The Olde English Creamery - Pensacola

I took my daughters to this place for a tea party, and it was a lovely experience! The food was delicious, and the service was outstanding. I was especially excited to see that they offered Keto-friendly options, like the Ploughman’s Lunch (without the bread, of course). My girls ordered the Light Lunch Tea, Shepherd’s Pie, and the crustless quiche, and they loved everything—there was nothing left on the table! Everyone there was incredibly friendly. We will definitely be returning soon!

We ordered sausage rolls that were cut into tiny slices, there were only 6 pieces. The cucumber sandwiches had barely any cucumber and were overpowered by dollops of cream cheese on stale bread. All the sandwiches were extremely small, and the other two varieties were unrecognizable and also on stale bread. The scones were dry, but the clotted cream made them somewhat palatable. The meringue was like chewing gum. The Victoria sponge was good, but the chocolate mousse had far too much cocoa, and the tea wasn't hot. Overall, it was far too expensive for the little effort that seemed to go into it. They really need to serve fresh items and use fresh bread. All three of us left feeling disappointed. We paid $40 each for an experience that felt lacking.

The little sandwiches were hard to identify. I think they were meant to include egg and chicken, but we could barely taste the fillings, as they were spread so thin. The cucumber slices were thinner than tiny pickles, yet there were two thicker slices of cucumber on the tray. I wondered if they had reduced the amount for guests who might not like cucumbers. My British-born friend was disappointed to see that the cucumber sandwiches had a minimal amount of cream cheese, which isn’t how it's typically made in England. The sandwich portion of the tray included just four tiny spinach leaves for decoration and a half of a grape tomato. This clearly wasn’t their usual presentation, and it felt like they were running low on ingredients. Though I’m not British and not an expert in food presentation, I felt that for the price we paid, the quality was very disappointing. It’s great to have a tea option in a historic downtown area, but the price we paid today was unjustifiable. The jelly offered was about a tablespoon for three of us, and the clotted cream was similarly skimpy. The Victoria sponge was excellent and met the standards of my English friend, but unfortunately, that was the only highlight. The scones were dry, possibly day-old, and my friend suspected that everything was old. The chocolate mousse was acceptable, but again, we received only about two tablespoons each. The tiny piece of meringue was chewy instead of soft, and there was an odd tiny piece accompanying it that was unrecognizable. When the cordial servers asked how we were enjoying our meal, my British friend honestly replied that it wasn’t very good—the sandwiches tasted stale and lacked flavor, and the sausage, which should have been served in a roll, was overly seasoned. The server responded politely but did not offer any compensation for what I hope was an unusually poor day for them. Despite the shortcomings, we were still charged $40 each. Maybe it was simply an off day for the restaurant, or perhaps they skimp on ingredients due to high overhead costs. Regardless of the reason, it was clear that extra care for this special and pricey experience was missing. To top it off, we found out that we each had bags of tea in our pots, despite the menu stating they offered a selection of fine loose teas. This was puzzling, especially since the servers didn’t check back to remove the bags or provide a way to keep the tea from becoming too strong. We were left without water glasses or any juice, with only hot tea provided. The serving size for high tea, which should be the most substantial, was placed on tiny saucers that filled up quickly with muffin wrappers, and we received only one small napkin for eating with our hands. I sincerely hope the restaurant can improve. The concept is lovely, but the quality and experience we had today were severely lacking. Offering a discount for the small servings would have helped, but I understand that the staff—likely without a manager or owner present—couldn’t make such decisions. I don’t expect the owner to be there all the time, yet I truly hope they can enhance the experience so that this establishment can continue to thrive in downtown.

I arrived at 3 PM and was greeted with a question about how they could assist me, only to be informed that all the seats were occupied. I inquired if we could still order something or maybe buy dessert, but we were told the kitchen was too busy to accommodate even that. It felt like a wasted trip, and I left completely empty-handed. It seems like if you want any service, you need to make a reservation in advance.

What a great place for a girls day out celebrating our bride to be. We tried several different types of tea some were delicious and others were not “our cup of tea”. The food was out of this world several sandwiches to choose from. My favorite was the chicken salad. The scone and sausage roll were also favorites. Hope was such a pleasant hostess and they were very accommodating. Would definitely recommend trying this for your next girls day out.