Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: cafe


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Waitrose Cafe, Newbury

Oxford Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1NB   (View on map)

Bear claw, pot of Earl Grey tea and Waitrose chocolate at Waitrose Cafe in Newbury

This Waitrose has a cafe and it serves proper pots of tea and some scrummy cake. I had a pot of Earl Grey tea and a Danish Fruit Bear Claw. All hot drinks come with a little Waitrose chocolate as well. I chose the Bear Claw as I’d heard it mentioned on American TV sitcoms and drama and wasn’t sure what it was. It appears to be named after the shape of the pastry, which sort of looks like a bear’s claw. If only they sold Twinkies and had Chinese takeaway in the little white cardboard pots, then my American food curiosity would be satisfied. It stays open almost as late as the store so can be a good place to go for a pot of tea with free parking and toilets when the other cafes in Newbury are closed.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Waitrose Earl Grey.
Milk jug? Little one.
Price? £1.45 for tea and £1.30 for the bear claw.
Cake? Yes – danish pastries, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, chocolates and more.
Go again? Yes.


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Nelson’s Diner

Kingsclere Service Station, A339 Newbury Road, Kingsclere, RG20 4TA   (View on map)

Tea and two milkshakes at Nelson's Diner

Nelson’s Diner is an American style diner, bizarrely situated next to a petrol station on an ‘A’ road in Hampshire. I say bizarrely, but now I think about it every American style diner I can remember seeing has been at the side of an ‘A’ road. Did anyone else ever go to ‘AJ’s Diner’ on the A1? Strange.

I had been chatting to J about wanting to go somewhere that served milkshakes in those steel tumblers and tall glasses as I always saw them on Neighbours. J said she knew just the place and a few weeks later we were having lunch at the small but perfectly American Nelson’s Diner.

Far too much food at Nelson's Diner.

We had a milkshake each and I also ordered a pot of tea as I wanted to see what it would be like. One of us had a strawberry milkshake and one of us had a ginger one, but I can’t honestly remember who had what. They were both really really good though – thick and in the right tumbler and glass combination. Also extrememly large – enough for two glasses full. Tea came in a pot so that was all okay.

The portions of food were large too and just thinking about the visit makes me feel a bit queasy. I admit that I ate far too much – hot dog and chips and milkshake and tea and pancakes and ice cream. I over indulged and felt sick for the rest of the day, but I would go back – just order less food.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.70 for the tea, £2.70 for the strawberry shake, £3.85 for the ginger shake, £7 for cheesy hot dog, £9.50 for a ‘Houston’ burger, £2.95 for onion rings and £4.85 for some very tasty pancakes.
Cake? Not really, more desert and American food. And lots of milkshakes.
Go again? Yes.


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The Chocolate Teapot

4 Station Road, Esher, Surrey, KT10 8DY   (View on map)   020 8398 8866

The view from our table at The Chocolate Teapot (the window tables were taken when we arrived or we would naturally have nabbed one of those).

The Chocolate Teapot was recommended by a reader of the blog in September and it’s taken me a while to go visit but I have managed it.

The cafe is tucked away next to Esher train station and if you’re driving there you’ll need to park in one of the roads coming off Station Road. We headed over there on a Sunday for an early lunch and when we got there they were still serving breakfast (lunch doesn’t start until 1pm) which suited us fine.

The tables and chairs are nice and solid, with pretty tablecloths and flowers in vases. The china is patterned and a mix of different styles and colours and we all enjoyed seeing which teapot we got given. There were shelves high up on the wall with many different teapots on and while we were eating a couple brought in an unusual teapot for the owners to add to the collection on display in the tearoom.

A feast of tea and breakfast at The Chocolate Teapot.

There were a range of different teas available and a range of different breakfasts. Dad and S went for the full English and Mum and I went for the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I haven’t made a note of which tea we chose but I seem to remember S and I had Lady Grey with Mum going for Darjeeling and Dad for English Breakfast. Apologies if I’m wrong.

The food was good and the tea was hot and kept on coming. We polished off all the breakfasts and then considered the cake. The Chocolate Teapot has one of my favourite things to see in any cafe or tearooms: a cake filled sideboard. It’s always a good sign as it gives you a range of cake and implies they are busy enough to get through all the cake on display without any trouble. There was a huge selection but we went for bakewell tart, chocolate fudge cake and apple cake (I think, obviously I was too excited by the eating and drinking at this cafe as I haven’t got my normal level of notes to refer to). All the cake was excellent, we were very happy.

