The Gallery in Dublin

Review for parents with babies: We had so much fun at afternoon tea. We went with our 8 month old who loves food and were delighted that they have Stokke Tripp Trapp high chairs instead of the dinky, uncomfortable ones most restaurants are using. Baby was happy to sit in it for almost the entire time and eat / play with his food. We gave him bits off the vegetarian sandwiches which we ordered after the standard ones (since it is unlimited). He got avocado, Tomato, cauliflower, beets, cucumber and was happy with that. As any parent of an 8 month old will know, getting baby to sit still and relaxed for almost 2 hours is a win in itself. Food was nice, tea and coffee was great. A family next to us had a 4 month old baby sleeping in a pram so definitely baby friendly.

The Gallery and the service was truly outstanding and a great reflection of the Westbury hotel. And because of that, I had really high expectation for high tea and unfortunately was a bit disappointed. What I did love - you could truly spend the whole afternoon here and I appreciated that the tea was unlimited and that you could switch flavours. The sandwiches and scones could also be refilled. I also really loved the scones! They were my favourite food item. What I was disappointed with and especially for the price and again, what I expected of from this hotel was the food selection. The scones were my fave, the chicken and the egg salad sandwiches weren’t bad, but the salmon and ham sandwiches were super plain. They just felt regular… The pastries were highlighted in a delightful way but the taste didn’t match the presentation. Again, not bad but just not great or special. Perhaps I should have moderated my expectations but I’ve definitely had better and less expensive high tea experiences. Would not go again personally.

This was our third time going for afternoon tea at The Gallery for a birthday. It has become a tradition to celebrate special occasions for us and splurge a bit and we are great fans of their Afternoon tea, however it was not at all the best experience. Once we were seated, they confirmed our dietary restrictions (one of the menus was vegetarian and another without cheese) and asked whose birthday it was. There were a few instances that left us unhappy with the overall experience, especially since The Westbury has a certain reputation and standards. To begin with, they had run out of matcha, which surprised us since it was a Saturday and we thought they’d be properly stocked for a weekend. Since there was no matcha, we ordered two Mochas, one with almond milk. We received three standard lattes instead and we had to ask if they could check whether this was a mocha, which in fact was not. The food was superb as always, they catered to dietary restrictions offering both vegetarian and vegan menus and offered refills for the savoury options and the scones. They also kindly pack any leftovers for you which is a very nice touch. However, the highlight of our experience was that the birthday person did not get a small cake with a candle, while some people who were also celebrating birthdays in other tables did. It left quite a bittersweet taste in our mouth and it felt like the quality of the service has somewhat decreased since our last visits, which is surprising considering the price paid per person (€70).

The whole afternoon tea experience was so pleasant, from the welcoming of all team members to Diana's excellent service. Everything seemed seamless in what was a busy environment. Thank you all for making it so memorable!