Shelly's Tea Room, Chilham

A distinctly chilly day suggested a visit to Chilham for this month's teatime adventure.  Chilham is a delightful little village arranged around a small market square and has been used as a location for films and television including the author's favourites, 'Poirot' and 'Miss Marple'.  My companion and I parked at the free car park at the bottom of the village and tottered up the hill to bolster our appetite for the tea.  We then took a turn around the church (nice to see if left open for visitors) and the remarkably well-stocked gift shop before turning our attention to 'Shelly's Tea Room'.

Shelly's Tea Room is housed in an old building on the square, with leaded light windows and a nice feature chimney breast.  It felt warm and welcoming and there was a well chosen CD of light jazz music playing which aided the atmosphere.  My companion and I selected a table with a view out onto the square and surveyed the menu.

Unfortunately it transpired from the menu that an Afternoon Tea, comprising sandwiches, scones and cake, had to be booked in advance and having failed to be aware of this,  we both settled on a Cream Tea.  The tea was brought quickly and served in tea bags in aluminium tea pots with plain white china crockery.  My companion chose Assam tea and I chose what was described as 'ordinary' tea.  They were both perfectly pleasant.  The friendly waitress informed us that a new batch of scones was just emerging from the oven and there would be a wait of 2 - 3 minutes.

A number of cakes were also on offer, and I had espoused the idea that I might follow my cream tea with a slice of cake.  (The chilly afternoon and the light canter around Chilham had obviously aroused my appetite!)  The cakes on offer were:  Victoria Sponge, chocolate, country carrot (not quite sure how this is different from an urban carrot?!), fruit, lemon sponge, cappuccino plus flapjacks and teacakes.

However, when the cream tea arrived I quickly rejected my notions of cake consumption as before me sat quite the largest fruit scones I have ever seen!  They were indeed very warm and delightfully irregular in the best traditions of home-made produce.  In accompaniment was a dish of butter and of strawberry jam, and a generous dollop of clotted cream.  The scones were very tasty, and I cannot fault the jam and cream, but despite washing them down with several cups of tea and pausing to eavesdrop for a while on the most interesting discourse of other customers (another lamentable but irresistible failing of your author!) I must confess that I was defeated and had to leave half a scone uneaten.

The toilet facilities are located upstairs, where there is only one loo, but it was clean and functional.

Suitably engorged, my companion and I staggered slowly down the hill back to the car and enjoyed a leisurely drive through the glorious Kent countryside back home.

www.shellystearooms.com

Oad Street Craft Centre, Borden, Sittingbourne

Spurning invitations to watch the testosterone feast of a Six-Nations rugby match, my teatime companion (also a rugby widow) and I sallied forth accompanied by a delightful young couple to sample the offerings of the tearoom at Oad Street Craft Centre.  The craft centre comprises a shop and smaller galleries, featuring artwork, an extensive array of candles, silk flowers, gift items and some gorgeous glassware and so there is plenty of very pleasant browsing, or even shopping, to do before or after the tea.



The tearoom was not overly busy, and we chose a table and were quickly attended to.
The afternoon tea menu (served between 2pm & 5pm) lists every possible permutation of tea, sandwiches, scones and cake.  The heinous possibility of wanting coffee instead was not even entertained!  This brilliantly removes the problem of wanting only one scone or only scones and sandwiches and no cake, for instance; and for those like me, keen to sample a little of everything, there is the option of half a sandwich, one scone, and half a slice of cake.  The sandwich fillings available were: cucumber & cream cheese, egg or egg mayonnaise, cheese, ham, beef, or for a small supplement - salmon; served on a choice of brown or white bread.  Fruit or plain scones were offered with homemade jam, with or without cream, and there was a dazzling array of cakes on display including: apricot & almond, lemon & almond, date & walnut, Victoria sponge, lemon, treacle tart, chocolate & orange and Bakewell tart.

We all chose differently.  I chose a half salmon sandwich, followed by plain scone with jam & cream and followed by a half slice of cake.  Our young couple both chose sandwiches (egg mayonnaise and ham respectively) and a scone with jam & cream.  The sandwiches were all quite muscular - with good sized chunks of ham, and lovely fresh salmon.  The scones were served warm - always a bonus, and the strawberry jam had a nice consistency and taste.  The cream was light and airy.  Sandwiches and scones dealt with, my other companion and I surveyed the cake selection in awe.  This was indeed homemade cake heaven with so many scrumptious looking offerings.  There were also a number of gluten-free cakes available.  In the end we were both seduced by almonds - I opted for the apricot & almond cake and she chose the lemon & almond.  I am happy to report that they were indeed a feast for the tastebuds as well as the eyes - perfectly moist and full of flavour.  The tea was a suitably pleasant loose-leaf blend.

Everything was served with clean white crockery on green patterned tablecloths that really have now seen better days.  The toilet facilities were clean and functional.

Our little party enjoyed a tour of the gallery and shop, allowing our ample teas to settle before returning to discover the fortunes of the home team.

The Moat Tea Rooms, Canterbury

The first tea-room visit of the new year was to the delightful Moat Tea Rooms in Canterbury.  I have visited this tea room before on a few occasions after going to Sunday Evensong at nearby Canterbury Cathedral, but these have always been in the summer months.  In contrast, yesterday was a perfect winter's day - probably the only perfect winter's day this dreadfully wet season - it was cold, clear and very sunny.  My companion and I arrived there at about 2pm.

The tea room is housed in a two storey building dating back to the fifteenth century.  There is a lovely bow window in which the day's cake selection is temptingly displayed.  We were greeted in friendly fashion and chose a table upstairs in the wood-panelled front room.  The walls are painted a rich heritage red and complemented by Rennie Mackintosh design curtains (particularly appreciated by your blogger!) and red & white spotted tablecloths. The atmosphere is warm and muted, and although I am pleased to say that the tea room was full, the noise level was quiet.

The menu features an astonishing number of teas with several varieties of black, white, green, herbal and fruit infusions as well as coffees.  My companion chose Pu Ehr - a Chinese black tea with a good, strong flavour but no dryness.  I opted for the house blend of Assam and Ceylon which was very refreshing.

The tea room offers a cream tea; a special cream tea which includes sandwiches, scones & cake; and a champagne cream tea (as above with the addition of champagne.)  There were also a number of very attractive homemade cakes:  lemon, chocolate, victoria sponge, coffee & walnut, madeleine and carrot.

I chose a slice of lemon cake which had a nice tangy lemon icing and a lemon curd filling.  The sponge was light and the slice was large but not overwhelming.  My companion chose a cream tea.  This comprised a fruit scone and a plain one - both served warm; together with strawberry jam and clotted cream.  He reported great satisfaction.  It was all served on pretty blue & white floral china.

I had imagined that the toilet facilities in such an old building might leave a little to be desired, but they have nice modern fittings and were absolutely pristine.

All in all, a delightful start to my teatime adventures!

www.moattearooms.co.uk