Windmill Tea Rooms

A disappointing end to a morning on the Common

I love Wimbledon Common - it's a beautiful, peaceful location a stone's-throw from the frantic centre of London. After a relaxing visit to the Common, I felt the need to sit down and have a hot drink and a slice of cake. The Windmill Cafe & Tea Room is ideally located between the car park and the windmill itself. Unfortunately, its location is the the only thing it has going for it; before you can even enter the slightly tired-looking cafe, you first have to join a queue extending out of the building. I soon realised that the queue exists not because the place is bustling with keen customers, but instead because of the incredibly poor service. This place provides the sort of customer experience which I though had disappeared along with Communism! Oh no, not here - once I finally reached the front of the queue, I was face to face with a miserable woman who commanded the till and the group of poorly organised teenagers who (judging by their expressions) were no-doubt paid a minimum wage and have decided in return to offer a level of enthusiasm to match. A cup of coffee and a rather overcooked flap-jack came to over £4. Once presented with my purchases, the next challenge was to find a seat. There is not an awful lot of space inside the cafe and the situation is not helped by the fact that both the tables and chairs are firmly bolted to the floor. Being too cold to sit outside, some customers were having to stand whilst others squeezed up and down the two narrow aisles which existed between the rows of tables. The Communist-era theme was reinforced by various stern signs and notices informing customers, for example, that high-chairs were not available due to health & safety reasons. The icing on the cake was to see that the staff had placed a "Reserved" sign on a table which they then used during their shift-break! Overall, a disappointing experience which I won't be paying to repeat.

By Brooks76 at 17:56 on 05/01/11