Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: reading


by Leave a comment

The Place to Eat, John Lewis, Reading

John Lewis, Broad Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2BB

The Place to Eat at John Lewis

The Place to Eat at John Lewis

We’d made the mistake of watching episode of Friends where Rachel and Chandler eat a lot of cheesecake and so we were on the hunt for cheesecake and tea. It’s more difficult than you think to track down cheesecake in a cafe and we were running out of time before my brother had to catch a train so we headed for the most reliable of the department store cafes: The Place to Eat in John Lewis.

There was no cheesecake, but there was a selection of cakes, pastries, scones and gateaux, so we were happy. The only odd thing about John Lewis is that they are happy to give you pots of hot water and china cups and saucers and lovely cake, but they still insist in serving milk in the stupid tiny plastic pots!

Teapot? Yes, china.
Leaf tea? No, Twinings teabags.
Milk jug? No!
Price? £1.40 for a pot.
Cake? Yes, lots and lots.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

Bel and The Dragon

Blakes Lock, Gas Works Road, Reading, RG1 3DH

Tea at Bel and The Dragon, with the Riverside Museum in the background

Tea at Bel and The Dragon, with the Riverside Museum in the background

As the weather was so gorgeous we headed to the Riverside Museum to see what we could see. Next door to the museum is a lovely (if out of my price range) pub and restaurant called Bel and The Dragon.

The Riverside Museum is very small but worth a look if you fancy going for a walk by the river. It has a highly decorated gypsy caravan and an ornate teapot among other things, and is in a beautiful location.

I’d recommend combining the museum and pub to make the most of your visit.

Teapot? Yes, one between two.
Leaf tea? No, unidentified teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £4 for two people which seemed a bit steep as we only got two small cups each.
Cake? No, but could order desert off the menu if you really wanted.
Go again? Yes, if I’m down that way.


by 1 Comment

Coffee Republic, Reading

Unit L38/39 The Oracle Shopping Centre, 134 Broad Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2BD

Tea at Coffee Republic

Tea at Coffee Republic

The name of this chain advertises it’s love of coffee, rather than tea, but at least Coffee Republic offers a teapot. The menu lists pots of tea but when I ordered they got out a mug, I had to ask for a pot specially.

The tea was fine, if a bit expensive, my friend recommends the range of hot chocolates.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Twinings teabag.
Milk jug? Little paper pot of milk.
Price? £1.95
Cake? Some, mainly muffins and pastries.
Go again? Yes, if I’m with someone who wants a good hot chocolate.


by Leave a comment

Haringtons, Reading

43 Market Place, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2DE

Haringtons is not actually a cafe, it’s a hairdressers. I went to get my haircut and they offered me a drink. When the tea came it was impressive: teapot, tiny milk jug, cup and saucer, two mini biscotti biscuits, sugar and tea spoon. All neatly arranged on doilies on a tray. Hairdressers it may be, but it deserves a mention here as it does tea better than many cafes I’ve come across.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Twinings teabag.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? Technically free, but you do have to pay for a haircut, so really very expensive (unless you already wanted a haircut).
Cake? No, but mini biscuits.
Go again? Yes, next time I need a hair cut.


by Leave a comment

Dolce Vita

Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6UR

There’s a restaurant in central Reading with the same name, but this is not that, this is the mini cafe on the main campus of the University of Reading. It’s small and round and warm and friendly. Tea was okay, paper cups but two stamps on your loyalty card if you brought your own mug.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, but a choice of teabag, including Fairtrade.
Milk jug? No, but it was fresh milk poured for me.
Price? 94p, less if you’re a student but I had to pay the VAT.
Cake? Biscuits, muffins, traybake things.
Go again? Only if I’m on campus.


by 1 Comment

AMT Coffee, Reading Station

My cup of AMT Coffee tea

My cup of AMT Coffee tea

Station Approach, Reading, RG1 1LZ

Saturday 15th November was a good day for tea. There was lots of it, in many different places, and it was all very nice drinkable tea.

The first cup of tea (not the literally the first, just the first I paid for) was at 6.50am at Reading station. AMT Coffee have a number of little booth thingys around Reading Station and I headed to the one in the main concourse as it was the only one open that early in the morning. There are other places to buy tea in the station, but believe me when I tell you that AMT Coffee sell the best tea. It’s teabags, but they are Fairtrade Clipper teabags which also happen to be my teabag of choice.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? No, but it is fresh milk.
Price? £1.30.
Cake? Muffins, danish pastries and pretzels.
Go again? Any time I need tea in a train station.