The Lemon Witch Kitchen - Southend-on-Sea

My last stop of my day in Southend is this quirky little café, just down the road from The Mad Hatter Tearoom, The Lemon Witch Kitchen (who’s logo is a witch…with half a lemon on its head) is lovely from the second I step in the door and the smell of fresh crepes hits me (you may not know this but I LOVE crepes) and throws me back to memories of Swirls (now unfortunately closed) and their Nutella Swirl Bannana masterpiece but let me tell you,  the Lemon Witch equivalent, called a ‘Cheeky Minion’ is just as good if not better! A warm crepe filled with Nutella, topped with banana slices and dusted with icing sugar? Perfect!

There are a few things I really love about this place. The tiny wooden signs that cover the walls baring slogans such as ‘life begins after coffee’ or ‘happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of life’ it gives you a smile as you look around the room but my favorite thing has to be the wooden tables dotted around the room all have their middle slat painted in chalkboard paint and a little cup of chalks on it, prefect as a distraction for the little ones as the café’s social media shows or to literally illustrate your point!

They are proud to offer gluten free options for all of their crepes and the chalk board behind the till shows that they do special events for holidays like the Valentines Day cookie and crepe decorating. I love the relaxed, stripped-back feel of the bare wood and wire lampshades in the room and I’m very tempted to fall asleep on the really comfy sofa here, after all the goodies I’ve had today, especially because its raining outside and so cozy in here!

A comfy, relaxing place for a snack and a cuppa, if I lived closer, I’d never leave!

Twitter: @lemonwitch17

Facebook: /Lemon-witch

Instagram: /lemonwitch17

Website: lemonwitch.co.uk

Address: 17 Queens Road, Southend On Sea, SS1 1LT

The Mad Hatters Tearoom - Southend On Sea

As a crazy Alice in Wonderland fan and a lover of tearooms, when I was researching places to go in Southend and came across The Mad Hatters Tearoom, I knew I had to go there and see it for myself! I was not disappointed, this beautiful little café is wonderfully themed from the second you step in the door and come face-to -face with a large collage of clocks, teacups and pots, red (or white?) rose and that all important lock and key . I feel like a child stepping into wonderland surrounded but big murals of the characters and quotes from the book there‘s even a teapot collection on one wall to rival my own! The problem with visiting several cafes in one day means I have eaten in two places already (yes…I’m fat) so I’m not very hungry and I’ve had enough tea (if there is such a thing), its lucky though, otherwise I wouldn’t have ordered the delicious hot chocolate with marshmallows in it that is now on the table in front of me. That would be a tragedy; this is a really great hot chocolate!

I always love the little details in places like this and there are some lovely ones in here, such as the three- tiered cake in the glass-fronted cabinet by the counter, one layer in pink and purple stripes with a big smile on the front (guess who?), one with an ‘Eat Me’ label hanging from it and the third is a green top hat with biscuits on it! Even the tips sign on the counter has the quote “you’re entirely bonkers but all the best people are” around its frame. I love the menu here too, with specials such as ‘The Jabberwocky’ and ‘The Mad Hatter Surprise’ which is ‘a brillig combination of frumbious delights that will make you say “oh frabjous day! Callooh callay!” The more I look around, the more I spot, like the framed sign behind the counter that reads “curiouser and curiouser”. This tearoom reminds me of Alice’s Tea Shop in Sevenoaks (which, looking back, I realize I never wrote about) but aimed at a slightly older customer. Id be happy to bring a family member of friend here for  tea of go all out and have a massive costumed Tea Party!

Suitable for anyone and everyone, this café is heaven for all Alice in Wonderland fans and the child inside all of us and the perfect place for a mad hatter’s tea party.

