Combe Reading Room Cancer Research Cream Tea

Happy cream tea punters

Mavis surveys the extra charity stall

Great crockery

After a five mile walk with a chunky 2 year old on one’s back Combe Reading Room was a sight for sore eyes.  Only a few miles from Woodstock and the glories of Blenheim Palace, the village of Combe is a gem, and so are the cream teas provided by the ladies of the parish every Sunday from mid July until the end of August between the hours of 3 and 5.30pm.

In the world of classic country cream teas talk is cheap, words are two a penny, but a cream tea that comes in at above average scoring is not all that common a beast. I’m delighted to report, however, that this was a vintage cream tea.  Among the best.  And to top it all, all the proceeds to charity.

Rating

Location 10/10

A great part of Oxfordshire.  Quiet, idyllic, no noise from any airports, carriageways or whatever.  On the edge of a village green.   The soundtrack would be up-beat Elgar. Almost faultless (see prejudice corner).

The scone 18/20

The high score says it all.  I must admit to having been slightly disappointed by the thickness of the scone (approximately an inch and a bit isn’t quite thick enough for my taste hence the dropped points) but I knew this would be a delight.  When Mavis grabbed said scone with her tongs I noticed that the very top of the scone developed a hairline fracture across its surface which spoke of some of the key attributes of a fine scone – in particular freshness and fragility (an old scone would never develop a hairline fracture).  

As to taste – pretty much on the money – though the pinch of salt which went into the mixture was possibly a  bit on the stingy side.  Fantastic.

The cream 7/10

Not clotted but fresh with a great texture.  Served in a wonderfully unshaped dollop in a glass ramekin nuzzling up to the jam.

The jam 7/10

Perfectly good jam,  not homemade hence the average score.  Imaginatively served (com sopra).

The Tea 10/10

A cream tea – contrary to what you might imagine in a blog which expects high standards – doesn’t absolutely have to have the tea served in its own pot with an extra pot of hot water.  What it should be, however, is reasonably strong, piping hot, served in a cup and saucer, and it should be plentiful.  This one ticked all the boxes.  I noticed that Rosemary was delighted when I asked for a refill.  

Service and miscellaneous 10/10

The ladies of the parish loved what they were doing.  It was busy, it was raising cash for a worthy cause,  the standards were high and everyone concerned was loving it.  From flash to bang (i.e. from entering the door to sitting down with scone entering gob) was no more than 3 minutes.   Fantastic village hall type crockery – all wonderfully mismatched stuff that everyone’s thrown out of his own home.  Spot on.

Value for money 20/20

Absolutely corking value for money.  Though only one scone was on offer the price did included a piece of cake from a choice of about 9 or 10 sponges and sundry cakes.  £3.50 for the whole thing. Fantastic

Prejudice corner 8/10

1)      Is the constituency MP a Liberal Democrat?

No – 1 point scored.

2)      Are there any visible signs of non-conformity in the vicinity?

Fraid so.  2 chapels within a stone’s throw. No points.

3)      Does the establishment use terms such as organic, sustainable, food-miles etc?

Mercifully not.  1 point scored

4)      Does the local church look like one you’d like to be a part of.  I.e. no mention of terms such as ‘all age worship’, ‘mission shaped church’, ‘alpha’ etc.

Correct.  Relief.  1 point scored.

5)      Is there any hint of temperance about the place?

A mixed bag of an answer.  Two dens of non-conformity already mentioned are balanced by the graceful presence of the Cock Inn next door.  The problem is that the reading room was designed as a temperance hall.  I know it may seem unfair but no points scored.

6)      Did there appear to be an active discouragement of taking snuff or other perfectly legal tobacco products.

I think we’ll skip over this question seeing as this was a charity cream tea for cancer research.  1 point scored.

7)      Were coffee drinkers pandered to?

No – 1 point.

8)      Was the term vegetarian used by the establishment in an affirming manner?

No – 1 point scored

9)      Any riff-raff in evidence?

No – 1 point scored

10)   Would a reasonable person describe the experience as being trendy?

Certainly not. 1 point.

Total and summary.

90/100 is a phenomenal score and all members of the team should be given minor gongs in the Victorian Order as far as I’m concerned.  When I got there at about 5pm the garden was heaving with satisfied punters.  Although I don’t have my ratings to hand my suspicion is that some of the most prestigious cream tea outlets in the country would struggle to better Combe Reading Room. Fantastic.