Category: Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea · Breakfast · Cafe · Cakes and Desserts · Dinner · Eating out · Street-Food · Take-aways

Milton Keynes Foodie 2021 Review

katchambersLeave a comment

Now is my opportunity to recommend a whole bunch of great eateries that I have been enjoying all year (or for many years), many of which haven’t made it to a dedicated blog post. So if you want to know what and where you should be eating in 2022, look no further…

Take-Aways

Best Chinese take-away: Sam’s Chinese in Peartree Bridge, MK6 3BX (01908 695695)

Okay so the location has a lot to be desired, but Sam’s has been my go-to chinese take-away for the last couple of years. They are generous with their meat in their chow meins and I can recommend their curries, ribs and satay.

Best Pizza take-away: Oleevo Pizza (in Broughton)

Absolutely delicious and authentic italian pizza, this is my husband’s favourite, he loves thin bases. I love the tomato and garlic bread in particular, as it is difficult to find that anywhere. I also appreciate that they seem to understand young children and offer plain pasta, my 5 year old is still in her plain pasta phase! The only downside I have found is that even though we live within 3 miles of the take-away, they will not deliver, even though it says they deliver within 3 miles.

Best American: Percy’s BBQ (in Crownhill)

You may have noticed if you have read more then one of my posts that I love brisket and Percy’s BBQ do a great brisket burger; in addition their gravy is outstanding and don’t get me started on their malt milkshake (which arrive in a cute bottle), so delicious. If you like malt, like I do, you should also try their malt icecream cookie dessert.

Best Mexican takeaway: Taco Shack

Best Chicken: Kings Comfort Food

Restaurants, Pubs and Cafes

Best Breakfast:

Codebreakers Cafe

I have two breakfast favourites. Codebreakers has comfy seats, a delicious cooked breakfast and great service. Location is not as pretty as some.

Nonna’s

Nonna’s looks good inside and out and they have the slightly more elevated breakfast experience such as poached egss on sourdough; though be aware that service can be slow sometimes.

Best Afternoon Tea:

Teapots of Olney

Definitely my first choice for a cream tea (and lunch), and if you have a tighter budget, teapots is definitely more cost-effective and the scones are worth every penny. They also have amazing homemade cakes.

French Affaire

If you want a more extravagant full afternoon tea experience and have a bigger budget, this is a delightful and beautiful french patisserie experience.

Best Dinner:

I have had a lot of great dinners this year, the Swan at Salford probably comes in second place, but my best meals of the year have been at…

The Cross Keys

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

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.