Tea for you and me

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

Tag Archives: tea


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Shed

The Old Forge, Merchants Place, Reading, RG1 1DT.   (View on map)

The spacious upstairs seating area at shed.

The spacious upstairs seating area at Shed.

I’d seen adverts for Shed around before, but only got round to visiting it today. It’s tucked away down a side street with a small downstairs and a large and roomy upstairs seating area, with some big windows and comfortably sized tables.

They have a number of salads, sandwiches and toasties available for lunch and a range of tea and coffee. For drinks I chose a redbush tea and tap water and for lunch I fancied a salad. I picked my salad after asking advice from the lady serving: hot cous cous, chicken, chorizo and coleslaw.

The salad had a lot of chicken and chorizo in it, so I was pleasantly surprised. The tea was good too.

Salad and tea at Shed.

Salad and tea at Shed.

I was hungry and concentrating on lunch, but even so some of you will be shocked when I tell you that I didn’t notice what cake was on offer. I have a vague memory of triangular millionaire’s shortbread and a banana and chocolate loaf, but that’s all I can tell you. There may have been more, there may have been nothing else, I may have dreamt the shortbread. I can only apologise and pledge to do better next time.

Teapot? No, a mug and saucer with a tea bag.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.60 for the redbush tea, £5.90 for the salad (the most expensive salad they have, so it’s easy to eat for less if you’d like).
Cake? Yes, I think (see above).
Go again? Yes. I’d like to try some different food and check whether they have cake. Plus upstairs looked like a useful place to go if you needed to get some work done.


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Another wish list addition

I’ve admired the living wall on the outside of the Athenaeum Hotel before, but never been inside for the afternoon tea.

A colleague recently told me she had been and that I should try it because the afternoon tea included toasted crumpets. Crumpets are great, so that was enough for me to add it to the wish list. If it’s not enough of a reason for you then maybe the fact that in 2012 the Tea Guild named it London’s Top Afternoon Tea will be?

If you’ve been or are planning to go, let me know how you find it.


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The Breakfast Club, Spitalfields

12 – 16 Artillery Lane, Spitalfields, London, E1 7LS.   (View on map)

The cup is not really this small, it’s just that the pancakes are big.

Outside was grey but inside The Breakfast Club it was a bright, shiny morning. Even the toilets were cheerful – the ladies toilet is decorated with ‘My Little Pony’ wallpaper. The cafes are a homage to breakfast and the 1980s and this works well.

I plumped for the pancakes with berries, maple syrup and vanilla cream; along with some English Breakfast tea. I was a bit disappointed that the tea came in a cup, but at least the cup was big and the tea bag was teapigs.

The only American style pancakes I’ve ever had for breakfast prior to this were from McDonald’s and so I wasn’t expecting much. These were amazing – light yet filling, sweet yet savoury. I don’t know what vanilla cream is exactly (maybe just vanilla flavoured whipped cream?) but I’m now a big fan.

Teapot? No, a cup and saucer with a tea bag.
Leaf tea? No, though it was a tasty tea bag.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2 for the tea, £6.50 for the pancakes with berries.
Cake? Not when I went, it was too early in the morning. They did have some cake listed on their lunch and dinner menu.
Go again? Yes. I would like to go again and try the ‘All American’ pancakes – pancakes with bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes and maple syrup. I’ve always been sceptical about this combination, but I think I trust The Breakfast Club enough to give it a go. I’d also like to try going in the evening. After I’d been EM told me that the fridge I was sitting next to opens up in the evening and you can walk through it into a club. I’d like to be able to say I’ve walked through a fridge.


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EATIN

Birchanger Green Motorway Services (Welcome Break Group Ltd), Junction 8, M11, Old Dunmow Road, Essex, CM23 5QZ.   (View on map)

The tea at EATIN was expensive and made with a teabag, but at least the milk didn’t come in a plastic pot. The really interesting thing about this tea stop was the triangular Toblerone pastry. I like Toblerone and although it didn’t look that great I thought I should try it for blog research purposes.

R ignored the pasty in favour of a fry up.

It’s triangular. I like triangles.

The inside of the mysterious triangle.

Unfortunately it didn’t taste that great. The pastry was very heavy and solid – as if it hadn’t been cooked properly – and there was a lump of Toblerone-style filling in the centre. It may have tasted better if it was warm. I wouldn’t recommend it but I applaud the attempt to create something new.

It is apparently the ‘UK’s first branded pastry treat’ and the photos on the supplier website look very different to the one I had – far lighter. If I see one that looks puffier I’m willing to try it again and let you know.

