Month: July 2021

Afternoon Tea · Cakes and Desserts · Eating out · Lunch

Review: Teapots (Olney)

katchambers3 Comments

Teapots is an institution. Even though I live in Milton Keynes I have been hearing about Teapots my whole adult life. Any time any grown up had a birthday or special occasion, Teapots would often feature, okay not everyone, obviously, but everyone I know loves Teapots. So I guess this is a review for those who have not heard of Teapots – though I don’t know who you are or where you have been living – maybe you are new to the area…welcome!

Anyway, it is impossible to sum up 15 years or so of what I have experienced, so I will simply base this review on my latest visit. However, I do have to say that I have never had a bad meal here, and their cream teas/afternoon teas are epic and never disappointing. Plus their home-made cakes that they bake fresh every day, are so good that we almost always go home with a bag full and a much lighter bank balance. Cakes freeze well.

Today we stopped by for lunch. The kids had pancakes, husband had a savoury pancake and I had a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. I do not normally like sandwiches, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, but I absolutely love their toasted sandwiches, they are thick and lushious and full to overflowing with filling. The ham is super thick and the cheese is strong. It also comes with a side salad.

My husband had a mushroom pancake; and he is super fussy (when we eat out). He said, “ahhhh that is why I love mushrooms”. He also described the sauce as carbonara-like, very creamy.

My son ate his chocolate pancakes very quickly, and he would have finished of his sisters pancakes if I had let him. My daughter has a smaller tummy so she only ate half, though we took it home and she ate the rest later; they both loved them.

After lunch we had a cream tea. I had a plain scone, which is a treat, because usually I have to take the raisins out. It arrived still warm and moist. They provide a generous portion of cream and jam. Husband ordered a cherry scone and a blueberry and lemon scone. He was offered lemon curd, which worked well with the blueberry scone. The tea was nice but I should have requested loose-leaf tea. I thought it would come as standard, but alas it did not, so a note to self for next time.

Service was very good, the owner interacted with my children, which I appreciated, and played a little joke “So these chocolate pancakes are for mum and dad?”.

Before we paid the bill we took some cake home with us. If you see the cabinet full of home-made cakes, you just cannot say no, so even though we were full, we took some home. I have had their chocolate cake before, so I went for that again, and it was absolutely delicious. My husband chose a whole bunch of cakes.

We absolutely love Teapots and it will continue to be one of our regular haunts for random treats as well as special occasions. If you have never been to Teapots, I advise you to give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Additional Information

Bookings: By phone 01234 712392

Parking: There is parking behind Teapots next to the co-op and in the main town square.

Address: 31 High Street, Olney, MK46 4AA

Dinner · Eating out · Pub

The Barge Inn – Woolstone (Review)

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The Barge has become one of my favourite pubs to eat at over the last fews years; it is a beautiful pub located in a pictureque little spot in Milton Keynes in Woolstone; which feels like you are in a Cotswolds village with cobbled stones and thatched roof cottages. Woolstone boasts two lovely pubs, the Barge and the Cross Keys.

The Barge has plenty of seating both inside and out, and a conservatory. They have good parking, their own, plus the parks trust parking right next door.

Currently they have a reduced menu due to Covid. When I visited with family we all had the best meal. I ordered the beef brisket burger; I absolutely love beef brisket and will invariably order it from any menu, though I do not often order a burger, so I was a little nervous – I didn’t have to be, it was amazing. It was so beautifully chargrilled, I felt like I could taste all the flavours of the beautiful meat. My husband had a pie, which he enjoyed, though after he tasted my burger, he sorely regretted not ordering the same.

I was most impressed, however, by the kids meals. My 4 year old daughter is fussy and usually only eats plain pasta, but I ordered her the pasta dish anyway – it was tomato pasta with garlic bread – boy did she love it. She literally scooped up every last morsal of sauce with the garlic bread and then licked the bowl clean. I could not have been more suprised. Although I did taste the sauce (when she wasn’t looking, otherwise I may have lost an arm!) and it was obviously hand-made, it tasted fresh and natural and of course delicious.

