Date visited: Monday 17th June 2024
It’s almost always enjoyable to visit a newly opened tearoom, when it is still exactly as the proprietor dreamed of, before any commercial challenges diminish that dream. Lally’s Tea Rooms in Malmesbury is no exception. These tea rooms opened on Thursday 30th May 2024. They take their name from a nickname given to the proprietor, Sheila Edwards, by her grandmother when she was a child.
Lally’s Tea Rooms has both ground floor and first floor rooms for those wishing to take tea, with four tables on the ground floor and a similar number upstairs. The building was originally a seventeenth century town house, with the shop front dating from the late nineteenth century, and is Grade II listed by Historic England. The first floor has some quite low beams, which I ‘measured’ to be at a height of slightly more than five feet and seven inches. The traditional building and quite traditional crockery are balanced by more modern furniture.
The menu extends to four pages, with a separate two page menu for afternoon teas. The main menu includes sandwiches, toasted sandwiches and a ploughman’s to eat, and a choice of half a dozen local Nuditea branded loose leaf teas, as well as coffees and soft drinks. Despite being quite a small tearoom, a total of eight cakes were on display, as well teacakes and both fruit and savoury scones.
I chose a ploughman’s lunch, a slice of coffee and walnut cake, and a pot of sencha green tea. Alas, the green tea was out of stock, so I had to settle for a pot of breakfast tea instead. The ploughman’s lunch almost didn’t happen either, as the proprietor thought she’d run out of the usual cheese. Fortunately there was a little left and this was supplemented by the cheese usually served with the savoury scones. The ploughman’s is very much a celebration of local fares: Brinkworth Dairy Wiltshire Loaf cheese, and in my case also Brinkworth Dairy Avebury cheese, a gala pie from JGK Butchery and Delicatessen in Royal Wootton Bassett, chutney from ‘Delicious Dauntsey’, and bread from The Old Bakehouse in Malmesbury. It included the rare pleasure of butter that was spreadably soft having been allowed to warm. The pickles and chutney were served in miniature square Kilner jars rather than the more usual tiny bowls. This initially seemed a nice touch, but by the end did leave me feeling I’d missed out on the chutney that I couldn’t remove from the corners of the jar. The coffee and walnut cake was, for my taste, rather bland, to the extent that I couldn’t taste the walnut at all. However its texture was just the right balance of moist fluffiness, with plenty of cream on top. And what was lacking in flavour was certainly made up for by quantity! The pot of tea would no doubt have been sufficient for a more average sized meal, and just about lasted to the end of both courses. The total bill was £20.85, which felt quite reasonable given that most of the ingredients were from small, good quality, local producers.
Service by the proprietor and her assistant was very courteous, and quite apologetic about the absence of green tea and their usual ploughman’s cheese. Combine the lovely service with almost traditional decor and good food, and this made for a very enjoyable meal.
Lally’s Tea Rooms are, at the time of writing, open between 9 am and 4 pm from Mondays to Thursdays, and between 9 am and 5 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. During my visit on a Monday lunchtime, I was initially the only customer, but a couple more groups had joined by the time I left. A takeaway service is also offered.
