Café Liberty

This month’s scone blog features a couple of fabulous cafes in London as well as a day trip to York, where I managed to fit in two scone tastings including a visit to the legendary Betty’s. I’ll start with my visit to Liberty, one of London’s top department stores, with it’s beautiful Tudor-revival architecture. Although famous for its luxury goods, the café hidden away on the second floor is less well known, to be honest the signage could be better as if I hadn’t looked on their website before I left home I don’t think I ever would have found it, but that being said it is definitely worth checking out. I ordered a cream tea which consisted of two scones and included a coffee or a pot of tea of one’s choice (I had Darjeeling), for £10.95. The two scones arrived warm, one plain and one fruit, which is always a welcome combination. The scones were very large with the winning combination of being firm on the outside but with a soft interior. Both had been glazed with a some sugar on the top which gave them a delicious extra crunchiness and added sweetness. They were accompanied with two small bowls, one filled with strawberry jam and the other clotted cream and both containing generous portions. For me what made this café special and stand out was the presentation with its pretty crockery with striking floral patterns, which optimised Liberty’s  iconic prints, and the small, cute milk bottle.

Café Liberty

The café has recently been refurbished and is in a contemporary style. However it has managed to retain the store’s arts and crafts feel with its wooden tables and chairs and the Liberty prints and plates on the walls. The café is quite small and the tables are quite close together. Please note as it does not take reservations, so at busy times one might have to wait, however when I arrived on a busy Sunday afternoon there was a small queue but service was efficient and my wait for a table wasn’t too long. The service throughout was consistently good. Café Liberty is a nice choice if you are looking for  a very pleasant department store style café in the Oxford Circus area.

Ratings:  Scones: 2,   Accompaniments: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 2, Overall:  8/11

Treasurer’s House, York

Earlier this month I had a day trip to York, which is one of my favourite cities, it always reminds me of a miniature version of London, with its amazing history there is lots of things to see and do plus there is a wonderful selection of tea rooms and pubs. The York Minster is one of the finest cathedrals in Europe and just a couple of minutes walk away is the Treasurer’s House, a beautiful townhouse dating from the medieval period. The house is owned by the National Trust and in the basement there is the Below Stairs Café, which you can visit without paying the entry charge. The café is spacious and the staff very warm and welcoming. The café offers a choice of daily, home made, seasonal special scones. On the day I visited there was the choice of mature cheddar cheese or toffee apple as well their regular scones. The scones were great value at £2.10 each. I ordered a toffee apple scone, yes I am predictable! I had a short wait for my scones as it was put in the oven and served warm. OMG, the scone was amazing with the perfect texture with caramelised sugar on the top it had a crunchy exterior and was fluffy soft inside. There were pieces of apple and toffee in the scone and it had the most gorgeous  flavour. The scone was served with two packets of butter, usually I prefer my scones served with jam and clotted cream but in this instance it would have detracted from the wonderful flavours, so the accompaniments were just right. I also had ordered Yorkshire tea which came with an jug of hot water which cost £2.25. This was indeed one of my favourite scones this year.

Ratings:  Scones: 3,   Accompaniments: 1, Service: 2, Ambience: 2, Overall:  8/11

Bettys, York

Bettys is an iconic Yorkshire institution. It has six tea rooms in Yorkshire of which I have visited four, some several times, and it’s my 2015 New Year resolution to visit the other two. There are two branches in York and I visited the larger of the two in St Helen’s Square. When I think of the quintessential tea room Bettys always springs to mind as the perfect choice. There is usually a large queue outside but as I went mid week there was only a couple of people in front of me. When you arrive they ask if you want to wait to be seated on the ground floor. From personal experience and taste, I much prefer sitting in the basement with its beautiful wooden panelling and decorative glass panels. I sat downstairs and ordered a vegetarian afternoon tea which cost £18.75. I won’t say more about the tea itself here as I’m going to do a separate blog post about Bettys very soon. The sultana scone was served on a three tier cake stand, as part of the afternoon tea, and accompanied with good size portions of strawberry preserve and clotted cream. The scone which was large and delicious, was served cold. The texture was just right as it had a firm exterior and was soft inside. Service was exceptional throughout with waitresses wearing period costume. I particular I appreciated their thoughtfulness, as I was on my own, as they offered me a choice of a couple of tables and brought me a copy of Country Life to read and this made me feel really welcome. Bettys is one of my favourite tea rooms and I can’t recommend it highly enough and if you go don’t forget to look out for Bettys Mirror, which I will feature in a separate blog post.

Ratings:  Scones: 2,   Accompaniments: 2, Service: 3, Ambience: 3, Overall:  10/12

Maison Bertaux

With it’s distinctive blue and white canopy stating that it was established in 1871, Maison Bertaux the oldest patisserie in London was named after its founder Monsieur Bertaux. It is also one of my favourite tea rooms and features on my London Cake Walk as it epitomises a French patisserie for me with a display of beautiful cakes which are almost too pretty to eat. Usually when I visit my scone quest is quickly forgotten when I see the  amazing window display of sumptuous cakes. However this time I stayed firm in my resolve and order a scone.

Maison Bertaux

The fruit scone arrived served cold and it was humongous. It tasted delicious, had the perfect texture and was accompanied with very generous portions of strawberry jam and clotted cream. In fact despite the large size of the scone, there was more than enough clotted cream that in what I think is an all time first for me I LEFT some of the cream! I also order a pot of their loose leaf house tea which came accompanied with a pot of hot water. I had forgotten to make a note of the costs but I think the scone and tea came to about £6 all together. The tea rooms are now owned by two sisters and I was delighted when I visited to meet Michele, who started out working there as a Saturday girl in the 1960s. All the delicious cakes are baked on the premises in the upstairs kitchen. I love the ambiance of Maison Bertaux with its small contemporary art gallery and bohemian feel, it’s a welcoming, relaxing and a very unique place to visit so if you haven’t been go soon as you won’t be disappointed with their scones and cakes!

Ratings:  Scones: 2,   Accompaniments: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 3, Overall:  9/11

Until next time…

If you enjoyed this blog you might like to read about Scones of the Year 2013 or other editions of Scones of the Month.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of London and City of Westminster Tour Guide who leads guided walks combining world famous landmarks with hidden treasures often missed by the crowds 

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