Cost – £36.00 for two (Nov 2019)
Parking and Access – Rosie Lee Kitchen is located in a building at Setley Ridge Vineyard and Garden Centre around a mile outside Brockenhurst in the New Forest. There is a car park, which is nearby the café. The nearest toilets are located in the farm shop building on the other side of the car park.
Background – We were originally booked to have our Afternoon Tea at Rosie Lee Tearoom in Brockenhurst. Unfortunately, we were called an hour before our booking time to be told they had a power cut and would be unable to take us. They offered a table at their sister tearoom Rosie Lee Kitchen at Setley Ridge, just outside Brockenhurst. We were meeting up with special friends, so we accepted the change of venue, informed our friends and hoped for the best.
We arrived at the café, which was in a slightly ramshackle building in a small garden centre. To be honest, I was a bit worried that it was not going to be as good as a quaint tearoom in Brockenhurst. Luckily, we had no reason to be worried. The Afternoon Tea was delicious, plentiful and well presented. Unfortunately, I failed to take a photo of the building and surroundings.
Contents – Four rectangular sandwiches (tuna mayonnaise, ham and tomato, cucumber and cream cheese, chicken, ham and lettuce), a piece of sausage roll and a piece of quiche. Two small medium fruit scones, a dish of blackcurrant and raspberry jam and a dish of clotted cream. Thirteen pieces of various cakes between four of us (Viennese whirl, Dorset apple cake, carrot cake, Bakewell tart, ginger cake and chocolate brownie). A pot of tea.
Options available – A bottle of prosecco can be added to this Afternoon Tea for an additional £19.
Comments – Rosie Lee Kitchen is situated in a building that is part of the Setley Ridge Vineyard and Garden Centre. We were seated at a large wooden table near the door, with wooden chairs, some with pretty cushions on top.
The table was set with pretty non-matching vintage china plates, cups and saucers.
The tea arrived quickly in two large non-matching china teapots, plus a small jug of milk. It was of a good strength and was made with tea bags. We were able to get a refill of both the tea and the milk.
The savoury items plus the scones arrived, nicely arranged, in a shallow wicker basket.
The cakes were arranged in a wooden tray. It was an attractive, and different, way of presenting the Afternoon Tea.
The sandwiches were all quite large and were very fresh. They were all very well filled and were tasty. Both the quiche and the sausage roll had been warmed up. Again, they were both very good and tasted yummy.
When we first arrived, we were asked if we would like plain, fruit or cheese scones. Three of us asked for fruit, whilst the fourth requested a cheese scone. When the Tea arrived, we were only given fruit scones. We asked about the cheese scone, which arrived separately on a plate. It was a huge scone and was accompanied by a large piece of cheese, some butter, a pot of chutney and some tomato and gherkin.
The fruit scones were square shaped and fairly small. There was plenty of fruit and they were tasty. The jam, which appeared to be blackcurrant and raspberry flavoured, was delicious and there was plenty of it.
Unfortunately, we had a problem with the clotted cream. When we first tasted it, it had a slightly odd taste about it. We spoke to the staff and they replaced it with a new large pot full. This had a different texture to it and tasted as we expected it to. There was plenty for all of the fruit scones.
The cakes were all really good. They were fresh and extremely yummy. All of the pieces were of a good size. I do find it difficult when there are not pieces of each cake for each person. However, there were a good variety of cakes and all were things we liked, so I will forgive them on this occasion! My favourite was the chocolate brownie, which was rich, sticky and extremely tasty.
Service was reasonably attentive. We were visited a few times to check all was ok. Also, our cream was replaced straight away with no questions asked. The café was quite busy and we ended up staying until closing time, without any pressure to finish.
| Savoury | 2.0 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 2.0 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 2.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 2.0 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 2.0 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 2.0 |
| Total | 17.5 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 