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Green Park (Jubilee, Piccadilly, Victoria)
Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly, Bakerloo)
Mon-Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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I love afternoon tea! I think the Wolseley is a good place because it is much easier to make reservations here than at places like the Ritz-Carlton or Brown's.
Afternoon tea comes with a pot of tea, two freshly baked scones, five finger sandwiches, and an assortment of desserts. The scones were my favorite part, and I drowned them in clotted cream and jam.
The price is actually not bad compared to some other places I've been to for afternoon tea.
This place never fails me for a good breakfast. I have been there so many times on various occasions, weekdays & weekends for breakfast, the customer services is excellent. They are very attentive, friendly and helpful.
The first time my friend told me that we're going for breakfast at this really great place she knows, I thought of a good old greasy cafe. I dressed down (really down as I was tired on a night out the night before) so when I arrived at a place like The Wolseley, I felt like a tramp! =) They didn't treat me any different to the other well presented customers.
I've always gone for the Egg Benedict. I've had others Egg Benedict in various different places but I have to say that it is incomparable to the one done here. The hollandaise sauce was perfect. It can't get any better.
Their croissants & other pastries are very delicious too. Their hot chocolate is not made from syrups unlike many places I've been to and chain coffee stores.
If you would want to try this place out, you should make a reservation online. You might end up having to wait in the bar until a seat is available as it does get busy. Fear not! They will still get you tea/coffee/fresh juice whilst you wait to be seated. There is a turnaround of 2 hours per table.
I love this place! Great food, great customer services and great interior design. It is pricey but not over priced.
Of all the places you can go for afternoon tea in London, The Wolseley is by far the best. Let me list the ways in which it reigns supreme in the realm of all things tea:
1. The building is incredibly elegant, with high ceilings, beautiful floors and amazing ambiance.
2. The service is impeccable. We were sitting upstairs on the balcony. They pointed out a little buzzer that we could ring for service at any time so that we wouldn't feel neglected, but that never happened as the waiters constantly came up and down the stairs to refill our pots, check our cream and take away empty plates. The manager came twice to make sure we were doing okay.
3. The quality of the tea service is incredible. They offered six different types of sandwiches, perfectly baked warm scones and an assortment of small desserts. We polished them off as though we hadn't eaten in a week.
4. For all this you would think that the price should be outrageous, but it's not. Afternoon tea will set you back £20 per person, but it's more than worth it for several hours of delightful chat and more than a full meal of food and goodies.
In all my other reviews for afternoon tea spots, I've ended with "in a city known for its tea, you can do better." Doing better is going to the Wolseley.
*Note: you MUST make a reservation, and likely more than a week in advance. They fill up very quickly and it's next to impossible to walk in for tea.
I'm so in love with this place! I was meeting a friend staying at nearby Brown's and their afternoon tea was fully booked so we ended up here instead. It's a grand cafe/restaurant in a beautiful space that was originally a car showroom. The service is surprisingly unsnooty and the menu has a great range of selections (including a wide range of prices). We spent a very leisurely afternoon drinking white wine and snacking on oysters. I can't wait to come back here!!
I've had numerous breakfasts here and have enjoyed them immensely on each and every occasion. If I had the time and the appetite I would work my way through the menu, I would even try the kedgeree. The coffee is wonderful and I'm assured by my wife that the tea is equally superb. The service and ambiance is second to none, fast, efficient and pleasant. I now ensure that I book a table every time I'm in London.
PS: You must try the The Wolseley Imperial coffee, it can set you up for the morning.
Coming in off the street, one is calmed by the lowered noise level of this quiet room. Greeted and sorted and led to a table or booth, a menu is presented. Nice food offerings, prompt service.
A moment after I came in some tourists came in dripping cameras and stuff. Even they were sorted (into the bar area) and the calm returned.
So nice a place to grab a few minutes of peace before plunging into Piccadilly. Enjoy!
Like this place needs a review to show how good dining here is, but er I am on Yelp so here it is anyway. Ladies and Gents I introduce you to the pride of Piccadilly, the Wolseley.
