The Tea Rooms in Walton-on-the-naze has closed. There are a couple of other places to enjoy tea and a cake but yet to try them.

M

They have decorated it nicely and is a little twee but fun. You can enter and walk past the take out counter and head towards to back if you wish to sit down and eat in. Head up to the counter order, pay and sit down is the routine.

They are serving cold foods only but promise hot food is on the way. There were 10 varieties of sandwiches/baguettes and 9 varieties of cakes plus some daily specials. There are also ploughmans, salads and ‘little cherries’ meals for younger children. If you have a desire for dessert then there are a few to choose from.

Drinkwise there is a wide selection of hot and cold drinks including beetroot juice which I didn’t go for. I enjoyed a Coronation Chicken baguette and Lemon Drizzle cake. Service was a little slow but the food was delicious and worth waiting for plus it is early days. I wish them luck.

Matt

This brand new tea shop had only been up and running for two weeks when we visited – it has an excellent menu, with a mix of traditional and modern food. Loose-leaf tea was served in a pot with lovely old china crockery; the furniture’s a very nice higgledy-piggledy mix of chairs and tables. We tried open smoked salmon sandwiches, which were fantastic – with generous portion sizes. So good we came back later and tried their home-made coffee cake and lemonade – which was also very good! Also on the menu – though we didn’t try them – are more modern offerings like mozzarella ciabatta paninis, as well cooked breakfasts. They serve cream teas, and have a choice of plain or sultana scones, though they’d run out by 3pm on a Saturday. As the name suggests, it’s by the canal – there’s outdoor seating, but no parasols so it can get quite hot on a sunny day. One small gripe was the time it took to get served, though as it’s early days for the business, I’m happy to give them a free pass – doubtless they’ll improve as the staff get into the swing of things. We’ll definitely be going again!

Address of Tea Shop The Stone Building The Wharf Newbury West Berkshire RG14 5AS

Thanks Stephen!

The Essex Chronicle Food and Drink Awards have placed both of them in the Top 3 for best Tea Shop. You can find out more at http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/efda09publicvoting.html

I know that both Tea Shops know each other and there was even talk of Jon from Writtle Tea Rooms having a quick drink in Tiffanys recently (checking out the competition I reckon).

Best of luck to both of them. 8th October 2009 is the date we all find out.

UPDATE: Unfortunately neither of these Chelmsford Tea Rooms won. It went to a Stop The World in Leigh On Sea – http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/efda09winners09.html

There are a few places to choose from but this seemed pretty quiet. Friendly staff and magazines and papers to read added to the enjoyment.

They are at 2 Cumberland Street

If you visit Looe, and it is recommended, make sure you pop into Larssons or order a takeaway coffee as it must be tough to make money down there sometimes.

Make sure you tell them about the website! Their website is www.larssonscoffeehouse.com

M

It was a lovely tea shop hidden away from the madding crowds which descend on the small fishing port in Spring/Summer.

It’s loss has made Padstow a poorer place – M

Making my regular visit to Ribchester I was greeted by a lovely surprise, a newly opened Tea Rooms in the heart of this Roman village.Just what the village needed I thought.I was not prepared however for the surprise inside, Sara the owner has combined her lifelong love of Tea Shops with her own award winning Gift Shop expertise to provide a real gem.
The ground floor is largely given over to the Tea Room, an area where you instantly feel at home and want to spend a lazy afternoon.The menu I was told will be updated on a regular basis, however on this initial visit I chose a mouth watering carrot cake combined with a beautiful pot of tea served in the most amazingly designed crockery (Sara please offer this to your customers as they would make lovely gifts!). Talking of gifts the first floor offers a wide range of gifts to suit every taste from mirrors, prints and furniture to unusual jewellery and items to suit children of all ages.
The visit was rounded off in the peaceful rear garden enjoying a delicious ice cream (from a local farm) which was too good to miss and that sums up the whole experience of The Carmen Rose.

These delightfully tasteful tea rooms in the South Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park  near Kendal provide a cosy and welcoming atmosphere. Serving a very wide range of specialist single estate teas, along with cakes, snacks, meals and bakes all made in-house. Their home-made scones are also the best many people have had the delight to sample. Also, what a wonderful selection of frozen take-out soups, meals and deserts they have available. This is a lovely ‘must visit’ establishment.

Their website is http://www.thesedberghcafe.com.

It is great to receive these reviews so if you have one please send it my way – topteashops@gmail.com

M

I went for my birthday in August and enjoyed some time outside on a table only to move inside when the wasps got too interested in my ciabatta and did not want them to even touch my carrot cake.

A wide array of food available in a warm and cosy environment. I have only been the once but got the feeling they are busy most of the time. Get their early in the day to avoid disappointment as they close at 5pm in the summer and earlier in winter.