Going for tea happens to be one of my most favourite pleasantries and for this reason i've decided to keep a collection of excellent tea rooms as a kind of review. The South Street Pantry tea experience is beautiful from start to finish. The assortment of kitch little vintage teapots, cups, saucers and milk jugs get me each time. The tea, as described by a friend on his first visit, "is the best tea ever tasted." I would have to agree! The tea sells for £2.20 a pot and comes in a range of fresh leaf kinds:
- Assam
- Camomile
- Earl Grey
- Early Grey Rose Petal
- English Breakfast
- Ginger
- Green
- Gunpowder
- Lapsang
- Lemon Verbena
- Masala Chai
- Oolong
- Pantry Morrocan Mint
- Roobios
- Lemon and Ginger
Now, they do make scones, devonshire cream, and standard pantry afternoon teas to accompany the leaves and water which are delicious, but I have to confess that on more than one occasion I have ordered the American blueberry pancakes. At first I thought it was sacrilege to serve something quite so un-British in what is essentially an English tearoom. Little more needs to be said besides that the pancakes are very tasty and actually go pretty well with tea!
See morning and afternoon menus online here.
I'm a big into cake kind of a person so it thrills me that all of South Streets cakes are lovingly made on site. These cakes are not just your usual carrot, walnut, chocolate, lemon or victoria sponge. It's clear that a huge amount of imagination has gone into creating some of these one of a kind cakes...
In addition to the great food and drink, the pantry runs a knit and craft club at 2pm on Tuesdays and will help to make special occasions just that.
Overall there is a great atmosphere, good alternative menus, fresh, homemade, good quality food, reasonable prices and excellent service.
