Appalling. Waited 15 mins in his place before having to get up, find a waitress and ask for menu, then another 15 mins before having to get up again and ask if someone might bother taking our order. All of this when the place was EMPTY!! Not just quiet, but EMPTY! Unbelievable.

The teapot leaked (overpriced) tea all over the table, and when I came to pay, the broken machine rejected all my cards which was a touch embarrassing given that as I was paying for the clients with whom I'd just had a meeting. I had to go and find a cashpoint and come back.

Slow, overpriced, and some of the worst service I've ever experienced.

FAIL!

Amazing selection of teas, as well as brilliant tea-inspired sorbets, cakes, scones, and lunch food. A really great atmosphere and helpful, knowledgeable staff - all reasonably priced. Highly recommended.

I stumbled upon this great little place by accident one Friday night with a friend, and am now a regular visitor to their poetry and story telling events as well as enjoy just popping in for a quick cuppa.

I found 'The Tea Box' to be a charming, cosy tea house with great interior decor, an interesting menu and a superb collection of adventurous tea blends. I love the way each tea is served in it's own unique style of pot, and how they pay attention to extras like tea timers and beautiful little tea spoons.

I found the staff to be friendly, and they all have excellent knowledge about the food and teas that they serve. I also really appreciate the owners' efforts to support the arts, and admire their efforts to always try something new. They are clearly passionate about what they do!

'The Tea Box' is highly recommended!

Appalling service.

Never before have I paid to be insulted and argued with and I don't intend on doing so again.

The Tea Box has the makings of being a fantastic tea room. Its cute and cosy inside, mismatching tea cups and a great (if scrappy looking) menu. However all potential is ruined by the customer service.

Upon daring to suggest some of the meal we had received wasn't right we were subjected to a torrent of aggressive challenges. I find it surprising that a business who's owner clearly knows a lot about how tough running a small business can be (as she proceeded to tell us repeatedly) has invested so little time to understand and appreciate the power of bad word of mouth.

There are plenty of lovely tea rooms in the area. Orange Pekoe in Barnes Bridge, Maids of Honour in Kew.. so I wouldn't risk going to The Tea Box if you are looking to enjoy the experience

Shockingly poor! The service was very slow, which seems to match a number of other reviews. Our order was served in drabs and remained incomplete. The tea was cold long before the food arrived. The staff seemed nice but do not work together. The manager was rude, sarcastic and argumentative.

hey I gave you a 5 star .. the Tea Box, don't know why it came up as 3 stars! ps. I mean't to say chandaliers too, please excuse my spelling. omg

Our own little piece of Bohemia in Richmond.

A rare find, glistening chandeiers, sumptous teaboxed lined wall . somewhere unique and individual.

We were treated to a Poetry evening there which was entertaining and fab. They also host comedy and music evenings on Fridays .The staff are attentive and friendly.
Hubbie and I had unusual teas, he had a chili tea served in a pretty china tall cup and saucer and I had a refeshing flowering tea with a delicate taste, Both had such exotic names I can't even remember them!
If you appreciate somewhere special and pocessing an individual charm of its own a je ne sais quoi, this is the place to visit.

Last night (Fri 12 Dec) I had the best experience at The Tea Box where they were hosting an open-mike poetry evening. Excellent poetry, excellent service and a wonderful ambience. Couldn't recommend it more highly.

Hey Tea Box I gave you ***** Stars but it came up as three for some reason.

Definitely a five star kind of joint. xx

Dynamic poetic fun. I want to shout the loudest review to the Borough of Richmond and beyond about The Tea Box......

The most delicious ambience and such care and attention to detail. It was just my second foray into Richmond Society. It was like stepping back in time. The unique teapots immediately resonated. Pure glass so you can imagine the taste of the tea before it ignites the taste buds.

I had invited a lot of friends to the regular poetry evening and every one of them just jumped for joy about the venue, the food and the creative attitude.

I don't know anywhere else in Richmond, Teddington or beyond who has taken the time to explore the intellectual, spiritual, artistic, comedic and musical needs of the locals to this extent.

If I could have dreamt up a place myself this would be it.

The poetry was so wonderful and inventive. Some poets had never performed before in their lives and it was truly a gift to be present, particularly James Wallace and Mia Jerome. Totally stunning. There was a professional poet from Ireland who knocked the socks off us and Malcolm was just supreme - as was Nicola Clark who finished the evening with her poetic lyrics. I could go on but why don't you just turn up and see for yourselves.

The Tea Box has music, comedy and poetry and I think this is just the beginning.

