To A Tea

This month's scone blog saw me making a return visit to To  A Tea. To my deep shame as a City Guide, I have to confess to only recently discovering this delightful tea emporium in the City of London but it has quickly become one of my favourite tearooms. They  offer a large selection of loose leaf teas and home made cakes ( I'd recommend their red velvet cake which is amazing) . However I thought it was time that I diverted my eyes from the counter groaning with cakes and reviewed their scones. The raisin scone was huge and arrived served warm. It was accompanied with a small individual jar of Lichfields strawberry jam and a pot of clotted cream. Both came in generous portions and the jam was very fruity.

To  A Tea

The scone had a good texture being firm on the outside with a soft interior and it was totally delicious. Their tea menu is vast and I was drawn to the curiously named Monkey Picked Oolong, which I discovered was indeed quite literally tea that had been picked by monkeys, so I ordered a pot, and it was a very good quality cup of tea. I loved that it was served in a teapot with a matching cup which had the cute To A Tea's logo on it.  The tearooms are in a contemporary style with some long communal tables but I like sitting in one of their comfy high back arm chairs. One of the things I most like here is the consistently great service and the  friendly and knowledgeable staff, who can guide you expertly through the tea menu. My tea and scone was good value at about £7. To A Tea is a great alternative to all the high street coffee shop chains in the City but please note it is only open Mondays to Fridays.

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

Bettys

Earlier this month I was on holiday in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and well quite frankly it would have been rude of me not to visit Bettys while I was there. In my February blog I had reviewed the Fat Rascals scones at their York tearooms and as I enjoyed them so much I decided to order it again. These extremely large and fruity scones have a cute face with cherries for its eyes and almonds for its teeth. The scone was served warm with butter. The scone was deliciously fruity with a crunchy exterior and soft inside. The scone cost £4.10. As per usual the service was faultless and the staff were welcoming and friendly.

Bettys

It was in Harrogate in 1919 that the first branch of Bettys opened and today there are six tearooms. Each branch has its own special features. The Harrogate tearooms overlook the pretty Montpellier Gardens, however I prefer to sit downstairs in the Spindler Gallery, named after the artist Charles Spindler whose work is displayed there.

Bettys

Spindler was from Alsace and he specialised in marquetry. In 1934 Fredrick Belmont, the founder of Bettys, commissioned him to make six large pictures of Yorkshire scenes for the Harrogate tearoom. These pictures and others are still on display here and today this is reputably the largest collection of Charles Spindler's artwork anywhere in the world. This makes it a unique and special venue to enjoy tea and scones.

Ratings:  Scones: 3,   Accompaniments: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 3, Overall:  10/11

 Soho Secret Tea Room

The Soho Secret Tea Room have been on my must do list for a while as whenever I've called in without a reservation previously it has always been fully booked, obviously it's no longer such a well kept secret! Therefore this time I booked in advanced and the other week Davide and I had afternoon tea there.  The tea room is located above the Coach and Horses pub and to add to the fun and quirkiness of it you have to go into the pub  and climb the stairs behind the bar to get to it. This vintage themed tea room is simply decorated. The afternoon tea costs £17.50 and is very good value. All the food is vegetarian and there is a traditional section of sandwiches consisting of cucumber, egg and cress and cream cheese and chives. Then there is a choice of scone, cupcake, a slice of cake and pot of tea.  The afternoon tea was beautifully presented on a three tier mismatched vintage cake stand. I had a chocolate cupcake and the largest slice of Victoria sponge cake ever. The sandwiches and cakes were all delicious.

Soho Secret Tea Room

However moving onto the scones. There was a choice of plain, fruit, ginger or cherry and almond scones. I chose the cherry and almond as they sounded most delicious and I was delighted with the enormous scone that greeted me on the cake stand. However as I started to cut it in half I noticed the scone was hard. I prepared it and took my first bite. I found it hard and unpalatable. It was really disappointing. Davide had ordered a plain scone and his too was hard. I called the waitress over, explained the problem and my scone was replaced. The second scone I had was a plain one. I had to wait a few minutes as they warmed it up and they replenished my clotted cream and blackcurrant jam. My replacement scone was delicious and had the proper texture with a firm outside and a soft interior. The portions of cream and jam were generous. I've given the scones a score of two as when I complained about the quality of the first scone it was quickly replaced and the second scone was delicious. Overall I really enjoyed the vintage themed afternoon tea there was a nice atmosphere, although noise levels were quite high at times, service was consistently good and the Victoria sponge was the highlight for me.

Ratings:  Scones: 2,   Accompaniments: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 2, Overall:  8/12

Until next time…

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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