Thames View - Windsor and Maidenhead

My Daughter in Law, who is from Finland has always wanted to have afternoon tea. I decided to go to the Sir Christopher Wren because of the very nice position next to the Thames. We were not disapointed, free flowing tea/coffee, extra plate of sandwiches, extremely nice scones and cakes, on top of that we started with a Champagne Sorbet. To say we were full is an understatement.

The restaurant failed to meet basic standards. The manager was arrogant and clueless. The plates, cups, and saucers were dirty, with a noticeable sauce smudge from a previous customer on my plate. The staff did not refill waters and were too busy to provide the check promptly when we needed to leave for a train. The waitress redirected us to the manager, who was unhelpful. The afternoon tea included dry scones that were not freshly made. The hot steak sandwich was served cold and untoasted. I recommend choosing another restaurant, as this one is very disappointing. It is likely that this establishment will struggle financially under current management and staff.

We were extremely disappointed with the service we received at this restaurant, despite its 4-star rating. Our evening started off on the wrong foot when we were ignored by the bar staff and had to ask for a drinks menu ourselves. While the outside terrace was nice, the view of the river was obstructed by too much greenery. Moving inside, we were left to find our own table and had to flag down a waiter to take our order. The service continued to disappoint as our meals were delayed, one dish was forgotten entirely, and the quality of the steak was extremely poor. The manager did remove the offending items from our bill, but blamed the issues on a large party they were catering for. As former service industry employees, we found this explanation unsatisfactory. We will not be returning to this restaurant and would recommend looking elsewhere for a better dining experience in the area.

The Sir Christopher Wren is a lovely hotel with friendly, helpful and efficient staff. Service in the restaurant, in particular, is exceptional. Sadly, the food does not live up to the hotel 's standards in other areas. The all-day menu hardly requires the skills of a qualified chef. Meals are more assembled than composed and the sense is that much of the food is bought in. My wife chose a vegetarian pasta dish of chickpeas, sweet potato and butternut squash. She described as tasteless and dry. I chose the Angus beefburger. Neither the burger nor the bun were worthy of much note. My wife 's dish reminded me of the kind of dishes restaurants included on the menu for the occasional vegetarian customer 20/30 years ago. Surely things have progressed a little sense then. As to the burger, I can list half-a-dozen pubs within a five mile radius of my home in East Suffolk that offer the same dish several pounds cheaper and with much more flavour and panache. My wife chose the apple crumble for dessert and pronounced it tasteless. My sticky toffee pudding was okay but my impression was that it was bought in. It is such a shame that this lovely restaurant in a prime position offers such dull fare.

We had a lovely afternoon tea here. The food was very tasty and had good portion sizes. Our waiter was very courteous and helpful. The whole experience is great value for money and the setting right on the river has a beautiful view.