This is my third visit here, the first two for a spot of breakfast and now for my birthday luncheon. This restaurant is perfect to mark a special occasion, and serves classic British cuisine.
The interior looks lovely and the building is Grade II listed. Once a motor showroom for bankrupt Wolseley motors, and then later a Barclays Bank, the Wolseley has retained it's beautifully high ceilings and Japanese lacquered style from the twenties.
The atmosphere is great, the staff are helpful and not too pretentious. They did accidentally mix up my chicken soup with chicken salad, but all is forgiven as they were so apologetic and quick to rectify. They also gave me free chips with my yummy fish main-course to make up for it (I am blatantly so cheap to win over - probably should have asked for free champagne right?). The chicken soup was a nod to Jewish cooking with matzah balls, and to add to that you could even get it served with a salt beef sandwich if you desired. The soup was pretty good, but sadly not as good as grandma's.
Fantastic place. It is quite pricey but if you order carefully and forgo the alcohol you can eat here without the need to sell off the silver.
Best birthday evs.
Feels like a buzzy European bistro set in a stately bank with extremely high ceiling. Not cosy but not fussy, either. Unless you're a regular, you won't get the best people-watching tables but the service is brisk and the menu is simple with something for everyone - like many other establishments founded a few years ago, they specialise in new British International cuisine, which is a euphemism for upmarket comfort food. I have always enjoyed the Wiener Schnitzel. They also do an afternoon tea in a more congenial, less lugubrious way than some of their colleagues in the neighbourhood (The Ritz, Dorchester, Browns, etc). Still, if high afternoon tea is what you want - and nothing else - I'd recommend the Dorchester or Claridges, because they are more glamorous without all the pretension (of the Ritz).
The first time I was invited to dinner at the Wolseley, I had an image in my mind of a restaurant where people would greet each other using phrases like "pip pip you old bean", and that dinner would be occasionally be interrupted by a table standing up, pumping their first in the air, and yelling "huzzah." The food is very British, but this is a surprisingly laid back place. The staff might be dressed like they are serving the Governor-General of India, but they are all very friendly and the overall feel of the place is excellent.
Unless you are craving Black Velvet and oysters, the only reason I'd really want to come here is because of the atmosphere and the decor, which is impressive. Apparently this used to be a car dealership; if that's the case, they certainly don't build 'em like they used to. I've been told this is frequented by celebrities, but I've never seen anyone I could recognize. Then again I'm not British, I don't read the Sun, and I don't really care if the guy sitting at the table next to me was the bisexual midget from season 3 of big brother.
I've been here twice now, and I don't think I'd choose to come back of my own volition. I mean, £18 for wiener schnitzel, without any vegetables? £9 for a Guinness and champagne? Get real. But if you get a seat in the main dining room, it can be a lot of fun. Just make sure you aren't the one paying.
My friends and I discussed that we must have afternoon tea when we are in London, and one friend suggested The Wolseley. We didn't make reservations, so they seated us in the smaller area of the place (the bigger area is for actual dining?). The Wolseley definitely is a place with lots of history, and one of the wait staff certainly did not hesitate in educating us with the history of The Wolseley (I remember that the building used to be a Chinese restaurant at one time and a car dealer place at another time?).
The wait staff was super friendly and nice. They helped us whenever we had hesitation in selecting what to eat/drink. Some even joked with us.
I had a banana caramel tart, and OMG, it was delicious! But my favorite was the Earl Grey sponge cake. It was amazing, not too sweet and you can taste the Earl Grey in the cake. My other friend had a chocolate cake (forgot the name...), which was also very good!
Of course, the tea was nice and pleasing to drink. The wait staff did not give us problems with refilling our individual pots (which were quite ornate and pretty). We stayed there for 1.5 hours and truly had a pleasant time!
Highly recommend this place for tea or even a nice meal!
I walked in and was immediately taken with the beautiful interiors as well as the energy of the place. The place reminds me of Balthazar in NYC with a little more posh to it so I had relatively high expectations. It wasn't stuffy at all, as one might surmise from the entrance..and the eye roll from our cab driver when we told him where we were going.