Teapot? No, a mug with a tea bag in.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? You helped yourself to milk from a big urn thing, presumably designed so people could add milk to cereal as well.
Price? £3.15 for the tea and the pastry (as I had the tea-and-any-pastry-for-£3.15 deal). £2.15 for tea and £1.99 for the pastry if you don’t get the deal.
Cake? Yes, normal muffins and pastries.
Go again? Not by choice, but then service stations are more about location that provision and so I may end up here again at some point.


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Another cafe to add to the wish list

Hugh Jackman is one of the people behind the Laughing Man coffee and tea company. They have a cafe in New York and it’s the cafe that’s going on my wishlist.

That’s the second cafe in New York to go on the wish list, maybe this means it’s time to go to the Big Apple? I think the cafe has been open for a year or so now – has anyone been?


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riverfront bar and kitchen

BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London, SE1 8XT.   (View on map)

The giant teabag and mini cup of milk (with EM’s pint of something that’s not PALM in the background).

According to the BFI website there are two bars at the BFI, one called ‘benugo bar and kitchen’ and one called ‘riverfront bar and kitchen’. I think that we were in the ‘riverfront bar and kitchen’ as we weren’t in the dining area, but as the tea I bought had ‘benugo’ stamped all over it I am not 100% sure. Anyway, it was a beautiful hot and sunny day and we were sitting outside by the river after seeing an amazing play at the National Theatre – what more could you want?

Teapot? No, a big empty tea bag thing that was filled with loose leaf tea in a paper cup.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Well, not as such – as we were outside the cup had to be paper, so I had a mini paper cup full of milk instead.
Price? £2.30 for the tea, £6 for S’s pint of PALM.
Cake? Yes, some muffins, tray bakes and loaf cakes.
Go again? Yes, if I was in that area with people who wanted a pint and I wanted tea then this is a good place to go. It’s not that often you get a bar that sells loose leaf tea (though teapots would be better, obviously).

 


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Glutton and Glee

6 Tunsgate, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3QT   (View on map)

Hot cross buns and cushions with stars on at Glutton and Glee

It’s almost Easter. I like hot cross buns and A likes hot cross buns. We wanted somewhere in Guildford that we could drink tea and eat hot cross buns. We asked in four likely cafes and found no hot cross buns, so we gave up on the hot cross bun quest and headed to the castle instead. On the way to the castle we spotted Glutton and Glee, it looked so cheerful inside that we decided to go there afterwards. Lo and behold, when we turned up an hour or so later we found that they had loose leaf tea and hot cross buns.

They had tasty looking salads and cakes, as well as a good range of tea. Upstairs was a bench with bright cushions that reminded me of Chococo and the seaside. A had an apple, pear and ginger juice that was light and tasted of summer. I had some smooth Cornish Earl Grey tea. We both had a hot cross bun. An excellent chance find of a cafe that we’ve already planned to go to again.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, from the Rare Tea Company.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2.25 for the tea, £2.95 for the juice, £1.95 for the hot cross bun.
Cake? Yes and cupcakes, pastries, hot cross buns (hurrah!), salads, tart, jacket potatoes, sandwiches. They also sell tea, jams, biscuits, oils and cookie mix.
Go again? Yes, next time I’d like to try the salads as well.


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Heston’s hot cross buns

The posh packet for Heston's hot cross buns.

The TV adverts for these seem to be everywhere at the moment and I found the idea of them intriguing. S came to visit and we decided that as Heston’s hot cross buns have ‘Earl Grey tea-soaked fruits’ in them it counted as research for the blog, rather than hot cross bun indulgence. We were a bit put off by the £1.59 price tag for only two hot cross buns but went ahead anyway.

The buns are higher and more solid than normal hot cross buns (by normal I mean bought hot cross buns, I’ve never made any) – the texture reminded me of brioche. They smelt good before we toasted them under the grill and smelt even better after we toasted them. The fruit was plump and the bun soft, I’m not sure I could taste the tea but they did taste of citrus. S and R both said they tasted like teacake rather than hot cross bun. I think the bun was sweeter than a teacake and that a plumped up hot cross bun would be a better description – plumped up bun and plumped up fruit.

One of Heston's buns after toasting and buttering.

All in all, a good hot cross bun. There’s time for lots more hot cross buns before we reach Easter but I can’t afford for them all to be the Heston version. Having said that, I’d be disappointed if I didn’t get one more before Easter, so will be buying them again at some point.

It’s also reminded me that I haven’t seen any hot cross buns in any cafes yet this year. Anyone spotted any yet?


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Newsurf Sands Cafe

Newgale, Pembrokeshire, Wales, SA62 6AS.   01437 729222   (View on map)

This photo shows you about half of Newgale beach. It's a big beach.

