Tea for you and me

Join me on my epic quest to find the best tea ever

Category Archives: Review


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Workhouse Coffee Company

10-12 King Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2HF.

Ciabatta, sandwich, tea and free cake at The Workhouse Coffee Company

I’ve known that the Workhouse Coffee Company has existed for a long time, but I’ve never made it there, it’s not in the centre of town and sometimes I’m just lazy. As if they knew this, they’ve now opened a second shop in the centre of town so when we went in yesterday I made my way there to see what I could see.

I think they are still getting themselves up and running, as not all the fittings looked finished, but there was a friendly feel to the inside and the staff were lovely. I had my usual fear that any café that blatantly advertises itself as selling coffee will give no consideration to the tea, but I was happily wrong. The tea came in a pot that sat on top of it’s cup, which is always something that makes me smile.

R had an egg sandwich and I had a ciabatta with tomato, chorizo and cheese. It was a very good sandwich – like a pizza, yum. And we got a free sample of cake each as they were trialling their recipes. They are very good, let me tell you! A good cup of tea and one of the few places in central Reading with nice tea pots.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2 for a pot of tea, £11.70 for the tea, sandwich and my ciabatta.
Cake? Yes, only a couple of choices but both very good.
Go again? Yes.


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The Grand Café

84 The High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG

The ceiling of The Grand Café

This café looks as grand as it’s name, with pillars and gold outside and more pillars and gold inside. The Grand Café is on the site of the first coffee house in England and so I was a bit nervous about whether or not the tea would be any good, but I needn’t have worried.

I’m really sorry about the blurred quality of the photos, I hadn’t had any tea since before breakfast and obviously it was getting to me. There was a choice of black teas on the menu, including Earl Grey (which I had) and Lapsang Souchong (which R had). The tea pots came with no strainer but did have a mesh ball inside with the loose leaves in it. It was excellent Earl Grey and R says his Lapsang was also very good.

Tea and cake at The Grand Cafe

R also had a slice of Victoria Sponge cake and then decreed that I wasn’t allowed any, but in the interests of this blog I stole some with my teaspoon. It was good, not the best I’ve ever had, but better than most. It also came with some squiggles on the plate – either fruit coulis or syrup of some sort. Although he ate it, he could not tell me which it was, so this just proves the need for me to eat the cake when we go visiting places.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.50 per pot, £3.50 for the cake.
Cake? Yes, and a whole separate menu for patisserie items. Impressive.
Go again? Yes.


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Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant

11 Pescod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1DT.   07738 867187   01758 751138

A fat pot of Earl Grey at Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant

I’ve been to many cafes and drunk many cups of tea in my time, but this is the first time I’ve had such a strong sense of deja vu somewhere I was convinced I’d never been before. Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant is on a busy shopping street near to the train station and the castle, and looked like the kind of place I’d get a decent cup of tea. I went in and ordered and then sat down and that’s where the deja vu started. I could have sworn that I’d been there and eaten brunch, only I could have also sworn that when I ate brunch I was in a Puccino’s, not the Mill House. Anyone know if this used to be a Puccino’s?

The tea came in a nice big pot and I got 3 and a bit cups out of it. Good tea drinking.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.70 for the pot of Earl Grey, think only £2.40 if want non-speciality tea.
Cake? Didn’t see any, but wasn’t paying much attention (I know – how unusual is that?). Did have Danish pastries and puddings on the menu.
Go again? Yes.


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The Rustic Tea Garden

Northcott Mouth, Bude, Cornwall

A bit of the beach at Northcott Mouth

Northcott Mouth from the clifftop

The beach at Northcott Mouth is sandy and flat and stunning. It’s good for surfing as the waves are powerful, but we swam and jumped and generally messed around in the sea and it was energising and liberating. After C demonstrated the art of the cartwheel and we listened to the mussels singing in the sunshine we collected V and headed back up to the road to The Rustic Tea Garden.

The Rustic Tea Garden

Margaret runs the small green caravan and assures me she always makes tea in a pot. The pasties come from the local bakery and if you want a place to camp by the sea then Margaret is the woman in the know. The Rustic Tea Garden is just what’s needed after a sea swim and was one of the friendliest places I’ve ever set down my mug.

Tea at The Rustic Tea Garden

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? No, came with milk.
Price? £4 for tea, a latte and a cappuccino.
Cake? Yes and cream teas.
Go again? Yes, beautiful beach and a good mug of tea.


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Jamie’s Italian

Unit 1 Riverside Level, The Oracle Centre, Reading, RG1 2AG

Tea and a very good chocolate and raspberry brownie at Jamie's Italian.

Jamie’s Italian is a new thing in Reading and in the land of chain Italian restaurants I wasn’t too sure about another one popping up, but it is really good compared to the others around and I would definitely recommend it.

