Time for a spot of.....coffee and cake - Krema Farnham

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.

Last December Krema Coffee opened its doors in Downing Street, Farnham in Surrey .....and last weekend.....four months later..... I finally got around to sampling some of the delights on offer!

Krema Artisan Coffee - Farnham, Surrey

Krema Coffee is independently owned and committed to supporting the local community, and where possible sourcing their food and drink from quality local suppliers. Their freshly roasted speciality coffee is undoubtedly the star of the show, along with a great range of loose leaf teas, hot chocolate, cold press juices and soft drinks. 

They also serve sandwiches, soups and salads prepared freshly every day using locally-baked artisan breads, meats and cheeses and I'm pleased to report that they have a rather fine selection of handmade cakes and sweet treats on offer! 

John (centre) and his team at Krema Coffee, Farnham

The interior of Krema Coffee is rustic but comfortable and the team of staff are friendly and very helpful if you are stuck making your refreshment decisions!

When I popped by I was in need of a good lunch.....and I was really spoilt for choice. Krema Coffee have a good selection of both sweet and savoury items to pick from, displayed in wonderful bowls or stacked up high in their glass cabinets.....

Decisions, decisions at Krema Coffee

I opted to go for a cheese and tomato toastie and a huge slab of Victoria sponge cake, washed down with a Tropical Smoothie (I know I know....I should have enjoyed a coffee or a cup of tea....but the night before had taken its toll and I really need some hydration!!). 

The food is freshly prepared and the portion sizes generous....

Toasted cheese & tomato sandwich and victoria sponge - Krema Coffee

The toasted sandwich is made with good quality bread and served with a small fresh side salad. If you are looking for a fully toasted sandwich, which leaks melted cheese from the sides then this might not be the sandwich for you - but I thoroughly enjoyed it....

My Tropical Smoothie really hit the spot and the cake was scrummy! 

Just take a look at the size of it....with a great ratio of cake to filling....

How cake is done at Krema Coffee, Farnham

I had the pleasure of meeting owner John as I was leaving and he told me all about the freshly made salads and fruit smoothies that are proving to be very popular at the moment. 

I'll definitely be popping back for some of that tomato and mozzarella salad....

He also pointed out the rather scrummy selection of squares, which I think I'm going to have to sample on my next visits....

A selection of sweet squares at Krema Coffee, Farnham

It's always great to find new local businesses that offer good quality tea, coffee and of course cake! If you happen to be in the Farnham area and fancy a piece of cake you should give Krema a go!

If you'd like to know more about Krema pop by their Facebook page.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....at Marwell Hotel

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends, and this time we are sharing with you a recent visit to Marwell Hotel in Hampshire.

Marwell Hotel has recently gained the talents of executive chef Phil Yeoman who is passionate about using local produce in all his cooking, and this includes the afternoon tea on offer. Lorna and I were lucky enough to be invited to try Phil's current afternoon tea, here's what we enjoyed.....

We were seated in the upstairs of the lounge area and were looked after very well by Holly. Holly not only offered great, friendly service but also a very good knowledge of the afternoon tea she was serving. After we had picked our tea selection from the Twinings teas on offer, the tea stands were brought out.....

Afternoon tea - Marwell Hotel

On the top tier was a selection of afternoon tea cakes and pastries, and nestled below them on the middle tier were the finger sandwiches. The scones were brought out after we had finished our sandwiches, which meant they were served perfectly warm.

The hotel supports local producers and this is reflected in all the food served at afternoon tea. 

The sandwiches were freshly cut and generously filled....

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Marwell Hotel

The filling variety included:

Smoked salmon and cream cheese

Cream cheese and cucumber 

Honey roast ham, and grain mustard

The bread was fresh and I'm pleased to report crustless. The sandwiches were a good size, cut into fingers and filled from end to end - there was no scrimping here! I really enjoyed the cucumber sandwiches.

Once we had finished the sandwiches the plates of scones were brought out.....

Afternoon tea scones - Marwell Hotel

Now...these scones were quite amazing....firstly...they were huge! We were served one plain and one fruit scone each, accompanied by locally produced strawberry jam and clotted cream. As mentioned before, as the scones were brought out after we'd finished our sandwiches they were lovely and warm when we cut into them.

The fruit scones had fruit all the way through, and both the fruit and plain ones had a lovely flavour and texture to them. They had a nice bite, were light inside and not at all claggy. I really liked the strawberry jam, which was a good consistency (perfectly for dolloping on top of the cream!) and flavoursome.

Finally we moved onto the top tier of the cake stand....those wonderful looking pastries and cakes.....

Afternoon tea pastries - Marwell Hotel

There were three different sweets to enjoy:

Chocolate marquise salted caramel

Glazed strawberry tartlet chantilly cream

Carrot cake coriander cress

I started with the carrot cake, which was light and delicious. I'm not normally a fan of carrot cake, but this I really enjoyed. I followed this up with the strawberry tartlet, which again was light and delicate...and those strawberries tasted amazing! Finally I enjoyed the salted caramel and chocolate piece of heaven, which was topped with homemade honeycomb. It was rich, but light and I loved the salted caramel running through it. 

This was a really lovely selection of sweets, and all were a good size.

All in all this was a wonderful afternoon tea, we were well fed and watered and all for £15.50 per person. If you are in Hampshire I would definitely recommend trying this afternoon tea - it's great value, especially considering the quality of the ingredients.

We also had the pleasure of meeting executive chef Phil at the end of our experience who told us about some of his plans for the hotel (we also asked him our afternoon tea questions). We'll feature all this in a future blog post, so watch this space!

I'd like to thank Marwell Hotel and Phil for inviting us to try their afternoon tea. Please note that although we were guests at the hotel, this has not influenced our thoughts on the tea and all opinions expressed are our own.

If you would like to find out more about the afternoon tea, please visit the Marwell Hotel website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel