janisj

>>There is no cafeteria adjacent to the Gamble, Poynter, or Morris rooms at the V/A.

There is a corridor with various food and beverage kiosks for your selection. Some kiosks sell hot food, some tea & scones, wine, some sell salads and pastries. <<

Yes - we do know that. Those stations - hardy 'kiosks', are what we are calling a 'cafeteria'. You get trays and go to which ever counters(s) you want to order from -- and carry your food on the trays to wherever you can find a seat. it is, and is called, a 'cafe', but is very cafeteria-esque. There is no table service, etc.

thursdaysd

Sigh. That is what we are calling a cafeteria. Your definition may vary. (Posting at the same time as janisj.)

janisj

I specifically used quotation marks around 'cafeteria' because some people seemed to think its a table service 'cafe'. (psst -- you called it a cafeteria too )

To clarify, I was merely trying to explain it is a very casual/cafeteria-like venue with really pretty historic rooms (plus a not-so pretty modern seating area)

29FEB

Just popping back to report on a lovely morning at the V&A, 11 November Monday.
We were visiting an English friend who suggested going for tea first, at 10am when the museum opened.
I ordered the cream tea and to my relief, had to make no decision re what kind of tea.
(Whatever they gave me was very good.)
I told the counter girl that I had never done this before and she sweetly replied
"well, you've come to the right place!"
And I did add that glass of prosecco to celebrate.

After tea, we worked our way back to the main lobby and actually were in the gift shop
when the 11am silence began. Everyone stood in silence and the cashiers came out
from behind their registers and stood with visitors until the time elapsed.

Then, on to view Queen Victoria's sapphire coronet and we counted our blessings as
we had read it would be unavailable the following day, 12 November, for display installation.
Sometimes a hapless tourist can get lucky!

I am grateful for the advice and encouragement given on this thread;
it was a memorable morning.

thursdaysd

Thanks for reporting back! Glad you enjoyed my favorite museum.

KayF

Thanks for letting us know how it went, glad you enjoyed it. Scones, jam and cream with a cup of tea is always great, particularly if the scones are melt-in-the-mouth. It's usually called Devonshire Tea in Australia and seems to have gone out of fashion, heaven knows why. In Sydney, a young Japanese couple sat at a table next to us and spent quite a while studying the menu and whispering to each other before hesitantly asking, how do they order what we had? It was so nice to be able to help them.

I saw a couple of Queen Victoria's tiaras at Kensington Palace last year and could have stayed for hours just admiring.

Kay

Tulips

The jewellery at the V&A is gorgeous, I saw the tiara a couple of weeks ago. I must say I was pretty impressed with Beyonce's butterfly ring too.
This is it; It's on my Christmas wish list

And the Mary Quant exhibit was fun. Such a great museum.