Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: cafe


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Espresso Cafe

Harvey Nichols, The Mailbox, 31/32 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RE.   (View on map)

The wall of Harvey Nichols tea related items behind my chair. Note the cups and saucers with the photos on.

I wanted some good tea and we were heading to The Mailbox for lunch anyway, so trying the Espresso Cafe inside Harvey Nichols seemed like the best way of combining the two. It was much smaller than expected and quite busy but we managed to get a table for four and then added more chairs as more people arrived.

There was a range of tea on the menu – the usual suspects plus a Lemon Verbeena – and between us we sampled Earl Grey, Darjeeling and English Breakfast. It was teabag tea, but they were Harvey Nichols teabags so I feel that makes them more exciting. The cups had black and white photos of glamorous people on – the majority of cups had some scantily clad ladies in bikinis with surf boards.

A special view of the table before we poured the tea out just so I can show you how carefully the waiter arranged everything. Note the slightly lifted pot lids (I'm not sure why this was done, but I like that they were all the same - it implies a purpose).

The teapots were metal but they were placed in a precise manner with each lid slightly off.  I have been asked to note that the teapots did not drip, but that the milk jugs did. HR also complained that the handles of the cups were so small you burned your fingers.The cutlery was also very neatly presented and was a nice quality – Arthur Price (yes, I’m afraid I am the kind of person that checks the cutlery when I go out to drink tea).

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but a Harvey Nicholls teabag.
Milk jug? Yes, a tiny milk jug each.
Price? £2.60 – a bit steep for Birmingham but I was in Harvey Nicholls, so what do you expect.
Cake? I seem to remember some cake somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. There was a full menu and you could have a meal if you wanted one.
Go again? Yes, I’ve had trouble finding good tea in Birmingham and so this is now my default tea place if I go there again.

The table once the tea was poured.

 


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Central Bar

Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX   (View on map)

My tea and a bit of the ballroom at the Central Bar in Royal Festival Hall. My apologies for the unappealing dribble of tea down the side of the cup - I split some whilst wandering about looking for a table.

Once again I was early and waiting to meet someone at a train station, this time Waterloo was the station of choice. It was cold and dark and raining so I didn’t want to go too far away, but all the places in the station were packed so I braved the weather in order to head to the Southbank. Royal Festival Hall was the first place I came to and I knew they had tea and lots of space, so I went in.

The tea was hot and was Clipper, but it was teabags and came in a paper cup, but I wasn’t expecting much else as I had ordered tea from a bar after all. Though they have a large number of tables and sofas all over the place, there were surprisingly few that were empty. After wandering about a bit I eventually found one in a corner overlooking the ballroom and settled down to pass the time.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, Clipper teabag.
Milk jug? A big one you helped yourself to.
Price? £1.65.
Cake? Not in the bar, but I think there are other venues inside the hall that might do.
Go again? Yes, a good place to go to get some work done as there are tables and free wifi.


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Cotswold Garden Tearooms

Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 1BN   01451 870994   (View on map)

The really big fireplace behind our table

Stow-on-the-Wold has an abundance of tearooms and cafes, but this was the one that fulfilled the important criteria of selling cream teas for A and I and sausage sandwiches for CP. It wasn’t that cold and so the large fireplace didn’t have a fire in it, but it still made it feel very cosy.

There was a wide range of food – breakfast, lunch, afternoon cakes and scones – and a good choice of tea as well. We’d had breakfast very late that day and so even though this was the afternoon we couldn’t quite get our heads round what meal this should be, but we were all hungry and in need of tea, so we just ordered whatever we felt like. This resulted in an intriguing mix of sandwiches, scones, fizzy drinks, tea and toasted crumpets with melted cheese on top. The crumpets sounded so enticing that I went to the counter to add some to my order after the waitress had left (all in the interests of research, naturally).

Our impressive spread of confused food

I can’t remember the exact name of the blend of tea I had – winter berry or winter spice or winter fruits? – but it was warming and fitted the festive feeling of the day. My cream tea was tasty, but the crumpets were so amazing that we ended up trying to re-create them for our breakfast the next day.