Website: madhatterssouthend.co.uk

Facebook: /madhatterssouthend

Twitter: @madhatterssos

Instagram: /madhatterssouthend

Address: 2 Queens Road, Southend on Sea, SS1 1 LU

The Remedy Tea Shop - Southend-On-Sea

As much as I enjoyed Utopia Coffee Lounge for its crazy interior design and innovative cake flavors, The Remedy Tea Shop is much more me. The minute I walked through the door I felt calmer (not least of all because Google Maps was NO help getting here!) and a big smile appeared on my face, I think the drastic change in expression may have taken the poor man sitting opposite the door by surprise and he gave me a funny look, well, if you will sit opposite the door…

On the wall opposite me there are not one, not two but thirty-five paintings interspersed with mirrors of varying sizes. There are tea pots in all sorts of shapes all over the tearoom, which I love to see because my collection is closing in on twenty and still growing! All in all it seems to me like The Remedy Tea Shop is a lovely warm bubble of relaxation, a true remedy to and shelter from, not only the drizzly mess of today’s weather but life generally, a haven, always  there when you need it.

My tea, a lovely breakfast tea (of course) is a gorgeous assam-rich, full flavored brew which it just perfect for relaxing inside after being outside in the drizzle! I also opted for crumpets, a nice change for me, when I saw them on the menu they just seemed right, they came warm with jams and butter and are delicious! The menu, which includes anything from small bites to large breakfasts and lunches, all looks amazing. The array of cakes, sandwiches and baguettes, jacket potatoes, omelettes and full breakfasts are enough to make anyone’s mouth water (as mine is, at home typing this up!)

The staff, all smartly dressed in black with grey aprons, are lovely and helpful but it wouldn’t hurt them to smile once in a while, I know I would if I worked in a place like this! I love the lace tablecloths on every table and the menu holders that look like cute flowery teapots. It’s the little details in a place like this that really make me smile. The small chain hanging from my teapot (which came with its own tea cozy, a marvelous idea) and the rows of glass jars behind the counter tell me that the tea in that pot is loose leaf tea. Perfect.

This beautiful tearoom is tearoom enough to be a lovely place to come for afternoon tea but café enough that you could bring anyone here for lunch, friends, family, partners, anyone! I feel calm and at home in a place like this, a proper tea room with loose-leaf tea, beautiful works of art and a gorgeous display of cakes and this place has it all.

Website: theremedyteashop.vpweb.co.uk

Facebook: /theremedytearoom

Address: 57 High Street, Southend-On-Sea, SS1 1HZ

Utopia Coffee Lounge - Southend-On-Sea

After a  two hour train journey, I am finally here, my reason for travelling all this way today! Years ago (lets not say how many!) an old friend brought me here, to Utopia Coffee Lounge for a cup of hot chocolate. I don’t really remember much from that trip, I dropped a piece of his jewelry into a white hot chocolate and almost fell down the stairs but I do remember really enjoying being here though, it was fun and different and I was at the beginning of discovering my love of tea and cafes and tearooms. I like to think that this place, along with The Nutmeg Tearoom, started the wheels turning for this very blog years before I put pen to paper to review for the first time.

Being back in here, its every bit as bright and fun and exciting as I remembered, every inch is covered in art, whether in a frame or painted directly on to the walls (like the wall opposite me with the name of the café on it in huge graffiti style letters) or even hanging from the ceiling. In the upstairs section, (where I have decided to sit because the downstairs is full to bursting!) there are garlands and flags and even a canoe hung from the walls and ceiling. All the furniture is mis-matched and huddled around tables of varying types from small dining tables and low coffee tables to the crate at the chairs next to me and the old-fashioned television that serves as my table (yes, really!) I particularly like the gravity-defying golden syrup cans hung from the ceiling that have fake flowers ‘growing’ downwards from them.

I’m really curious about the nine clocks that hang above the stairs, all identical but showing different times…interesting. I have to say, as much as I love the way this mad collection of colours and shapes looks,  the not one, not two but three open umbrellas hanging from the ceiling makes the superstitious side of me a little uncomfortable.  However, like everything else in here, they just seem to fit and pull the look together. With its brick, but certainly not bare, walls and high metal ceilings, the Utopia Coffee Lounge could have a rustic, almost warehouse-ish feel to it so easily but full off colour, art and expression as it is, its more of a hippie haven than a dull cube.

