Claremont Lobby Lounge - Berkeley

My nieces and I enjoyed a fabulous Sunday afternoon tea here. There was a wonderful cellist, our hostess was charming (all the staff were pleasant and helpful). The sandwiches and sweets were delicious, as was the tea. The entire experience was terrific.

My friend and I were seated at our high tea reservation time (the first seating at 1:15). Once seated so one came by for a good 20-30 minutes...no water, offer of a drink, no hello. Finally a very nice but flustered waiter came by and said they were trying to print the menus as they were not prepared. When he brought them back, there were no tea options printed. He rushed around to get those , too. By this time it was 45 minutes since we were seated. I had to ask for a drink while we waited for our tea. Once the food and tea came, it was great food. But very disorganized. I sure hope they can improve this experience. It has great potential.

I booked a holiday tea well in advance. It was quite difficult to get the reservation. The lounge was not particularly festive for the holidays. We waited at the entrance looking for the host who was not to be found. Frankly, we weren’t sure we were in the right location; the lounge looked empty and we were one of only three tables that were present. The server was quite friendly, though couldn’t remember which teapot he filled had our selected tea. He asked us to smell the pot to figure it out. So we sniffed and shuffled the pots around to sort it out. The selection of sandwiches were fine, the scones were not very good. They were so crumbly they didn’t hold together to spread the clotted cream. All and all, it was fine, but probably not worth a return next year.

Nice setting, good food, fair service, ridiculously overpriced.

I brought my 4 1/2-year old granddaughter to afternoon tea with family friends. The staff was so warm, friendly and gracious to her. They took time out of their busy schedule to speak with her and treated her like a little princess! Wonderful friends scenic view and great food! What else could I ask for!