The Eccentric Englishman Tea Room at Johnsons of Old Hurst, Old Hurst, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Cost – £15.95 (Oct 2018)

Parking and Access – There are a couple of large car parks on the site. There is also a smaller one next to the farm shop. The small car park has level access to the tea room, whilst there are steps down from the larger car parks. There is a small step up into the tea room. Toilets are available next to the café.

Background – Johnsons of Old Hurst is a popular venue for families. It is a working farm that has diversified with the intention of educating people in where their food comes from and how the animals are cared for.There are lots of animals to see ranging from farm animals including a donkey,

through parrots,

to crocodiles!

As well as the animals, there is a steak house, a delicatessen and, of course, a tea room.

Contents – Four triangular sandwiches each (ham, cucumber with cream cheese, egg mayonnaise and tuna mayonnaise), small slice of sausage roll, some crisps and a mixed salad. One small, flat plain scone, a mini pot of Tiptree strawberry jam, a small pot of clotted cream. A tiny Florentine, a mini meringue sandwich, a small piece of chocolate brownie, a small piece of Bakewell tart and a small piece of fruit cake. A pot of tea.

Options Available – There are no options available.

Comments – We had booked our Afternoon Tea as we would be arriving fairly late in the afternoon. However, booking does not appear to be necessary.

We were shown to a table that had been reserved for us in the tea room.

The table was laid with a pretty plate each, plus a paper napkin and a knife.

There was also a small vase of flowers on the table.

Our drinks order was taken once we were seated. We asked for two teas plus a cold drink for our guest, who does not drink tea or coffee. It was made clear to us that the cold drink would be charged extra, which we had expected.

The drinks arrived fairly quickly, along with tea cups and saucers plus a glass for the cold drink. The teapot was a large white china pot which was accompanied by a pretty milk jug which matched the other crockery. The tea was made with tea bags and was rather on the strong side. We did not ask for a refill.

The Afternoon Tea arrived a while after. As there were three of us, we were given a large metal three-tiered cake stand for two of us,

plus a smaller two-tiered spindle type cake stand for the third person.

The spindle cake stand had pretty flowery plates, whilst the larger, unusual three-tiered stand had plain white plates with a wavy edge.

The sandwiches were freshly made and were adequately filled. They were on a mix of brown and white bread and were accompanied by a good amount of colourful salad and a handful of crisps each. There was also a small, but very tasty, slice of sausage roll.

The scones, however, were a big disappointment. The website for the tea room mentions that their scones “are a must” but we were given a very small, flat plain scone each. They were warmed and sprinkled with icing sugar but they were not very good scones.

It was difficult to slice the scone in half, but there was plenty of both jam and cream as there was not much scone to put them on!

On the other hand, the cakes, whilst all on the small side, were generally very good. The Florentine was particularly delicious but was only the size of a 10p coin! The meringue was also very good. The Bakewell tart would have been better if we had not been given parts of a corner slice that was not all there! However, the fruit cake was jammed full of fruit and the chocolate brownie was very yummy.

Service was ok but we were never offered a refill of the teapot.

 

 

Savoury	1.5
Scone	0.5
Jam	1.5
Cream	1.5
Cake (variety)	2.0
Cake (quality)	1.5
Drink	1.0
Presentation	2.0
Service	1.0
Value	1.5
Total	14.0