I can imagine them doing lunchtime recitals. Busking breakfasts with saxaphone and poetry. Sentimental afternoon tea with Jane Austin read by an actor or actress.

Hey Tea Box I love you.

Julie Teddington xx

Dynamic poetic fun. I want to shout the loudest review to the Borough of Richmond and beyond about The Tea Box......

The most delicious ambience and such care and attention to detail. It was just my second foray into Richmond Society. It was like stepping back in time. The unique teapots immediately resonated. Pure glass so you can imagine the taste of the tea before it ignites the taste buds.

I had invited a lot of friends to the regular poetry evening and every one of them just jumped for joy about the venue, the food and the creative attitude.

I don't know anywhere else in Richmond, Teddington or beyond who has taken the time to explore the intellectual, spiritual, artistic, comedic and musical needs of the locals to this extent.

If I could have dreamt up a place myself this would be it.

The poetry was so wonderful and inventive. Some poets had never performed before in their lives and it was truly a gift to be present, particularly James Wallace and Mia Jerome. Totally stunning. There was a professional poet from Ireland who knocked the socks off us and Malcolm was just supreme - as was Nicola Clark who finished the evening with her poetic lyrics. I could go on but why don't you just turn up and see for yourselves.

The Tea Box has music, comedy and poetry and I think this is just the beginning.

I can imagine them doing lunchtime recitals. Busking breakfasts with saxaphone and poetry. Sentimental afternoon tea with Jane Austin read by an actor or actress.

Hey Tea Box I love you.

Julie Teddington xx

Never The Tea Box

Calling ALL tea lovers, This place is actually as fantastic as The View London provided write-up says.

I have to say I was somewhat puzzled by the difference in the reviews below vs the original provided by View London.

So me and my girlfriend decided to investigate. Having been there yesterday, we are with the reviewer, so thank you View London for doing a great job, its just like you described.

I found the Tea box to be both warm and welcoming with a least 50 teas to choose from.... Amazing!.

On arrival we were greeted by one of the staff, shown to our table and asked if we were familiar with the various Tea's on offer.

I was but my girlfriend had a Tea selected for her by the waiter after a few questions about her drinking habits!

This turned out to be vanilla black which she enjoyed so much she even bought some to take home.

We also had fresh cut sandwiches and devon cream with scones which were warm and just simply delicious.

If your out and about in Richmond and fancy a quality place to do tea.. do it here.And finally... to those other reviewers... your loss is my gain.

Thanks again View London for finding my new favorite place

A wonderful place for a breafst. Perfect teas (lpsang souchon, indisn breafast).

I will come back on my next visit to Richmond. Kristine from germany

I would highly recommend you AVOID this venue. While the food was average, I have never encountered such bad service.

The biggest problem was not with the regular waitstaff, but the manager and (I suspect) the deputy manager.

The managers didn't ignore us at all - quite the opposite! They made a point of harassing our group organiser to the point she was almost in tears, as to why all the mistakes they made were our fault and not theirs.

Not only did they do this then and there, but I have seen on other review sites they have tried to prove people wrong who were also dissatisfied.

By far the worst place I have EVER dined at.

Just returned to my office from The Tea Box with 3 colleagues and it was honestly one of the single worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant/cafe/tea house.

We ordered 2 high teas and 2 afternoon teas - pretty standard for a tea house!!

The place was half empty with at least 6 members of staff (that we could see) probably more in the kitchen I'd imagine.

The tea arrived fine and mine was actually fine-my colleagues thought theirs tasted of nothing,despite letting them brew to 'strong' according to the timer we were given.

It took 45 minutes for our finger sandwiches to arrive!!!??

No apology, nothing, even though we had already explained that we had to get back to work soon.

At this point we asked for our scones and cakes to be packaged up for us to take away.My two colleagues who'd ordered the high tea were given 1 plate of scrambled egg & smoked salmon to share across the 2 small tables we were sitting at,which is pretty awkward in itself.

We asked for the bill at this point since we were short on time.My colleague also asked for 1 extra slice of toast.

Half of the sandwiches which came with the afternoon tea for me and my colleague were cucumber sandwiches on white bread and the bread was VERY stale.

The bill arrived-we had been charged £1 for the extra slice of toast?! Which we asked if they would waive,seeing as we had waited so long. We were told no.

My colleague took one of the cucumber sandwiches in to complain about the bread & was told that its not stale, and we just do not understand bakery bread??

The owner did not seem to care at all and just argued on every point.Then when we all went in to pay & said we were disappointed that she did not seem to care that we had a bad experience she went on to say it was our fault &?!

I could go on but I am out of characters!