Food Review: York 13/02/2010
Coming from Somerset I seem to have a fondness for Cream Teas. When I was 15 we went on holiday to Woolacombe in North Devon. There I decided that when I got old/ rich etc. I would go round the country reviewing cream teas. Mama Campesinos! pointed out that I didn’t like Tea so how could I do a proper review? For some reason I’ve started to drink Tea now so my dream can be fulfilled.
In York there is an establishment called Betty’s, a tea room serving British and Swiss cuisine. Nobody actually knows who Betty was, if anybody does know, answers on a postcard please. We got there and the queue was around the building, we eventually got in. The décor and the uniforms of the staff made it feel like I should have worn a shirt and tie.
From the vast menu I decided to go for the Yorkshire Cream Tea. It came on a cake tower which was quite cute. The scones had already been sliced, which I thought was a bit odd. To work out how fresh a scone is, you should be able to just break it in half, no need for a knife. If you need a knife then it ain’t fresh. My scone was disappointingly very dry. It could have been baked that day, but then had been sliced and had gotten dry. The fruit in it allowed it to be slightly moist but it was still disappointing. The cream was nice and thick with big clots, it was smooth and very fresh. The jam was sweet and had real bits of strawberries in it, though it didn’t have that home made taste to it. The tea was refreshing and light, unfortunately my tea tasting is not that broad so I can’t comment that much yet.
For two scones and tea it cost £7.95. I feel like most of that was going towards being in Betty’s, whoever she is, tearoom rather than “Maggie’s” round the corner. I’ve had ones a lot better for half the price in other places.
It leaves me to ask one final question. Cream then jam, or jam then cream?
I’ve always been of the cream base, then jam on top, persuasion, but i hear tell that if you do it the other way around it is much tidier, and easier to eat. However it doesn’t have that same enticing appearance of the scone-cream-jam order, and for that reason i must stick in my potentially misguided way.
In fact I’d say as long as you have enough clotted cream (by that i mean disgusting amounts) then it’s going to be super-enjoyable/disgustingly grotesque whichever way you choose to serve it. The Betty in York has always been too busy whenever i’ve been there. On Sunday a line had formed outside!
Neither. Just butter.
I was once told that one way round is the Cornish way and the other way is the Devon way, but I can’t remember which is which. I put the cream first as it’s a (sort of) butter equivalent, but however you do it you get to eat it so I’m not too bothered
I was in Betty’s that day too, looking really out of place as well. You should have gone downstairs, they didn’t allow phones and you couldn’t see outside, so it was a bit like you’d gone back in time due to the decor. I did like the atmosphere and the tea was really nice, but a fiver for two croissants was a bit ridiculous.
Since you said they serve Swiss cuisine, it might be named after Betty Bossi, a fictitious Swiss housewife. As from the 1950s a lot of cookbooks and magazines have been published under her name. Apparently Betty Bossi recipes are really famous in Switzerland…
My friend used to work at betty’s and had to wear the wierd uniform. The tips were good though.
Ta very much for the Reading show, great stuff, very much like the Plug and Play venue. Apologies for the ‘play a song’ tw*ts. I had the misfortune to be standing next to them.