Since PB and I share a HUGGGEEEE love of cream teas we're going to start sampling a new tea shop each week and posting a review. We bought a little guide to tea shops all over England in Woodstock over the weekend. I was going to post this yesterday (hence the title) but I kind of misplaced my camera cord, so I had to find it! Our first review is of a teashop in Stratford Upon Avon called Hathaway Tea Room.
Hathaway Tea Room
We really went to Stratford simply to go to our favorite tea shop we've found- Crabtree & Evelyn's tea room. I've blogged about that tea shop before in my last blog. It's amazing! However, when we got there they had a sign on the door saying they were closed because of an electrical fault. We wandered down the street and came across the Hathaway Tea Room. It looked cute on the outside so we decided to give it a whirl.
Talk about DISAPPOINTING! It was terrible. First of all, here was our tea service. The pots we usually have for tea are big enough for 2 cups each. This tiny pot only held about 2 cups total. Also it was very unattractive. Most tea rooms we've tried has served the tea in lovely porcelin pots and matching cups. These were very sub-par and not fun in the least.
Then there was the food portion. The jam was pre-packaged, the butter was pre-packaged and they did not even serve clotted cream. Instead, they gave us whipped cream! It is a British tradition that CLOTTED cream is served with scones. Normally they serve the jam and clotted cream in small bowls on the side, which add to the ambiance. The scones were very dry and cold. The scones at every other tea shop we've tried have been warm and flavorful. I wondered if they had just taken two scones out of a package from the grocery store and put them on our plate.
The last thing that made this tea awful was the service (or lack there of.) There were about 3 girls serving and they were all surly and slow. One was efficient but she was the rudest of all. Our tea was supposed to include a piece of cake. It clearly said it on the menu and I saw the efficient rude server bring over the cake tray to the table next to ours and let them pick out pieces. Our server never even offered it to us! I was so annoyed that I refused to ask. Truth be told PB and I didn't want anything else to eat but it was the principle of it!
To top it all off it was expensive!
It was twice as much as this lovely tea we had Monday at Sonning Lock and the tea at Sonning Lock was SOOOOOO much nicer!
This tea shop was an absolute MISS. If you're in Stratford and want an amazing traditional English tea, I urge you to go to Crabtree & Evelyn's Tea Room. You will NOT regret it! Do not step one foot in to this awful place. We certainly never will again!
Stay tuned for another review next week!
(Also, feel free to send suggestions if you have favorite tea shops in England!)
Posted in: Life,Loves,Tea
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