Cake and tea at The Chocolate Teapot.

Teapot? Yes, lots of different pretty patterned ones.
Leaf tea? No, but good quality teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.40 for speciality tea, £4.50 for smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, £5.95 for full English.
Cake? Yes, on the magical cake sideboard.
Go again? Yes, especially as they offer a basic afternoon tea for £5.95 and a larger version for £7.50.


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A recommendation!

I often ask for recommendations but in the two years of doing this blog I have only had one. Today I got my second, which is very exciting. The place in question is ‘The Chocolate Teapot Tearoom’ in Esher, Surrey. I have an address and not much else as I can’t find any internet mention of them, but hopefully I can check that one out soon.

If you have any other recommendations for me, let me know! You can leave me the details on the form here.


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Forno

126 High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1PT   01628 670051

Tea, ciabatta and tea cake at Forno

We were looking for somewhere to drink tea and get lunch that I hadn’t already stuck on the blog and Forno had the dubious honour of being the first place we came to that fitted the criteria.

It all turned out okay though as Forno is an Italian restaurant that has a good choice of things that could be eaten for lunch. There is a list of fillings and then a choice of bread, ciabatta or jacket potato to have them with. I plumped for the tea cakes and was pleasantly surprised when they arrived and turned out not to be hot cross buns. (You’d be surprised at the number of times I have been served hot cross buns when I’ve ordered tea cakes.)

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.50 for a pot.
Cake? Not really, some deserts, some muffins listed (but sat on the counter in plastic packets so I didn’t order any), teacakes and the usual Italian restaurant fare.
Go again? Not for tea, there are other places in Maidenhead I’d prefer, but would come back for lunch or for an evening meal.


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French and Fresh Bakery

No. 2 The Colonnade, High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1QL.

Tea at French and Fresh Bakery

The French and Fresh Bakery always smells gorgeous when I walk past as they bake everything on the premises and bread cooking is a heavenly smell. The sign above the door says it’s a Boulangerie and Patisserie and it certainly smells like one. Inside there are rows of bread and tarts, cakes, quiches, pizza slices. The cakes and tarts start at around £3 and a baguette to eat in is £4, so I just stuck with my tea.

A pot of tea to drink in was £2 but the tea pot was relatively big  (the cup was huge, making the tea pot in the photo look all tiny, but that’s just a trick of the cup, I promise you) and it was a satisfying and relaxing tea drinking session.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Twinings tea bag.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2 for a pot.
Cake? Lots of good complicated cakes, tarts, quiches, salads, etc and biscuits in tins as well.
Go again? Yes.


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Crumbs…

29 Queen Victoria Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1SY   07947 719084

Tea and a Thai chicken melt at Crumbs...

Crumbs… is a little cafe just off the main shopping street in Reading. It has sandwiches, paninis, wraps, salads, jacket potatoes and some cake slices. It also has some outside seating which is a good thing, but it was a bit chilly to sit outside when I went there. The outside seating had normal height chairs but the inside seating was the high table and stool like seating. These make me nervous as I’m not very good at staying on them, but I managed okay so all was well.

I plumped for a Thai chicken melt ciabatta for a very reasonable £2.60 and a cup of tea. The drinks menu states that you can have ‘English Breakfast Tea (proper tea)’ or ‘Earl Grey’. I would argue it’s all proper tea, but I appreciate the sentiment.

A good place to go for a quick bite to eat and a mug of tea.

Teapot? No, it came ready made with milk in.
Leaf tea? Presume not.
Milk jug? No, came with milk.
Price? £1.40 for ‘proper tea’, 1.70 for Earl Grey. My ciabatta was £2.60.
Cake? A couple of varieties of loaf cake.
Go again? Yes, if I wanted a quick lunch.


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Paul

13 The Quadrant, Richmond Upon Thames, Surrey, TW9 1BP

Pizza, Canele and tea at Paul

I walked past Paul and then doubled back to look in the window as it was full of lovely patisserie things. Yum, I thought, and headed inside. I’ve seen the stores before but never eaten in one. It was a touch expensive for my wallet that day, so I picked a pizza slice and a Canele. Well, I actually looked at the chocolate tart, saw that it was £3.80 and looked for something cheaper. I spied the little pudding shaped thing for £1.95 and asked the guy behind the counter what it was, he said ‘Er, well’ and I asked, ‘Is it sweet?’ he confirmed it was, and that was that.

