Cost – £10.00 per person plus delivery (July 2020)
Parking and Access – There is one step down to enter the outside area of the venue. The only toilets are situated inside and up a flight of stairs with no alternative access. There is on-street parking available in front of the building.
Background – I last reviewed Harriets Café Tearooms in September 2013. It was only the fourth Afternoon Tea review I had done at the time. Now I am reviewing their Afternoon Tea delivery as review number one hundred and ninety-nine!!
I found out quite early in the coronavirus lockdown that Harriets were offering an Afternoon Tea delivery. However, they were fully booked when I tried to arrange it. Luckily, this time I was successful. Originally, orders were being taken by email. Now, there is an online order form with secure payment, which is much easier to do.
There are branches of Harriets Café Tearooms in Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and Norwich.
We enjoyed this Afternoon Tea in the outside area of the venue. In other words, in our garden!
Contents per person – Four rectangular sandwiches (Cucumber and soft cheese, tuna, ham and cheese with chutney). Two medium sized fruit scones, a plastic tub of strawberry jam and a tub of Rodda’s clotted cream. A micro lemon tartlette, a macaroon and a bitesize triangle of flapjack. A paper bag containing some loose-leaf tea. A small white paper napkin and a wooden knife.
Options available – No options were available for this Tea
Comments – The website tells you that the Afternoon Tea will be delivered between 10:00 and 3:00 on the date chosen. Ours arrived around midday. It was delivered in a small Harriets branded van. The two Teas were contained in a smart looking Harriets box, which we placed in the fridge until needed.
I have based my presentation score on the way the package was presented and the state it was in when it arrived. Everything was well packed and in good condition inside the box.
We decided against having tea with our Afternoon Tea, as it was a hot day and we really wanted a cold drink. However, the Harriets tea made a lovely pot of tea for us on another occasion. It was a good strength and had a nice flavour.
We served the Afternoon Tea itself on the two-tier cake stand with flowery plates.
We accompanied the Tea with one of our favourite Maison Clement passion fruit tarts, as we had noticed the cake section was somewhat lacking!!
This was served on a blue and white plate with flowers on, matching those we were using as tea plates.
The sandwiches were wrapped in cling film and then greaseproof paper in the box.
They were made with a mix of brown and white bread. The fillings were a good mix and there was enough in the sandwiches. The tuna sandwiches were particularly well filled.
As usual, warmed our scones up in the oven before serving them. They were a good medium size and had enough fruit in them. The scones were fresh tasting and very good.
The jam was supposed to be Harriets own strawberry jam. However, it was in a small plastic tub each, and was smooth, jelly-like, stiff and not particularly flavoursome. We were a bit disappointed by it and both felt it resembled catering jam. There may have been just about enough for all of the scones but we substituted homemade blackcurrant jam for our second scones.
The clotted cream was a small Rodda’s tub each. This has proved to be about the right amount for two scones each and is always good quality.
However, the cakes were sadly disappointing. I realise we eat a lot of Afternoon Teas, and are perhaps more critical than most would be. However, the amount of cake delivered with this Tea was tiny!
Between the two of us, we received two tiny tarts, a macaroon, a fancy, a bite-sized piece of flapjack and a bite-sized piece of tiffin. To be honest, I would have rather just received one item, but had a proper sized piece. Each item was tasty and fresh, but was far too small. As a reference, the tart was approximately 2.5 cm across!
However, I have to say that, all in all, this Afternoon Tea was very good value. I just would have preferred the cakes done in a different way!
As usual, I have based my service score on the service we received from the company, which was efficient and pleasant.
| Savoury | 1.5 |
| Scone | 2.0 |
| Jam | 0.5 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Sweet (variety) | 1.5 |
| Sweet (quality) | 1.0 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 2.0 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 2.0 |
| Total | 15.0 |
All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The photographs are all my own.
I remain completely anonymous and always pay for my Afternoon Teas. They are never gifted to me by the businesses reviewed.
I am the legal copyright holder of the content and images on this blog.
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 