Date visited: Monday 27th March 2023
Treacles Tea Rooms is situated on the wide High Street of the market town of Thame. It has both ground floor and first floor rooms for those wishing to take tea, with eight tables in the ground floor room and a mixture of dining tables and sofas on the first floor. There are also four tables outside in the street. The interior is decorated with prints for sale, as well as a large picture with cartoon caricatures of the staff.
Breakfast is served until midday, with the main menu available thereafter. The breakfast offering includes several variations on a cooked breakfast, including vegetarian and vegan options, plus lighter choices such as toast or teacakes. The main menu includes almost a dozen traditional hot meals, as well as jacket potatoes, toasties, heated wraps, and paninis. Additional items are offered on a ‘specials’ board. At the counter, eight cakes and baked slices were on display, though these were mainly bakes, with only a couple of cakes. Beverages on offer include ‘tea’ – a single menu item – or ‘speciality tea’ for which a separate Teapigs menu was available on request. Soft drinks, smoothies, milk shakes and coffees are also offered.
I visited on a Monday lunchtime, which is usually a quiet time. But by 1 pm Treacles was busy, with all the ground floor tables occupied and many upstairs too. I opted for a steak and ale pie from the specials board, which was served with mixed vegetables, potatoes, and gravy. The pie was well-filled and the meal was tasty and filling. I followed this with a Bakewell slice, which was served slightly too chilled for my liking, particularly on what was a rather cool spring day.
My choice of tea was Teapigs Mao Feng green tea. This was tastier than I usually find Teapigs tea. I’m not sure why this was presented with a wooden stirrer, as other beverages were graced with teaspoons. With the teacup larger than the teapot, this was almost designed to disappoint – with a more conventionally sized teacup the pot would have been enough for three cupfuls. Total price was £20, with most of that for the hot main course which was definitely the highlight of my visit.
Although cakes and drinks are served from the counter on the ground floor, the kitchen is clearly upstairs, with meals carried down a quite steep flight of stairs by the staff – rather them than me! Service was friendly and efficient, despite the tea rooms being busy. Despite its rather glum exterior, Treacles Tea Rooms are well worth a visit by any hungry visitor to Thame.