My son almost always opts for a burger whenever we eat out; this time I encouraged him to try something new. Although it was not terribly different, he had never tried one before – a chicken burger. It was real chicken, not breaded. He loved it and proclaimed he would have them again and again.

The service was very good; I loved that the waitresses interacted with my children, asked them questions and made them feel a bit special. It was a busy weekend but we didn’t have to wait for hours; which is good because kids have zero patience.

We have been back many times over the last couple of years, I can highly recommend the roast dinner and the pies.

There are two lovely parks in walking distance; so we often take the kids to the park either before or after our meal. The park nearest has a huge field, which people often picnic on and or play outdoor games. There are also a lot of conker trees; we went conker collecting in the Autumn.

Additional Information:

Address: 15 Newport Road, Woolstone, MK15 0AE

Booking: Online

Parking: on site and next door (parks trust)

Breakfast · Cakes and Desserts

Olney Pancake Parlour (Review)

katchambers1 Comment

Living in Newport Pagnell, popping over to Olney is not far and since Olney is kind of a foodie paradise, we do pop there quite often. One of our favourite places to go for breakfast or brunch is the Olney Pancake Parlour. It’s a cafe in the main square of Olney’s town centre. Inside it is like a rabbit warren, it is deceptively big. They have booths, and tables and sofa’s and you can also sit outside.

Olney is famous for its pancakes and the annual pancake race; and the parlour is probably the best place in Olney to buy pancakes. They do sweet and savoury as well as thick American-style pancakes and thin crepe-like pancakes. They also do amazing milkshakes, sometimes I come here just for a shake, and delicious cakes. Their brownie is my personal favourite.

This week I brought the family to have brunch. A kids portion of american pancakes is just one pancake each; therefore I ordered an adult size; as it would give them 3 pancakes. It was however too much, one pancake actually would have been enough. They had nutella, banana’s and cream.

I ordered the american breakfast; which is pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. I also had toast because they have lovely thick bread. I know that americans like bacon with their pancakes, but I still can’t get my head around it. So I ate the eggs, bacon and sausage first; and then ate the pancakes, like a dessert. It was all lovely; the american-style pancakes in particular were authentic and delicious – super thick and fluffy. Hubby had a savoury pancake which he enjoyed too.

The next best thing to the pancakes are the milkshakes! They do beautiful milkshakes in a variety of flavours in both kids sizes and adult sizes. The kids both chose oreo milkshakes and I stuck with my traditional and favourite strawberry flavour. It was super thick and creamy with a generous portion of whipped cream on top.

Olney is a picturesque old coach town. They have a few boutique shops, in fact a few shops down from the pancake parlour is a unique mini shop, ‘The Book Snug,‘ that sells only children’s books, it is so cute. Opposite the co-op is a fantastic charity book shop and there are many charity shops dotted along the high street. The Olney library is one of the loveliest libraries in the county. It’s better than any of the libraries we have in Milton Keynes. Though not a big library in general, the children’s library is big and has toys for the kids to play with. Last time I visited they had a play tent and lego among other things. Therefore, Olney has a lot to offer and there is enough to spend half a day here. On your way home you could stop by Emberton Country Park for another few hours of fun.

Additional Information

Booking: 01234 713152

Website: https://www.olneypancakeparlour.co.uk/

Parking: If the farmers market is not on, there is parking right opposite. If not, there is parking at the co-op and at the rugby club (as well as along the high street if you get lucky).

Breakfast · Eating out

Codebreakers Cafe – Bletchley (Review)

katchambers1 Comment

What a lovely cafe in an incongruous location. The centre of Bletchley is not the prettiest of locations, compared to most of Milton Keynes (and I used to live there, so I feel I have the right to say this). However, it is charity shop heaven and still has a good local butchers.

