Summer Cream Teas at Badger's Holt

Badger’s Holt, Dartmeet, Princetown, Yelverton, Devon, Pl20 6SG

http://www.badgersholtdartmoor.co.uk/

 

Appearance –  7/10 -  the glutenated scones were tall and majestic as they loomed out at me from the plate,  lightly dusted with icing sugar like snow on mountain peaks. Whilst my gluten free ones (ones on the right) looked like a giant had been using said mountain peaks for seats for a number of years and therefore they had a somewhat flattened appearance. Nonetheless, I still drooled a little bit when I saw them. The crockery also had good intentions - matching plates in the typical quaint English tearooms style but then spoiled by prison canteen-esque style teapot and jam holder.

Quantity - 6/10 – firstly, massive amounts of cream. I was delighted with this offering. But then the generous portion of cream only served to make the tiny jam portion look even more meagre. Does this establishment place more importance on cream? Are they taking cream tea literally? The GF scones were a reasonable size, obviously they could have been bigger. They can ALWAYS be bigger – when is it going to become the norm that a cream tea comes with 3 or 4 scones? Inflation rises, why doesn’t the acceptable portion size of a cream tea do the same the size? That quibble has got its own post I reckon. Anyway, I still felt peckish after eating them but a lot of this can be attributed to my greed and not necessarily scone inadequacies. On the other hand, my partner in crime finished all of his and I have seen him struggle to complete a cream tea a few times, so maybe the portion size was a tad stingy.



Done the Devon way - of course!



Taste -  8/10 – Hard to tell that the scones were gluten free. They were a bit dry but the glutenated ones were apparently dry too so looks like I wasn’t missing out too much. Couldn’t fault the taste of the jam – really fruity and rich but not too sweet. The cream had that lovely yellowy crust on top and was perfect in every way. I would have preferred a fruited scone or at least the choice of one but you have to give them massive points just for doing a gluten free cream tea in the first place. Other complaint is that the scones came out cold – they could have at least warmed them through to give the illusion of being freshly baked!

Price – 5/10 -  £11.20 for two cream teas with a pot of tea to share. Not the cheapest I’ve had.  I think it would have been much more reasonable at £10.

Ambience - 7/10 - The service was very quick, within 5 minutes they were over with a tray brimming with goods. The inside of the tearooms was very dingy and if it hadn’t been a sunny day we would have had to sit inside. I feel this would have put a dampener on the experience. The outdoor seating was basic picnic benches but was scenic and relaxing.

The tearooms

How it made me feel  - 8/10 – it was a lovely sunny day and the area surrounding the tearooms is picturesque. We even got to see a peacock casually sunning itself on the roof whilst we ate – don’t believe any of the other tearooms have given me such an offering! I felt uber excited beforehand and pretty satisfied after so all in all a good experience.

Overall score 41/60