Tudor House

I can’t believe I didn’t know this place was closing! It’s my absolute favorite and has been since I was 12 years old. I was going to the website to book the private room for my birthday in January! Now I have to find somewhere else that will let me dress like the Queen and not bat an eye…:(

Oh, how sad I was to hear that this place is now closed! Some friends and I had a book club lunch here and it was a warm and memorable experience. The place itself is cute and so very English; bright and airy color schemes everywhere you look. Our waitress was particularly great. We ordered two pots of Lady Grey and a few sandwiches and meat pies, all delicious in their own ways. The scones were so moist and soft. And rather than getting into the book, we ended up veering off topic completely. The afternoon seemed to fly by. The market next door was pretty neat too. The aisles of snacks and treats induced nostalgia for those of us who spent time in Europe. Afterward, we took a walk to the beach and had a fantastic rest of the day, which was more reason to like this place — the location! Walking distance from The King’s Head and a bunch of other nearby restaurants. Tudor House, I’m going to miss you.

It breaks my heart that, after writing a review stating my sincerest wishes that I’d be able to take my daughters and eventually granddaughters here, they closed.
Thank you, Tudor House, for the wonderful memories.

To all those don’t know —
The Tudor House’s baker is moving to the English place across the street!
There’s hope.
Best of luck to those from Tudor House — it was a good run.

I brought two Brits with me on the closing weekend for Tudor House. The Brits were delighted with this location, albeit sad that Tudor House was closing. After finding two hour free parking at a nearby structure and getting seated right away, we got to work by ordering:
Afternoon tea for two with English Breakfast tea: the finger sandwiches were great, especially the curried chicken salad. Everyone adored the fruit jam that was available to spread on the scones and they use real chocolate flakes for the mini desserts!
Side of sausage roll: while I thought it was delicious with a delectable flaky crust, the other two said it was good, but not quite as great as the ones they get in London.
Fish and chips: the winner in our order! We were impressed with the use of real cod for the fish. Only thing missing was the vinegar that usually accompanies it!
The service was good and it’s always fun to be taken back to England by hearing the accents and the manners from the English servers.
Too bad we did not discover this place earlier! We would’ve loved to try the Shepherd’s Pie!

The Tudor House will always have a place in my heart. This charming English tea house is closing its doors on ⁷⁄₂₂.
We’ve been coming here for years and have always enjoyed the afternoon tea, complete with sandwiches, scones, salad and pastries. You also get a choice of tea, and boy do they have a huge selection! Choose from English breakfast, Earl grey, Yorkshire and vanilla, as well as herbal and green teas.
Christine has always been our favorite waitress — so pleasant, friendly, and remembers what we like to eat. You can’t go much above that kind of service! And, she does it all with a smile.
Today, we enjoyed our last venture here and opted for something a bit different. We went all out and got the afternoon tea for two.
This comes on a tiered platter complete with an array of sandwiches, two different kinds of scones, and pastries. So damn good! I loved the cucumber sandwich the best, but wasn’t really fond of the curry chicken.
When you’re done with your meal, head to the adjoining market and buy some of the delicious devonshire cream they have for sale. Best cream ever!
I’ll miss you, Tudor House. So sad to see you go.
PIX–

I knew this place existed, but I didn’t realize it had been open in Santa Monica for 50 years! The last day before it closes permanently is July 15.
I’ve always gone to Ye Olde King’s Head across the street. I didn’t realize this place had a bakery and shop right next to its restaurant. Unfortunately, I guess it took the news of Tudor House’s closing to finally make me walk in and check it out.
I tried a sausage roll and a cornish pastie from the bakery to go. They both turned out to taste very different than what I was expecting. Sorry to say, I wasn’t impressed. I guess I would have to try Ye Olde King’s Head’s versions to compare and see if I like them any better, but in the meantime, I’ll stick with ordering fish and chips and shepherd’s pie when I go to a British pub/​restaurant.

