April's teatime adventure saw us heading over to the far west of the lovely county of Kent, to the Spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. In fact when we set off, we were in search of a tearoom but unusually we hadn't selected one first. The occasion was a visit to my brother who has Down's Syndrome and lives in a beautiful residential home in Tonbridge, the town where we both grew up. I have fond memories of Tonbridge, the castle and grounds are really lovely open green spaces and the old bridge is a very attractive feature. In fact, many years ago, my father won a photography competition with a picture of the bridge! Anyway, I digress..... these days, like so many places, Tonbridge has changed considerably and of course is home to all the usual chain stores. A drive through the town centre didn't suggest any very likely prospects for afternoon tea, and so we continued on the road to Tunbridge Wells.
My first job was in Tunbridge Wells, as a lowly music secretary in a regional arts association, and it was always a great place for shopping and eating. These days, probably even more so.....there are plentiful establishments offering all sorts of cuisines and some very delightful-looking afternoon tea rooms, which I took note of for future visits. However, with my brother in tow, and it being quite a warm and sunny day, we passed them all and headed on down to the Pantiles where there is a proliferation of cafes and coffee houses all with tables outside. Here we found 'The Cake Shed'.
The whole area was very busy, but my brother and I settled ourselves at a nice wooden table outside, and sent hubby and younger son inside to make our choices for us. Therefore unfortunately dear reader, I am unable on this occasion to furnish you with details of all the available cakes as of course, this went un-noted. I can report that the choices made for us were an orange and polenta cake for me; a Victoria sponge for brother; a Guinness & chocolate cake for younger son and a pistachio and something cake for hubby - we never did find out what the something was!
My orange and polenta cake was delicious - very moist and well flavoured. Son was delighted with his Guinness & chocolate cake - what an inspired combination to tempt the gentlemen! And hubby enjoyed his pistachio and something cake, which definitely won the prize for the prettiest creation. Although brother ate up all his Victoria sponge (he is not known for leaving anything on his plate whatever the contents), to me it seemed quite dry and a bit disappointing.
The tea was served in attractively coloured pots and cups, with the milk in little baby milk bottles - very charming! The service was prompt and efficient.
Once tea was consumed, brother sees no reason for continuing to sit and soak up the atmosphere, and so our teatime adventure was rather on the shorter side than we are used to. However, before we left, a visit was made to the facilities. These are housed downstairs at the back and were perfectly adequate if not enhanced by decorative features. However, the room through which the toilets were accessed was a revelation. It was equipped with low sofas and chairs and decorated in a Moroccan style. I could imagine that taking a leisurely tea there with girlfriends on a winter's afternoon would be hugely delightful!
And so concludes April's adventure - somewhat brief, but with interesting features and plenty to note for future occasions!
Mothering Sunday and a perfect opportunity for a teatime adventure! One that I was able to hint at heavily when having to drive 15 miles to take my son a spare set of car keys when he had lost his on a stony beach!! And so, the four of us - hubby and two strapping great teenage sons - set off for Wateringbury. They had done me proud as they had sought out this tearoom and booked afternoon tea there all on their own, and it was all kept as a surprise!
The tearoom sits on the crossroads at Wateringbury and parking is conveniently available at the village hall opposite. The tearoom is a quaint affair, stuffed with collectibles, and with charming hand-written notices. The accommodation is on the ground floor and basement where we were led to our table amongst the myriad trinkets, pictures, and pottery for sale. Hubby even noted that his chair was available to buy - we earnestly hoped that nobody took a fancy to it whilst he was sitting on it!
The afternoon set tea for Mothering Sunday was strawberry themed and we were each presented with a glass of pink sparkling cordial to start, a rather nice touch! As one son didn't care for the cordial I was presented with two to drink, and here I got the whiff of testosterone that was to flavour the proceedings. Having sipped one glass of cordial, I picked up the second and was greeted with the chant 'Get it down, you Zulu warrior' and the incitement to down the glass in one go. Naturally, I ignored this wholly inappropriate behaviour and continued to sip delicately.
