The National Cafe in Okondja

Cant believe you cannot get a black coffee with pouring cream on the side

Amazing afternoon tea, good price ....

I am utterly embarrassed that its taken me so long to post this review. I visited with my daughter June 2019 and it was *the* best cream tea of my entire trip, and it didnt break the bank. I dont go for high tea - too much food and I consider them ridiculously overpriced. But a regular cream tea - two scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, and one pot of regular black tea, now thats a treat. My server was very polite and attentive, and it topped off a lovely afternoon looking at my favorite Tudor portraits. If I ever get a chance to return to London, this will be my *local* for cream tea.

Unfortunatelly, I had a very bad experience this Sunday at the cafe. We went to see Father Xmas at the Gallery (my toddler, my husband and me). After the event we decided to go to the cafe to have lunch. The place is clean and big and they DID HAVE HIGH CHAIRS for toddlers - so our thinking is that they are kids friendly. When I went to buy my sons meal, I spoke to the lady about his egg allergy, which she didnt care that much about it. The only option available, besides purely leaves, was a chicken with quinoa. (because all other options were super spicy). When we asked her if we could warm it a little bit the answer was - we dont have kids meals here and we cant heat that for you. The attitude was just outreageous. AND I was charged 30 pounds for two meals. The National Gallery IS FOR FAMILIES, incuding babies, toddlers and kids. Please review your menu and the training of your staff. We left really disappointed and frustated - which bumped our experience from the early morning.

The National Cafe is very clean, ample. there is a space for food and another one for drinks. the staff was friendly and professional. it was quiet, I finished many work tasks. internet was strong too. generally, I recommend trying it.

Great place before visiting the national gallery. You can enter the museum straight through the cafe.

Delicious flavors, but expensive and small-ish portions (but then again Im from the USA! Friendly wait-staff that answered our questions regarding their menu. Its connected to the Art Gallery, so it is impeccably decorated.

Staff werent very welcoming or friendly. We felt rushed to leave. I asked to charge my phone and was told they werent able to do that but later saw them give a phone and charger back to another customer. I was in active be wear because we were spending the day sightseeing in London and I wanted to be comfortable and on arrival they looked me up and down in a snide manner and I think thats why we werent treated hospitably.Very pretentious without good reason for being so.

In all honesty, it is a right place, right time establishment. I wouldnt suggest the cafe for anyone looking for a place to eat if they were not going to the National Gallery already. If someone is already in the gallery and doesnt want to leave, it has a very limited selection of items to eat. It has an even more limited selection of available drinks. All in all, I was disappointed. However, the setting was nice and provided an easy way for us to sit and watch the rain, and the protestors.

Chocolate bread loaf and strawberry biscuit were wonderful. Egg sandwich good. Expensive as all H@&L. 7£ for a tiny bowl of green lettuce, three mozzarella slices and an ounce of vinaigrette.

A quick lunch arrangement.reception is good but the Servers are unfamiliar with the menu. Pancakes are abit dry but that side order green is simply amazing dressing!

Perfect pitstop after spending a few hours viewing the stunning pieces within The National Gallery.Can be a little over priced but I guess you are also paying for convenienceThere are definitely a lot worse places outside The Gallery

Great food and service. Avocado on sour dough with bacon

In general a beautiful cafe/restaurant alligned with the marvellous National Gallery. However, even though they pretend to be first class, they cant hold their promise with partly untrained service personal, sub-par quality by their kitchen chefs and a bad price-cost ratio. I am sure you can do better, a lot...

I chose the cafe for a reunion of my school friends from the mid 60s , I booked a table in advance. On the day our numbers had increased, I visited early in the morning and the charming staff extended our table by 4 places with no problem. We did not all arrive at the same time and we stayed all afternoon. The food and drinks were all delicious, service excellent. The staff were kind and very efficient and accommodating. We will return.

The food was nice but the acoustics in the cafe are really awful. The constant scraping of chair legs on the hard floor the crashing of cutlery & crockery by staff and the acoustics of many people talking all left me with a dreadful headache. Surely Something could be done to lessen the din ?

Extremely happy that I reserved a table here! I had Cream Tea at 4PM by myself and I loved it!

We ate in the restaurant itself, not the cafe. The service is excellent and it is a nice quiet place for lunch right next to the madness thatbis Trafalgar Square. I would recommend making a reservation, it gets busy at lunchtime. The food is not cheap but you get very fresh, tasty ingredients beautifully prepared.

