Blackbird Tearooms - Brighton

After my trip to Canterbury to visit to three cafes in my one of my favorite towns in one day was so fun and such a success, I decided to take my notebook elsewhere, Brighton! I haven’t been to Brighton since I was 16 and I have never been by myself so the whole trip is an adventure! After an…interesting train journey, first boxed into a claustrophobic corner by an elderly woman with endless bags of cheese and onion crisps (I almost died from the smell, I swear!) then opposite two seventeen year olds who had the strangest conversation (I only understood half the words, if that, it made me feel so old…) I finally arrived!

The place most people recommended to me when I asked people about the best places to go in Brighton was the gorgeous traditional tearoom, The Blackbird Tearoom, so that was where I had to head first.

This quaint little tearoom sits on the corner of Ship St and is lovely, even from the outside. Its black and gold front stands out from the surrounding shops and on a warm enough day, the open door invites you in. The front room consists of six tiny, round, wooden tables squashed in front of an old fashioned wooden counter. In fact, everything in here seems to be a bit small and squashed, from the tiny plate my delicious cake barely fits on to the FIFTY or so small, framed pictures on the wall in front of me and continuing up the stairs (yes, I tried to count). Though it feels a little cramped in here I actually have all the space I need for my notebook, tea, cake and flowers on my table and room to spare! The whole place has a lovely vintage feel to it, the wall behind me is full to the brim with shelves of beautiful old tea and coffee tins and sitting here in the window is like being transported to the past, I almost expect to see a beautiful classic car drive by.

The huge slice of cake in front of me is the house special, the ‘Blackbird Cake’ a Victoria sponge cake using blackberries instead of strawberries and it is delicious, possibly the best cake I have ever had (and that’s saying a lot!) I almost want another slice but one is definitely sweet enough. The breakfast tea, like all the teas here (and like all tea should be) is loose-leaf. Of course, I didn’t realize that until I poured it, THEN I found the strainer that the waitress had hidden (accidentally I’m sure) behind the milk.

I really love the feel of Blackbird Tearooms, the vintage atmosphere, the lovely waitresses dressed so smartly and the ever so slightly crammed feeling created by its eclectic decorations. I also love the sign over the counter which says ‘Dispensing Dept’ and all the lovely crockery displayed beneath it. The whole feel of the place is welcoming and worn, as any well done vintage place should be, I feel like I could sit here in the window for hours and just enjoy the feeling of time passing and this gorgeous place connecting the past and present so neatly.

Thank you so much to everyone who recommended The Blackbird Tearoom to me, I it is a really beautiful place for relaxing and letting the world outside go by with lovely tea and delicious food. I certainly pass the recommendation on to anyone visiting Brighton and looking for a tearoom, a nice place for lunch or something a bit different for a bite to eat. One day I might even return in vintage dress!

Twitter: @blackbirdwitter
Website: blackbirdtearooms.com
Address: 30 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD

Chocolate Cafe - Canterbury

This is another café that was around when I lived in Canetrbury but I never visited. I think I thought it was a restaurant and so I didn’t bother to check it out properly. Now I’m inside, I am sorry that was the case. With delicious crepes on the menu and my tea beautifully served in a glass mug it’s a shame I didn’t visit sooner.

I got a ‘hello’ before I had even entered the café from a member of staff coming out as I was going in, and this really set up the rest of my visit. All the staff were so friendly, even finding me a table next to a plug so I could charge my phone, though I felt really rude for asking (… sorry!) I didn’t want to be stuck miles from home without a phone (though in my beloved Canterbury, I think I’d be ok).

So here I am staring out of the window upstairs at the street below, Canterbury is really beautiful if you just sit back a watch... Anyway, inside here there is 80’s music blaring just a tad too loud but fine because it’s good music. I love the way the food and drink is presented, I have a cup of lovely breakfast tea in a glass mug, so I can see the sugar cubes (yes more than one) swirling around inside and a gorgeous lemon and sugar crepe with a slice of lemon for extra juice on top! The only thing I will say about the crepe is that you need to eat it fast because if you leave it to chat of look at your phone or… write a blog… then it will cool and get a bit tougher and less enjoyable (but enjoyable all the same).