The table was then laden with two cake stands replete with sandwiches, scones & little cakes and two pots of looseleaf houseblend tea. All the crockery was pretty and individual and absolutely none of it matched, which I always find rather delightful. A pot of hot water was the only thing missing.
The waitress told us that the finger sandwiches comprised smoked salmon & creme fraiche, cheese & chutney, cream cheese & cucumber and turkey with cranberry. By the time I had taken in this information and pondered which one to start with, I was appalled to see that most of the sandwiches had already disappeared and I had to quickly assert my intention to sample one of each before they all went. When I asked number two son which sandwich he had just eaten, his reply was 'I scoffed it so quickly I didn't notice what the protein bit was'! The sandwich plate was prettily garnished with salad leaves which hubby was nibbling on when number one son remarked 'Oh look, dad's eating the scenery!'
In due course I proceeded to the scone. It was a tiny affair, but warm and light and accompanied by butter, strawberry jam and cream. And in fact, in the context of an afternoon tea, the size of scone was perfectly adequate in my eyes at least. The cakes comprised a chocolate cupcake, a square of Victoria sponge decorated with half a strawberry and a strawberry macaroon. They were really all delicious. I'm not usually a fan of cupcakes as they tend to be overly sweet, but the cake mixture in this one erred on the bitter side of very chocolatey and so the sweet icing complemented it well.
An attempt was made at genteel chatter, but after a rather limp opening remark of 'very changeable weather we're having lately', I'm sorry to say that it quickly gave way to male banter, although I was thoroughly heartened to discover that both my sons appreciate the usefulness of cushions - a subject which completely confounds poor hubby.
The facilities are again rather interesting with a vintage toilet and wash basin - well worth a visit whether needed or not.
I was very pleased with my teatime adventure this month - lovely that my family were prepared to indulge in this quaint pastime even if, for them, the food hardly touched the sides. And after such a selfless gesture on their part, I would certainly not submit them to another one for a good long while!
Surveying the long bleak days of winter, hubby & I fancied treating ourselves to a couple of days away in the delightful little town of Rye on the Sussex coast. The town was home to the novelist EF Benson, who wrote the Mapp & Lucia novels which were recently televised, but have long been favourite reading in our household. We were recommended the wonderful Jeakes House hotel in Mermaid Street for our stay. This is a gorgeous Regency house, sumptuously decorated and home to an 1860s Broadwood piano which I was permitted to run my fingers over on several occasions during our stay much to the owner's delight!
The cobbled streets and half timbered buildings of the town make an ideal location for genteel pottering with a proliferation of antique shops and a number of coffee shops, but only a couple that advertise themselves as tea shops. Of these, the one that beckoned to us was Fletcher's House in Lion Street, adjacent to St Mary's Church. It was once home to John Fletcher, a Jacobean dramatist and has been a tea room since 1932.
The building itself is most attractive with oak paneling, a beamed ceiling and a glowing log fire. Dark wood country style tables and chairs are housed in two adjoining rooms. We were welcomed and shown to a table in the window and opposite the fire.
Perusing the menu, which offers a range of light lunches as well as afternoon tea options, I selected the 'Fletcher's Set Tea' comprising a choice of sandwich (egg & cress, smoked salmon & cucumber, or ham & mustard); a fruit scone with jam & cream and a choice of cake (bread pudding, chocolate fudge, lemon & blackberry tart, carrot cake, gluten free chocolate cake, lemon tart, coffee & walnut, victoria sponge, apple & blackcurrant crumble cake). The set tea comes served on an attractive cake stand, and is complimented by the stylish, plain white crockery.
We chose a pot of the house blend tea which came with a jug of hot water. (An unfortunate error was just averted when hubby mistook the jug of milk for the jug of hot water - they were identical jugs - and nearly topped up our pot with the wrong liquid!). I also noticed that hubby employed an interesting circular pouring motion which he asserted made a great improvement to the taste. I enquired if it mattered whether the motion was clockwise or anti-clockwise, and he embarked on a rather exploratory discourse about the origin of the tea affecting the required motion (invoking plugholes and the equator), at which point I promptly considered the whole thing complete invention on his part!