Having just looked at the photo of the table covered in food and drink I would like to point out that there were six adults eating and so we weren’t being as greedy as it first appears (though I suppose I was being quite greedy as I had a cream tea and crumpets, but those crumpets were definitely worth it!).

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, though a confusing tea strainer that I couldn’t quite get the hang of. I think those who had ordered ‘normal’ tea got teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? Normal tea £1.65, speciality tea £1.99, Cotswold Garden cream tea (one scone) £4.25, sausage sandwich £3.75 (with the most sausages in one sandwich I have ever seen), toasted crumpets with melted cheese on top £2.50, cold drinks £1.40.
Cake? Yes and sandwiches, flapjacks, scones, crumpets, breakfasts.
Go again? Yes.

My cream tea and crumpets

 


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Cafe, Morrisons Supermarket, Reading

Rose Kiln Lane, Off Basingstoke Road, Reading, RG2 0HB   (View on map)

Yoghurt, tea and plastic teaspoons at Morrisons Cafe

I went to this Morrisons cafe just before lunch time on a Monday and it was already half full with people eating their lunch. I knew I had lunch I needed to eat at home so bravely walked past all the cakes and pastries and picked a yoghurt instead.

The first tea pot I picked up had no teabag in it, the second had a wet teabag in it, but it was third time lucky for me as the third one I picked up had a dry teabag inside. It’s a self service type cafe so I filled the pot with water myself, grabbed my cup and saucer, paid, then got some milk pots (grr) and made my way to a table.

The tea tasted metallic and really wasn’t very nice, but then it was only 89p so I suppose that’s why. Or maybe it was because the water came from a machine? Who knows.

Teapot? Yes, metal one.
Leaf tea? No, ‘Red label’ teabag.
Milk jug? No, the evil little plastic pots.
Price? 89p for tea, 75p for a Muller Light.
Cake? Yes and sandwiches, main meals, pastries, chocolate, scones…
Go again? I want to say no, but I always seem to end up needing some tea in this area of Reading and there isn’t really anywhere else to go. So I’ll say yes, I’ll go again, but only because I have to (and I’ll try to remember not to order the tea).


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Quaker Centre Cafe

Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ   (View on map)

Tiffin and tea in the Quaker Centre Cafe

I was meeting a friend near Euston Station and got to Euston too early, so went off in search of tea. I spotted Friends House and a sign saying ‘All welcome’ so I went in. It was a warm friendly cafe with natural wood fittings and a bookshop next to it. It felt peaceful and relaxed.

There was a choice of teas and coffees and a variety of cakes, biscuits, traybakes, sandwiches etc. Also a soup meal deal I think. I had an excellent tea break after the hustle and bustle of the tube.

When I met SW and told her where I’d been she said that she goes there a lot, and that they have a restaurant as well as the cafe that does very good main meals. I’ll definitely try going to the cafe again next time I’m around this area of London.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, but it was all Clipper and mostly fairtrade.
Milk jug? Yes, big one you helped yourself to.
Price? The seriously bargin price of £1 for a mug of tea. £1! Tiffin was £1.30.
Cake? Yes and traybakes, muffins, biscuits, sandwiches, soup.
Go again? Yes.

 


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tea

1 Paternoster Square, St Paul’s Churchyard, Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7DX   (View on map)

View of St Paul's Cathedral from just outside tea.

This place has been on my wish list for a while, but before then it was torn out of a copy of the Metro and given to me by my friend HR. I’ve been carrying it around in my tatty map of London ever since. I mentioned this to A and we hatched a plan to go visit the next time we met up in London. So, on a brisk Saturday we headed along the Thames and found our way to tea.

