Cost – Approx. £10.00 (May 2015)
Background – The Courtyard is an area with shops and a restaurant on the Elveden Estate. It has been created from old farm buildings and is attractive with a large outside courtyard at the centre.
Contents – 4 finger sandwiches (egg mayonnaise, ham and piccalilli, cheese and smoked salmon), a small cheese scone and a small plain scone, a tiny individual jam of strawberry jam, a dish of clotted cream, a small amount of butter, a chocolate brownie, a madeleine, strawberry and chocolate Battenberg and a square of lemon sponge with a blob of lemon curd on top. The tea was bags in a large teapot.
Comments – On this occasion we were a larger party of 6 people eating together. Our table had originally been laid for us in the inside restaurant but it was such a lovely day we asked if we could be transferred to the outside eating area in the courtyard. The waitress brought out the tea in large white china teapots (two pots between six of us). The teapot didn’t really contain enough tea for three people and we actually ended up asking for cold drinks as well (charged separately). The plates were an attractive triangular shape.
The afternoon tea its self was served on a plain three tier cake stand with round white plates with one stand between three people.
The sandwiches were well filled and tasty and were served with extra greenery. There was a mix of brown and white bread.
The cheese scone was an interesting addition we haven’t come across before and was very tasty eaten with butter. The plain scone was fresh and tasted good. Both scones were a little small but there were two, which made up for that. The jam was in the tiny individual pots which was a shame as Elveden Estates sell their own delicious strawberry jam in the adjacent shop! The clotted cream was served in a bowl for three people and was an adequate amount as there was only one scone each to put it on. There was butter for the cheese scone.
The cakes were rather on the small side but were fresh, light and tasty. It was nice to see a piece of Battenberg cake which I have not seen for a long time.
The tea was of the right strength but there was not enough for six of us. We ended up adding a bottle of Cola each. Service was reasonably attentive but our extra drinks took a long time to appear and we had to ask more than once for them.
| Sandwiches | 1.5 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 1.0 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.5 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Tea | 1.0 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 14.0 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 