Earl Grey Tea Rooms

This is one of those wonderful York cafes that you simply have to visit just to get a look inside, to see its old ceiling beams and wonky floors dating back hundreds of years.

The food was good and the comfortable surroundings in this very old building on the Shambles encouraged me to break from my tradition of ordering the all day breakfast and go for something different – giant Yorkshire pudding with chicken and gravy and mashed potato with peas – see photo. The food was tasty and the portions were of a nice size, I did not go away feeling hungry.

One of the first things you notice about the Earl Grey Tea Rooms is that it’s bigger than it looks from the outside. You walk in through or sort of front shop and emerge into a cozy little area at the back with a few tables. However, off to the side at the back is a little nook with more seating inside, and back towards the front, adjacent to the shop, is even more seating as the Tea Rooms occupy two buildings. There is also seating outside, which would be very nice on pleasant summer afternoons.

As I said already, the Earl Grey Tea Rooms is a café I definitely recommend that everyone should visit at least once just to get a look inside, though I personally feel it is also a café many, including myself, will wish to visit again and again.

The staff were friendly and even let my friend, Angelika, know the ingredients of the soup she ordered so she could try and make it at home.

13-14 Shambles York, North Yorkshire YO1 7LZ 01904 654 353