Victoria Room, The

6 Average

Food  4      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  3     

Came here for a friend's birthday, Sunday high tea. The setting/atmosphere is great. The service can be a little bit hard to get coz of noise and they are so busy. Food was so-so: mini sandwiches, sweets and scones. 1 pot of tea. Not good value for money.

May 29, 2012 

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  4     

We had a nice meal, though it seemed a little overpriced. What ruined the experience was noticing a week later my credit card had been charged $20 over the bill I signed for. Almost 50% of my share! We had already rounded up the bill, so I drew a line through the 'tip' box, and wrote the total in.

The restaurant has now refunded the $20, but I am not convinced that mistaking a 4 for a 6, therefore, adding a $20 tip to a $45 bill, was an 'error. A gesture of goodwill for a return visit would have been appreciated, but was not offered, so I will definitely not going back. And have advised my friends to check their credit card statements for overcharging.

May 16, 2012 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  1     

The only nice thing about the place is the atmosphere. The serving sizes are less than what you'd get at a tapas place, but at a ridiculous the price, for example $20 for two sautéed carrots which are cut into four pieces.

The waiters were snooty, irrespective if you book for more than ten people they 'will' compulsorily take a 10% tip, which can add up! Isn't it up to the customer to consider a tip? It certainly was an expensive night out. I will definitely not return to this place.

May 05, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  6      Value  9     

I am in love with the Victoria Room! As I walked up into the restaurant, my jaw hit the floor when I saw the decor. My immediate reaction was to describe it as a '20's style sultry vintage paradise'... it is So pretty, very unique and a very inviting choice to start a big girls night out. The restaurant is full of beautiful vintage chairs, candles, lamps and furniture.

My friend and I started with a cocktail each, she had a perfect Espresso Martini and I had a cocktail that the really kind barman decided to create for me judging on my favourite drinks (I love Mojitos and also champagne, and he made a delicious perfectly tasting combination of the both in a gorgeous glass for me). At $20 it was a normal-priced cocktail. We sat at the bar for a good hour chatting as it has such a nice sultry candle-lit vibe and we didn't want to move to our table yet.

When we were ready to have dinner we chose a booth to sit at. The restaurant is really big and because it was a quiet weeknight, we got to take our pick of where to sit. We ordered a bottle of champagne to enjoy and made a choice to share an antipasto plate as we weren't keen on a meal as we just wanted something to snack on while catching up over a bottle of champagne.

The antipasto platter was adorned with cheese, roasted eggplant, olives, artichoke and marinated sliced capsicum and came served with a plate of warm focaccia slices. It was really tasty but I could have done with pitted olives instead of whole olives, it was a hassle having to take the pips out to add to my focaccia!

My dessert was the chocolate fondant and as a seasoned chocoholic, it was perfect!

We didn't try anything else on the main menu, unfortunately, but most of the menu items are above $27 for a main. The staff suggest purchasing a few different dishes to share with friends.

One of the waitresses that greeted us was a bubbly blonde girl who was very helpful and sweet, but our table waitress for the night was a very jaded, bland, mono-toned and disinterested type who seemed put out by having to serve us. At one point she snapped "Didn't you like your antipasto? There is so much still there, don't you like it?" Which I think was very rude and unreasonable to say, we were only half way through, we had to justify why we hadn't finished it yet! Maybe she was having a bad day.

Regardless, I do suggest this place very highly to come to with a few girlfriends or even if you are a guy, bring your girlfriend or a date here. Any girl would ove to be brought here, you'd get major points, she'd feel very special.

My advice is to come for cocktails or wine, a shared array of foods between friends and end with dessert.

10/10, Beautiful establishment!

Mar 29, 2012 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

First time to the Victoria Room. Extensive cocktail menu. Cocktails were sooo yummy and the staff are extremley friendly and service was just impeccable, which I think is hard to find these days. The food was soooo great, my friend and I shared 6 dishes, though I wish I didnt have to, as I wanted some of those all to myself.

Didn't quite like the rose pannacotta, but I'm not much of fan of rose flavoured dessert, but the chocolate fondant was to die for. Guess the only thing I could fault was the coffee. Terrible coffee, was burnt and bitter, but other than that, the whole experience was a night to remember.