SO SAD TO HEAR THE TUDOR HOUSE IS CLOSING!!!
My husband and I love this shop. We live in Van Nuys and make a point of going to Santa Monica every few months to go to the Tudor House and buy pastries and tea and other English goodies. We were just planning on going back to do the wonderful English Tea again and see on the website it is closing. We are both so upset as this is one of our favorite places to go since we are both Anglophiles (and went to England on our honeymoon). And what made it so unique was that it is a restaurant, shop, and bakery. And the English tarts are fantastic. SO SAD. I wish someone else would buy the Tudor House and keep it going — or if the landlord would stop raising the rent.

three words.
TEA FOR TWO!!!
the finger sandwiches and scones are all so good!
i’ve only tried that and will definitely come again.
also, cute market right next door! :)

Family Tea Function
We decided to take a journey over to Santa Monica strictly because of the
coupon I bought over a year ago for the Tudor House. I was pleasantly surprised @ the modern décor and location of this tea house. Their website needs a little update to go with the the hipster area they serve.
It was a wet afternoon during this particular visit and no other patrons in sight. We were greeted and seated immediately. The service itself was good but no real sense of urgency was present so a few things were lacking. One of the only reasons my hubby decided on coming here is because they serve beer. No problem with me because we all know I love a fresh brewed cup of tea & a good scone to go with it. We ordered the following:
*Tudor House Cream Tea: This comes with 2 scones, strawberries, devon cream, raspberry jelly, & a pot of tea. The scones were nice and the devon cream was firm. I loved the raspberry jelly they served as well! I decided on PG Tips for my tea and it was brewed just fine. I wish someone asked if I needed more tea because I finished it quickly. =(
*Sausage Rolls: Good flavor with a nice flaky pastry. Don’t expect an actual sausage, just a nice meaty center that resembles meat loaf. Very British!
*Fish & Chips: This may be on the pricey side but totally worth it! The batter was great and really some of the best deep fried fish I’ve had in a while.
*Boddington Beer: In a can and comes out warm
*Bowl of Chicken Noodle soup: We personally didn’t try this one but our son ate it up. Not sure if it was freshly made in house.
All-​in-​all, we liked the Tudor House even though they can work on a few things like the pricing & service. I totally understand why tea joints bump up their costs and that’s fine because our
coupon came in handy in that department. An added star due to that nifty $ 25 off we received @ the end of our meal.

Definitely feels pretty English in this place. Not really cute, but an older style. Pink walls and some artwork and plates on there. There are paper doilies on every table and the blue and white matching China is adorable. I hear you can sometimes spot ladies with official large brimmed tea hats here too. Next door there is a little shop with English goods and pies and pastries to take him if you wish to.
Service was okay, bu it was hard to really flag the waitress down. Perfect for if you have gobs of time to do nothing and relax, but not during the typical lunch hour.
SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE PIE
This was our favorite, flaky pastry and the inside was just perfectly creamy. It came with a salad that looked promising, but then the mostly mayo based dressing was not to my liking.
TUDOR HOUSE SCONES
These weren’t the best scones I’ve ever had, room temperature and without anything that really impressed me. The devonshire cream tasted more like whipped butter, but strawberries were nice and sweet.
SALMON AND CUCUMBER SANDWICHES
I didn’t really like these, felt like sandwiches sloppily put together at home for lunch. The edges of the bread weren’t trimmed off an the filling didn’t reach the edges. Made for some very bready bites.
Quaint enough to try, but it’s not a place I’m going back to all the time.

