Babington's English Tea Rooms: Rome, Italy

I know it sounds odd to want to go to an English tea room when in Rome. However this place is located in the historical Piazza di Spagna right across the Spanish Steps from the Keats and Shelly house so I felt a little inclined to visit a little piece of late 19th century history. Babington’s was nicely decorated in decor of the era. What also drew me to the place was a review that was raving about the Shepard’s pie. Unfortunately we sat down and then were told that the Shepard’s pie was out of season. I feel terribly guilty about leaving when already sitting down so we stared glass-eyed at the extremely overpriced menu…. 18-20 euros for a sandwich?!? I decided to go with the “High Tea” which was a surprising 36 euros. It consisted of the house tea, assorted sandwiches, assorted cookies and crumpets.

I can’t seem to find a picture of the tea on my camera. However, it did come in a fancy silver teapot, the house tea was quite fragrant and it came with the usual condiments of sugar, lemon and cream.

The assortment of sandwiches was a little on the skimpy side. I was hoping to see a buffet server of some sort stacked with all the sandwiches I could dream of. Wouldn’t you for 36 euros? Also the the sandwiches weren’t as tasty as I had hoped.

The cookies were rather unimpressive. Perhaps it was just the initial experience with the tea sandwiches that already turned me off but for some reason I thought that Costco cookies were even better. Not to say that Costco cookies are bad its just that high expectations come with a high check you know.

One of the hot buttered crumpets. I was really hoping to get some jam but it never came. Hmm…it tasted like a hard tasteless English muffin.

It was nice visiting Babington’s Tea Rooms however the food wasn’t all that impressive and the price considering what it is was less than appealing. I say if you want to have a nice tea but are willing to giving up the some of the formalities…Hutington’s Library’s Rose Garden Tea Room up in the Pasadena/ San Marino area has an awesome value… for $20 there is a limitless buffet of tasty sandwiches, salads,delectable desserts, fresh scones and tea. You just need to make a reservation about two weeks in advance (626)683-8131. Also a thing to note is that the Rose Garden Tea Rooms price is on top of admission into the gardens so be prepared for a somewhat pricey but well worth trip. http://www.huntington.org/Information/NewTeaMenu.htm

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Babington’s English Tea Rooms
Piazza di Spagna, 23, 00178
Rome, Italy
p: +39066786027
f: 3906791532
http://babingtons.com/english/movie_eng.html