We had the crayfish avocado salad..which was just okay. The steak tartare was delicious, although my friend thought it was bland. I may not be the authority on steak tartare because I'm not a fan of mustard or onions so I prefer mixing tartares myself. However, the Wolseley's take was already mixed, but not a whole lot of dijon mustard to contend with. Very good. There was also the chicken liver and foie gras terrine, which was an enormous bloc served with the thickest brioche I've ever seen. Not big on the thick brioche, but considering how much terrine they gave, it was nice to have enough bread to put it on. We also had the oysters which were fantastic.
The bulk of my meal is always the main course and my roasted pheasant was sadly, very dry and quite bland. Another friend ordered the same thing and was sadly poking her poor little bird while we eyed our friend's plate of calf liver. It was definitely the tastiest dish on the table, if not a little heavy and over-bearing as a main course.
My coffee was lovely. They took enough care to shape the froth prettily and serve it on a lovely tray served sugary syrup instead of sugar cubes. A nice touch as I really needed the coffee to gear up for a loooong night at Movida.
I really want to like the Wolseley more, but I feel like we just didn't quite order the best dishes. However, it is a such a pretty place with impeccable service, I would come back to have the afternoon tea everyone's raving about in the reviews the next time I'm in London.
One of the classic English Afternoon Tea place. Their afternoon tea starts at 3pm so don't get there too early.. although I heard brunch is good there too.
My friend and I ordered some combo which comes with dessert and your choose of tea. the place is very elegant and classic.
Price is reasonable.. the combo my friend ordered was only 20gpd ( typically it cost 30gpd-40gpd) for a place like that. Keep in mind this is a famous place so you may want to make a reservation in advance
I had great experience here.. i think Americans should start this afternoon tea tradition too
Steps away from the Green Park tub station, the friendly and classy Wolseley is definitely a much better choice than the snobbish neighbor Ritz. No they didn't judge what I wear, after I was rejected by the Ritz because of my jeans and backpack. Right, I should know better, but I'm just a clueless tourist.
I follow the Timeout London guide, and this is an excellent review. The service was superb. I was seated right away with a nice window view. The staff gladly made recommendations on the menu upon my request. They even switched another red wine for me because I thought it was a bit too acidic . My dinner was perfect:
Calf's liver wrapped with bacon and sprinkled with crispy green on top (£ 18.25)- Tender and tasty, each bites melts in my mouth; Snaps and beans side dish (£3.75) - a bit too salty and buttery, can skip; Glass of Rioja Spanish redwine (£9.75) - SUPERB!! Rich and full bodied, compliment very well with the main dish; English Rhubarb and Apple Crumble (£7.25) - dessert TO DIE FOR. Hot custard sauce on the side, and it is just.... heavenly. Finished dinner with a cup of Darjeeling tea, and I am now the happiest person :)
The total was £47.5 with 12.5% service charge included. Yes, it is worth it. I am already thinking about going there again for afternoon tea.
My sister loves the Wolseley and I love my sister.
When I'm visiting London, she insists we go here for brunch. The brunch, mind you, is quite decent. The coffee is excellent. The brioche, quite tasty. And hey, finding American bacon in the UK isn't easy to do... but there it is, available for all, at the Wolseley.
The Wolseley isn't so much a restaurant as it is a place to see and be seen. It is a scene. My sister likes to point out famous English people that I've never heard of when we're there. Boy George? Nope. Russell Brand? Um, nope. An Osbourne or a McCartney? Nope. Seriously, it's people I've never heard of......
Alas, it makes for a fun brunch out, some good (overpriced) fuel before a day of shopping.
The Wolseley strikes you as the type of place to go for a classic afternoon tea. It's got this gorgeous old-fashioned black and white decor inside. It's really very beautiful. It's also pretty well-priced compared to the other high-end afternoon tea places (e.g. Lanesborough). The only thing I didn't like was how they didn't give individualized dessert for two - meaning that there was for the finger sandwiches and scones but you had to share all the desserts together if you wanted to try everything. The other thing I didn't like about the restaurant itself was that it smelled kinda funny.