I will say that the service here is very British… by that, nonexistent.
No greetings at the door (which is at a confusing location).
No introductions by the service. I still know neither of their names.
No asking if anyone at your table has any questions.
No following up after the serving of food to ask if anyone would care for something else.
No bill unless you flag someone down, they give you an annoyed look, and bring it to you 15 minutes later. You pay in the grocery store next door anyway.
1) What happens when you walk in: You stand around. You wave to get the attention of one of two servers in an otherwise empty restaurant. The first ignores you. You exchange eyes with the second server a few moments later. Having been caught, she sighs, and tells you she will be with you shortly. She comes back to seat you after a few more minutes of waiting. No, you cannot pick your own place to sit. No, you cannot sit at the four person table if you only have two in your party no matter how empty it is. You do as she wants and sit down, she places the menus on the table and leaves.
2) What happens when you order 15 minutes later: Your server has zero recommendations on the tea. She simply smirks at you when you ask which one she prefers and tells you that duh, obviously all of them are good, with another deep sigh. When you ask about the afternoon tea options (such as what the biggest differences are, or how many cups a pot of tea can serve), you are met with a similarly unhelpful reaction. Just ugh. When you order a meat pie she automatically assumes you want the salad with it (an extra charge) instead of asking you if you’d like to add it. She then walks away without confirming your order. She only returns to serve your food and nothing more. The other server takes great pains ignoring you throughout the meal as, of course, she is not your responsibility in the slightest.
In summary of the service, it is honestly quite dreadful. You truly do feel like you are irking these women. Their tone is condescending and bossy. It’s this type of service that leaves me loathe to tip. But like I said before, you pay in the grocery store next door, handing the bill to the same person who’s ringing shoppers up (so you have to stand in line), so tacking on a tip is very much at the customer’s discretion.
I honestly enjoy friendly, knowledgeable service when I’m getting afternoon tea. I feel that service of a high caliber really adds to the ambiance of a colorful, three-​tiered meal with victorian-​esque tea cups and quaintly decorated china. Is it just me?
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3) What happens when you get your order 20 minutes later:
I went with the Victoria Tea over the standard afternoon tea. The extra $ 3 gets you A LOT more, imo.
— A glass of champagne (I got the Kir Royale, which was honestly a highlight of the meal — it tasted like cranberry champagne).
— Clotted cream, which SHOULD be the HIGHLIGHT of any English tea service and I am appalled that they wouldn’t serve it with the standard afternoon tea option.
— Three different tea sandwiches instead of one.
I’ve noticed that the pics of the afternoon tea options are veryvery dated, so I’ve included my own. It seems that Tudor House has condensed the size and offerings of their food in accordance with the tight economy? That’s my only explanation.
Now let’s detail what I got in the way of food:
~ A small circle of soft wheat bread (the size of a dollar coin) with smoked salmon on top. It was very small, but excellent. Thin slices of salmon. No capers.
~ ½ an egg salad sandwich sliced into two triangles. Again, very small, but delicious as far as standard egg salad sandwiches go.
~ ½ a cucumber sandwich sliced into two triangles. Also very small (noticing a trend here?) but I love cucumber tea sandwiches because the soft white bread goes soso well with the crunch of fresh cucumber. YUM.
~ About 4 whole strawberries thinly sliced and put into a small disposable plastic cup, along with a handful of blueberries. The blueberries were mushy, but the strawberries were fresh as described in the menu.
~ A very disturbing chocolate éclair that was very obviously NOT prepared in-​house. It was some Costco variety treat that had been unfrozen prior to serving with a goopy filling, fake chocolate glaze, and spongy bread. They would do better to just leave this off the menu.
~ Two scones. Pluses were the density and hint of butter. Minuses were the crumbly texture and small size (about half the size of a standard scone).
~ The scones were served with two teaspoons (yes, teaspoons) of raspberry jam and one teaspoon of clotted cream. FYI, ordering another TEASPOON of clotted cream is $ 2. I’m not sure when this pricing and stinginess came into effect. A jar of clotted cream is only $ 6 ($ 3 if you go to a real market, and no, the one next door doesn’t count).
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1 star for service and 3 stars for food = 2 star average.

