Sheila’s Cottage – Ambleside, Cumbria

Our last Lake District café visit was to Sheila’s Cottage in Ambleside. It was warm and cosy and they had a delicious looking array of cakes on the counter to choose from. However, we had just spent over two hours on a boat in the cold so decided to go for hot puddings to warm ourselves up a bit!

I went for sticky toffee pudding and a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, both of which were lovely (and I was really pleased that everywhere we visited in the lake district offered marshmallows with their hot chocolate, something that I wish more places down my way would do). My husband had a cafetiere of coffee and a hot chocolate pudding which he enjoyed.

The Potting Shed – Grasmere, Cumbria.

Whilst out and about exploring we decided to pop into the Potting Shed in Grasmere for coffee and cake. It was a nice cosy place with a selection of cakes on the counter. I went for a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and a chocolate brownie. My husband had a cafetiere of coffee and a slice of carrot cake.

My hot chocolate was really nice and I was pleased that marshmallows were available. The brownie was lovely, nice and crispy on top and gooey in the middle. My husband enjoyed his coffee and cake.

Alpine – Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

A few lake district reviews coming up as we visited for a short break during November.

Our first stop for coffee and cake was in the town of Bowness-on-Windermere in the Alpine café.

I had a hot chocolate with wipped cream, a flake and marshmallows along with a hot chocolate pudding and my husband had a coffee and a slice of carrot cake.

My hot chocolate was delicious and It was nice to have the full works with it. The chocolate pudding was alright but the bottom half was somewhat hard so I left that part of it. It was a big portion though and I was mostly full by then anyway. My husband enjoyed his coffee and cake.

Dyrham Park (National Trust) – Near Bath

We visited Dyrham Park on a Sunday afternoon and had to try out the café whilst we were there. For such a large property the café seems quite small. There’s a fair bit of customer seating but the actual serving area is a bit of a squeeze which I think is a contributory factor to the service being a little slow and confused.

I had a hot chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake and my husband had a filter coffee and a slice of lemon cake. My hot chocolate was nice although sadly no option to add marshmallows. The chocolate cake was nice with a really chocolately icing. My husband enjoyed his coffee and lemon cake.

Stourhead (National Trust) - Wiltshire

It’s been ages since we last went for coffee and cake! We tend to avoid most places over the summer due to them being busy and full of kids so hopefully now autumn is on it’s way we’ll be getting out and about a bit more.

We went to Stourhead on Sunday for coffee and cake as it’s one of our favourite National Trust places for food. When we arrived there was the usual good selection of cakes on display although my husband was a bit disappointed that there was no carrot cake.

I had a piece of chocolate cake and a hot chocolate and my husband had a slice of Victoria sponge and a cappuccino.

I really enjoyed my cake and the hot chocolate was nice (still no marshmallows available though) and my husband enjoyed his cake and coffee. We sat outside on one of the bench tables looking into the woodland which was nice. There weren’t many people out there so it was nice and quiet.

We had a wander around the gardens and then went back into the restaurant for another hot chocolate and coffee (we resisted the urge for more cake!).

Erddig (National Trust) – Wrexham, North Wales

We visited Erddig on the way home from our North Wales trip and whilst there we had some coffee and cake in the café.

My husband had a slice of carrot cake and a cappuccino and I had a slice of chocolate cakes and a hot chocolate.

The cakes were really nice homemade ones and the drinks were good (although I was disappointed that there were no marshmallows, especially as I had been spoilt for a couple of days at places that had them!). My husband said this was his favourite coffee and cake of the trip.