Still, the tea is excellent, of course. I also like that it's not overly pretentious. Highly recommended.
Want the best breakfast in London? Go here. Want to pretend you're ridiculously wealthy, if only for an hour or two? This is the place. Trapped in a dreadful Piccadilly club and need to refresh your refine-ometer with an Einspanner in the dead of night? Yer only man.
The Wolesley is a cafe, but not in the style of the traditional greasy spoons or sickly sweet orange frappe chains. Instead, its one of London's only Viennese grand cafes, replete with high ceilings, fine porcelain, tastefully polished brass fittings and a real-life maitre'd. For a reference to the price range, all you need to know is that the Ritz is next door.
But that price buys you real quality. Top-notch, finger-snapping service; platters of viennese pastries; a wide range of authentic coffees; an atmosphere of hustling breakfast business deals being struck on the upstairs tables; perchance, even, a celebrity sighting. On my last visit I spied Nigella Lawson, and that can't be bad.
Try the pastry platter with a friend, then the haggis with scrambled duck eggs, some fresh orange juice and maybe an Einspanner to finish. And dress nice.
Vacations in London fall into two camps: shoestring or splurge. The Wolseley is meant for the latter.
I had lunch (steak frites) here several years ago and I finally had my chance to come back for another dining experience today. This time, it was afternoon tea. For £19.50, you get tea of your choice, finger sandwiches, an assortment of delectable pastries, and scones with strawberry jam and CLOTTED CREAM! I recommend adding either a glass of champagne or a champagne cocktail to round out your experience. I chose the French 75 (champagne and gin).
Other reviewers have mentioned the rather grand space. If you eat here, spend some time to look at the chinoiserie detail. The bathrooms (through the door to the rear of the dining room and down one flight of steps) are very nice too. I love the solid fixtures here.
Overall, the Wolseley is a great stop for a trip to London. Given the type of clientele, it could be slightly intimidating to walk in here. However, the service I've experienced has been truly fantastic. I highly recommend it for lunch or afternoon tea.
quick note as to why i'm not giving it 5 stars: the server misheard our order and we got the small afternoon tea instead of the large afternoon tea (= we didn't get sandwiches and pastries, iirc). which i guess was fine, really, since i don't understand how you can eat so much so close to dinner time. (damn yankee!)
my friend and i came here for afternoon tea on the suggestion of (and in the company of) her friend who frequents the wolseley for the same. a wonderful space that isn't stuffy but harkens to a bygone era of sleek style and class. incredibly friendly service, too!
the clotted cream was so yummy as was the strawberry jam, and the scones weren't dry at all. and, of course, my earl grey was oh so yummy.
as melanie k. said, apparently you do see famous people there, but umm, i had no idea who they were. apparently we were in the company of someone who owned a soccer team [err, football club?] or two.
great location -- get off at green park, head towards the ritz (the building with the flags sticking out) and go past it a block or two. easy-peasy.
p.s. umm, they seem to not really have a strict dress code--i spied a guy in there in a sleeveless shirt (tho, to his credit, he was wearing chinos... O_o), which is kind of disappointing. i hate dressing up, but i say at least put a little effort into it! (guys, a nice button-down and jeans would be fine, imho)
On my recent trip to England, I had the opportunity to get into London for a couple of hours on a Thursday night. I decided to eat dinner at the Wolseley after finding it on Yelp. Didn't get there until 10:30pm or so, but the place was still packed and alive. It has a beautiful and open interior, which supported a mix of couples and some larger parties.
The food was excellent, the beer was good (though I may have been the only person not drinking wine in the whole place!) and the service was very good.
Even though the place is supposed to close at midnight, it was still alive when I left around 11:30, with people still walking in at that time.
Another great recommendation from Yelp!