I’ve been meaning to stop by this place for the longest time. It is ONLY right smack infront of my yoga place for the past 3 years!
My friend and I stopped by one morning for breakfast, after 90 mins of intense yoga. We were starving! Well first off, the staff there are the real deal… Brits with the accents. I love accents and I was mesmerized. There is a little grocery area and a bakery section, before you enter into the restaurant. They’re stocked up with import food from England. When I went up to the bakery counter… oh man they had everything… from meat pies to fruit cake. I even ordered a pound of candied fruit. I owe my grandmother her annual homemade fruit cake and candied fruit is hard to find.
The breakfast menu is definitely unique. We were drawn to the Half English order, consists of egg, sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomatoes, potatoes and English baked beans with toast (for $ 8.95). There is another dish called Full English, consists of everything from the Half English but doubled. Half English order is A LOT OF FOOD! If we were to order the Full English… I would have to sign up for Woman vs Food on Travel channel. I cannot possibly «man-​up» all that food… even after 90 mins of yoga! Overall the food is a-​okay, nothing spectacular (which is why the 3-​stars).
I came back again the next day to try their Afternoon Tea menu. I got the Tudor House Afternoon Tea order consists of one tea sandwich (I had curried chicken salad), veggie quiche, scone with jam & butter and a pot of tea ($ 16.95). The verdict… again a-​okay, as nothing really stood out as outstanding.
The overall experience however was excellent. The waitress remembered me when I came back the second time and she was very hospitable each time. The staff in general here is very helpful.

The Tudor House is absolutely adorable and the waitstaff are sweet British folks, but the food tends to be a little mediocre. However, it’s still fun to come for a laid-​back, girly afternoon.
The scones are the best part of the afternoon tea, and the finger sandwiches are all quite good as well. The store also has a good variety of teas, which is great.
With that being said, I found the pastries to be ridiculously sweet and couldn’t eat them, and I couldn’t stand the salad dressing. Still, the place is so adorable and makes for such a fun afternoon that I can’t hate it.
Also, my male friends who came with me and refused to participate in afternoon tea got the bangers and mash (which was a hit) and a curry pot pie (which was also very good), so there is a little something for everyone here.

There are a couple of reasons why I love this establishment
1. Décor is positively adorable
2. Our waitress is fantastic and sweet
3. I love coming in for their rose and darjeeling tea
4. high tea!
5. their shop next door that includes teas, brit chocolates, tea sets, etc
6. their scones were delicious spread jam and devon cream liberally
7. their bangers were excellent
8. cucumber sandwich and egg sandwich was yum
9. you just need to see the picture yourself
10. the staff let us stay for as long as needed when the restaurant side closed. they directed us to the shop side.
11. suggested this place to a coworker looking for a mother’s day spot and she loved it as well.
12. I could go on and on but it’s a place you need to experience yourself
13. when i come back i will try their meat pie

I came here with my bf and our friends bc had gotten a
coupon.
Its a cute, old school looking tea house in Santa Monica. When we first walked in, we really didn’t know if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait to be seated so we just stood around waiting to see if anyone would help us. A good 5 – 10 mins passed before a waitress came out and took us to our seats.
We ordered a pot of tea and 4 different pies. We got the mushroom, spinach/​artichoke, shepards, and curry chicken. All were decent. They came with a side salad and a mayo spread. The pastry was crispy and the inside was pretty good.
We ordered some pastries after our meal and asked our waitress what she recommended. She wasn’t very helpful so we ended up with a couple of desserts that were just so bad that they’re not even worthy to describe. These desserts brought the meal from a 3 down to a 2. It was so gross and hard. They tasted like they had been sitting out for a week.
We paid in the market and realized that it cost more than double for the pies and desserts just because we sat down at the restaurant side.
If I come back, I’ll definitely buy them to go.

I’ve been coming to Tudor House for… 8 years now?! Wow.
I always always ALWAYS get a bowl on their homemade vegetable soup. It’s REALLY GOOD. Vegetable stock, carrots, onions, celery, green peppers, cabbage, tomato and herbs… yum.
I’ve had an assortment of other food here, from the Tudor House Salad to Spinach and Artichoke Pie to the Cucumber Tea Sandwich… all have been solid.
I ALWAYS get a pot of Vanilla tea… so yummy, and so cute in your own pot and cup.
Just an FYI, Tudor House is definitely more restaurant-​looking than other tea houses. Their dining area is a large room with tables and chairs.

