nice place to meet and chat in London

[higgyhog]

I'm meeting an old uni friend next Saturday in London. In the morning I'm going shopping and to lunch with DS2, we will probably go to the Royal Academy after lunch. Friend is coming along at 4pm (she is doing something until then) We have a lot of catching up to do, maybe over tea or cocktails, can anyone recommend somewhere nice to sit and chat with the possibility of light food if we want it later? i don't really want to be somewhere too crowded. All suggestions gratefully received.

Do you serve light snacks and cocktails in your rectum Sue?

Can you be a bit more specific as to location? Are you intending on staying around Mayfair after you go to the Royal Academy? What kind of food do you like? What's your budget? There are thousands and thousands of places in London where you can sit, chat, and have food.

If you have the cash I'd probably meet your friend at the Wolseley.

John Lewis café

There is (or certainly was, last time I was there) a cafe in the big Waterstones on Piccadilly that I've been to previously and found to be a bit of a quiet haven away from the bustle.

The British Library cafe is nice and low key. On a nice day you could also sit at the little outside cafe in the British Library courtyard.

The Betjamin Arms at St Pancras always appears to be heaving but there are more rooms further back that have a quieter atmosphere (and pub food/drinks)

The Heights Bar in the St George's Hotel on Portland Place (just North of Regent Street) tends to be quiet and has nice views over central London.

The huge Waterstones on Piccadilly has a cocktail bar on the 5th floor with nice views. Think it's called 5th!

The rooftop bar at the Trafalgar Hotel on Trafalgar Square is lovely, especially if the day is sunny, and it's very convenient for the RA. They have blankets and heaters if it is a bit chilly.

I prefer the quirky Scarfe's Bar at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn, if you want somewhere cosy rather than al fresco that is quite nearby. They also do an amazing afternoon tea.

I love afternoon tea at the Wolseley but it can be a bit echoey and noisy if it's busy. They have a couple of tables on a kind of balcony that are a bit quieter that you can request if you book.

If you want something a bit more cheap and cheerful, the cocktail bar on the top floor of Waterstones has a happy hour. They may close at 6pm on a Sunday though. I quite enjoy drinking cocktails in a bookshop, combining two of my great pleasures in life!

Thank you for all these suggestions. It is just somewhere we can sit and chat without being somewhere too crowded and with the opportunity to have a drink (alcoholic or otherwise) and catch up. I'll be having lunch with my son so not planning on much if anything to eat, and afternoon tea is not really a goer due to our respective dietary requirements. The last time we met we had cocktails at Pollen Street Social, but there were only a few tables at the front by the window and they might be full on Saturday. We both have dodgy ankles so may not want to stray too far from the R.A., though I could meet her somewhere else.

I missed the deleted comments -surely this is not a contentious matter?
What was the tenor of them?

It was someone making very short daft comments. Nothing personal. Could have been on any thread. Like a 12 year old had managed to post on their mum's username so thought they'd write some hilarious comments.

Another vote for Waterstones! Coffee/drinks/snacks and we didn’t get even the slightest hint to move on 3 hours after we arrived!

Yep Waterstones is great for that sort of thing

Top floor of Waterstones on Piccadilly is one of my favourite places in London

Thank you for all the suggestions. As so many of you suggested Waterstones that is where we went. It is a nice light room, plenty of space. Lots of choice of things to eat and drink. We had tea and then moved on to cocktails and enjoyed a couple of hours deep in conversation. The c;ocktails were 2 for 1 which meant the bill was tiny.
The only downsides are that firstly there are very few tables with sofas, and I think they were all booked.Secondly our waitress was a bit unfriendly, but overall a good experience and a nice place to go in that gap between shopping and going out for the evening.