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!
