What I love about afternoon tea is that it is special – I want the fancy cakes, the tiny sandwiches, the endless pots of tea, and most of all. It is one of those occasions that whisks you away from the every day, if only for a couple of hours. I had high hopes for The George in Rye as I’d been looking forward to seeing inside following its renovations after being badly damaged by fire in 2019. While the 16th-century inn is stylish and very instagrammable, while being sympathetic to the original character of the building, this hotel needs to address its very rude staff.
I don’t normally feature reviews on here unless I truly love them, and for the most part, I did enjoy my afternoon tea at The George in Rye. If I could rate it on the food alone, it would get flying colours. But the way we were treated, means sadly, I won’t be going back to see if they have improved anytime soon.
When I booked the afternoon tea for my mum the big draw was the sugar-pink art deco parlour, it is so cute and added something special to our visit. Even though I had booked online, and it had stated that it was in the parlour, when we arrived we were seated in what looked like the dog-friendly section of the bar. Hardly special, especially as we were sat right under the speaker playing loud music.
The George in Rye
When I addressed the location to the waitress, I was told The Parlour had been turned into a shop. This was a surprise to me, as everywhere on its website and social, and reviews had said how lovely it was, and even the crockery is branded with The Parlour. I asked if there was anywhere more special we could sit, a quiet nook, or maybe in the restaurant itself, which was empty – but apparently that wasn’t possible.
To say I was disappointed was an understatement, not helped by her attitude. I really couldn’t understand why we couldn’t sit in the restaurant, which is beautifully decorated and has all the lovely natural light coming in from the windows looking out onto the high street.
The afternoon tea then came out, before the hot drinks, and then another member of staff explained we could move to The Parlour – she would just need a minute as the area is being used as a breakout area for the staff between serving customers.
To be honest, getting away from sitting under the speaker was enough for us to move. When we got to The Parlour I really couldn’t understand why they weren’t utilising the area. It is pretty and relaxed, well would have been if the staff weren’t put out that they couldn’t stand around and gossip.
What we had for afternoon tea
So after 20 minutes, we were finally ready to eat. When I asked the waitress to go through our food, she huffed and then said she would need to check. I don’t think it is too much to ask what we would be eating, especially as there was no menu presented, and we had booked the vegetarian option.
For the savour tier, the chef had prepared us a cheese and chutney sandwich, a mushroom tart, feta and beetroot wrap, and an egg mayonnaise sandwich served with grapes. Each piece was delicious. My favourite had to be the beetroot and the egg.
Always my favourite tier is the cake level and this was a pretty special selection. There was sticky toffee and mascarpone, which was chef’s kiss – truly amazing and nearly made up for everything else. This was accompanied by a lemon curd macaron, an apple and cinnamon tart, and a chocolate slice. Each one was perfection, to be honest.
There were also plain and fruit scones served with clotted cream and strawberry jam, which were nice – just not as spectacular as the savour and cake tiers.
Final thought
What saddens me is that the chef had such attention to detail when preparing this afternoon tea, from the amazing vegetarian savoury options to the exquisite cakes and scones, where was that in the presentation of the table, the location, and the staff?
An afternoon tea, especially at a nice hotel like this could do such great business if they could pull it all together and make the occasion special. I’m not saying that I was expecting Ritz or Claridge’s service, but understand why people like afternoon tea there – they want something special, they want to forget their troubles, they want to connect with the people around them while eating tiny sandwiches and cute cakes.
For £25 per person, for the food quality alone it was worth the money, but I can’t forget the bad service. The waitress wasn’t very attentive and to get more hot water, I had to walk around to find her. Sad really as I’m local to Rye and would have become a regular for dinner and the like, but now I can’t imagine going back.
One last thing – if you visit The George in Rye, make sure to check out the shell grotto in the women’s toilet – it is very impressive.
The George in Rye, 98 High Street, Rye, East Sussex TN31 7JT
