Cost – £12.95 (Sept 2017)
Background – Godmanchester is a small town just off the A14 not far from Huntingdon. It has many very old buildings and was originally a Roman settlement. The River Great Ouse travels through the town backed by Portholme, which is England’s largest meadow. The river splits into several strands in the town with a lock and weirs. There is a large park area by the river for a relaxing stroll.
A feature of the town is the Chinese Bridge over a strand of the river next to the Town Hall.
Contents – Six triangular sandwiches each from three each of four fillings (ham, cheese, egg mayonnaise, tuna mayonnaise) plus a generous serving of salad. A large scone (choice of plain or fruit), a mini jar of Tiptree jam and a small pot of Rhoddas clotted cream. A cube of lemon drizzle cake and a cube of carrot cake. The tea was made with teabags.
Comments – We had absolutely no intention to go out for an Afternoon Tea but wanted to get out of the house for a while. We decided to look for somewhere we could have a walk around and have a cup of tea. My husband was looking for ideas on the internet and spotted this café in Godmanchester, a village we didn’t know much about. Then we spotted they did an Afternoon Tea (called Cream Tea in the menu). I’m sure you can guess the rest…….!
We sat just inside the restaurant which was fairly empty.
Someone was playing the piano when we arrived but they finished shortly after. It transpired that they were trying out for a job playing the piano for the restaurant, which holds live music evenings.
There was some classical music playing after the pianist finished plus a television screen showing silent Charlie Chaplin movies.
The table was set with chunky white china teacups and saucers and blue and white plates.
We were offered tea or coffee straight away. We chose tea, which arrived soon after. We were also asked if we were happy with the choice of sandwich filings and asked whether we wanted a plain or fruit scone. We both chose fruit.
The Afternoon Tea arrived quite quickly on a large three-tiered metal cake stand. It was explained to us that our scones were being warmed up and would arrive when we had finished the sandwiches, which they did.
The sandwiches were on mixed brown and white bread with two of each filling on white bread with the third being on brown bread. The white bread was particularly tasty. All were fresh and tasty but the fillings were not very generous. There was also a good amount of salad.
The scones were large and very fruity. They were quite rustic looking and very fresh and warm.
The owner of the restaurant told us she makes them fresh every day. They were particularly good and very tasty.
There was just about the right amount of jam and cream in the pots.
The two cubes of cake were both fresh and very tasty with the lemon drizzle being my favourite. It was very lemony and moist. My only comment would be that I would have liked a little more of each!
The tea was served in individual chunky white china teapots with a single milk jug.
It was about the right strength for both of us. We asked for one pot to be refilled, which it was. We were offered further refills.
Service was good. We were asked if all was ok on a few occasions and the staff were all polite and helpful.
| Sandwiches | 1.5 |
| Scones | 2.0 |
| Jam | 1.0 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 2.0 |
| Value | 2.0 |
| Total | 15.5 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 