On the hunt for a cupcake in Santa Monica when we stumble upon Tudor House
Cases of British-​inspired pastries & goodies. I chose a Shortbread Cookie & it was thick, buttery & had a wonderful dusting of sugar
Restauranty side to the shop found people indulging in Afternoon Teas while in the shop-​side of the place, we saw British foods (grocery-​style), tea pots, & teas which were very hard to resist but I was flying out & couldn’t take it all w/​me
Would also love to stop in & try their Tea Service — next time for sure
Pasties, Scones, and Shortbread Cookies — what’s not to love!

I know nothing about English tea except from what I’ve seen on tv and read in books, so I was excited to give it a go… in Santa Monica of all places, haha.
The offerings were cute and quaint as expected — tea sandwiches, berries, scones…
Overall, I thought everything was decently tasty — but I also think I was influenced by being at «tea». Somehow it makes things taste better, I don’t know why. The service could have been a little more friendly.
What was a little strange was the bakery store view from our table. It kind of threw off the vibe a bit because it looked like a gift shop.

Ambiance
I felt like I was stepping back into time and playing tea party, except there is nothing that pretty or girly or glamorous about Tudor House. It’s more of an old comfortable spot. This place is «cute» though in the fact that it is VERY quaint. So it does look dated but that’s the charm of it all I guess. The place looks kind of old and has an English cottage like feel you would see in movies. A type of place to start off your day slowly and relaxed. A place to chat and not be rushed and without being bothered for a long time — no, really. To get anything after you are served like extra napkins, clean utensils, and even your check is nearly impossible after you are served. There were only 2 servers running around but for a place of that size — 2 servers really will suffice.
Food
The food here isn’t fresh and has a rustic, mom and pop presentation (put kind of sloppily together yet contained). In fact, it was just how I anticipated it would be so I wasn’t upset or annoyed. I don’t know why but this is exactly what I expected the food to be. Mediocre at best. It was slightly below mediocre at best, but again I don’t really care because I We had afternoon tea for 2 ($ 36 I think?). The bread on the finger sandwiches were stale. In fact, everything was stale. The scones were stale and came out in room temperature. It would be nice to have them served warm. Basically, it tasted like all the food had been kind of sitting out for 2 days and was served.
I couldn’t help but thinking of a scene in the old days when times were really lean (I’m talking like a century ago) where food is left out for days because of no refridgeration and whatever food is sitting out is food you are going to eat because there’s no other choice and that’s all there is. So, if stale bread and sandwiches are all there is, then that’s what you are going to get. More for sustenance than enjoyment. Again, this didn’t bother me at all since I’m obsessed with all things British. I just pretended I was English! Everyone knows the Brits are known for their food. And yet I still love the staples of an English diet. Tea and scones.
Small side salad — with grapes. It was a nice little addition to the meal.
Finger sandwiches —
The curried chicken sandwich does have a kick, which we appreciated but seemed kind of exotic for tea food.
Goat cheese and cucumber — was fine, but again anything on stale bread just becomes mundane.
Tuna — ditto
Scones — dry and stale. That is totally ok by me because I don’t think I could ever hate a scone.
Chocolate mousse tart –small bite size, breaks apart quite easily, buttery, and actually tasted good.
Cupcakes — again, I think these guys were sitting out too long because we suspect the icing went bad. (I will refrain from the details).
I came here more for the sense of occasion than the actual food. So if you are coming here with expectations with food as the main goal, it might be better just to pick up a few things from the display case in the adjacent store and heat up some scones or pies and eat it at home (where your food will actually be warm;) I noticed the customer base is comprised of British people living in LA (who seem like regulars), a lot of tourists, and some locals.
Location: near a business for tourists in Santa Monica
Parking: street, metered
Pix to come.