As I said, the staff have been really friendly and accommodating to my phone-charging needs and sitting up here surrounded by art work everywhere, on the walls, on the floor and above the doors, there is even a lovely painting of a couple having tea painted on my table (the varnish over which made the table a bit sticky…), a glass covered installation of a masquerade mask in the floor made me jump because I thought I was going to fall in! All this is like a metaphor for how eclectic this place is in itself, the design is all over the place but somehow it all fits together in a huge mad pattern and the customers are the same. Around me there are school students, university students, mums and daughters, families and even dates and they all seem to be regulars, rushing for a favorite table or seat and relaxing like it was home. I highly recommend this beautiful place, who doesn’t love tea and a crepe!

Twitter:@the_choc_cafe

Facebook: facebook.com/cafeofcanterbury

Website: cafecanturbury.co.uk

Address: 1 Guildhall St, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2JQ

Tiny Tim's Tearoom - Canterbury

Today, as you will know if you read my last post, I ventured back to Canterbury, I went to university here and I lived here for two years so its nice to come back and see how it has changed. Its hard for even me to believe but there is one tearoom that was there when I lived there then that I still haven’t visited and so, haven’t written about. I’m not sure what stopped me from visiting it back then apart from the fact that The Moat Tearoom across town (which I wrote about here: time-for-tea-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-moat-tearooms-canterbury.html?=1 ) was my favorite at the time and I went in there every few days and nowhere else! Tiny Tim’s is the only tearoom/café that I have planned to visit today but I will have a wander around and discover other spots to write about (not to mention lovely pasty places that tweet me lovely messages!)

I remember just after I left uni, I was talking to a friend, who was a local, about Tiny Tim’s and he was really surprised that I had never visited it in my time in the town, especially because we used to visit The Moat Tearoom quite frequently. Sitting here in the tearoom now, I can understand why my friend was so confused about my not visiting before, he told me I would love it and I do. It’s perfect and the minute I stepped in the door and saw the flowered wreath above the fireplace, decorated with teacups and encircling a red and white polka dot cut out of a teapot, I knew I was going to feel right at home. The smart staff in their black and white outfits were quick to help me when I came through the door and I was seated right away.

On the way to my seat I couldn’t help but notice certificates on the wall including a ‘Tea Guild Award of Excellence’ showing that you don’t have to take my word for how amazing they are! Tasting the amazing, slice of sweet, moist Lemon Drizzle cake in front of me, I can see why. That, coupled with a lovely, smooth cup of their very own breakfast tea, and I feel like giving them an award myself.

Everything from this lovely set to the tables is laid out so beautifully and looks so neat and tidy. Behind the counter, there are large letters spelling out ‘The Cake Cupboard’ which, confusingly are over the top of three wooden cabinets full of tea, crockery and…wine. However in front of that on the counter is a gorgeous display of homemade cakes from a lovely lemon (the one I am devouring as I write) to a huge FOUR LAYER Victoria sponge cake! I really love the teacups, mugs, milk jugs and teapots, all decorated with the tearoom’s name that fill the ‘cake cupboard’ though. I am REALLY tempted to buy a teapot...

If you  manage to climb up the two floors to the bathrooms you will also be faced with The Ghost Room, full of pictures and lots of information about the building, supposedly the most haunted in Canterbury and how it used to be, not to mention some of the ghosts who might still haunt the building today. The building is even a stop on the local ghost tour!

I really love the duel fireplace in the main room downstairs which is in the centre of the room and has a hearth on both sides, just one of the many beautiful features this gorgeous building has. I can’t fault this beautiful place but for one point. Wicca chairs are not the most comfortable to sit on… at all… (but putting a coat down solves that, no problem). The staff, the atmosphere of a traditional tearoom and the gorgeous décor of part bare brick and part beautifully patterned wallpaper all work so well together. Not to mention the delicious cake and tea make this place one of my favorites I have ever visited (I’m going to have to re-think my top 5…) and somewhere I would recommend to anybody and everybody for a lovely meal, a snack or just a cup of tea!

Twitter: @Tinytimstearoom

Facebook: facebook.com/tinytimstearoom

Website: tinytimstearoom.co.uk

Address: 34 St. Margaret’s Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2TG