Chatsworth Farm Shop Cafe - Pilsley

Chatsworth Farm Shop Cafe on the Chatsorth Estate in Pilsley, Derbyshire is situated on the historical estate belonging to Chatsworth House, of course famous for where Pride and Prejudice was filmed (both the TV and film adaptation).

The cafe is situated in the converted stable block to the rear of the farm shop and there is ample free parking. It is a lovely conversion which makes a feature of the original beams. It is very light and airy as there are full length windows along one side which offer panoramic views across the surrounding countryside (which is fantastic!).

There were plenty of tables, although having been here previously it can tend to be very busy during peak times. Tables are also available outside for the warmer weather. There is a greeter at the door to show people to their tables which is a nice touch, however be wary that there may be a queue at busy times which may involve waiting outside.

The food is well worth the wait both in quanitity, quality and price, we sampled one of the Chef's Specials which was delicious but didn't stay hot for long mainly because the plates were not warm! we also were served a generous pot of tea plus extra hot water which provided plenty of the 'cup that cheers'.

We sampled:

• Tea
• Giant Yorshire Pudding, filled with leak, chicken and bacon, served with baby new potatoes and vegetables.

Our teacup rating for the Chatsworth Farm Shop Cafe is 4 out of 5.

Bettys Tea Rooms - Harrogate

Bettys Tea Rooms in Harrogate is the Mother of all tea rooms and every tea lover should at least step in once for the experience.

You must be wary that there is more than likely going to be a queue to get into the tea rooms, so for this reason we came up with a plan to go at around 4pm when amazingly there was only 1 person in front of us.

You are greeted by a lovely waiter who gives you a menu to look at while you wait and recommends the favourite dish of the day, in this case it was strawberry cream tea. He also asks you where you want to sit in either the Continental Cafe or the Tea Rooms, we chose the Tea Rooms. The decor in the Tea Rooms is wonderful and has the old world victorian quality and is very atmospheric. The only thing I thought was that the tables were a touch too close together when people were at the table next to us.

The service was fantastic and quick and wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be (however it is not cheap). I was a touch disappointed that the hot chocolate that was supposed to have whipped cream on it which wasn't there and my fat rascal (massive scone) was not warm as the menu had stated, apart from that we thought Bett's was top notch and well worth a look in, if not for anything else but the experience, and you can see why people queue outside to visit and take tea there.

We sampled:

• Hot Chocolate
• Yorkshire Cream Tea (Tea with two scones, jam and clotted cream)
• Yorkshire fat rascal

Our teacup rating for Betty's Tea Rooms is 5 out of 5.

Le jardin & petit bistro - Harrogate

Le jardin & petit bistro is based in the lovely spa town of Harrogate, and is situated down to the left side of Betty's Tearooms.

It comprises of two floors (the floor you walk in on was Le jardin and then the bistro is situated below), and is true to it's name and decorated like a garden complete with gnomes, flowers and fairy lights. Decor wise it looked a bit tired and could do with a revamp to be made to look fantastically beautiful!

We stepped into Le jardin for some lunch, the prices are slightly high for your portions, but this is what you would expect for a spa town. The service was fine, and the food came quite quick and tasted nice. We had a Caesar chicken salad and a tuna mayonnaise sandwich. The Caesar salad was accompanied with two decent wedges of french bread, and the sandwich was accompanied by a reasonable sized side salad, and the filling was decent.

Le jardin is a good option for a spot of lunch, but doesn't give you the rustic Yorkshire charm that you may desire.

We sampled:

• Coffee Mocha
• Soft Drink
• Chicken Caesar Salad
• Tuna Mayonnaise Sandwich

Our teacup rating for Le jardin is 3 out of 5.

Tea and Tipple - Corbridge

Tea and Tipple is based in the delightful town of Corbridge in Northumberland.

We stepped into Tea and Tipple for a spot of lunch on our trip to Corbridge, and picked ourselves a lovely window seat. It's a lovely modern clean decor, with rustic tables and a couple of couches to sit back and relax while reading the paper.

The service was quick and drinks were served first prior to food, but the food did not take long to come and you could see it being made behind the counter so you knew it was fresh.

The quality of food and portion sizes were excellent, with locally sought produce such as Northumberland cheeses and pate as well as fresh bread. What we thought would be a basic salad and sandwich were actually very filling meals, the salad was big with delicious cheese, pate, bread, and thick slices of ham with salad. The tuna mayonnaise sandwich was bursting with filling on lovely thick bread and accompanied with side salad.

It is defintely worth paying a visit to this tearoom as it is definitely value for money you can also follow them on their blog here.

We sampled:

• Coffee Mocha
• Soft drink
• Nothumberland Cheese and Chutney Salad
• Tuna Mayonnaise Sandwich

Our teacup rating for Tea and Tipple is 5 out 5.

Oasis Cafe - Holy Island

Oasis Cafe is the first cafe on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), it is situated just past the first carpark on the island. It doesn't look much from the outside, as it looks like a big shack, on the inside it's decorated in lots of historical island photos and beachcombing finds and is very charming decor, possibly you could class the cafe as cheap and cheerful. It's perfectly situated if you have had a bit of a journey and need a refresh with a hot drink and of course a toilet stop prior to exploring the gorgeous island.

The tea you get is a small pot of tea, but you also get a small pot of hot water (very important for tea lovers to get the last bit out of the teabag) so this makes it go a bit further. They have a wide variety of homemade cakes and biscuits which are reasonably priced, and also do hot food and sandwiches as well. However if you are looking for tradional and rustic with china teacups and lovely teapots this is not what you will get. What you do get is a nice little cafe with authentic decor, excellent location and reasonable prices considering you are in a tourist trap.


We sampled the following:

• Tea
• Coffee Mocha
• Chocolate Chip Shortbread
• Fruit Cake

Our teacup rating for Oasis Cafe is 3 out of 5.

Welcome................

My love of coffee shops and tearooms has come from my Mam, who as far back as I can remember would always say when we were out and about "let's find a coffee shop". So over the years we have tried countless tearooms and coffee shops, which has has come with various ups and downs, the tea pots that dribble all over the table when pouring and of course the search for a good cheese scone!

This has led me to wanting to share these experiences with fellow tearoom lovers and also define them by a teacup rating out of a scale of 5.

I hope you like my blog and happy tearoom hunting!

x