On our way to find this place we’d been past a market stall full of lovely cakes, but had decided to put off the cake eating until we reached our destination. This may have affected how disappointed we were with the selection of cakes on offer at ‘tea’. There were the usual suspects, nothing out of the ordinary really. I have been asked by A to mention that she felt the cakes didn’t match the tea – that with such specialist and sometimes delicate tea there should have been specialist and delicate cakes. We had some chocolate shortbread with our tea, it was okay but not that exciting.

A insisted my tea photography needs more excitement, so here is her answer - a tea pouring action shot.

The Darjeeling 2nd Flush I had was light and smooth and airy, and A enjoyed her Yellow Gold Oolong. For central London they were a very cheap purchase, definitely somewhere to stop if you’re round and about that way.

On the whole, ‘tea’ was like a Starbucks but with lots of tea choices instead of coffee choices. I think this is a good thing – trying to take the mystery out of drinking good tea has to be a bonus. It was just unfortunate that we were in the mood for something with a bit of mystery to it, something with ceremony and intriguing cakes.

Darjeeling 2nd Flush at the bottom, Yellow Gold Oolong at the top and chocolate shortbread to the left.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes and a really wide choice of leaf tea with simple and clear explanations of what each was like.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? An amazingly cheap £1.85 for Darjeeling 2nd Flush, £2.50 for Yellow Gold Oolong. They also do afternoon tea for £10. Not sure how much the cakes were but I remember thinking they were very reasonably priced.
Cake? Yes, but the usual muffins, chocolate shortbread, victoria sponge etc.
Go again? Yes, the tea itself was very good, but not when we’re looking for something a bit more special.


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Chococo

Cocoa Central, Commercial Road, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 1DF   (View on map)

The bright colours of the bench I sat on, this was all along one wall and had many more colours on it.

We drove to Swanage via the chain link ferry from Poole and there was a striking brightly coloured advert for a chocolate shop and cafe on the ferry that caught my eye. I thought I would need to check it out. When we got to Swanage the first sign I saw was the sign directing us to the cafe and we made our way there before going anywhere else, but as it doesn’t do meals as such (and R was on his quest for a prawn mayo baguette) we ended up in Earthlights instead. So, after Earthlights and a wander round looking at the sea, I suggested we go back to Chococo.

The shop and cafe appealed to me for a number of reasons and you may be surprised to find that the chocolate wasn’t the main reason it appealed so much. It was the colour that made me want to go in. The road which Chococo is in had bright bunting in the shop colours, and inside was seating painted in stripes in the shop colours and so on. I liked the joyful brightness of the place. The second reason was of course the chocolate.

A close up of R's Deluxe hot chocolate.

There may not be any main meals on the menu and in fact I don’t remember anything savoury being on the menu at all, but there was still a lot to choose from. I asked for advice from the waitress, who said that it was all very good but did recommend a couple of things. I went for one of her suggestions: a cranberry and white chocolate brownie. R went for the Deluxe hot chocolate. My tea of choice was an Earl Grey.

When it arrived, R’s hot chocolate was very impressive. It had whipped Dorset cream, mini marshmallows and mini chocolate malt balls and came in a cereal bowl. All the crockery we got served was Emma Bridgewater, another reason I liked this cafe. My tea came on it’s own little tray (with a chocolate) and my chocolate brownie was very good and very strong. The chocolate that came with my tea was amazing. I definitely recommend their chocolate. They even have their own recipe book with all the good things in (including the brownie that I tried).

Tea, brownie and Deluxe hot chocolate at Chococo. Note the dotty crockery and that R has already demolished quite a bit of his hot chocolate despite it only being on our table for half a minute (good thing I took the close up photo as soon as it arrived).

I tried to get R to go back again the next day, but he’s just not that into chocolate. I’d happily go back now.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but all the teas were Clipper teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.50 for the tea, £3.55 for the Deluxe hot chocolate, not sure how much the brownie was – perhaps £2 something?
Cake? Muffins, brownies, cookies, cake biscuits, chocolates, ice cream, fondue (with the widest range of things to dip in it I’ve ever seen on a menu – they even had trifle fingers listed), hot chocolate that came with bits of orange covered in chocolate, milkshakes and chocolate chip scones (if I had spotted them before I ordered my brownie I would have tried one of those).
Go again? Yes, yes, yes.

