast (amazing scone!) in a beautiful historical building. i’ll come back :)

Really impressed with the quality of food and desserts. They offer wine by glass as well as in a can, however the pricing is way too high, even for that location.

Good food and atmosphere but slow service! Coffee took ages!

We had a cup of coffee and a cup of tea. Both were delivered quickly and there was plenty of space to sit and the cafe was very clean. It was quiet. Loved it.

Cafe itself is nice. Typical cafe in art gallery/museum. London price (on the expensive side) Real let down was the dirty oily mug I got for my tea. I couldn’t drink it. Tables looks clean but it smells. I think they need to wash the clothes more often or use blue roll to clean the tables.

After visiting the exhibition, I found myself at the cafe a little after 16:00. Although many food options had already been taken, I was thrilled to discover a delicious sandwich with brie! I paired it with a great americano -finally- served in a mug. The cafe itself has a spacious layout and it’s a wonderful spot to relax and leisurely browse on my iPad.

One of the best places to work and catch up with friends

Lovely place for a quiet coffee in a beautiful setting

I had a ‘super food salad’ and was extremely sick shortly afterwards. Food hygiene standards need to be looked at.

Very light and airy. Very refreshing cup of tea.

10 pounds for a very lightly filled sandwich - and no taste...

Served the customers that were after me in line before me, didn’t even apologise!

We stopped at the RA Cafe for a quick lunch. It is a cafeteria kind of place and convenient for those visiting the Royal Academy. We had the soup of the day, lentil, and some tea. The soup was tasty and good value. We looked at the dessert and were not attracted, maybe they could improve on that aspect. For a quick snack I would definitely recommend it.

Beautiful airy interior. Good food range and the prices are not inflated compared to other places in Central London.

The cafe design is ok, suffers from congestion and is very stuffy. The coffee is ok and the selection of food is varied and can fulfill various tastes. I found a vegan wrap and vegan raspberry bakewell, however I didn't spot any gluten free options. It's very handy for a lunch after visiting the gallery however if I wasn't here for an exhibition I would far prefer to have lunch somewhere else. Edit: The cafe charges 45p for plant based milk, seems crazy to have this charge as most other coffee shops do not charge extra any more.

Lovely decor, decent coffee, But why can't they open another window, let some air though? It's stuffy at the best of times, but this week...

Worse served coffee for £4. 1) no eye contact 2) yeah ok …. No hello no of course 3) had to ask for the top…

I come after my visit to an exhibition so it is a bit late hour. The interior decoration is really beautiful. Coffee & cake is slightly dearer than outside cafe, but there’s no music so pretty quiet if you need a rest.

Lovely staff, wonderful building, blisteringly expensive can of cola at £2.50. It’s London but…

Fascinatingly expensive and all the pastries come in packets. I had a very dry croissant at 11am. Nice staff. Beautiful building.

Not great or very nice just normal . Service was slow , food was not the best so overall I wouldn’t eat there again.

La cioccolata era acqua calda con un milligrammo di cioccolato... 4 sterline cadauna e non c'è servizio, devi prenderti anche i cucchiaini.

Inhouse cafe, nice staff desperately let down by bad management. Slow service, tiny portions, bad layout and lack of cutlery. And expensive too. Find somewhere nice nearby instead. We went at lunchtime which will always be busy, but it was really let down by a general feeling of a lack of planning and energy. The piece of bread I was served with my soup would be better described as a crouton, and I am not kidding.

It's an overpriced cafe with a slow and terrible service. I even got lukewarm coffee.

Really liked the place. Had an afternoon tea there and it was amazing! The staff was very nice and polite. I was given a big teapot for 3.20£

Il caffè mi è sembrato ben fornito, con una proposta gastronomica tipica inglese fresca e ben presentata. Mi ci fermerei di nuovo volentieri!

The location and decorations makes up the price and service I supposed.

The food was pricy. The service was slow and not friendly. The food was okay,not amazing. However, the location was convenient as there are not many cheap and nice places to eat near RA anyway.

The food used to be lovely at the RA ALWAYS pricey BUT A tastyTREAT, hugely disappointed with it now, truly not nice cooked food , the fish pie £14.50 and the potato gratin £4.50 barely edible and no sauce to cheer it. All self service. The RA used to do a lot better.

The cafe was awful, expensive and the food was appalling quality. It cost £2.80 for a 150ml can of coke.

Overpriced for counter service. Asked what vegetarian choice was and was told it was fish. Salad was quite good but the soup was tasteless.

The surroundings are beautiful with pre raphaelite murals and a display case of amazing statuary. The food sounds lovely and looks good. Unfortunately the reality is quite different. I paid £12.50 for a lamb burger an chips. Which looked nicely presented on the plate. However the burger itself was like warm (and this was before 12) and the accompanying halloumi cheese and salad was as cold as if had just come out of the fridge. The burger bun it's was dry and disappointing. This can't even be justified by it being late in the service... Unfortunately I was in a hurry and had no time to complain, but I won't be rushing to eat "hot" food in there again and I feel very disappointed. On the plus side my girlfriends cake was described as delicious.

Food completely over priced for mediocre food, although presentation promises you more. Utterly appalling service . Waited over fifteen minutes for three customers coffees to be made. My order of tea was forgotten, although I reminded staff twice. Plenty of staff, nobody seemed to be in control. Demanded my money back and walked out and utter discuss . Come and see the amazing art but find some where else to eat.

Incredibly expensive! £7.50 for a pot of tea and small slice of (very nice) Bakewell tart !!!

Nice place for a light lunch not far from Piccadilly circus. Good choice of salads, sandwiches, hot dishes, and desserts. The big hall in the Grand Cafè is a bit dim, but stylish.

Good food. Nice garden out front overlooking the river. Try the flatbread.

Scones were delicious. Not sure the full afternoon tea is really worth it, but would highly recommend the cream tea. Nice setting too.