That being said Bletchley does have a couple of gems and the Codebreakers cafe is one of them. The owners opened during lockdown 3.0 (in February 2021); and they are already starting to make a name for themselves in foodie circles. I was curious, so this week I checked them out for breakfast (which they serve all day), though they have an extensive menu.

They have some outdoor seating, but well the view….I won’t say any more. Inside it is beautifully and minimally decorated based on the Enigma/Bletchley Park theme, with old-fashioned lamp-shades and the best seating I think I have ever come across in a cafe. They have beautiful brown leather seats, which not only look the part but they are so comfortable. I have issues with my back and tailbone so I often feel pain after sitting for a long time, but I would have been happy to sit here for hours. The lack of windows on three-sides means on a dull day it could be quite dark; but they do have lights strewn about all over; which really helps.

I chose the full english breakfast and was pleasantly surprised that they allowed me to switch a few items (have I said before that I am fussy?!). I ordered a pot of tea which arrived in a large cup with the saucer and tea bag on top, allowing you to place your own tea bag – that’s a nice touch.

The breakfast was cooked perfectly and the eggs were runny (big tick). The best part was the toast, it was thick and delicious. I love good quality bread.

The ambience was very nice and it was suprisingly not empty as you would expect on a random thursday morning. There were 5 other tables of people, which I guess means that word is getting around.

There were two ladies serving us and they were very friendly and helpful.

They have food and drinks for take-away and they also deliver in the area. They serve lunch and dinner and I’ve heard the coffee is very good (though I don’t personally drink coffee).

I look forward to coming back again, with my kids.

My highlight from Codebreakers is the seating. The seating is sublime.

Useful Information

Parking: Mini carpark opposite the cafe, additional parking behind the cafe.

Booking: Phone – 01908969550

Website: https://www.thecodebreakerscafe.co.uk/

Address: 176 Queensway, Bletchley, MK2 2SW

Afternoon Tea · Cakes and Desserts

Afternoon Tea at French Affaire (Stony Stratford) Review

katchambers7 Comments

I have been to French Affaire many times; for dinner (which was nice) and for lunch (delicious) but what was truly memorable from both those visits were the desserts; their desserts/pattiseries are truly scrumptious. Therefore the idea of experiencing a French Affaire afternoon tea was an exciting prospect.

I went along with a close friend; we sat outside because the weather was pleasant and they have a newly expanded seating area which is covered and has heaters (because you know – England!). Speaking of this; when I visited in the winter they provided blankets and seat covers and heaters and it was lovely and cosy.

To begin, I have to make a rather random comment about the cutlery. Even the cutlery is classy – a sort of bronze colour, and the milk pail, so cute. So yes it began well with pretty cutlery, a pot of tea and then we were served a large plate of savouries to share. There were 2 of each item. The spinach and mascarpone tartlet was memorable, I do love me some cheese. However, I wasn’t too focussed on the savouries, because for me it is all about the cakes and scones with an afternoon tea.

And wow what a spectacle the cakes made – in their sort of half a bird cage. They looked so aethetically pleasing. I could not wait to try the plant pot cake. And I was not disappointed, it was a chocolate plant pot with strawberry cheesecake inside – oh my it was delectable. The chocolate and praline cake was my next favourite, then followed by a flavourful pistachio cake. These cakes are surprisingly filling, so I was only able to eat one of the delicious scones and no more cake; I was full to the brim.

They obviously have an artisan who makes these cakes; especially as they have recently opened a little cafe opposite the restaurant serving only their pattiseries and cake delights (plus an awesome looking waffle on a stick with a million toppings), so I will certainly be going back for their cakes and sweet treats again at their cafe L’Atelier.

During lockdown their afternoon teas were available for home delivery; which I think they still offer. However they do have a lovely alfresco area which would be perfect this time of year.

My only niggle with French Affaire is that their service is not as warm as I would like, perhaps it was a language barrier, as the server was French. They were not rude though and it would certainly not put me off from trying their absolutely delicious cakes and pattiseries.

The afternoon tea cost £25 per person. I think this was on the pricey side but the food really was special so it is worth it.