My tea, a breakfast tea from Pavillion Garden is lovely but the cake is a real  masterpiece. At a glance it looks like your average absolutely gorgeous three layer Victoria Sponge cake but actually it’s a taste explosion (a phrase here used with 100% honesty and no irony) of blackcurrant and lime, lime! It is really delicious and the slice they gave me, the last slice, is far too big, I wish I had a friend here to share it with me! This is just one of the amazing cakes on the serving counter downstairs, they are all a different, Blackcurrent and lime, peanut butter and white chocolate and many more!

The décor is so colourful and different from anywhere else I have ever been. The staff are smiling and friendly and up for chat and the food and drink are delicious. I can definitely see meeting friends here once a week for a catch up and to try all the exciting cake flavors on the counter, if only I lived closer…

Facebook: Facebook.com/Utopiass

Address: The Royals, High St Unit 2, Southend-On-Sea, SS1 1DG

Swirls - Tunbridge Wells

Standing outside the brand new café ‘Swirls’ in Tunbridge Wells, I’m immediately struck by how shiny and professional it looks and walking through the door (grateful that its slightly warmer in here than the FREEZING outside!) I am only further impressed, the grey, black and pink colour scheme is very trendy looking. One of the staff greets me as soon as I enter and ushers me to a table before explaining the menu to me, what service! Its’ only let down today is that it is completely empty! The poor staff outnumber me four to one! Unfortunately that’s what happens when you open in January and your logo is gelato.

The space is well used, the tables in the window have comfy looking sofa-seats and there are cute tables for two lining the walls. The back wall is covered in little alcoves that each house a sweet jar, almost like an old sweet store but each has its own shelf and spotlight, very classy! (I wonder if they’d mind me having one… or five…). That’s just one of the many little details I love about this place, the napkin holders that look like ice cream cones are another and the tables upstairs who’s tops have pictures of ice cream and sprinkles on them! There are screens on each floor playing music videos and proving that if you put a screen anywhere near me I will absent-mindedly look at it, even if I have to crane my neck to see it…

Beautiful as this place looks, it was only on my second visit, when I took a closer look that I noticed what they really have to offer. For example, how HUGE their selection of gelato is, it takes up half the counter… and then goes around the corner! A quick peak at their very informative (if in tiny text) website tells me that they sell 20 flavors of gelato and 4 of sorbet, that’s enough to get anyone drooling! Don’t worry though, I know what you’re thinking, “Georgie, just now you said it was FREEZING outside, how can you possibly want gelato?!” and you’re right, of course. Coming in from that cold winters day, only a few days after it snowed here in Tunbridge Wells, I did not fancy gelato, I did however fancy a nice pastry and Swirls were only too happy to oblige, with a great selection on their menu of crepes, waffles, danishes, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cakes and much more I was spoiled for choice.

I settled on a ‘Nutella Swirl’ crepe with banana topping and a pot of tea (of course!). When it arrived it actually turned out to be two crepes with a healthy dollop of Nutella in each and some extra with cream  on the side I was a very happy girl! The first time I was in the warm-ish crepe cooled down really fast (and we all know a cold chocolate crepe isn’t as nice as a warm one!) but the second time it arrived on a hot plate that melted my cream everywhere but made the crepe stay warm and delicious all the way though. I don’t know about you but given the choice between a cold plate and in-tact cream or hot plate and warm melty chocolate crepe? I think I prefer the hot crepe, who cares about the melted cream! The tea, a gorgeous Clipper Everyday Brew is lovely and perfect to warm me up on a cold day like both of the days I visited (incidentally, I ate and drank the same things both times, I know what I like!)

Swirls is lovely, the kind of place I can see bringing a boyfriend or chilling in with my girlfriends maybe even visiting to collapse after work for a crepe and cuppa in winter and Gelato and… a cuppa (obviously) in the warmer months. Honestly though, what more proof of Swirls’ excellence do you need than the fact that after visiting the first time I liked it so much I took my brother there for lunch THE NEXT DAY! Though I really shouldn’t, as my New Year’s Resolution is to eat more healthily, I will certainly be back to Swirls soon! With plans to open stores in Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Crawley, it looks like Swirls is here to stay!

Twitter: @SwirlsCafe
Facebook: facebook,com/swirlsgelatocafe
Website: Swirlscafe.co.uk
Address: 40A Camden Road, Tubridge Wells, Kent, TN1 2PT