Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: Berkshire


by Leave a comment

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.


by 2 Comments

Eat Dirt

11 High Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1JP

Tea at Eat Dirt

This has to be one of the best names for a natural eating cafe ever. Eat Dirt has okay tea but gorgeous soups, jacket potatoes, baguettes, salads and lots more. I’d recommend eating lunch there. It’s warm and cosy and there’s always lots of staff so you don’t have to wait long.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.25 for a large tea.
Cake? Yes, and lunch food too.
Go again? Yes, their smoked salmon baguettes are divine.


by Leave a comment

Document House

7-9 Wharf Street, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5AN

Tea with artful custard creams at Document House

Document House is a ‘lounge bar’ in Newbury that has a board outside saying it also does coffee and tea (which is why we went in). It’s a comfortable bar with sofas and tables and does very good food. We went in around 6pm and it was quiet enough for us to relax and have a proper chat.

The tea came in a latte glass with a long spoon but we were most impressed with the artfully arranged custard creams. C’s drink also came with the artistic biscuits so we were confident it was a deliberate choice.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No
Milk jug? Yes, mini china one.
Price? Around £1.60.
Cake? No, but expertly balanced custard creams.
Go again? Yes, when needing tea in the evening in Newbury this seems a good place to go.


by Leave a comment

La Baguette

7 Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1PJ.

Tea and jacket potatoes at La Baguette

La Baguette is a nice little cafe that seems to do most of its trade from take away baguettes at lunch time. You can also eat in and that’s what L and I did. We had a jacket potato and a mug of tea each. The service was good and the range of fillings was also good. I’d recommend it for a cheap light  lunch when in Reading town centre.

I’ve just looked up the website and apparently it’s also a B and B. I did not know that.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No
Milk jug? No.
Price? £2.75 for the jacket potato, £1.20 (?) for tea.
Cake? Some, mainly jackets or baguettes.
Go again? Yes, for the food not for the tea.


by Leave a comment

Daisy’s Coffee Shop

The Herb Farm, Peppard Road, Sonning Common, Reading, Berkshire, RG4 9NJ

Tea and chocolate brownie at Daisy's Coffee Shop

The Herb Farm is a friendly and welcoming garden centre specialising in herbs and gifts. When I went it had a very tasteful display of high quality Christmas decorations and if I’d had more money or space to put them up I would have bought lots of them.

Daisy’s Coffee Shop has a good number of seats, some of which are in the conservatory with views over the garden. The staff are friendly and the tea came in a pot. I tried a chocolate brownie but it was nowhere near as good as the ones in Delicious… but then they never are. It wasn’t a bad brownie though and there was a range of other cakes on offer. I would recommend a trip, especially if you need a gift or a plant or a birthday card.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £4 ish for tea and a brownie, I think.
Cake? Yes.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

Cafe five

5 King Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1DZ.  01628 622286

Cream tea at Cafe five, note the toasted scones

Cream tea at Cafe five, note the toasted scones

Cafe five is a small cafe and was the first independent cafe I came across when walking back down the main street. They had tea and fried stuff but had run out of danish pastries. The waiter noticed my crestfallen expression and offered me a cream tea instead. I accepted happily.

The cream tea was well presented and tasted very good. The scones came toasted and my first thought was that they were stale and they had been toasted to hide this, but they tasted fine. I actually quite enjoyed the hot scone with the cream and jam. The staff were friendly and I was also offered hot water to refresh my tea after I had drunk the pot.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £5 ish I think.
Cake? No, but cream tea.
Go again? Yes, but perhaps not if I fancy something sweet to eat.


by Leave a comment

Joesph’s Restaurant, Camp Hopson

Northbrook Street, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1DN

Tea and cake at Joesph's Restaurant

Tea and cake at Joesph's Restaurant

Joesph’s Restaurant is inside Camp Hopson Department Store, an independant department store in Newbury. The restaurant serves main meals as well as sandwiches, tea and cake. They have a terrace that overlooks Newbury towards the canal which is a gorgeous place to sit in sunny weather. It wasn’t sunny when we went, so we stayed inside.

I had a pot of tea, panini and piece of plum cake and D had a cafe latte and a smoked salmon and prawn sandwich. All the food was very good. The plum cake was nice, a cross between a German yeast plum tart and a bakewell tart.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Teabag.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price?£1.40.
Cake? Tarts and gateux as well as the more traditional versions and pastries.
Go again? Yes.