You can’t really see from the photo but the tea bag is a nice mesh thing with big leaves inside, the Paul own brand apparently. It tasted good.

The pizza was scrummy but quite heavy (I know, I know, it’s pizza – what did I expect?) and the Canele was nice but odd. It turned out to be a pudding like rum and buttery flavoured thing. Chewy outside coating and soft and squidgy inside. I’m not that great with alcohol flavoured items and this was quite strong for me, probably not for anyone else.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? Paul own brand tea bags with good mesh and big leaves.
Milk jug? Little cardboard espresso cup of milk.
Price? £1.80 for the tea, £4.15 for the pizza, £1.95 for the Canele.
Cake? Yes, patisserie items, cakes, sandwiches, salads, bread, whole tarts.
Go again? Yes.


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Moka

Unit 9, 60 Ashley Centre, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 5DB

Scone, tea and mocha at Moka

It was full when we arrived mid morning on Sunday, which is always a good sign and once again someone left just as we turned up and we managed to grab a table. I was hungry and wanted something solid to eat, so I decided to have a scone with butter and jam. R and I ordered tea and S ordered a mocha.

The scone was solid and crumbly with a mini pot of proper jam and some butter. The tea had been left to sit on the counter for a while before we got it – we could see it from where we were – and so was quite stewed for Earl Grey but was still welcome. Annoying metal tea pots that poured tea all over the table though. Anyway, a good place to go for tea in Epsom.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but Fairtrade tea bags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.95 for Earl Grey, £2.45 for the mocha, £1.90 for scone with jam and butter.
Cake? Yes and tarts, breakfast, lunch.
Go again? Yes.


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Bill’s Produce Store

St Mary’s Church House, Chain Street, Reading, RG1 2HX

Cheerful blue sky at Bill's produce store

Bill’s Produce Store is a new addition to the Reading café scene and one that I was looking forward to visiting. Mum and I headed there after doing some shopping and we were tired and wanted some tea and a sugar fix. The sun was shining and the outside seating area was full, but luckily someone left just as we were pondering where inside to sit and we snagged a table next to some foliage with a pink spotty sugar bowl.

There was a selection of tea on the menu and Mum picked English Breakfast and I chose Darjeeling. We also decided to share some scones as they were only £3.25 and came with cream and Bill’s strawberry jam. The menu said ‘scones’ – plural – but we were wary as it seemed very cheap for two compared to the other prices on the menu (£5.95 for pudding). We wanted to share, but wanted a whole scone each, so when the waiter came to take the order we double checked that there were two and he assured us this was the case.

The tea arrived in satisfyingly big pots with Twinings labels sticking out the side, but then the scone – singular – arrived. It was cut in half but it was a definite single scone. We complained and were told they would sort us out another one and that the menu would be changed. The second scone arrived – complete with another lot of jam and cream, though there was enough there for two scones anyway, and we tucked in.

Dotty sugar bowl, tea and scones at Bill's Produce Store

Now, my Mum is a bit healthier than me and didn’t put very much cream on hers. I’m not, so I stuck lots on. It was not clotted cream but had a lighter consistency, which was disappointing but certainly not the first time I’ve been given whipped cream with a scone so I carried on. The scone was warm but doughy and the cream didn’t taste quite right. I scraped most of it off and put more jam on. My Mum, who knows about these things from working in a catering college, said she thought the scone was doughy as it had been reheated in the microwave. I mentioned the cream and we tasted it some more. It wasn’t off, but didn’t taste right, almost soured, I thought it was crème fraiche.

The waiter came back and I complained about the cream, he took it away and then came back with the news that there had been a mistake and it wasn’t cream at all – but mascarpone cheese! He told us that the scones would be complimentary and said he hoped it wasn’t our first time there. When we said it was he said he hoped that we wouldn’t be put off and that we would go back again when they have settled in a bit more. And you know what? The tea came in a pot and the staff were so friendly and helpful about everything, despite the problems, that I will give it one more try. I’ll let you know what happens when I do.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but Twinings tea bags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.75 for a reasonably big pot of tea, £3.25 for a scone with jam and cream.
Cake? Yes and puddings, main meals, breakfasts, evening meals.
Go again? I’ll try once more, as they are very new still and the place had a nice feel to it.