Guest Reviewer: David

Being in Harrogate on a disturbingly autumnal August afternoon it soon became obvious that the best thing to do was to repair to the nearest cream tea outlet. We could have gone to Betty’s (always good food, but expensive and the queue, the queue….). Instead we headed to the Old Swan Hotel. Devotees of detective fiction may know this hotel as the place in which Agatha Christie stayed when she went ‘missing’ in 1926. It was the kind of establishment that simply must provide a good tea.

We were not to be disappointed. We headed into the comfortable lounge and soon made ourselves at home. A quick peruse of the menu and decisions were made: two cream teas and one full English. The ladies opted for tearoom blend; I fancied ringing the changes with a pot of lapsang soushong, but it was not available so plumped for the Earl Grey.

Tea arrived first; teabags (Twinings) rather than loose leaf, but none the worse for this. Plenty of hot water and proper milk in jugs and nice teacups. The food arrived shortly after. The full tea consisted of two rounds of sandwiches; we opted for cheese and pickle, though other choices included smoked salmon, beef and horseradish and ham. White bread and crustless, with a nice mature cheddar cheese and a good pickle (Branstons?); all in all top notch. There was ample cakeage: two really good chocolate brownies. I’m not usually a fan of brownies, but these were rich and moist; just how they should be. There was also a really solid piece of carrot cake with plenty of butter icing. Of course, the most important element were the scones. They were excellent, being well-fruited and moist. We were provided with butter and clotted cream along with a rather fine little jam stand containing six miniature jars of jam (Tiptree), giving a choice of raspberry, strawberry and blackcurrent.

The slight difference between the cream tea and the full English was in the preparation of the scones. The former were served at room temperature, the latter were toasted. I’d not come across the concept of toasted scones before, but the ladies assured me it was quite proper; is this a Yorkshire thing?

All in all an excellent tea in a rather grand hotel; definitely a worthy alternative to Betty’s. Indeed the entire hotel looked rather nice and may bear further investigation (even though the Dining Room looked like something out of The Shining).

£7.50 - Cream Tea
£12.50 - Full English Tea