The Stove Café, Bourn, Cambridgeshire.

Cost – £14.50 (Sept 2020)

Parking and Access – There is a carpark for the café just outside the building, with further parking just a short walk around a large barn. There are several steps up to the café. I did not notice a way to avoid these steps. Toilets were available by the entrance. They were on the level with the café.

Background – We first visited The Stove some time ago, so when we saw they were offering an Afternoon Tea, we were interested to see what it would be like.

There was a booking form online, but we decided to ring the café direct as we were enquiring for the next day. We were able to book our Teas and choose our sandwich fillings during the phone call.

Contents per person – Three rectangular sandwiches (there was a choice of fillings. We chose cheese and chutney and ham and chutney), a bowl of crisps and a small amount of salad. A large medium sized fruit scone, a mini jar of jam (we were given one jar of strawberry and one jar of raspberry jam between the two of us) and a mini jar of clotted cream. A coffee and walnut cupcake and a chocolate and orange brownie each, plus a piece of Smartie cookie and a piece of millionaires shortbread between the two of us. A small carafe of elderflower drink mixed with sparkling soda water, and a pot of tea.

Options Available – There are no options for this Afternoon Tea.

Comments – On arrival, we found a table with a reserved sign with our name on it near the exit from the café. The tables were reasonably well spaced out, although we did feel the next table to ours was a little close. The staff were not wearing any form of mask or visor. Tables were being briefly sanitised between customers.

The table was laid with round white crockery, knife and cake fork, a champagne glass and a paper napkin.

There was also a lovely sunflower in a vase on the table.

We were soon brought a small carafe of chilled elderflower fizz. This was a nice refreshing drink to have.

We also received a larger jug of chilled water.

We were asked what hot drink we would like. We chose to have some English breakfast tea.

The tea arrived in a lime green round teapot with a small white milk jug. We were also given a teacup each. These were white with a dark grey saucer. The tea was rather strong for us. It was made with teabags.

The Afternoon Tea itself arrived on a two-tier, spindle cake-stand with mixed vintage round plates.

There was also a white bowl of kettle type salted crisps.

The sandwiches were a little unusual in that there were only three of each filling. This meant we had to cut one of each filling in half so that we could share them. The sandwiches were fresh and were well filled. The ham was thin sliced ham but the chutney was tasty. There was a small amount of salad accompanying the sandwiches. The crisps were a very nice extra addition.

The scones were a large medium size and were fresh and tasty. They had not been warmed up.

There was just about enough of both the jam and the clotted cream.

The cakes were fresh and very tasty. The chocolate orange brownie was particularly good and was a nice size. It was a little annoying to have two different final items. It would have been better to have had the same as each other. Luckily, the items were just big enough to cut in half, so that we both got to try everything.

Service was ok. However, we were not visited at any point to see if all was ok, or to ask if we needed more tea.

Savoury	1.5
Scone	1.5
Jam	1.5
Cream	1.5
Cake (variety)	1.5
Cake (quality)	1.5
Tea	1.0
Presentation	1.5
Service	1.5
Value	1.5
Total	14.5

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.