The Cafe Royale

We came here with a living social deal with another couple.
Everyone enjoyed the tea and accompaniments (sandwiches, scones, pastries) and the service was great. We really had no complaints and it was a fun experience!
We would certainly return, but wouldn’t be willing to pay full price.

Café Royale at 254 Newbury Street is closed. I have been calling several times in the past week to make a reservation, and when I finally went yesterday in person, everything in the store was empty. You’ll need to get your refund from Living Social if you bought a voucher from the afternoon tea.

Jesus Christ, this is very sketchy, as another reviewer said. I stopped in trying to use my LivingSocial deal in mid-​November, and they said they were very busy and that it would be best to make a reservation. However, all of my phone calls led me to an invalid phone number.
And now LIvingSocial deal is telling me that the deal is over, despite the fact that neither LivingSocial NOR Café Royale notified the customers who had bought their deal that they would in fact be closing a MONTH before the value of the deal expired.
The only way I found out they even closed was through good ol’ Unilocal.I would highly encourage everyone who is as annoyed as I am to go to this page and call/​fill out the form:
UPDATE: I just called LivingSocial — I was on hold for a bit, but they gave me the refund, no questions asked. I will err on the side of caution from now on though…

We went here after getting the discount voucher from living social. I think more than 50% of the patrons were there with the discount voucher from Living social. and I believe it makes sense because it would be too expensive to pay $ 25 for what we were served.
When I came in without reservation, they said we were very lucky because they usually don’t have empty tables (although the entire time we were there, the place were only about 75% full and there were always a couple of open tables).
The tea selection was limited for a place that only served tea. We had the Masala chai and it was very mild. The scent was nice but the flavor was missing. If you open the pot, the amount of tea is quite small for the pot size. If you get the water refill, the concentration will go down even further.
Come with the Queen Victorian is four pieces of sandwiches, 3 scones and a few cookies.
The scones were actually good because they were warm and not too moist. The sandwich was pretty sad actually. It was very simple and anyone can make it at home. In fact, we did it the night before for our potluck. The bread was not exceptional (just simple white bread) with cheese or cream cheese or with some other type of meats.
The cookies look like they come out from a box of cookies even though I don’t know where they were from.
The service was good though.
All and all, it was good for the three of us (with one voucher), but I probably would not come back just to have tea and very simple cookies.
The ambience was nice but it’s very unlike Europe though. You wouldn’t hear the background music here at any tea house in Europe.

I read several really negative reviews before going to Café Royale to use my LivingSocial voucher, but I wanted to write in and say that we had a great time there. I took two 5-​year-​old girls for a ‘high tea’ experience; the café is small but feels elegant in many details (not all, but most; one excellent touch was the music — Django Reinhardt and similar which was the perfect ambiance for tea). The hostess Grace was absolutely amazing and really made the experience; she was friendly and helpful on the phone in advance, and when we arrived, and took excellent care of us. I’d brought an extra child with me and she generously supplied our platter with a few extra tidbits.
I’ve never had high tea in England or elsewhere so I don’t know how this compared, but I don’t care. It was a very nice facsimile of what I imagine to be English tea — or want it to be — done in a more relaxed American style. Perhaps it wasn’t perfect and ultra high-​class (if you care about that, maybe go to the Taj or wherever), but someone was making an effort and it all came together well enough. The scones and cream where delicious, there were good sandwiches, and small pastries and chocolates, glasses of water, and lemon, honey, sugar, jam and butter. Everything we wanted. The girls had a fabulous time, as raucous as 5-yo’s do everywhere they go (we tried to keep it as calm as possible).
In any case, Café Royale — especially Grace, who should be bronzed for her friendly outlook and for «getting it» in terms of customer service — THANK YOU. It was a great experience for a girls’ afternoon out on a rainy November afternoon.

I’m surprised to see this low rating for this café… I have been there once, but will definitely go back. The environment was cozy, clean and nice, although small. The staff were friendly and attending. Music was a great selection of relaxing instrumentals.
Above all, tea and cookies we had there were tasty! We went there with a living social coupon and we got a big pot of tea with small tasty sandwiches and some cookies and chocolates. they also brought us cream, milk, butter, jam and honey. All was good!!! This place offered everything I expect a café to offer.

