Van Noy Mansion

I took my mom to afternoon tea at Van Noy Mansion today. It was a terrible disappointment, a cheap and frustrating simulacrum of afternoon tea. How bad was it? Judge for yourself...I was told to "hop on back and get it yourself" when I asked for tea. So, I did: hot water with a selection of cheap tea bags; my mom was provided a glass of inexpensive powdered mix lemonade. The food included 1/4 of a poorly made cucumber sandwich (massive chunks of skin-on cucumbers assembled like a club sandwich for some reason) and 1/4 of a chicken salad sandwich; 1/2 a lemon bar and brownie; a cream puff; a small cheesecake square. All were bad and tasted like purchased items; if not, the pastry chef should be fired and try a new profession. Perhaps welding. Van Noy Mansion values the tea at $20/person. After choking down a few repugnant morsels of food, imbibing a few sips, and commiserating with the other ladies at our table about how horrible everything was, my mom and I left. We went to Aixois, where we had some wine and shared some cheese and pate. At about the same price, I suggest you do the same and avoid this trainwreck.

The good: the mansion is really pretty. The central room is round, unique, and features lots of turn of the century (the one before this last one) craftsmanship. The wall murals are elegant and the architechture is interesting and quite beautiful. Regarding the tea: the mango tea is wonderful and the servers are pleasant. The unfortunate: honestly, I was someone's guest. If I had paid for this, I would be a very angry person indeed. It is honestly pathetic that the beverages are SELF-SERVE and the few little crumbs served as food are sad...although the tiny deserts are decently tasty. The two miniscule sandwich quarters feature stale bread on top of wilted lettuce (I think) and warm chicken (I think) salad...I am assuming it was chicken salad because another diner had chicken where I had half a grape. The cucmber quarter was...well about what you would expect from a cucumber sandwich. We came on a $ 10 each groupon and, let me tell you, I would have felt okay about pay ing no more than $5. Normal price is a crack smoking $12.50. This day was catered by Michael Forbes...trust me, if it is any reflection of that restaurant, I would avoid it too. Sad really. I wish it had been wonderful, I like writing nice things more than having to break the bad news.

I attended a wedding here this last weekend and it was my first visit to the Van Noy Mansion.The place comes up on you fast when you're driving, but lucky for me, parking is just past the venue and across the street, so I didn't have to back track.The wedding ceremony was held outside, in front of the mansion's front porch. It was a classic back drop, with a fountain bubbling behind the guests.You can here traffic noise clearly though as it's right off a main street.About half way through the ceremony a stray cat wandered into the line of sight, sat calmly in front of the guests and gave itself a soothing bath. This comedic interlude caused all the guest, wedding party and the bride and groom to laugh - lucky for the cat.The main reception space on the ground floor is nice - lots of warm wood and an amazing cupola window, but it was a little tight in there. You certainly can't have a huge function here.Many guests ate on the porch in overflow fashion, so it was good that it was lovely evening. Lawn games were set up outside and eventually the dancing moved out there was well.For small, intimate gatherings, this is a winner though.

Ditto what Lindsey Q said! . A friend and I took the afternoon off work and planned to have a fun ladies day out, do some shopping, have a leisurely tea and learn a little KC history. Tea time was horribly disappointing and we learned little about the mansion. A sales brochure was placed on the table, the wait staff knew nothing about the home and no one provided information other than the few basic facts listed in the brochure.

Very disappointing from the very beginning. The parking lot was locked and a line of cars formed before someone came to unlock the gate. They were not prepared and the meager food took a long time to arrive. The food was extremely disappointing. The grounds are unkempt. I definitely would not recommend this.

I attended afternoon tea on March 19 and it was a total joke. Do not be fooled by the pictures folks. The food was beyond horrible -- 2 stale and tasteless bites of what was supposed to be sandwiches (2 bites each) and a few tasteless sweets. The tea service is poor at best. Not a single seasonal decoration in the place. Sad because this could be so much more appealing with even a small effort. We were told they host the tea to build awareness for the event rental space. Well, this experience made me want to avoid this venue for ant future event.

I took 3 friends to the Van Noy afternoon tea Oct. 16th. This was awful. Nothing like what was shown on the ad for this. Tea was "serve yourself" tea bags, not catered by an "approved" caterer as on their website, but a supermarket. Two tasteless 1/4 sandwiches, grapes torn off the bunch, which didn't even look like they were washed, and a couple of miniscule pastries, which seemed like they were from a box! This was an embarrassment! Not at all worth the supposed $80 value. Save your money and time.