Monday, February 23, 2015

The British Pantry


This past weekend it snowed all day Saturday, which messed up my plans--I was going to have some friends over for a special tea party. 
Oh well, we haven't gotten much of it this winter, so I guess we were due. 

Hopefully nothing will go wrong with my rescheduled date of next Saturday so I can still feature my party on the blog next week.  Luckily, I went to tea at a local tea room called the British Pantry right before Valentine's Day, so I'll just move up sharing that tea to today!



 The British Pantry (located in Aldie, Virginia--about 25 minutes from my house) not only serves afternoon tea, but it also sells all sorts of British imports.    You can't really tell how cute the place is from the outside, which just makes it all the more fun a place to visit for  tea.

 
Another fun feature of the store is the old London telephone booth out along the road--perfect advertisement! 



The tea room, which takes up roughly half of the building, was decorated for Valentine's Day.  They really did a wonderful job making this area into a quant tea room!

 
 

Each table had a different set of china:







 
We were seated at the last table with poppy dishes in front of the window. 
 
 
My chair faced the wall and this beautiful print:



We each chose a pot of tea from a nice sized collection of teas, many of which were Republic of Tea.  I got a Lady Grey,

 
and of course there was a pretty bone china creamer and sugar on the table.
 


The food was very good, and there was a lot of it!


For the savories:

spinach and bacon and cheese quiches, sausage rolls,

 
 and tea sandwiches including salmon salad, roast beef and mustard, cucumber, egg salad, and a delicious chicken salad  in a phyllo cup. 
 
 
For dessert, we had a Victorian sponge cake, cranberry cookie bars (a cake-like bar with orange zest and white chocolate and cranberries, topped with a cream cheese frosting), mint chocolate layered dessert (with a chocolate cookie bottom, peppermint frosting center and topped with a chocolate fudge), and strawberries.  These were all delicious, but the Victorian sponge cake was my favorite.


After finishing dessert, our scone course was brought out with more strawberries.  These were plain buttermilk scones and they were delicious with real clotted cream and strawberry preserves. 


After enjoying  tea, we headed back out to check out the shop with its pretty collections of china
 for sale,
 
including two cottage sets.


 
There was a bunch of British themed gifts, both tea related
 

 and apparel.
 
 
 
A backroom had a gorgeous purple table with thistles and violets,
 
 
including this lovely two tiered tray.

 
A couple of tea tables were also set and ready for tea:


 


Thanks for joining me!

I'm linking to this tea parties this week:

Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea 
and Rose Chintz Cottage's Tea Time Tuesday 

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tour. What fun!
    Your tea looks yummy.
    Linda at Beautiful Ideas

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  2. What fun! Wish I were closer...looks like my sort of place! Lovely tables and wonderful eatables! Thanks so much for linking to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!
    Ruth

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  3. Hi Carrie,

    Thank you for the fantastic tour! I would just love to join you for tea. The Victorian sponge cake looks amazing. Isn't it fantastic to have a local tea room? Have a great week.

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  4. I enjoyed this tour so much. I am wishing we had such a shop near me. The only tea place near me just recently closed, sad to say.

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  5. Danger! Danger! A tea room complete with gift shop! I would have been in heaven. I enjoyed your tour of The British Pantry. Everything looks lovely from the china to the food. Happy Tea Day!

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  6. Carrie, the Tea Room looks wonderful. I love their display of blue transferware above the windows. The food looks incredible and there were so many lovely treats to choose from. I could spend a good deal of time in there. Love the telephone booth too; what fun! Thank you for joining me for tea and have a lovely week.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  7. I just love visiting different tea rooms when I travel. Thanks for taking us to The British Pantry. All of the portions look very generous in size. The chicken salad in the phyllo cup is my favorite savory. Having a gift shop makes it just the more special of a tea room.

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  8. What a charming tearoom! The food, chinaware and tea merchandise all look fabulous!

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  9. Such a pretty tearoom! The food looks sublime!

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  10. I am currently entertaining the idea of opening a Tea Shoppe in the States.

    `Downton Abbey` has made us Yanks desperate for proper Tea Shoppes. ( There aren`t any currently...well, hardly any ).

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    Replies
    1. There is always room for more great tearooms! Thanks for your comment :)

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  11. Such pretty tables and I like the poppy china you had at yours. The food looks scrumptious.

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  12. I love to virtually go to the the rooms with you, Carrie. I wish I could go in person as that would be the best! The tea room is so pretty inside. I liked seeing all the pretty tables and the wonderful food! Thank you for sharing your visit with us. Hopefully you can reschedule your tea party.

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  13. as a beautifully laid table !!! I would like to take me some of that delicious cake !!! I love the china !!! beautiful greetings from angie from Germany

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  14. What delicious looking tea time treats. I'd like one of each, please, and I'm not just talking about the edibles.

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  15. How delightful! I love poppy dishes and have a small collection of my own. Everything looks yummy. Hope the weather is nice for you next Sat. Hopped over from The Nest at Finch Rest. Loved the pretty teacup Michele won!
    hugs,
    Jann

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Thank you so much for your comment! I hope you have a wonderful day :)