Cost – £14.95 for two people (July 2019)
Parking and Access – Scotsdales Garden Centre at Fordham has a large car park just outside the main entrance. It is then a short level walk to the Sunflower Café. The toilets are another short walk from the café and are also accessed on the level.
Background – We are frequent visitors to the Sunflower Cafes at the three Scotsdales garden centres around Cambridge. Their cakes, particularly those at the main Great Shelford branch, are always incredibly good, large and are always good value. As members of the loyalty scheme run by the garden centre, we received an email advertising a Wimbledon Afternoon Tea, which would only be available during the tennis championships. Naturally, we had to investigate further.
Contents – Four triangular sandwiches each (tuna mayonnaise, egg mayonnaise, ham and cheese). One very large fruit scone ready cut in half and filled with cream and strawberries. A slice of Victoria sponge and half of a Bakewell tart. A pot of tea.
Options Available – There were no options available.
Comments – We spotted that Scotsdales were doing a special Wimbledon Afternoon Tea during the time the tournament was on so we thought it was only right that we should test it out!
It was a lovely hot day so we decided to eat our Tea outside. With hindsight, this was probably the wrong decision as there is very little air flow around the small outside eating area at Fordham, whilst inside has air conditioning!
We arrived at the counter in the café to be given our tea, crockery and cutlery. We then chose a table. The rest of the Tea was brought out to us on a three-tier metal cake stand with round white plates.
The tea was served in a large metal teapot along with two small milk jugs. It was of a good strength and we drank several cups full quite quickly due to the heat. We then had the teapot refilled at the counter by the very pleasant staff. The tea was made with teabags.
The sandwiches were all well filled and freshly made. There was a mix of brown and white bread. The ham was particularly good, the staff told us it was freshly carved from the bone.
There was only one scone each but it was large, fresh and very good. The scone had been cut in half and filled with strawberries and cream in homage to the Wimbledon theme. This would not normally be my thing. However, it fitted the theme and was actually really good. The strawberries were fresh instead of the usual strawberry jam.
Both of the cakes were of a good size and were freshly made. The Sunflower Cafes, of which there are three, have long been a favourite with us for their lovely fresh, generously sized cakes and slices, so we knew the cakes would be good. The Bakewell tart was half of a good-sized tart. It was delicious. The Victoria sponge was fresh and really good.
The staff in the café are really friendly and helpful. They refilled our teapot when we asked and were interested in what we thought of the Tea. We told them we were very pleased and that for the price the Afternoon Tea is was extremely good value.
| Savoury | 1.5 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| strawberries | 2.0 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Tea | 2.0 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 2.0 |
| Total | 16.0 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 