I usually don’t review the tea that restaurants serve as it’s often the same mediocre stuff and I just get bored. Jamie’s Italian was a pleasant surprise in that the tea had been thought about as much as the food. There wasn’t a great choice of black tea, just Earl Grey or Breakfast, but there were herbal and fruit teas as well. It was a teabag job, but at least it was a good teapig tea bag job. The tea pot was a heavy iron thing and was a sharp contrast to the glass cup and saucer. Good food and good tea, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but teapigs tea bag.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.95.
Cake? Not really, good pud though.
Go again? Yes.


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Lynne’s Pantry

39 Surrey Street, Sheffield, S1 2LG   0114 272 7743

Tea and the famous ham roll at Lynne's Pantry. Oh, and R's crab baguette, which he also thought was very good.

In the not so distant past R and I used to live in Sheffield. And even so, we had never visited Lynne’s Pantry before. I’ve spent a while trying to cobble together a valid reason for this and failed miserably, there’s no good reason for missing out on this cafe, it’s just how the cookie crumbled.

Anyway, Lynne’s Pantry is bright and clean and feels like it should be by the seaside. There are teapots with flowers in and cute buckets with two different types of sugar. Bright white bench seating adds to the summery feel. I wanted a light and early lunch before we went to our friend’s wedding, so I thought a ham roll would be a good idea. It was already very busy and only half eleven, so if you’re making a special trip then be prepared to wait if necessary.

I wasn’t expecting much: a ham roll is just a ham roll. But this ham roll, oh my, this ham roll sang with the greatness of being a ham roll. Just enough salad and big thick slices of proper ham with a sprig of cress on top and creamy butter on granary bread.

The tea was also good: a big fat pot of tea for two with nice cups and saucers and a generous milk jug. We were trying not to eat too much so we didn’t try any of the cake, but if the cake there is anything like the ham rolls then you are in for a treat.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.95 for a pot for two people, £3.50ish for the heavenly ham roll and the same for the crab baguette.
Cake? Cake and scones and tarts and all sorts of lovely amazing genius things.
Go again? Definitely.


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The Spring Inn

Bath Road, Sulhamstead, Reading, RG7 5HP

Tea and coffee and J's apple crumble

The Spring Inn is a pub I have driven past many times but never visited until today. The food was very good, though quite a limited selection and the tea came on a tray with a crisp white cloth on it. There’s outside seating, a mix of picnic tables and proper tables with big parasols.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.
Cake? Apparently you can have cake or scones on weekdays, on Sunday when I went there was pudding. Though it did come with a heavenly shortbread.
Go again? It’s a nice pub, so I’d go again, but not worth a trip just for the tea.


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Cafe Giardino

24A, Upper Level, The Oracle Centre, Broad Street, Reading, RG1 2AQ

Tea and a shiny table at Cafe Giardino

Cafe Giardino is just inside the Oracle, and has a range of food and drink. It’s got jacket potatoes and salads and main meals and cake and pastries and coffee and tea. It was a hot day and I wanted somewhere quiet to sit and write, Cafe Giardino gave me that and it gave me tea in a pot.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.50.
Cake? Yes, and pastries.
Go again? Yes, the tea was okay and quite cheap for the centre of town, plus it was quiet with big tables.


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Bea’s of Bloomsbury

44 Theobald Road, London, WC1X 8NW

The view from my table at Bea's of Bloomsbury

Bea’s of Bloomsbury is a small but enticing cafe that was full the first time I went in and only had one table free the second time I went in. They have a good selection of food and cakes and had a variety of teas available. I could have chosen from salads, flapjacks, meringues, brownies, German chocolate cake, chocolate truffle cake… I was being healthy so I didn’t have any but I sure was tempted.

I only had 15 minutes to spare but I managed a whole pot of extremely nice Earl Grey in that time and would have loved to have had the full afternoon tea. It was very busy when I went on a weekday afternoon though so it would be worth booking a table if you’re going specially (and double checking the times they serve afternoon tea). Definitely one worth another visit.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, ‘Jinc’ brand tea which I hadn’t come across before but is very lovely.

An almost invisible black teapot at Bea's of Bloomsbury

Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.30.
Cake? Yes and yes and yes.
Go again? Yes.


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Le Moulin

18b Station Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 6NJ.      01708 472121

Tea for four at Le Moulin

We drove to Hornchurch and I spotted a windmill on the way, which I duly pointed out to everyone else in the car. I like windmills, I think that may have come up before, and so I have no excuse for the full half hour it took me to realise that ‘Le Moulin’ was French for windmill and that the name of this cafe was probably a reference to the nearby windmill. Not only that, but there was a model windmill made out of biscuits on the counter and I still didn’t get it. I’m sorry. In my defence I will say that I’d only had one cup of tea that morning and it wasn’t until I’d finished my pot at Le Moulin that I was awake enough to spot this connection.

My sleepiness aside, this is a great place. The cakes, oh the cakes! Le Moulin is a family run French patisserie and there is a window into the bakery bit at the back where you can see them making things. The array of cakes and pastries was mouthwatering, but we were all trying to be good so we didn’t have any. There was willpower involved but we did it. I’d love to go back and try the cakes sometime.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.30.
Cake? Oh, so much beautiful cake!
Go again? Yes.