After an ample full English hotel breakfast, hubby could only manage a slice of bread pudding - although he did later help me out with half a scone! His bread pudding was served warm - you could see the steam rising from it - and he was really impressed with it.
My egg & cress sandwich was very tasty with large chunks of egg and plenty of cress. The fruit scone was large and served warm, with good strawberry jam and clotted cream. I then selected the lemon & blackberry tart which was absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the blackberry was superbly contrasted with the sharpness of the lemon, and all encased in a delicate pastry case.
A visit to the toilet upstairs revealed an adequate facility, but pleasurably housed behind an elaborately decorated door!
Just as we were concluding yet another delightful teatime adventure, we were surprised by the arrival of a friend who was also visiting Rye and happened to spot us through the window! What a small world, as they say!
It is a curious thing, that whilst I often search out tearooms on the internet, or through adverts in magazines etc, there are some little gems that just seem to sail serenely along under the radar. Such is the case with the first teatime adventure of 2015. Hilltop was brought to my attention by a friend of a friend who hadn't actually visited herself but had heard about it. Located in East Malling, a mere 5 minutes drive away from the home of beloved duo partner, a visit was quickly arranged.
The tearoom is well signed from the road between East Malling and Wateringbury, and is located in an attractive barn-type building. Inside the tables are mostly set out for groups of two or four, with the addition of a couple of sofas and a lovely old Singer sewing machine on display. The walls have some work by local artists for sale and I always enjoy playing the game of 'which one would you take home?' Interestingly partner and I both agreed on a gentle slightly abstract pastoral scene although some discussion took place as to whether it would be worth spending the money as possibly we could just achieve the same effect ourselves. Not, of course, that we ever would! The tearoom ambience was further enhanced by some gentle classical music and the quiet chatter of ladies at lunch or tea.
My companion had booked us a table for afternoon tea and when we arrived we were greeted warmly and shown to a table that was already set out for us with pretty crockery. The tables were covered with soft green fabric tablecloths over which was placed a covering of transparent plastic - a very practical solution and somehow much nicer than plasticised cloths.
We were given a choice of looseleaf teas - I'm sure, dear reader, you will know that I chose Assam, and my companion chose Darjeeling. And we were then asked whether we would prefer plain or fruit scones - we both chose plain.
The finger sandwiches were served, attractively garnished with some fresh salad, and comprised cheddar & cream cheese, egg & cress, fish pate, smoked salmon. They were all delicious and just the right size. More sandwiches could be ordered if desired, but we were keen to pace ourselves and declined.
The scones then arrived in a little basket and I was very happy to note that there were just two - one each. This is so much more manageable than the customary two each. They were warm and came with homemade jam and fresh thick cream. The teapots were regularly topped up and we progressed very nicely, in fact we progressed so nicely that I kept forgetting to take photos and you will see that in all the following shots, I have already taken a bite or two before whipping out the camera!
Scones finished, we then perused the lovely cake display - Victoria sponge, chocolate cake, lemon drizzle, fruit cake, coffee & walnut, ginger. After some deliberation I chose the chocolate cake and my companion chose the ginger. The slices were generous without being onerous, and the chocolate cake was moist and dark with a rich chocolate cream filling that was not too sweet. The ginger cake was also delicious (I was offered a taste!) and contained little pieces of stem ginger, topped with icing.
A visit to the facilities did not disappoint - a disabled toilet and a unisex toilet, clean and fresh with some fragrant liquid soap.
We concluded our teatime adventure with a visit to the adjacent little shop, selling various jams & chutneys made on the premises, and little craft items. Here it is also possible to order a whole cake to take home. And we gently made our way back to the car feeling satisfied and content but not full to the brim, which was all the better. Thank you to friend of friend who recommended this tearoom - the bar has been set very high for the rest of 2015!
http://www.tea-at-hilltop.co.uk/
