Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: seaside


by Leave a comment

Chineside

Photo of the seaside in Bournemouth. White clouds in the sky, blue calm sea, yellow sandy beach with two small figures sat on chairs.

This cafe has one of the best views of any sit-in cafe I’ve ever been to. Chineside is a two-storey cafe on the beachfront in Bournemouth. You can go for a paddle, walk up the beach, cross the couple of metres of tarmac promenade and you’re there. They have two takeaway kiosks facing the promenade so you don’t even need to put your shoes on if you want a cup of tea. I chose to put my flip-flops back on and go for a nice sit down and a cup of tea on the upstairs terrace area.

The seating area upstairs is open air, which was just what I wanted on a slightly overcast morning that had the promise of sunshine later. I chose a table in the corner that gave me views of the promenade in front of me and the sea to the side. The upstairs terrace was half full of people – various conversations and the noise of cutlery on plates. Under it all was the sound of the waves, over and over and over. The best soundtrack to any cup of tea.

Photo of a cup of rooibos tea next to a teapot and milk jug on an open air table in the Chineside cafe in Bournemouth. Behind the table are glass panels through which the sea and beach can be seen.
Photo of American-style pancakes with egg and bacon and maple syrup on the side on a white china plate. The plate is on a wooden table and above the plate is a cup of rooibos tea, a teapot and a milk jug. Chineside cafe in Bournemouth.
Photo of the beach, sea and promenade as seen through waist-height glass panels from Chineside cafe in Bournemouth. A cafe table with a jug of at milk is in the foreground.

I had a pot of rooibos tea with oat milk and the American pancakes with a fried egg and streaky bacon and maple syrup (which I asked for on the side). All of it was good and the pancakes weren’t too heavy. The menu was all breakfast items but that’s to be expected as I was there mid-morning. I’m assuming the menu changes later in the day.

If you’re going to be in Bournemouth then I’d recommend coming here for a great sea view and some good tea and food. If you’re not going to be in Bournemouth then you should go visit, nothing like the seaside and a paddle for making you feel properly on holiday.

  • Teapot? Yes, a metal one that poured well.
  • Leaf tea? Reader, I’m ashamed to say I forgot to check. There was a teabag corner sticking out of the pot but it might have been one of the open ones that you fill with loose leaf. Forgive me, I’m a bit out of practice.
  • Milk jug? Yes.
  • Price? £2.55 for a pot of rooibos tea, 30p for oat milk, £9.95 for the pancakes.
  • Cake? Yes, a glass cabinet downstairs with different cakes in.
  • Toilet? Yes, unisex toilets upstairs (no lift that I saw but I didn’t check). Separate male and female public toilets and a disabled public toilet (RADAR key operated) outside next to the cafe.
  • Go again? Yes.

Chineside, off West Overcliff Drive, Westbourne, Bournemouth, BH2 5JF.

Visited on: Friday 15 September 2023


by 1 Comment

Reefside Kiosk

Boscombe Pier, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH5 1BN.

Visited on: 31st May 2016

2016-05-31 Reefside Kiosk tea

Dorset Tea from the Reefside Kiosk, Boscombe Pier. 

R and I walked from Bournemouth seafront to Boscombe Pier in the rain. It wasn’t particularly cold rain, but it was more than just drizzle and so by the time we arrived at the pier we were both in need of a cup of tea.

Ice cream with a flake, sea in the background.

Ice cream! With a flake! Next to the sea!

Reefside Kiosk is a kiosk at the entrance to Boscombe Pier. The kiosk had black tea, green tea or fruit tea, but unfortunately no rooibos or decaf. R was happy as he’s a fan of green tea and had a cup of that. I’m not a fan of fruit tea (it makes my teeth feel funny) and green tea has caffeine in. Reader, I wanted a cup of tea badly. I ordered the black tea. Then I moved across to the Reefside Ices window and ordered an ice cream (because we were at the seaside).

The tea came in a paper cup and was a Dorset Tea teabag. The milk came in little plastic pots. There was a wooden stick instead of a spoon. But wow, did that cup of tea taste good. Was it the fact it was caffeinated? Was it that it was a brand local to where we were? Was it that I drank it sat on a bench watching the rain fall on the sea but stayed dry as the benches on the pier are covered by a roof? Probably it was all of those things.

The ice cream helped too. My ice cream was Purbeck ice cream and I had a two scoops cone: one of honeycomb hash and one of chocolate. With a chocolate flake. It was very good.

Boscombe Pier, unlike Bournemouth Pier, is free to walk on and has no amusement arcades. When we were there they were installing mini golf (though this seemed a risky entertainment for a pier – how many golf balls were going to go in the sea?). There were also musical instruments that you could play and I had a go on all of them. They made lovely chiming noises.

2016-05-31 Reefside Kiosk view

The view from our bench.

We didn’t go further than the pier, but Boscombe seemed much quieter than Bournemouth. It was very peaceful sitting on the pier and looking out over the sea, listening to the waves and watching the birds. The setting makes this one of my favourite places to drink tea so far. Thanks to the lady in Bournemouth’s tourist information office for suggesting that we walked down to Boscombe pier.

2016-05-31 Reefside Kiosk

The view of the Reefside Kiosk from the road. I took this after we’d eaten, notice that the ices section has now closed for the day.

  • Teapot? No.
  • Leaf tea? No, but it was a Dorset Tea teabag and we were in Dorset.
  • Milk jug? No, little plastic pots.
  • Price? £1.60 for a cup of tea. £3.60 for two scoop ice cream and an extra 30p for the flake (worth every penny).
  • Cake? No, but there were sweet crêpes, which looked amazing. Sadly I was too full to try one when we were there.
  • Go again? Yes.