A couple of Saturdays ago, a group of us got together to go
for afternoon tea to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Steph turned twenty six and
following on the tradition from last year, we just all had to go for a bit of
cake and a nice little catch up.
So we jumped in the car and took a little trip to Felton, Northumberland. One of Steph’s friends recommended a place called the Running Fox Bakery/Cafe. She has had afternoon tea in so many places and obviously knows her
stuff.
When we got there we found ourselves in a gorgeous little
village. The bakery was on a corner right beside a river. The first
thing you could see were lots of fresh bread and cakes in the shop window.
Inside there was just so many cake stands with gorgeous looking cakes on them.
If I could have just started eating them there and then I would have.
We got given our menus and straight away I knew we had made
the right decision. What I loved about this place compared to other places I’ve
had afternoon tea is the choice. You are allowed to pick all of your own
things. You know when you go and there’s always that one sandwich filling you
hate, or that weird pudding concoction that you just cant get on board with.
Well this had none of that it was just straight to the point tasty, good food.
I decided to have tea for my drink. I’m not really a tea
person but when I’m being all posh and having afternoon tea something about me
just gets on board with it. I think a few sugar cubes helped the matter.
Next were the sandwiches. You could even pick which kind of
bread you wanted. I went for the smoked salmon and cream cheese on white bread.
It tasted amazing. The bread was fresh and soft, it had a nice bit of salad in
it too. I think I made the mistake of eating it all though. Not realising how
much food I had to actually eat.
After the sandwich you can choose between a slab of pie or
quiche. I say slab because my god it was huge. I love food though so I wasn’t
complaining. I tried the corn beef pie. The pastry was top notch and I could
have honestly eaten the whole thing but at that point I was worried I wouldn’t
be able to finish the rest.
Next course was a massive fruit scone filled with jam and
cream. I think if I go back I’d get the plain scone as I’m not too keen on the
currants/raisins. It still tasted great though. The challenge was just eating
it without getting cream all around my face.
By this point I couldn’t even attempt to eat my cake. It was
the classic Victoria sponge. I’ll tell you now, the list of cakes that you
could get was massive. So there’s definitely something for everyone.
Luckily we were allowed a little box to take our cake home in. Everyone was
defeated by the scones so we all needed boxes.
Afterwards we took a little walk by the river and just tried to calm our bulging bellies.
It cost (wait for it) £10 each for afternoon tea. A tenner to try and eat a mountain of delicious food. Honestly I can understand why the place was so packed. Definitely book in advance if you're wanting to try it out. They serve it from 3pm everyday. Plus what do you have to lose, you can take the leftovers home.
I was even nice and bought my mam a slice of cherry bakewell tart for £2.50. We shared it along with the leftover Victoria sponge cake later on that night.
I'd definitely recommend this place I don't think I can fault it. Maybe if it was closer to where I live, but hey, I can drive, I have a car. Plus I think it is the perfect setting looking all quaint in the countryside.
Have any of you been to The Running Fox Bakery?
