On a recent trip to England we made our first visit to the city of Bath. This wasn't our first time to England however it was our first time to Bath. I'd always wanted to visit even since I was in high school. You see, there was this poster of the Roman Baths in one of my English rooms and I would often find myself staring at it in a dreamy haze while my mind would go to some other place. I wasn't always task focused! I used to think to myself, 'one day I'm going to go there' and that nippy December morning I did. The Roman Baths were even more interesting than I had imagined. If like me you don't know anything about them then I highly recommend you go visit the complex, as it's not just that one big rectangular pool as we soon found out. They had massage rooms; they sure knew how to live!
Anyhow, whilst we were in Bath we visited the Jane Austen Centre and Regency Tea Rooms. I was most unimpressed with our tour of the centre. Our guide spoke to us like we were five years old and proceeded by telling us just how much Jane hated Bath. If Jane hated Bath so much then why is it the centre of the Jane Austen world?!
The good news however is that the Regency Tea Rooms were lovely and the service was impeccable. Let me start by saying they are small as you can probably see in the photo. I'd guess that capacity would be around 20 people however I think this only adds to the atmosphere.
One of this things that admired me the most about this tea room was the range of gluten free menu options. I opted for 'Tea with the Austen's' which consisted of some sandwiches, cake and tea whilst my husband went for some scones with a variety of jams and clotted cream. Maybe it's because we have a lack of traditional style tea rooms in Australia but we had never seen clotted cream before, it rather looked like a huge scoop of ice cream but was very buttery. Usually we get whipped cream with scones. I opted for onion and cheese sandwiches, something I'd never had before either and I also received a lovely huge slice of gluten free ginger cake. They have a variety of teas however I chose the Jane Austen blend. This black China tea blend was similar to that available during Austen's time when the majority of tea was imported from China.
Overall, the tea rooms were lovely for a tea lover and for someone who has never experienced something that I would think of as being a traditional style afternoon tea. The service was great, the food was lovely and fresh and the tea was brewed to perfection. These tea rooms are a bit of a tourist trap and in other online reviews there are complaints that it's too pricey however for what it was, an experience I'll never have again, I thought the price was right on the mark.
The Verdict
Tea Place: Regency Tea Rooms, Bath, United Kingdom
Contact: Website
Rating: 5/5
Comment: When you are a tourist, be a tourist. A petite tea room located on the top floor of a regency terrace house in Bath. Lovely menu option including gluten free food. Nice varieties of tea including blends similar to those available in Regency times.