Hmmm..well, the tea is ok but served with the bag in the mug so no points for presentation. The main issue is the tiny size of the Bakewell tart portion. At £4.50 it’s about 50% over-priced.

I had the full english and a traditional cup of tea, it was one of the nicest english breakfasts ive ever had! Would highly recommend to anyone passing by. All was reasonably priced and the staff were attentive and welcoming. All around good place to eat or simply relax on a cold day!

Very cozy café by the National Gallery. The Breakfast Room just by Charing Cross Road is very pretty and has very nice light and feel.I had the Toast Basket (which had a high number of toasts for the priceand a Chamomile tea made out of real flowers. All very tasty and good quality for the price. I recommend it any time for a quick pick me up or to warm up in the midst of winter.

This is a really nice location to have a nice cream tea or afternoon tea. Scones are delicious! The simple elegance and muted colours of the decor make it a relaxing place for a break when visiting the National Gallery or the area.

This is the fanciest "fish pie" Ive ever had! Really enjoyed lunch at the restaurant today. Lovely atmosphere and very attentive service. The food was reasonably priced (£16 for my meal). The coffee was bad - burnt and bitter. Dont order the coffee.

This is the first time we have been since the change of management and, while the food was excellent, the service was not. Suffering from Britishness, we waited for our first courses to arrive... 45 minutes later we asked where our food was, which caused a flurry of concern and somewhat disorganised attention, resulting in our first and second courses being brought at the same time. We were also brought an additional dish that we had not ordered. When we pointed this out, the waiter quickly established that they did not know who had ordered it and then invited us to have it as well (it did not appear on our bill.)If you have time and patience to cope with Iberian flexibility with time and detail, the food is certainly worth the wait.

This is essentially a sit down place. I mean, what fool walks around an art gallery with a coffee anyway, surrounded by some of the most incredible works of art in the world? Nevertheless, the lazy business model (not accompanied by cheap prices, I will addis to use disposable everything. Wooden cutlery is good, plastic lined cups inexcusable. Fair enough if you give them a cup theyll use it but most people probably left their coffee mugs in their bags in the cloakroom, like me. Sort it out, Benugo and use proper cups.

First guest on a Saturday morning. Ordered egg Benedict, and they run out of the English muffins. Got my egg benedict on a toast.Not impressive.

I start this review with an apology, I’m sorry for some of the staff members who have to suffer another bad review but in the main the staff treated us as unwelcome visitors at a wake! The coffee was so bad it quickly became one of the worst we’ve ever had in London — despite a “refill” on the house it didn’t improve! Our lunch was very bland and very expensive, under seasoned and both our dishes had a rather unloved food feel! The National Gallery can and should do better — find someone who really is on the cutting edge of current cuisine!!!

Unfriendly, poor service and very small portions. Coffee was good but couldn’t get an extra drop of milk for tea without repeatedly asking. We did not feel we were made welcome.

Big place with very good service really nice food and drink.

afternoon tea: quality of plates, selection of teas is pretty good. But service is uncoordinated and chaotic, everyone does everything (i.e. five different waiters including the hostess waiting our table), which means that in the end nothing gets done and one gets food, teas, silverware, and napkins in 5 stages....

Surprisingly filling, my friend and I spent 3 hours chatting as we nibbled and slowly got through our Afternoon Tea. The staff were friendly and informative, helpfully letting us know that we could refill our tea, and that loose tea leaves taste just as good with another dose of hot water. It is on the pricey side but perfect for spending time leisurely, when you just need a safe space to chat, dream and forget the world.

Nice place to have a meal if youre visiting the National Gallery. They dont serve their famous scones for breakfast however so a bit disappointing since thats what we wanted to try.

Its not bad but... the prices arent cheap but you could say its a donation, the sandwichs were a little dry (not sure how long they had been out), there was a long wait for hot drinks which considering there was not a big queue was surprising. The cakes were nice though, these were not dry and had good flavour. I probably would ensure I ate before coming to the gallery next time and not go to the cafe.

Based on 1 visit: I enjoyed the cream tea, and its reasonably-priced, particularly for a museum. The staff were friendly. The decor is very basic, and no windows currently that I saw.

I used the self-service cafe. Tea was a teabag in a paper cup. The chocolate chip biscuit I got was hard and dry. The man who sold it to me looked generally disinterested. The environment was fine, but next time Ill find the nearest Costa.

