Address: East Barnwell Farm, Chester Rd, Houghton le Spring DH4 7NJ, United Kingdom
Phone: +441915345241
Rating: 4.7
based on 257 reviews.
Food Quality
Pros:
"The food is freshly made and the smell of freshly ground coffee mixes with the smell of the roaring fire."
"Food was fresh and delicious and the bacon was thick enough to be gammon!"
"All the food is top notch and very tasty."
"One of the best Full English breakfasts you can get in Sunderland."
"Aberdeen Angus steak and ale pie was absolutely packed with chunks of meat!"
"Food absolutely 5star, pies and quiches tasted as good as they looked."
"The homemade food at the restaurant is delicious and satisfying."
Cons:
"Also the coffee was bitter and not pleasant at all."
"If i could give no stars I would. Yesterday afternoon I visited Penshaw tea rooms with high expectations to be left completely disgusted."
"As a regular visitor to the penshaw tea rooms it was a great disappointment to find a Black hair baked into my caramel slice."
"The food was lovely but if you advertise vegan option’s’ then please have more than 1 or 2 items."
"I have just had a Lamb and mint pie today and I was very disappointed, I am still looking for the lamb."
"The corned beef pie was delicious as was the apple and cinnamon scone, although the latter was served with packet jam which was a bit disappointing."
"Unfortunate - because even great food can't save a business from terrible customer service."
Service
Pros:
"The staff told me and my daughter to sit down as we both use mobility aids. It was really nice of them to look after us."
"Lovely food, atmosphere, and excellent service, staff are brilliant."
"The staff are so friendly and helpful."
"Staff were wonderful, atmosphere very friendly & choice was 1st class."
"Special thanks to the lady who was organising the seating, my dad has mobility issues, and she was very kind and helpful."
"The staff were really friendly and helpful. Got us seated in about 15mins."
"Staff friendly & never stop it is very well organised."
Cons:
"Will not be returning."
"Parking here is a nightmare, slow unorganised service and over priced products do not help."
"Today me mother went coffee shop I had latte and cake mother order tea and cream scone pot of tea came but mothers cream scone didn't came at all wasn't very happy with service."
"Very poor customer service and definitely not disability friendly."
"No communication between staff however some that call themselves staff should not be there like the women that calls itself the so called deputy manager."
"Extremely busy lunchtime today. Confusion over ordering & seating arrangements."
"Appalling attitude from staff as they are extremely rude and unhelpful and speak to the customer like dirt under their feet."
Value
Pros:
"Good value for money too."
"Delicious food and drinks. We had a mid-morning snack. The chocolate cake was huge! Good value for money too."
"Reasonable price for quality food."
"Fantastic local tea shop with delicious home made produce at very reasonable prices."
"Friendly and helpful staff. Good food. Reasonable price."
"Drinks and food are nice and good value."
"Proper homemade grub at good price."
Cons:
"A little bit expensive."
"Only downside is that it’s so popular the parking is generally full and the tea room has queues!"
"Far too expensive. 3 quid for 5 rashers of bacon and 6 quid for 6 sausages."
"Considering it has it's own farm shop you would think they would use more locally sourced items for example the bread instead of the cheapy loaf you can get in the shops to have a toastie/breakfast with."
"Bought chicken and leek pie ooh to die for but expensive 😕"
"Very pricey - If they reduced the amount of meat in the sausage rolls... they could half their prices and make more money."
"Sorry but i think this place is grossly overpriced and in my opinion overrated too."
Ambiance
Pros:
"The views are amazing out the huge windows."
"Warm and friendly tea room with a good choice of menu and you get more than enough to eat."
"The place had a lovely atmosphere with helpful staff."
"Very nice setting at the bottom of Penshaw Monument, excellent selection of home made food!!"
"Tea rooms and toilets clean and inviting."
"The place has a nice relaxing atmosphere with log burner giving off a warm welcoming feel."
"This is a great place to visit when going to the Penshaw Monument. Very dog friendly."
Cons:
"Always busy so must be popular place and had to sit on the seats outside."
"Very busy and a little cramped because of that so keep that in mind at peak times inside the cafe."
"It would have been a little too noisy indoors to enjoy a peaceful meal and chat."
"Only down side was the indoor seating area packed, no windows open."
"The tea room has become the victim of its own success... Expect to queue for a table, no matter what time you visit."
"Sadly we couldn't get a table in the restaurant as huge que. so bought from farm shop to take back to the car and eat."
"Hard to park because a zillion people were in the cafe but that shows they must be doing something right."