While everything on the menu sounds delicious and actually is delicious, the atmosphere is overrated and service is quite appalling, especially given it's reputation. Although the actual space is quite beautiful, the acoustics are somewhat reminiscent of a very large canteen. And sadly, due to it's location, it's full of tourists. Let's just say i don't find trainer-wearing, rucksack-carrying tourists easy on the eyes. All that said, I still I might go back for brunch or maybe the treacle tart... but only if coerced.
Thumbs up! Great room, decent service, and pricing lower than what you might expect. The food could be better, but you're not getting ripped off and the experience is more about the vibe and the crowd than it is about the food. Fun place to take out-of-towners, and good place for a power breakfast.
YUM!
On our 15 day visit to London in '07 we visit the Wolseley twice. Both times we were happily fed, happily served and went on our merry way.
The eggs benedict is phenomenal. The full English breakfast is too! The coffee was great... the service was top notch, the ambiance just what we expected.
On our second visit, I ordered the roast beef... as an American, I didn't know that British roast beef is actually PRIME RIB! And it was PHENOMENAL!!!
I dream of going back to London for a visit... and I dream of meals at the Wolseley.
Yes, it is a little posh, but I love nothing more than to get my good weekend threads on and come to the Wolseley to enjoy breakfast or brunch with the girls on a special occasion.
This place is just delightful - decadence in abundance but minus the pretentiousness. It is apparently popular among celebrities and the fashion elite but when my boss (who falls into neither of these categories) requested that I book him and a client here for brunch as it was 'just amazing' I thought it could also be the sort of place that I may try as my boss has great taste when it comes to London haunts. When I did take the girls there, we didn't actually spot any celebs or fashion elite (they would probably still be in bed actually), just a group of nice, seemingly normal folk who probably mix in the media circles but keen to keep themselves to themselves.
The Wolseley makes fantastic, strong coffee and beautiful freshly baked croissants for breakfast. It also has a coffee room which stays open on weekdays until 12pm. The other menus range from good old fashioned English tea type delicacies such as Eggs Benedict and muffins, right through to American style burgers in addition to a good selection of snacks.
Definitely book ahead on the weekend as it is extremely popular. If you are looking to step up you usual breakfast meet with the girls, they will love this. Uber chic.
Delicious afternoon tea, didn't need a booking, even on a Saturday; Extremely friendly and accommodating staff. Of course, I'm a girl that loves a jam and cream topped scone. Go for the earl grey or the house signature The Wolseley.
Contrary to popular misconception, The Wolseley is not an over-priced, over-hyped, intimidatingly fancy celeb hangout. Sure, you'll often find yourself next to a TV news anchor enjoying a power breakfast, or a fashion designer picking their way through afternoon tea - a personal favourite was dinner with my dad next to footballer Freddy Ljundberg and his dad - but this is merely testament to the place's lasting quality and style. Five years after it opened, the Piccadilly restaurant is still perpetually busy throughout the day, serving meals and snacks from breakfast through lunch and tea to dinner.
The menu spans Europe and America, with long-forgotten teatime classics - has anyone seen a vanilla cream horn for fifty years? - sitting happily alongside burgers and more sophisticated dinner time fare. Although booking is not essential, and it is usually possible to grab a table off the street, if you want to make sure, it's probably a good idea to phone ahead, especially if you want to sit in the lively main room, the most atmospheric place for a spot of people-watching.
If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits, puttin' on the Ritz..
That's exactly what I kept singing in my head (luckily not out loud) when I was invited here for cream tea - with fruit scones and clottted cream mmmmm. I felt very much like a character from a P.G. Wodehouse novel, being waited on by Jeeves...or is it Wooster? Always get confused.
The Grade II listed building is all marble floors and imposing pillars and the 20s decor looks like it hasn't changed one iota since its car showroom heyday. Of course it's expensive but a snack here in your best frock will not be soon forgotten. It's glamour, it's glitz, it's a step up from the Ritz!
