"I have visited Swan House for proper tea four times. My rating of three stars is an average of the four trips. The first two visits were very nice experiences! The tea menu had a nice variety and the food was good. Our servers were friendly and the ambience was quaint and relaxing. They were sweet afternoons out where you could imagine that you had stepped back in time. The price is a bit high for the quality of food served, but I considered it worth it for the relaxing and fun time. Tea at the Swan House was an event something to dress up for and look forward to. The third visit was not as enjoyable. Our server was very slow. We got our first (and it turns out only) small pot of tea when other tables at the same seating were getting their food. We were asked if we wanted another pot of tea when our food came and we ordered one. Then our server disappeared. We never got anymore tea and watched as all of the other tables at our seating left to pay. Eventually we gave up on the second pot of tea and joined the paying line where we found our server. She said that she never brought us our second pot of tea (which we had noticed) and asked if we wanted it to go. We didn't. It would have been nice to have it with our nibbles. Overall, the third experience wasn't horrible, it was just a bit frustrating. The fourth visit will be our last. We showed up at 1:08 for the 1:15 seating (we had reservations) but were stopped at the door. We were told that it would be ten to fifteen minutes until we could be let in so we took a walk around the block and came back ten minutes later to find twenty other patrons mulling about outside the door. We were let in at 1:35 and seated. There were no cups, glasses, or tea menus at our table, but a server said she would bring us a menu. We never saw that server again. At 1:45 I went in search of a tea menu and found one at the front desk. Shortly after that, a different server (who was wonderful considering the circumstances) came and took our tea order. She told us that it might be a while because they were running low on tea pots. There were only two people at our table and we each ordered a different tea. At about 2:00, we got glasses and a jug of room temperature water. The tables around us were getting their tea, but we did not get any. The table next to us got some but not all of the tea they ordered. A few minutes later, the server came around with a basket of scones. When the table next to ours were served scones, one of the customers asked if they were supposed to be served with cream and jam, as they had been in the past, and the server said that those were not ready but would be coming out later. We still didn't have tea and we were not served scones. All of this time, there was the sound of frantic clanging of dishes from outside the room. I got tired of trying to pretend like I was having a good time and not being able to hold a conversation with my companion because of the noise. The seating was supposed to begin at 1:15, and an hour later we had only been served a jug of water. The quaint ambience we had enjoyed in the past was replaced with banging of dishes so loud that we could barely hear each other talk. It wasn't a treat and it wasn't fun. I went to the bathroom and overheard another server tell a table that they were running late and it would be another half hour until the food would be served. I had had enough at this point (but still no tea) and told my husband that I would rather leave. Since we had to leave a credit card number when making reservations, I double checked that we would not be charged. Unfortunately, as we were leaving our truly wonderful server was bringing our tea. I feel bad that we left at that point, but hopefully it freed up a couple of tea pots for other tables. I have recommended it to other people in the past and looked forward to every visit, but based on the last experience I do not see myself going back."
