Date visited: Monday 20th September 2021
Gorse Hill Tea Room is an expanding tearoom in the Gorse Hill area of Swindon, to the north of the railway line that divides the town in two. There are tables for thirty in a single room. Being neither a town centre nor tourist location, this is a tearoom serving its local community, with the staff on first name terms with some of their regular customers. Service was cheerful and welcoming to all.
Gorse Hill Tea Room has recently taken over the premises next door, from which it intends to run its takeaway and delivery service.
The cafe-style menu offers breakfasts and hot lunches, paninis and baguettes, in addition to the usual tearoom fare of sandwiches and cakes. The selection of teas on the beverages menu was the shortest I have seen in any tearoom, and was outnumbered by the range of coffees offered. Nine cakes were on display on the occasion of my visit, all of huge proportions.
I ordered a pulled pork baguette, a slice of chocolate fudge cake, and a pot of tea, all for £8.45. The teapot was of a design I’ve come across before that is deceptively small. But the small quantity of tea was more than made up for by the impressive piece of cake, which was pleasing large and had multiple layers of chocolate cream, and the cheerful service.