I have decided to start this post with a lovely photo of the seaside, just to make those of you not near the sea jealous. Though actually, all it seems to have done is make me sad I am no longer near the sea. Newgale is a great big beach that is good for surfing (so I hear, never been surfing) and comes with the added bonus of a cafe.

The cafe was warm and light with windows on three sides to give you the best view of the sky. There are big banks of stones at the edge of the beach so we couldn’t see the sea from where we were, but the sky had that quality that sky only gets near the sea so it still felt special.

Tea and hot chocolate at Newsurf Sands Cafe.

We had gone for tea and lunch, but when we spotted the cake counter decided that we should probably test the cake as well. To begin with, we just had lunch and hot drinks. I went for the brie and bacon toasted sandwich with a pot of Teapigs ‘everday brew’. B went for the chicken red pesto sandwich and hot chocolate. EA had the scrambled egg with toast.

The sandwiches were very good, thick and full of filling and with nice leaves on the side. I am partial to a brie and bacon sandwich and this has to be one of the best. The tea was a nice blend and there was lots in the pot so I was happy. B said that her sandwich was also very good and EA ate all of the scrambled egg with toast so we can assume that was good too.

Sandwiches with leaves and tortilla chips on the side and a portion of scrambled egg with toast on the side.

There were a few good looking cakes in the chiller cabinet but we eventually decided on a chocolate brownie for me and a vanilla sponge for B. When ordering, I was asked if I wanted the brownie warmed – I did. It was hot and chocolatey and just the right size. B’s vanilla cake was light and not too sweet and EA enjoyed it as well.

EA is not quite big enough to use a fork yet so ate the cake by hand and seemed to enjoy it all the more for doing so. I wonder how much we miss about the texture of a cake by eating it with a fork? Perhaps all of my reviews of cake from now on should include me trying to pick it up with my fingers and seeing what happens? Does food taste different if you have felt it first? Does food designed to be eaten with your fingers – chips, biscuits, chocolate, pasties – taste extra good in the first place? Or taste extra good because you’ve felt it? I imagine it’s probably because there’s more fat in it in order to make it solid enough to pick up, but I’d like to do a blind taste test with forks versus fingers to be sure.

Vanilla cake and warmed chocolate brownie. I especially liked the icing sugar dusting.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but it was Teapigs tea.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £2 for a big pot of tea, £2.60 for hot chocolate, £4.75 for sandwiches, £3.90 for scrambled egg on toast, £3 for cake, £2 for brownie.
Cake? Cake, sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, brownies, burgers, milkshakes, ice cream, breakfast, salads.
Go again? Yes – there was tea in a pot, melted cheese, good cake and the sea. What’s not to love?

 


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Palmers Cafe

Reading Museum, The Town Hall, Blagrave Street, Reading, RG1 1QH.   (View on map)

Fun tea related museum objects in Palmers Cafe - note the stuff on the wall as well as the amazingly brilliant Tea Tricycle.

There used to be a cafe inside Reading Musuem called ‘The Biscuit Tin’ that I always meant to post about but never got round to. I realised I’d missed my chance when they put up a sign saying it was closing and a new one would be opening, but I have managed to go and visit the new one, so perhaps all is forgiven. In keeping with the biscuit theme (Reading was the home of the famous Huntley & Palmers biscuit company) the new cafe is called ‘Palmers Cafe‘.

The new Palmers Cafe has the same food ordering and serving area, but a new seating area has been created in what used to be the area for temporary exhibitions. It’s really welcoming and friendly and makes you feel like the café is more a part of the museum than the old café. I liked it a lot.

I asked for two teas, the man serving asked if we wanted ‘tea for two’ instead. We said yes, but then a tiny teapot was put on the tray. When I questioned that this was meant to be tea for two, he explained he meant one pot between two as you can get over a cup each out of the pot. I was a bit confused and was also thinking that one cup each wasn’t enough, but agreed anyway. It turned out that he was being immensely helpful, as we hadn’t realised that the museum and therefore the café was due to shut in 15 minutes so just over a cup each was all that was really needed or we had time for.

The pot of tea for one for two at Palmers Cafe.

We spent a happy 15 minutes drinking the tea, chatting about whether or not ‘Palmers Cafe’ needed an apostrophe and looking at the Tea Tricycle.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.50 for a pot of tea.
Cake? Cake, traybakes, ice cream and – on the day we went – posset. I’m not sure what posset is, but I love that they sell it. If you want hot food you can get it between 12 noon and 2pm. They have sandwiches and snacks 10am – 3pm.
Go again? Definitely. The tea is very reasonably priced and the atmosphere in the seating area was very peaceful. They also had a mix of seating which I like in a cafe – sofas, armchairs or chairs. And where else are you going to see a Tea Tricycle?