As a self-proclaimed foodie, if a restaurant feeds me even one bad meal, there is little to no chance I will voluntarily return. Such restaurant would have to make up for it with countless other excellent meals and dishes that are unfailingly consistent (such as a solid Eggs Benedict or Steak Tartare), an enchanting and buzzing grand atmosphere where you could just as easily run into a celebrity as a friend, a bar that serves powerful martinis to whet your waiting appetite and friendly waiters that come to your table bearing breadsticks - oh and it would need to open early for breakfast, serve a great brunch, lunch and tea and seat you at midnight (for those evenings you thought bar snacks would do the trick).
This is why I forgive the Wolseley that unfortunate plate of overcooked calf's liver. I really do love the Wolseley.
This is one of the prettiest restaurants in London. It is a beautiful spot to eat, whether it is brunch, lunch or dinner. The food is yummy, but definitely a bit on the old-fashioned side. However, you go here for the ambiance and the service, not the food so much.
Have you ever been wondering to what the art nouveau decoration belongs to after passing Ritz. Well I found out about Wolseley when I worked for a designer. That Saturday we wanted to make some market/price comparison and we decided Bond Street, the street of the luxury labels is the place to start of with.
But this did not happened before treating ourselves to a good breakfast. Especially when you get up on Saturday before 10 o'clock.
I recommend to make a reservation ahead, as Wolseley is well liked by many early Saturday morning shoppers.
We ordered porridge, boiled eggs and of course a proper English Breakfast. The table is nicely equipped an sugar, marmalade, honey come in little pots.
I recommend the earl grey tea as breakfast tea with milk.
The place is very light - and if you are able to get a table on the inside balcony you can overview the whole restaurant or simply read the Financial times week end edition. Not only have you already read up on the weekend news but also are ready when Bond street slowly wakes up.
First, it was a car showroom, then a bank, now the Wolseley. What a treat. The interior is that of a grand cafe of Paris. The staff was really nice, the food was over the top great. It was afternoon tea time when we were there having lunch and the tiered goodies looked divine. I can't wait to go back the next time I'm in London.
I love this place-I've been here several times over the last couple of years, and it's solid goodness. It has a very nice, refined atmosphere, without any snobbiness. The cream tea is the best, and not too expensive compared to other fancy tea places in London (the Ritz is across the street). I've also had the Buck's rarebit-welsh rarebit with an egg on top. yum. I would highly recommend the Wolseley-it's a great place for a relaxing afternoon tea with a friend, or with out of town guests.
Great Breakfast in a proper British setting.
I try to visit the The Wolseley whenever I visit London. Yes, it's definitely a people watching spot, but I go for the coffee and the food. This is London after all. You can see famous people everywhere. So don't bother them if you happen to see them at breakfast. They like to eat too.
On my last trip, I flew in from the east and so was up early after my first night in town. I arrived just as they were opening at 8:00, so I had the place mostly to myself and service wasn't an issue as it sometimes is. There's a wide range of choices for breakfast. Start with the pastry. The Croissant aux Amandes is my favorite. The Pain au Chocolat is good too. If you have been getting your exercise in regularly and your cholesterol is under control, try the Baked Italian Egg Florentine. Yum! The coffee is expertly prepared in the Continental way. I guess they have just been practicing longer than us. There are plenty of healthy choices on the menu too, if you are trying to be good. I know they serve lunch and dinner later in the day, but I can't comment on those menus, everyone I know goes there for breakfast. As I said the service can be a little off at times. Some members of the staff, especially the non-English staff I might add, are a little haughty. Don't let them get to you. They are the ones working in the coffee shop serving you after all.
Note to Americans: You might think The Wolseley is a little imposing when you first visit with its proper British decor, the posh menu choices and the controlled chaos that goes on here at busy times, but give it a shot. Most of the people are very nice and you just can't find a place like this anywhere in the states.
I went to the Wolseley with two friends for brunch on a weekday morning. (One of my friends was from out of town so we ditched work for a day. . .) While the food was good the service was horrible. It took forever to be served and then once we were served our crumpets they were cold by the time they brought out the jam. My friend did complain to the manager and we were given free drinks and new crumpets, but from a place as expensive as the Wolseley I expect better service.
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