Hillwood House

Recently, a friend and I decided to visit one of Washington D.C.'s many historic homes, Hillwood House. Our plan was to tour the house and gardens, and then take what looked to be promising afternoon tea at the on-site cafe. The gardens were lovely. The house was beautiful, but didn't quite live up to expectations. We were told that it would take up to three hours to tour both, and we were done in well under two hours. The atmosphere was somewhat disturbed by blue plastic chairs spread about and interrupting the view. But this review is really about the tea
Expectations were further built up by the fact that we were told we wouldn't be able to be seated until 3, due to the many groups that would be taking lunch or tea in the cafe. Afternoon tea wasn't served until 2:30 anyway, but we were starving by about 1:30 so we went to see if we could get a seat early at least to grab some soup or a little snack to tide us over. We were immediately seated outside. After far too long, a waiter came to take our drink orders (hot chocolate and water). The water came out, but we waited and waited on the hot chocolate until finally I ordered another. Then both came at once, one in a tall glass and one in a mug, so Jess took one and I took one. Our soup took even longer to come. My borscht was pleasant enough, but Jess's chicken noodle tasted like Campbell's soup out of a can. 2:30 came, and we ordered afternoon tea. When I was choosing my pot, I asked what kind of darjeeling they were serving, as I like some gardens but not others. I was informed that "Darjeeling is a black tea" in a very patient voice, and then I asked where it came from. I was informed "Ashby's." I'd never had Ashby's loose leaf, but since I'm kind of picky about my darjeeling, I decided that Earl Grey would be a safer bet. I've never met an Earl that I didn't like! Our tea came in very small pots that had tea stains down the spout, and Jess's leaked when she poured. I opened it up to check on the steeping, and found a teaball inside, with no chain or visible way to remove it. I wiped off my soup spoon after a time when the tea looked done, and had nowhere to put the teaball except on the table, as the tea had been brought without the accompanying food. Once our food was brought, our waiter disappeared and never came back to check on us. Finally the food plate came. It included: one small scone (about palm-sized) with orange marmalade, smoked salmon on a miniscule piece of toast, shrimp salad on water crackers, two cookies, and two tea-sized chicken salad sandwiches. The devon cream, which I usually think of as for scones or crumpets, was next to the salmon. None of the foods were grouped in any logial order. The shrimp and chicken salads were extremely mediocre, and the two cookies resembled something from those plastic boxes from a grocery store bakery. Jessica's scone was a lumpy mess, although mine was probably the best part of the tea.
The tea itself was awful. It had very little flavor, and hardly any bergamot taste to it at all. Jessica's teaball did have a chain on it, that was dropped into the pot, and her tea was extremely bitter although she didn't leave the teaball in very long.
All in all, we were very underwhelmed. The service was terrible, we were completely neglected, and nothing was timely. And there is never any excuse for a dirty teapot. The tea part of the meal was $15, the hot chocolate was $1.95 and the soup (cup size) was $4.95. The hot chocolate was probably the only part worth the money. I would not go back or recommend it to anyone else. Lake Anne Coffeehouse may not have the same upper-crust atmosphere but the food and tea are both better.