Fourboyz, York

Now me, I'm a cup of tea person as you know.  So when I visited York with friends recently and someone suggested a milkshake it felt like something daringly innovative.  We didn't know anywhere to go for this, so we just picked more or less the first place we came across (definitely friends after my own heart, these.  No discussion about going somewhere corporate that we'd all heard of!). 

Well, we made a good choice in Fourboyz.  The staff were mighty friendly and outgoing.  The cafe was clean and well presented (the steep stairs might pose a problem to some though) and we were early enough to have it all to ourselves (probably just as well, as our girlish laughter had already provoked some hard stares from fellow rail travellers).

The choice of milkshakes included chai.  The waitress advised the sweet-toothed one of the party that she wouldn't like it.  So my natural perversity kicked in and I ordered it.  Maybe it's a new addition to the menu, maybe they've had complaints, maybe Fourboyz don't have full confidence in the mixture - whatever the reason, a tiny cupful of chai mixture was brought for me to try before I committed myself.  As an occasional chai drinker, I am happy to confirm that it tasted wonderful and spicy and that it was probably the best milkshake I've ever tasted (though the last one may have been a strawberry one when I was about 6).

So, let's give three diamond jubilee cheers for friends who take you on adventures, the wonderfulness of York, sunshine, and Fourboyz and their chai milkshakes!

Lemon Jelli, Courtenay Street, Newton Abbot

We've been watching as the old Courtenay Arms has gradually morphed into Lemon Jelli, and at last it is open for business, and as I had some time to kill too good an opportunity to waste!

In I went, and I have to say the layout is very similar to the old Courtenay where many a mis-spent youth was had.  The atmosphere is quite different however.  There is a French vibe going on, with posters, plaques etc around the walls.  There is wooden flooring and the tables aren't crowding in on each other, making it a good place to meet and chat.  Even a sofa-phobe like me would be tempted by the gorgeously upholstered example in the window, and the bench that I sat on was upholstered in a lovely striped fabric.

I ordered tea and a cookie (£1.80, just enough to pay) and felt quite at home.  There's a menu of snacks displayed in an avante garde manilla folder with treasury tag, and an evening menu is promised.

The place in the Market Hall remains open apparently, this town should be big enough for both the Lemon Jellis

The Stand Comedy Club, High Bridge

Cutting through here I spotted that The Stand was advertising teas, courtesy of the tea shed.  Have they done this for long?  Not judging by the interior where the leaflets on display were all current and in perfect order.  The whole decor looked new as well.  I loved the lime green upholstered benches, the light wood flooring, the plain wood tables. There are window seats in the lovely green. There's art work on display and for sale too.  The tea came in a china pot with cup and saucer and sugar bowl.  All very civilised and in such a lovely little niche too.  There are art galleries nearby, and some fab vintage shops and more little cuts through to the Old George and round about.  Best of all is the outdoor terrace.  It's surrounded by buildings, so will be quite sheltered and it has a secret, quiet feel to it.  Not a place for cake, but the menu looked unusual and interesting.

The Late Shows 2012: Lady Koo and the Kooky Kitchen

I love the Late Shows, we should have them more often.  When you get to my age one late night over a weekend is quite enough thank you, so I only had time for Moorbank, Morden Tower, Blackfriars and no plans for tea anywhere!  I wandered down Ouseburn wondered where to stop and found myself drifting towards the sparkly new Toffee Factory.  It's huge, they must have made a lot of toffee in this town at one time.  Several other people were heading that way, including some young men dressed for the 1920s (oooh! they were the Kooky Kitchen!!).  Someone spoke into an intercom, a door opened anonymously, and we strode guiltily into the TF.  It all felt so naughty!  I decided against the tour of the building (sorry building) and headed down to the ground floor, 1920s boys and all.  And then I found it, my spiritual tea drinking home for the Late Shows.

A perfectly ordinary meeting room had been transformed into a cross between a speakeasy, Betty's tearooms and the Mad Hatter's tea party.  Did I really see a young gentleman drinking from the spout of the teapot?  Utilitarian business furniture and vintage mismatched china (cake stands too!) rubbed shoulders.  There was bunting, and on stage Lady Koo et al demonstrated in song that the nutritional value of spinach was recognised in the flapper age, along with the comic potential of double entendre.

The cake and the tea were fab and free and the atmosphere was priceless.  Where are they playing next?

Cafe Eat, Grainger market

They're coming along a bit like buses, these cafes, and I spotted another one on Pink Lane as well!  Hey ho, next week maybe!  But to business!  Cafe Eat, eat in or takeaway, actually eat in is a bit of a misnomer, as you are eating out in the middle of the Grainger market and I half expected comments from passers by and people holding up small children saying 'Look!  That one's eating!  Look!'

However, Grainger market is always nice to visit and there are cafes galore.  Could this be Newcastle's cafe hub?  Ordering arrangements weren't too clear - should I order at the counter, wait to be seated, wait to be served, carry my tea back myself?  Life can be too darn complicated if you try to get it all right, so I ordered at the counter, other people were waited on.  I waited for my tea, and pie and peas to be brought to me while others carried their own tea back and waited for their food.

The pot of tea was lovely.  The pie and peas were just right.  The price was great value and they do deals on scones/cake and tea in the afternoons.  Long may it continue!

Baltic cafe (ground floor)

A friend and I dipped our toes into this one on Sunday, having frozen our way through the Quayside market and the Gong festival.  Not surprisingly on a cold day in May, it was busy and I was reduced to plonking myself on the only free seat at a table and shaming the other occupants into drinking up and leaving.

So, the table to ourselves (we were at the end of the afternoon tea rush), we sat down and enjoyed a pot of tea - three cups each - from a proper teapot and toffee cake and white chocolate and cranberry branky.  Branky?  That's what it said, but a quick google search reveals only details of a region of the Czech Republic or somewhere and sternly changes any request for a recipe into brandy cake.  I am at a loss, and it was so tasty!  Second visit, with notebook and inquisitor's hat on it called for!

Oh, and we did do the culture later on, and the cafe on the 6th floor is open for coffees etc only during the day.  Would my vertigo stand it?

Minchellas, King Street, South Shields

I'm surprised I've never written about this one before.  It's a traditional haunt, you have to love the benches, the pictures, the whole atmosphere.  I especially liked being able to enjoy a bakewell tart and a very nice, milky, small cup of coffee for £1.85.  They even brought it to my table.  Please don't ever modernise it.