I was excited to take my parents out for afternoon tea after a day of sightseeing and chose the National Cafe, what a big mistake. The matre de was as rude as possible, refering us to the caffeteria next door instead of seating us, and when we returned to have afternoon tea he was rude and short. When the food arrived we found out (after drinking some tea) that the milk was sour, on bringing this to the attention of the wait staff the milk was exchanged but no appology was provided, and we had to explain to them that serving tea in cracked teapots could present a food poisoning risk, again without any apology or any offer to exchange it - the wait staff had to 'check with the manager' as to whether the pot would be thrown away. halfway through our visit the wait staff decided to move all the wooden chairs in the restaurant, another diners complaints about the noise didnt stop them. When the bill arrived we were charged for everything served (even the tea and coffee that was tainted with bad milk) and a 12.5% service charge was added, which I had to argue over removing. Do yourself a favour, dine somewhere where they value their customers.

My boyfriend and I went for a pre-theatre dinner at the National Cafe last night and had a fantastic time. The restaurant was buzzing and had a great atmosphere, the staff were charming and attentive and our food was simply delicious. I strongly recommend the salt beef sandwich and the macaroni cheese for main course, while the National catastrophe and apple pie both made irresistible desserts.



We were both so impressed that we are planning to visit again very soon to sample the restaurant's tempting breakfast menu before going for a little wander around the gallery.

We had a wonderful dinner party at the National Cafe last night. Had yummy cocktails at the bar then 5 of us had dinner.


Staff were friendly and the food was delicious, especially the desserts. I returned for a breakfast meeting a week later as the location is fantastic, and I ended up booking my boyfriend's birthday party in the private Trafalgar Room on a round table for 16.



The menu has been adapted and chef was very accomodating and helpful. Thank you the National Cafe.

Horrible, horrible, horrible! I have never ever walked out of a restaurant before, but I walked out of the National Cafe last night.
There was only one other table in the restaurant when we were there, but we had to wait for 15 minutes for some water (even though I had said I needed to take some medication) as the four waiters were too busy flirting with each other and texting!


My partner had to ask them to bring us the water, and from then on they were extremely surly. I ordered the salad deluxe and my partner asked for the National hamburger medium well. It arrived burnt on the outside and still raw in the middle. Actually raw - not pink, raw. This isn't just not fulfilling an order - this is a dangerous. My salad deluxe had lumps of uncooked unidentifiable vegetable which was horrid, and no cheese as promised.


When we complained (the waiter had said Everything is fabulous, yes? and we replied Well, actually, no) we were told we would have to wait for more than 15 minutes for another one, even though the only other table was already eating dessert. We left and I will never go back to The National Cafe. I recommend you find another cafe to go to.

I love the National Gallery and am always very pleased to have time to eat in the Cafe. It is a very pleasant environment and not to pricey like some gallery cafes.

The National Gallery Cafe is a cafe in a the National Gallery, wonders will never cease! The food's alright, the atmosphere's ok and its in a gallery, what more can you say?