 


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Earthlights Tearoom

36 High Street, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 2NU   (View on map)

Our first view of Swanage bay. Gorgeous.

When we arrived in Swanage we wanted some tea and also some lunch for R and some cake for me. Specifically, R wanted a prawn mayo baguette (he can be particular about his sandwiches sometimes) and Earthlights was the first place we came to that offered the baguette in question and had some cake for me.

The building this cafe is in was an interesting one, it had dark blue ceilings with timbers and big windows with leaded panes in at the top. Small but with a range of different sized tables and chairs and lots of photographs and paintings of the sea on the walls (some for sale).

They say on their website that they have the largest selection of tea in Swanage and we certainly didn’t find anywhere that offered more choice than them, there must have been at least 20 different teas and infusions to choose from. I had a Darjeeling and R had a peppermint.

Darjeeling and peppermint tea, along with prawn mayo baguette and the famous Dorset Apple Cake at Earthlights Tearoom.

Swanage is in Dorset and we realised quickly that the rules of cake are different there. Instead of the Victoria sponge cake ruling supreme it was the Dorset Apple Cake. It was offered everywhere we went, including fish and chip shops, but we only saw one Victoria sponge in our whole trip. I chose the Dorset Apple Cake, not yet knowing that it was the ubiquitous cake of Swanage, but thinking that when in Dorset I should try some of their cake. It was good, with slightly spiced sponge and apples in, crunchy on top. R said his baguette was very good too.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.45 for any type of tea.
Cake? Dorset Apple Cake and various other varieties, along with cookies, ice cream, pancakes, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and evening meals.
Go again? Yes, in fact we went back the next day and had lunch there again.


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La Baguetterie

22-24 The High Street, Theale, Berkshire, RG7 5AW   (View on map)

Tea that comes with a biscuit at La Baguetterie.

La Baguetterie seems to focus on lunch food rather than tea, as it has a large counter with a variety of different sandwich and baguette fillings. Unlike some sandwich shops it has a reasonable amount of seating so you can sit down and enjoy your lunch at a table. I went in the afternoon and it was very quiet, but that was just what I felt like so it was fine by me.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.60 for tea and ‘infusions’.
Cake? A very limited selection of pastries and tarts when I went, but as I went in the afternoon I imagine that they had already sold a lot as they were clearing up for the day. The tea came with a caramelised biscuit anyway.
Go again? Yes, if I’m in Theale.


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Jam and Tea

The Vintage Marketplace, Vintage by Hemingway festival 2011, Southbank, London.

Cupcakes and bunting.

This is a little different from other reviews on here because you can’t go visit this one. It’s been and gone. Over. No link to viewing it on the map because it was a ‘pop-up’ tearoom just for the festival, in a tent in the vintage marketplace section. It was provided by Jam and Tea and had a limited range of menu options – cupcake and tea, cream tea, petit fours and tea, or afternoon tea. LB and I plumped for the cupcake and tea as we could see rows of them on cake stands at the back of the tent.

It was a very hot, very busy day and the tent was also very hot and very busy but everyone inside was having a good time and enjoying the tea. Once we’d ordered a stand with cupcakes on was brought to us and we chose the ones we wanted – both of us picked the cream coloured ones (no difference in flavour, just difference in colour).

I think the best thing about this place was the set dressing – all the bunting, photos, postcards, tablecloths and crockery. For example, another lady on our table ordered the cream tea and her jam and cream came in tiny teacups. As this was a vintage festival there were a few people dressed in vintage clothing and this added to the fun feel of the tent.

Tea and cupcakes for two, along with a bunch of sweet peas.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £5 for tea and cupcake, £7 for tea and petit fours, £8 for a cream tea, £15 for afternoon tea.
Cake? Only those mentioned above.
Go again? Yes, but to the main cafe, not to the kiosk.