Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: tea for you and me


by Leave a comment

Churches Coffee Shop and Restaurant

14 Church Street, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 6NQ

A corner of the courtyard at Churches

A few streets away from the Stump is a old building that houses Churches Coffee Shop and Restaurant. This was recommended by AM, as a ‘proper’ tea place in Boston, and I was intrigued to see what it was like.  It has a section at the front selling local produce and gifts, before you head through into the main body of the Restaurant. I would have described it as a tea rooms. Then we went outside into a small courtyard area, which was very pleasant and sunny but with big parasols to take the glare away. The tables were nice and big and the chairs were very comfy.

We were planning on only having a cup of tea, but then the menu mentioned ‘famous Lincolnshire plum bread’ and we were galvanised into ordering it as we’d never heard of this famous delicacy. It turned out to be pretty normal plum bread, but it was very nice all the same.

Tea and 'famous' plum bread at Churches

R and I ordered a pot of tea each and were very impressed when it arrived. We had a good sized pot each and a large pot of hot water between us and an extra tea bag each as well. I’ve never had that anywhere before and although it’s not leaf tea, it’s still a bonus. JM had coffee and also thought it was good. Good as the tea was, the best thing about Churches was the price – 90p for a pot of tea. 90p! And only £1.20 for the plum bread. A main meal was around £4, this is definitely the place to eat out when in Boston during the day.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but Twinings tea bags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? 90 pence!
Cake? Yes, proper cake, plum bread, scones and main meals as well.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

Workhouse Coffee Company

10-12 King Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2HF.

Ciabatta, sandwich, tea and free cake at The Workhouse Coffee Company

I’ve known that the Workhouse Coffee Company has existed for a long time, but I’ve never made it there, it’s not in the centre of town and sometimes I’m just lazy. As if they knew this, they’ve now opened a second shop in the centre of town so when we went in yesterday I made my way there to see what I could see.

I think they are still getting themselves up and running, as not all the fittings looked finished, but there was a friendly feel to the inside and the staff were lovely. I had my usual fear that any café that blatantly advertises itself as selling coffee will give no consideration to the tea, but I was happily wrong. The tea came in a pot that sat on top of it’s cup, which is always something that makes me smile.

R had an egg sandwich and I had a ciabatta with tomato, chorizo and cheese. It was a very good sandwich – like a pizza, yum. And we got a free sample of cake each as they were trialling their recipes. They are very good, let me tell you! A good cup of tea and one of the few places in central Reading with nice tea pots.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2 for a pot of tea, £11.70 for the tea, sandwich and my ciabatta.
Cake? Yes, only a couple of choices but both very good.
Go again? Yes.


by 3 Comments

The Grand Café

84 The High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG

The ceiling of The Grand Café

This café looks as grand as it’s name, with pillars and gold outside and more pillars and gold inside. The Grand Café is on the site of the first coffee house in England and so I was a bit nervous about whether or not the tea would be any good, but I needn’t have worried.

I’m really sorry about the blurred quality of the photos, I hadn’t had any tea since before breakfast and obviously it was getting to me. There was a choice of black teas on the menu, including Earl Grey (which I had) and Lapsang Souchong (which R had). The tea pots came with no strainer but did have a mesh ball inside with the loose leaves in it. It was excellent Earl Grey and R says his Lapsang was also very good.

Tea and cake at The Grand Cafe

R also had a slice of Victoria Sponge cake and then decreed that I wasn’t allowed any, but in the interests of this blog I stole some with my teaspoon. It was good, not the best I’ve ever had, but better than most. It also came with some squiggles on the plate – either fruit coulis or syrup of some sort. Although he ate it, he could not tell me which it was, so this just proves the need for me to eat the cake when we go visiting places.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.50 per pot, £3.50 for the cake.
Cake? Yes, and a whole separate menu for patisserie items. Impressive.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant

11 Pescod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1DT.   07738 867187   01758 751138

A fat pot of Earl Grey at Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant

I’ve been to many cafes and drunk many cups of tea in my time, but this is the first time I’ve had such a strong sense of deja vu somewhere I was convinced I’d never been before. Mill House Cafe Bar Restaurant is on a busy shopping street near to the train station and the castle, and looked like the kind of place I’d get a decent cup of tea. I went in and ordered and then sat down and that’s where the deja vu started. I could have sworn that I’d been there and eaten brunch, only I could have also sworn that when I ate brunch I was in a Puccino’s, not the Mill House. Anyone know if this used to be a Puccino’s?

The tea came in a nice big pot and I got 3 and a bit cups out of it. Good tea drinking.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.70 for the pot of Earl Grey, think only £2.40 if want non-speciality tea.
Cake? Didn’t see any, but wasn’t paying much attention (I know – how unusual is that?). Did have Danish pastries and puddings on the menu.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

The Rustic Tea Garden

Northcott Mouth, Bude, Cornwall

A bit of the beach at Northcott Mouth

Northcott Mouth from the clifftop

The beach at Northcott Mouth is sandy and flat and stunning. It’s good for surfing as the waves are powerful, but we swam and jumped and generally messed around in the sea and it was energising and liberating. After C demonstrated the art of the cartwheel and we listened to the mussels singing in the sunshine we collected V and headed back up to the road to The Rustic Tea Garden.

The Rustic Tea Garden

Margaret runs the small green caravan and assures me she always makes tea in a pot. The pasties come from the local bakery and if you want a place to camp by the sea then Margaret is the woman in the know. The Rustic Tea Garden is just what’s needed after a sea swim and was one of the friendliest places I’ve ever set down my mug.

