Posts Tagged ‘afternoon tea’
March 26th, 2009
Betty’s Cafe Restaurant and Tea Room on St Helens Square has been open since 1936. Formerly a dilapidated furniture store, Frederick Belmont commissioned designers and craftsman to turn it into a sophisticated and elegant cafe for the people of York. The huge curved windows, elegant wood panelling and ornate mirrors are inspired by the Queen Mary liner’. The first floor Belmont Room according to their website is based on one of her state rooms.
I can remember visiting Betty’s as a lad, with my mum many years ago and even though I didn’t know it, something about the place being suitable for a queen obviously stuck. Even then, it’s reputation for the quality of the food, the afternoon tea served up with silver service were well established, and so were the queues of people patiently waiting to get in. Today was no exception with people waiting outside and the restaurant cafe inside those ornate settings looked as busy as ever with tourists and locals alike.
Since moving to York we have become regular shoppers in the patisserie takeaway that is situated to the left as you enter. Here you can buy the most wonderful freshly baked bread and beautiful cakes imaginable. It is not the cheapest of places to shop, but if you fancy a treat, then you simply cannot beat it. The quality shines through everything you buy and we have never ever been disappointed with anything bought from Betty’s. Quite the reverse actually, everything is simply much better than you expect and we are fortunate to live so near a brilliant well established and much loved Yorkshire institution. Long live Betty’s.
Pryordurkin rating. 5 stars.
Telephone +44(0)1904 659142
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August 24th, 2008
“The Orchard – a corner of England where time stands still as the outside world rushes by.” This taken from their website is a reasonably good description of The Orchard in Grantchester. Famous for poets, scientists and medics alike going back many many years, this place has a long historic association with Cambridge University. Yesterday, we met up with family and friends alike for afternoon tea. The place was busy with people sitting out amongst the apple, pear and plum treas on little wooden deck chairs from a bygone age. We ordered up a round of cream teas for 8 people (£40 – not cheap!) and spent the next couple of hours relaxing chatting, fighting wasps and topping up with fresh tea and the occasional bottle of wine. The scones were OK, but nothing special; the clotted cream came out of individual plastic tubs as did the Robinsons strawberry jam. Not a patch on the cream teas served up by Harlequin Coffee and Tea House in York. The place itself is run in a very professional way; i.e. squeeze every penny out of you and do very little for it. You have to queue, there is no table service and lots of signs remind you that “consuming your own food is strictly prohibited”.
A very pleasant place to spend a few hours though with great walks back along the river towards Cambridge.
Rating. 3 Stars.
June 27th, 2006
A very good hotel in the centre of Barcelona which is straight friendly. Although we thought it was a little tired looking during our last visit, it is still worth a try. The staff are impeccably turned out, professional and friendly. Breakfast is a very interesting time, as you check out all those people who say goodbye over a croissant to last night’s trade.
The occasional afternoon tea dance and the roof top bar and sun lounge make this a great place to rest from those very long evenings in Barcelona. Just remember, if you’re eating dinner before 11pm, you are to early!
The hotel is ideally located in Barcelona and most of the tourist attractions can either be walked to from the hotel or you can quickly find a taxi or local bus stop. The underground and train systems are very close by. Not far away is the La Ramblas where you can walk down through the main shopping and tourist area to the beach. Be aware of the touts who line the road though as they are generally all out to scam poor unsuspecting visitors. The card tricks, really ARE just card tricks and we’ve seen many people taken for a ride with this common scam.
Rating: 3 Stars.