Category: Buggy Friendly Cafes

No. 12 Peartree Pantry and Pup troubles!

Finally, we tried out a new tea room.  It’s been so long since we went anywhere new that even Sister Y forgot to take a photo of our cakes – clearly we are out of practice!

Anyway, this week we went along to the Peartree Pantry on the outskirts of Hatfield Peverel and Witham.  It’s one we’ve been meaning to try for a while and we were glad we did – what a lovely place, enhanced further by the extremely warm welcome from the lady owner.  She made a big fuss of the teeny tot, giving her colouring and crayons, showed us to a table and gave us all the daily specials.  I had chocolate brownie which was delicious, warm and rich, Sister X had her fave – ginger and cinnamon cake – and Sister Y had lemon drizzle.  Unfortunately, they both said that they weren’t really lemony or gingery enough.  It was more expensive than other local cafes – £6.45 for a pot of tea and cake – but it was big (plenty of room for buggies if needed), comfortable – tables interspersed with sofas and snug areas, spotlessly clean and the friendliness of the staff left a lasting impression.  There is also lots of parking at the rear and, something that may be of interest to Husband X on his travels:

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Chuckle, chuckle . . .

So, on to the issues facing the Sisterhood this week: Sister X has a dog problem.  I’ve been there so totally feel her pain.  Her neighbour has acquired a dreaded yapper – a small, barky dog – which interrupts her constantly throughout the day when she is trying to nap … I mean work!!  No, seriously, she only took one nap, once – just the one time – and was unfortunate enough to get caught in the act by Husband X home early from work.  She really does work very hard, honestly.  Sister Y and I very sensibly and maturely advised her to put a note through the door and run . . . no, of course we didn’t really!  I pointed out that, if the neighbours are not there when the dog is barking, they probably don’t realise it’s doing it, so the best and first course of action is to knock and play the concerned neighbour – informative; understanding; supportive.  ‘You trap more flies with honey’ as my old mum would say.  If that doesn’t work then by all means go bad ass on them – and by bad ass, I mean telephone the council in a very grown up manner and request a noise disturbance form.  Or, get a laser pen and wind the dog up with it in the middle of the night so that they get an idea of how annoying it is.  Really, what a childish suggestion – I’d never do that.

Sister Y is still waiting to hear about the job. She’s not holding out much hope as her boss can’t seem to remember her name – but she does keep complimenting her choice of footwear . . . I have no idea how that translates in terms of career progression prospects!

Until next time, cake lovers x

 

No. 11 – The Barn at Stanway

Well, we all made it this week – yay – so off to a good start. The Barn is a garden centre and cafe located on Turkey Cock Lane in Stanway (and yes, we all had a predictably juvenile reaction to the name).  How could we not pay a visit?  Sister X was particularly keen – always had my suspicions about that one!  It’s actually a really nice garden centre with loads of lovely ‘things’ for sale.  You know the type of ‘things’ – all that beautiful vintage-look stuff that you know would never look quite right unless you owned a stunning Georgian house or Victorian cottage with a quaint country garden.  The rustic crates and shabby chic milk churns certainly wouldn’t have the same wow factor in a 60’s semi!

Anyway, the tea room is big with lots of tables but still feels quite cosy.  I had no trouble locating a high chair and there was space for the buggy, although I did have to tuck it out of the way by the door or there wouldn’t have been room for people to walk past.  The toilets are also very nice and clean with decent baby-change facilities.

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The cakes looked amazing on the counter under big glass kloshes – I went for chocolate, Sister Y had lemon and Sister X had ginger again (she’s not pregnant, really, she just likes ginger cake!).  Sister Y and I both agreed that there was way too much butter icing on ours – nice cake but too sickly.  Sister X said hers was more gingery than The Woodlands offering last week but not as sticky so she couldn’t quite decide between the two.  £5.75 for tea and cake so on the expensive side but I did get 3 (small) cups out of the pot.  I think we will be heading back there at some point.  In fact, Sister Y already has been – she took Husband Y in an attempt to convince him that they did actually need lots of lovely vintage-looking tat for their garden (don’t think he came up for it though … ).

 

 

 

No. 8 – Perrywoods and Christmas Cheer!

Twas just myself and Sister X this week as Sister Y’s youngest had received a visit from ‘The Chunder Monster’ so she was housebound, clearing up vomit and watching daytime tv – ah, the joys of motherhood!  Another chilly, damp day so we decided to go to Perrywoods Garden Centre, just outside Tiptree, for a squiz at their Christmas decorations (they have some beautiful things) and to try their cakes as I have recently been told that they are pretty delicious.

We were slightly perturbed by the enormous queue heading into the tea room but quickly realised that they were all after ‘proper’ food and that there is a separate counter for cakes, which was a bonus as there was nobody waiting at it.  We were practically drooling at the sight of the delicious looking cakes that awaited us but looked at each other in horror when we saw the price – £5.29!!  For a slice of cake.  Seriously?!  We decided there must have been gold leaf in it to warrant that price tag.  Luckily, there were lots of other yummy offerings at far more sensible prices.  I had a Christmas Tree Brownie and Sister X went for a Gingerbread Scone, which she said was incredibly nice.  Mine was also scrumptious and very pretty to boot.  £4.75 with a cup of tea ….  think they might possibly be a threat to the Wilkin & Sons ‘best cake’ crown!

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The tea room is huge, plenty of space for the buggy and loads of tables.  It is set out in several sections though, so it still feels quite cosy.  The staff were lovely – a very nice lady carried my tray for me and, when I went to sit at a table for two, she kindly suggested that I choose a bigger table so that we would have more room and then scooted off to get a high chair for us.

We were building up to our Christmas plays at school this week and so had been frantically making or throwing together shepherd/donkey/sheep/camel costumes for our little ones to look super cute in.  It’s such a shame that so many parents just go online and order some generic costume these days.  I know people are busy and pressed for time but the homemade outfits are so much more special and full of character.  One of our school mums got a white chenille bath mat and cut a hole in the middle for her son’s head – voila! sheep outfit – how clever!  And I do love to see a child wearing their dad’s old shirt with a tea towel on their head, it just kicks the festive season off for me!  Merry Christmas, cake lovers xx