Tea at The Rustic Tea Garden

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? No, came with milk.
Price? £4 for tea, a latte and a cappuccino.
Cake? Yes and cream teas.
Go again? Yes, beautiful beach and a good mug of tea.


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 Leave a comment

Lynne’s Pantry

39 Surrey Street, Sheffield, S1 2LG   0114 272 7743

Tea and the famous ham roll at Lynne's Pantry. Oh, and R's crab baguette, which he also thought was very good.

In the not so distant past R and I used to live in Sheffield. And even so, we had never visited Lynne’s Pantry before. I’ve spent a while trying to cobble together a valid reason for this and failed miserably, there’s no good reason for missing out on this cafe, it’s just how the cookie crumbled.

Anyway, Lynne’s Pantry is bright and clean and feels like it should be by the seaside. There are teapots with flowers in and cute buckets with two different types of sugar. Bright white bench seating adds to the summery feel. I wanted a light and early lunch before we went to our friend’s wedding, so I thought a ham roll would be a good idea. It was already very busy and only half eleven, so if you’re making a special trip then be prepared to wait if necessary.

I wasn’t expecting much: a ham roll is just a ham roll. But this ham roll, oh my, this ham roll sang with the greatness of being a ham roll. Just enough salad and big thick slices of proper ham with a sprig of cress on top and creamy butter on granary bread.

The tea was also good: a big fat pot of tea for two with nice cups and saucers and a generous milk jug. We were trying not to eat too much so we didn’t try any of the cake, but if the cake there is anything like the ham rolls then you are in for a treat.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.95 for a pot for two people, £3.50ish for the heavenly ham roll and the same for the crab baguette.
Cake? Cake and scones and tarts and all sorts of lovely amazing genius things.
Go again? Definitely.


by Leave a comment

Bea’s of Bloomsbury

44 Theobald Road, London, WC1X 8NW

The view from my table at Bea's of Bloomsbury

Bea’s of Bloomsbury is a small but enticing cafe that was full the first time I went in and only had one table free the second time I went in. They have a good selection of food and cakes and had a variety of teas available. I could have chosen from salads, flapjacks, meringues, brownies, German chocolate cake, chocolate truffle cake… I was being healthy so I didn’t have any but I sure was tempted.

I only had 15 minutes to spare but I managed a whole pot of extremely nice Earl Grey in that time and would have loved to have had the full afternoon tea. It was very busy when I went on a weekday afternoon though so it would be worth booking a table if you’re going specially (and double checking the times they serve afternoon tea). Definitely one worth another visit.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, ‘Jinc’ brand tea which I hadn’t come across before but is very lovely.

An almost invisible black teapot at Bea's of Bloomsbury

Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.30.
Cake? Yes and yes and yes.
Go again? Yes.


by Leave a comment

Le Moulin

18b Station Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 6NJ.      01708 472121

Tea for four at Le Moulin

We drove to Hornchurch and I spotted a windmill on the way, which I duly pointed out to everyone else in the car. I like windmills, I think that may have come up before, and so I have no excuse for the full half hour it took me to realise that ‘Le Moulin’ was French for windmill and that the name of this cafe was probably a reference to the nearby windmill. Not only that, but there was a model windmill made out of biscuits on the counter and I still didn’t get it. I’m sorry. In my defence I will say that I’d only had one cup of tea that morning and it wasn’t until I’d finished my pot at Le Moulin that I was awake enough to spot this connection.

My sleepiness aside, this is a great place. The cakes, oh the cakes! Le Moulin is a family run French patisserie and there is a window into the bakery bit at the back where you can see them making things. The array of cakes and pastries was mouthwatering, but we were all trying to be good so we didn’t have any. There was willpower involved but we did it. I’d love to go back and try the cakes sometime.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.30.
Cake? Oh, so much beautiful cake!
Go again? Yes.


by 1 Comment

Sally Lunn’s

Sally Lunn’s House, 4 North Parade Passage, Bath, BA1 1NX.

Tea and tomato soup with a Sally Lunn bun at Sally Lunn's

Tea and tomato soup with a Sally Lunn bun at Sally Lunn's

Before we go any further, I would just like to say that this is the 100th review on this site. 100! We should all be very proud. I think it’s fitting that Sally Lunn’s is the 100th review as it is hundreds of years old. That’s a tenuous connection but it’s all I can think of. Let me know if you have a better one.

I would say that Sally Lunn’s is relatively famous for a tea room. It’s been around for hundreds of years and is famous for the type of bun that they serve, that Sally Lunn invented. It’s a cross between a bap and a brioche and tastes good. I have tasted the Sally Lunn bun before, when D very kindly bought me one last time we were in Bath. We didn’t have time to go in properly though.

This time my meeting finished with enough time for me to go and have lunch somewhere before I caught the train. I headed back to Sally Lunn’s to see if I could get a table. There was a queue which surprised me, but then I remembered it was half term, so not that surprising. The house is old and timbered and creaky with three floors, all with a room to eat in. I was on the top floor and it was full.

I was trying to be good and not eat cake for my lunch, which is what I usually do when I’m reviewing somewhere at lunchtime. It’s not as cheap as a cafe, so I picked a cheaper soup instead: tomato and basil. It was very good soup and the bun was good too. I could have done with more bun, but to be fair it does clearly state on the menu how much you would get with it so I should have just ordered extra. It’s a proper tea room, how do I know this? It had house blend tea and I was brought a pot of hot water without even asking.

Teapot? Yes, and the all important pot of hot water.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.68 for the tea, £4.58 for the soup.
Cake? Sally Lunn buns with cinnamon butter or chocolate butter or spreads etc, and cakes, and main meals.
Go again? Yes, I’d like to try a bun with something sweet on it.