Feb 11, 2012 

5.5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  9      Value  5     

I've tried the high tea here with my partner and it wasn't that good of an experience.

Firstly, the served food items were a little bit too big for a high tea. The high tea food is traditionally supposed to be bite size! Second, there wasn't enough variety in the food as to what other high tea places provide. Finally and most importantly, the ambience is in no way suitable for a high tea. The place is too crowded, too noisy and too dark for a high tea.

I think it is more suited to be a cocktail bar than being a high tea restaurant.

Feb 05, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  1     

Went for High tea. I am a huge fan if high tea and after reading in the paper that this was three of the best in Sydney for high tea, I was looking forward to something special. Not the case. I went with a group of girlfriends so at least I had wonderful company despite the food and tea being a huge let down.
The sandwiches were nice. Tasty fillings but probably not enough filling to dry plain bread ratio.

There were no other savory delights, disappointing especially considering the price they charge. The sweet tier had four unimpressive options. All too sweet for my liking. There was obvious shortcuts, store bought pastry cases and chocolate cups. Cheese cake wrapped in it's non stick baking paper still, very elegant!

Lastly the scones, or were they even that! Hard dry rocks. Possibly 3 day old stale scones is what they were....whoever is making them needs a few lessons in the art of scone making.

I would also like to comment on the vegan high tea option - a disgrace! Why make a vegan also gluten free? Did not make any sense! And the same in reverse why would a gluten free need to be vegan? For a vegan or gluten free customer to be expected to pay $45 for two types of sandwich fillings, two sweets, a pathetic chocolate brownie and a piece of shortbread, and then some dry hard scones is just atrocious! The tea service has already been noted in other reviews and I agree that it is poor.

Overall very disappointed and I would recommend going elsewhere for high tea. There are so many places now serving this popular historical afternoon ritual that, perhaps, the Victoria room should lift it's game or cease wasting people's time and money.

Dec 05, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

What an amazing place. Entertainment, three piece orchestra, acrobat and pole dancer all added to a spicy evening (excuse the pun). The food was delicious, the slow roasted pork in particular was a great hit, the barramundi and prawns delicious and just the right amount of spice, the Rose pannacotta, perhaps, lacking a bit of sweetness.

Oct 11, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  5     

We had dinner on Friday night and good thing we made booking as the place got busy very quickly. Service was great, very attentive staff and very friendly. We had a cocktail before dinner and the cocktail menu is extensive. I ordered the sugar daddy cocktail which was nothing to shout about but. But I can see why they are known for their cocktails as the bartender was great and they use fresh produce generously.

We had a great bottle of red wine ( not the most expensive one) and went so well with the very delicious and highly recommended rib eye steak with truffles (their specials). And the pork belly is to die for. Not the cheapest for tapas type of menu, portion are small so you have to order 4-5 dishes for two people. We spent $150 for 5 tapas type of dishes with a bottle of red. The food was great, and had a good night.

So it was worth paying. The place is small and cosy, tables are a little small to accommodate all the dishes, and we had a wonky table that was about to tip over when you lean. They had white paper instead of proper table cloth that takes the classy ambience away... Apart from that, would go back. Suggest to book to avoid waiting and disappointments.

Oct 09, 2011 

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

We came for high tea and were seated on couches with a coffee table in the middle. While the seats were comfy there was nowhere near enough room on the small table for the tea and food for 5 people so we ended up having to eat off our laps. Luckily the food wasn't good so I didn't want to eat much.

The sandwiches were the best part - but nothing special just boring sandwiches on normal sandwich bread. There were no other savory items on the stand.

The scones were dry and the cream was thin and airy. The tarts were in what looked and tasted like pre-bought pastry and chocolate shells with ordinary fillings and the red velvet cupcakes just tasted like food colouring (and usually I am a fan of red velvet cakes).

The tea menu was limited and our tea didn't come until I had to ask the waitress when we were half-way through our stand, and we were not offered extra water for a tea refill.

All in all a boring high tea in a nice setting - but go elsewhere for the food (I like the QVB the best).

Sep 19, 2011