Absolutely dreadful. Very expensive for minute, barely cooked breakfast. Lots of menu options werent available, the waitress didnt care that we were unhappy with the meal. The toilets were disgusting and very dirty. I would never go again

The girl at the tills was incredibly unprofessional and rude,she didnt greet and she didnt say thank you at all, from the accent I would say she was Italian. Please, get rid of these people that dont appreciate their own job ruining the pleasure to buy something in your bar and the experience in this beautiful place, this happened on Thursday 28th around 3:00pm.

Not too bad! Food was quite delicious although slightly pricey. We had a nice discount offer though so it was very good value.

Beautiful restaurant, great customer service. The host was so helpful and we had a lovely chat about distilleries in London. The service was very fast but they didnt rush us out either. Food was very good.

This is a great deco spot to stop off for lunch before or after browsing the galleries. It can get busy and has a relaxed atmosphere, so probably not the place if you want something very quickly!

Rip-off prices.. expensive eveything! My museum membership card also only got me a tiny discount on a hot drink, nothing else. Just because the surroundings are old-world and slightly grand, dont mean you have to be so pricy..hate to think what the restaurant through the other side will charge me for a meal..with its silver-plated (?waiter services..

I didnt even know this cafe existed! We stopped for a coffee. Which was very nice. The food looked great with options for casual at the counter or waiter service. It was busy, but if you think youll get anything different in central London it must be your first visit!

A friend and I went into the table service section of the cafe, which at the time was not very busy. We were given menus immediately and then left for ten minutes; we had to call the waitress over to order. As we did so, I politely asked if she would also clear a neighbouring table, as there was an unfinished plate of fish which was smelling very strongly and horribly. (If you can smell a piece of fish from four feet away then something is not right.She said that she would but that she did not have four or five arms, which was extremely rude. I really dont expect to be spoken to in that manner.They did not have the type of tea my friend initially ordered. The cakes arrived but not the drinks. Wed finished eating before they came. Some time later the bill was delivered; we hadnt asked for it and the waitress plonked it down without a word (much less a "Was everything alright?" or "Can I get you anything else?"). The bill was £17.55 for a tea, a coffee, two cakes and the "discretionary" service charge. We didnt round the service charge up. And we very nearly took it off.

Nicer than I expected. The clientele is (as you might expect for a museum cafeon the older side and the decor is somewhat shabby chic but the food was good - I had the super food salad which was delicious. Not a bad option for lunch if youre in the area, but go on someone elses dime if possible.

Food very average, not great value although the setting quite nice when not too busy. Auto service charge. Tipping should be at the discretion of the customer not put on the bill without asking. I had to get the manager (Lemony Snickettsover, who was arrogant and rude, to take it off the bill after which I tipped the waiter 15% in cash. Tipping is about the relationship between customer and waiting staff and nothing to do with the company contracted out to run the place. This was some time ago now so lets hope its improved.

We rented the Trafalgar Room for a Celebration of Life event, and pre-ordered Canapes; 5 for each guest. The canapes were the size of a 5p coin, and for £3 + VAT EACH, a total rip-off.However, the service was brilliant along with the staff.

PLEASE AVOID THIS POOR EXCUSE FOR A CAFE, it is far below the standard set by the National Gallery!Abysmal service - rude, scruffy and unprofessional staffDismal coffeeExtortionate prices (for the cakes, the disgusting coffee was of an average price)

We ordered one coffee and one pot of tea. The coffee was cold and the teapot used did not enable sufficient tea to make even a medium light strength tea. We tried to get attention but the staff were too busy chatting to each other. Additionally a nearby table was being used by kitchen staff for their break in their dirty overalls. Not a pleasant experience and would not return even though we visit the gallery regularly.

An elegant dining room, wood panelled and softly lit, that makes you almost forget the ridiculous crowds and noise of nearby Leicester Square.With food provided by Peyton and Byrne, there are some delicious cakes and pastries on offer - I particularly recommend their mini fish pies! It isnt the cheapest place to eat in the area, but youre paying for the quality of the location and the produce.There are several seating areas, and I like to sit in the small corner room - its usually quiet, as if people arent quite sure you are allowed in there, thought now I have told you all my secret spot I expect it will get busier!Great tea, great cakes, all very British.

Every good gallery needs a good cafe – all that culture is thirsty work – and while not the greatest, The National Cafe fulfills that role. Its nicely sized, and although its always busy, Ive never had a problem getting a seat. Nice coffee and prices similar to what youd expect in central London, make it the perfect pitstop before tackling the rest of the exhibits.