Menu - Melounge

Not a great choice for breakfast. Standard and nothing extra. Not like other Asian Ritz Carlton hotels read more Not a great choice for breakfast. Standard and nothing extra. Not like other Asian Ritz Carlton hotels

My friend and I wanted to treat ourselves to a nice tea-time and chose to try Tea and the City at the Ritz-Carlton. My expectations were high as I had stayed at... read more My friend and I wanted to treat ourselves to a nice tea-time and chose to try Tea and the City at the Ritz-Carlton. My expectations were high as I had stayed at this hotel chain on business trips before (not in my hometown Vienna, obviously) and had enjoyed afternoon tea at 5* hotels in many cities, as well as read a blog by a Viennese blogger who really liked it. Food and drinks did not disappoint and I found the price-point (EUR 32 including Cosmopolitan cocktail and Kusmi tea) fair. Even though I had deliberately saved my appetite and only had salad for lunch, I could not finish everything. Both my friend and I disliked the very chilly, airconditioned room-temperature and the weird chairs with high backrests, which were not really comfortable for enjoying a meal. There are only two options sitting on these: perched at the front of the seat in order to reach the table, which does not allow you to touch that backrest, or sliding back all the way to actually get back support, but then feeling like a toddler whose feet are up in the air because the seat is so deep. Somewhat strange. Mind you, there were other chairs around as well, so you might get lucky, but ours was the predominant style, though. In general, the decorating scheme is nothing to write home about, basically your typical 1990s "hotel restaurant" look.We also found service (not mentioning the fact that it took 3 phone-calls to make the reservation) rather curt and not particularly friendly. When my friend, who was there with a baby, asked if they had a changing room, the waitress said she did not think they did, but would ask her colleagues. After a while, another member of staff came to say they had one indeed, but it was usually locked and she had just unlocked it. When my friend went there a few minutes later, she found it locked again and therefore left without having changed the baby. As I have said, I stayed at other RC hotels before and was always incredibly impressed by the service and friendliness of staff, so this was somewhat unexpected.All in all: would return for the food, but was not a fan of the atmosphere and service.