Regency Tearoom - The Jane Austen Centre - Bath

After walking around the lovely Jane Austen Centre Museum downstairs, trying on regency dress and having a photo with Mr Darcy, the Austen experience isn’t complete without a trip to the Regency Tearoom upstairs.

The two rooms are painted a luxurious red with beautiful gold detailing in the curtains, the light fixtures and the frame on a large portrait of Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy which takes ‘pride’ of place over the fireplace. All around us are Austen-esque things, from the books on the mantelpiece and the badges on the staff, proclaiming them all to be Austen characters, to the menu boasting a host of well named, themed afternoon teas such as ‘Lady Catherine’s Proper Cream Tea’, ‘Mr Dashwood’s Tea’ and the one I have chosen, (as I’m sure many ladies would), ‘Tea With Mr Darcy’. The version of this tea for two consists of one each of three different types of sandwiches, for the vegetarian option we had cream cheese, cheese and chutney and egg, one fruit and one plain scone (I recommend cutting both in half and having half of each) and one each of three types of mini cakes, we had chocolate, coffee and hazelnut and orange. All of it is absolutely delicious but a little too much food even for two of us and we ended up sharing some of it around!

Because of the gorgeous weather today everyone is out and about and the tearoom is really busy meaning the staff are having a hard time keeping up and unfortunately there’s been a few problems like dirty glasses arriving at the table but no water to go with them and never receiving plates to decant our treats onto. Trying to grab their attention was quite difficult too! However, I completely understand, on a busy day in a café or tearoom it is really hard to concentrate on finishing a job before starting another. Especially if customers, like the gentleman on the table next to us, start complaining and through all the heat, the rush and the rude customers the staff still managed to be friendly and smile, a great achievement, I think.

I love the theming that could be seen throughout the tearoom and the menu and all the lovely staff who managed to keep going through the madness. A really great atmosphere and a lovely experience, I definitely recommend visiting the museum first and really immersing yourself in the Austen world.

Twitter: @janeaustenbath

Facebook: /janeaustencentrebath

Website: janeausten.co.uk

Address: 40 Gay Street, Bath, BA1 2NT

Freida's Tearoom - Bournemouth

Recently I had the pleasure of being in gorgeous Bournemouth and when I asked some local friends to show me a tearoom I could write about, they delivered!

The cute blue sign gives the front of Frieda’s Tearoom a sweet, unassuming look, just a quaint little café, nothing to see here. On the inside though, it is a dream of floral plates, delicate mirrors, pastel bunting and 1920’s style posters. As a friend of mine pointed out, it has a real 20’s street-party feel to it, making you happy just to be inside (that and the rain!). Gorgeous as the rest of the place is, the counter is the real centre-piece. With a thatched roof and brick walls (yes, really) it gives the back of the room the air of a cottage in the country full of delicious freshly baked goodies, you can even smell the cake and icing!

The staff are very accommodating of our awkward group of seven people though it’s very late in the day and when five of us order breakfast tea a huge pot, almost too heavy to lift, is brought to us along with some amazing looking cakes and afternoon teas. The china is a lovely traditional tearoom mish-mash of flowery patterns and blue and red willow pattern, adding to the country farmhouse feel.

As a small person with a small stomach, you know I love to share, not only to save money (as some afternoon teas are particularly expensive) and to make sure it all gets eaten but to share my favourite thing with someone else. However, if you’ve read any of my recent posts you will know that many places ‘don’t do sharing’ (and unfortunately they tend to be the really expensive ones). So when I asked to share with the person sitting next to me and they said yes, I was extremely happy. Even more so when the mountain of gorgeous sandwiches, 2 scones each with mounds of jam and cream, three types of delicious cake and a macaroon each turned up at the table. The two of us happily munched most of it but even then we had to share some of the cake around.

Though we were a large group arriving really late in the day, the staff were so good to us and we had the best time here in this gorgeous tearoom. I love the theming, all the work that has gone into the gorgeous counter and the piles of home-made cake that we happily shared around and gobbled up!

They also have a Tea Bus, a bus gutted and turned into a rolling tearoom, that will give you a tour of the gorgeous seafront, stopping several times for you to step out and enjoy the sea air with your cup of tea. Next time I’m in Bournemouth, that is top of my list of things to do!

Instagram: @freidastearoom

Facebook: @freidasbournemouth

Website: freidastearoom.co.uk

Address: 7 Stafford Road, city centre, Bournemouth, BH1 1JH