Tea Palace, Notting Hill

Address: 75 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SB
Phone: 020 7727 2600
Nearest tubes: Notting Hill and Bayswater
www.teapalace.co.uk
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Situated on trendy Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, the Tea Palace is hip by association. It was even featured in Grazia magazine as "the" place to go for tea if you like to star spot the likes of Kate Moss, Sadie Frost, Stella McCartney and the rest of the Primrose Hill set. True to form, Billy Bob Thornton was seated at the table next to us. So far, so good, if you are into that sort of thing. The food was good - really good. My scrambled eggs and crispy bacon were as tasty as could be and so were my friend's Eggs Benedict. We also shared an amazingly light and fluffy Buttermilk Pancake with maple syrup which is probably the nicest Pancake I can remember having. The specialty tea menu was suitably extensive and I went for a smokey black Russian Caravan which was delicious. So on all accounts there, the Tea Palace is a great place to brunch.

But, there is a but. The service was terribly clumsy. And despite the extensive tea menu, when questioned about the various teas, it was clear that the waiter didn't have much of a clue about any of them. Not a big deal, except of course for a specialty tea house that is attempting to be the contemporary British version of Parisian Mariage Frères or Ladurée. The other key thing missing was a mouth-watering selection of cakes on display. Perhaps they were tucked away somewhere out the back for the afternoon tea session that started at 3pm. Not feeling tempted by the offer to look at the desert menu, we dropped by the Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Road afterwards instead, for the ultimate visual, aromatic and taste experience!

So in summary the Tea Palace is a great place for brunch, a bit of star spotting, and a great specialty tea menu.. as long as you don't want to ask any questions about it!