I was a bit worried about eating here after reading the reviews. The place sounded worse than dreadful by the description of the tea and the food. So I was very pleased to discover a pretty awesome tea room. True this is not the Taj, nor the Four Seasons or the Russian Team room. Actually the food was better than the Russian tea room and not as expensive. The room is very simple but there is a certain charm to the place. Our very enthusiastic server was a delight and the tea was wonderful. The scones were fresh from the oven and the cream and preserves were tasty. The sandwiches were good, not great but they were satisfying and simple food that anyone could enjoy. Okay, no caviar or salmon or curried something or other, but I never warmed to that kind of food. The atmosphere was relaxed and unpretentious and I would recommend it. I did not give it 4 or 5 stars because the room lacked the kind of refined elegance and air that inspires a feeling of richness but it’s quite comfy and friendly, the type of place where you can relax and have a really great conversation with an old friend and not feel on display.

To be honest, I wish I could subtract stars from this place. Similar to many others my best friend and I went here because we got a living social deal.
The first time we went to this place it was Café London and it was with a groupon. We had read the reviews on how bad it was but it was too late because we had already the deal. Anyways when we went it was not as bad as people had said. It was not classy or regal like high tea should be. It was like eating at the Olive Garden versus an nice family run Italian place in the North End.
Flash forward a few months later, I see another place has a deal on high tea on living social. When I purchased the deal, I thought it was «Espresso Royale Caffe», which has wonderful reviews. However, right before we went I rechecked the reviews and realize that it was the «new» Café London. I thought it was suspicious that it changed its name to a similar place that has great reviews in the same location. Especially because management and the owner did not change.
THIS IS THE ACTUAL REVIEW!!!
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Do not go to this place, either spend the money for high tea or do it yourself. First of, they have new staff which is great because the hostess from the summer was awful but the server was great, so it was sad not to see her there. Then, tea was pitiful.
This is a comparison to how Café London was:
–Tea: No taste and luke warm
–No Milk
–No sugar spoon and bowl half full
–No lemon tongs and lemons were poorly cut
–No honey spoon, jam and butter knife
–Less variety, number, and quality of desserts
–Too much mayo on the sandwiches
–Super dry scones
–No clotted cream this time [She said she did not carry it but they had it less than 3 months ago]
–Bad ambiance
–The worst part was the manager took the girls tips that we had left. He did nothing and then took their money. SHAMEFUL
— The best: the hostess and the server were very nice and hardworking.
I will never go here again and next time I will check the address to make sure they did not change their name again.
Café London: 2 Stars
Café Royale: –Infinity Stars

If it’s the bad, the awkward, and the ugly parts of life that make you happy, London Café and/​or Café Royale, or whatever they choose to call themselves will help you attain nirvana.
Simply waltz into the foyer and stand in front of the 3 concierges. They can see you but that won’t keep them from ignoring you indefinitely. Once my patience was as expired as my Groupon, I was informed that it was only today that they would honor my expired Groupon. For the record, I made the reservation before the Groupon expired, which means they’re required to honor it under Groupon law, i.e. no need to reiterate the condescending martyrdom three times.
We started with the Victorian Rose Tea, which was more accurately Victorian colored hot water. The bottom of the tea cups are stained that color. Gross. Then they announced that they had run out of milk and lemon for the tea. They had the nerve to ask «Is that okay?» Do I have a choice? I let it go because colored hot water isn’t really tea anyway.
The cream-​cheese-​smothered Cucumber Sandwich and the bland, dry Chicken Salad Sandwich are equally bad choices. So wash them down with a few sips of tasteless tea and transition to the Raisin Scones. The scones are dry but not terrible… then the staff then announced that they were out of clotted cream. NOT ok. EVER.
If the scones without cream made you feel deprived of a proper tea service, the pastries attempt to make up for it. A couple soggy Cannolis covered in a suspicious green substance and a mediocre cream-​filled puff Pastry will satiate your craving for cream for months.
If nothing else, please note that London Café or Café Royale, or whatever they choose to call themselves is downright dishonest. The Groupon for this deal cost $ 35 and they claimed that it’s for a deal valued at $ 70. This deal is costs $ 25. Check out Café Royale’s menu for the Queen Victoria package if you don’t believe me. I paid $ 35 for a something that costs $ 25 and was worth less than $ 5. If I’m going to waste my money, I would rather waste on honest people.

Don’t do it. This place is a scam. We only went there because my friend had a groupon. We didn’t even finish our «meal». If you are real tea drinker or know anythign about tea, this is not the place to go. When we sat down, the waitress told us that we had to share a pot of tea!!! They then serve the tea in a huge pot with barely any tea leaves. I swear the cheese sandwich we were serve was a slice of kraft cheese between 2 wonder bread! Not worth your money! I wouldn’t go there even it was for free.