Yumchaa- Camden (Stables)

 For my first ‘official’ foray into tea-shop sampling I chose one of two possible ‘Yumchaa’ in Camden Town which overlooks the lock and the ‘West Yard’.

I was accompanied, on the surprisingly sunny day, by my lovely friend Emily (twitter.com/emilinerose) who valiantly agreed to help me start out on my Tea Quest. 

Strictly speaking this trip was more tea-and-cake and not a by-the-book Afternoon Tea.  Having consulted the (slightly shocked) employee for blend advice and sniffed at a few of the tea samples, Emily plumped for a pot of the gloriously named ‘Chitty chitty bang bang’ tea.  This came from the ‘spicy’ class rather than the ‘fruity’ and smelt incredible all the way over on my side of the table!  I chose coffee (for which the only choice was semi-skimmed milk) and we shared a slice of home-made lemon drizzle cake.  The cake was admittedly very good and all the more so as we were

able to enjoy it out on one of the balcony tables. 

So far so good! However, I was a little disappointed by the finish of the place, everything looked a little scruffy and uncared-for, particularly considering it really isn’t an old place.  We  felt that they could make so much more of their speciality teas and some relatively small touches would have made a considerable difference to the experience. 

I would be happy to visit Yumchaa again (and I still plan to try out their other shops) but I have to admit to being slightly underwhelmed...

Plus points: homemade cakes, inexpensive

Minus points: scruffy and lack of any particular sparkle

Rx