The Lytham Kitchen
9 Market Square
Lytham St. Annes
FY8 5LW
LANCASHIRE
Date Visited: 12 October 2014
Price: £7.45 Afternoon Tea
Price: £9.45 Indulgent Afternoon Tea
We were in
Blackpool for a family weekend for my mother-in-laws 80th birthday
and she assured us that Lytham was just a stroll away from the Grand Hotel at
St. Annes where we were staying . It was
a beautiful sunny day for October so we set off on a nice stroll up the coast. The walk was quite a bit further than we anticipated
but it meant we were all ready for something to eat by the time we got there. The Lytham Kitchen was the first place we came
to. As we were a large party of ten we nearly decided to look elsewhere as the
cafe was so busy, but a lady on her way out assured us it was well worth
waiting a few minutes and we weren’t disappointed.
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| Lytham St. Annes |
We only had to
wait a few minutes and before we were seated – six of us squeezed into a booth
while the rest sat on a breakfast bar area by the glass window over-looking the
street. The cafe’s interior was very light
and modern looking with wooden tables and booths, white walls cladded with colourful
patterned pictures and a large glass cabinet by the till filled with a
selection of enticing looking cakes and pastries.
All of the
food here is locally sourced and home cooked and the menu is very extensive, so
if you can’t find anything you like (and I’m fussy!) then you won’t find it
anywhere!
I had
already decided to have my favourite – afternoon tea (surprise, surprise). There were three options available, namely
the normal cream tea at £3.45 which included a scone and pot of tea, the
afternoon tea priced at £7.45, or the indulgent afternoon tea which was
virtually the same but with an extra large chunk of cake at £9.45. Guess which
one I chose? No it wasn’t the biggest – I
decided not to be (too) greedy so I opted for the normal afternoon tea.
For the sandwiches
there was a choice of bread ranging from white, wholemeal sliced, thick cut
white or granary bloomer or freshly baked baguette. The filling selection was
even more extensive, ranging from thick cut home roast ham and Dijon
mayonnaise, thick cut ham with cheddar cheese, cheese and Branston pickle,
cheddar cheese and spring onion and mayo, egg mayonnaise, egg mayonnaise and
crispy bacon, roast chicken and mayo, bacon, lettuce and tomato, roast beef,
red onion and horseradish, tuna and mayonnaise, prawns and Marie-Rose sauce,
freshly poached salmon and cucumber, and crayfish and cirtrus mayo. Phew! That’s a lot of choice. Unfortunately the
sandwich fairy only grants you the option of one delightful filling, rather
than a more indulgent varied selection of choices. So after much umming and
ahhing, I finally settled on egg mayonnaise and crispy bacon [a choice one of
my fellow diners also went for] as I can’t say I’ve ever had that before. What
can I say, I’m branching out.
The drinks
menu was equally impressive with a large selection of teas to choose from, from
the English breakfast, fruit infusions and herbal teas, to coffee, hot
chocolate, cold juice drinks, milkshakes and bottled beers. They even had vanilla, hazelnut and caramel
flavoured syrups to spice up your drinks with.
As for the
gluten free food, they provide an impressive range and the owner of the café –
who happened to be our server – was very knowledgeable about all of the gluten
free options. The menu included bread,
tea cakes, crumpets, biscuits and cakes, as well as gluten free pasta and gram
flour to make batter.
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| The Gluten Free Option |
With all
this choice I couldn’t believe it when my husband chose a baked potato with
cheese, coleslaw and salad. Clearly we
aren’t very adventurous when it comes to food in our family. Others opted for ham and cheese toasties and prawn
sandwiches with Marie-Rose sauce.
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| Ham and Cheese Toastie |
Although the
cafe was really busy we didn’t have to wait very long to be served and all of
the food was beautifully presented. The afternoon
tea was served on a two tier silver plated stand and looked delicious. There were four large quarter sandwiches on
the bottom tier garnished with salad and tomatoes, and a large fruit scone on
the top tier with a bowl of raspberry jam and clotted cream, along with a few
large chunks of pineapple and grapes at the side. There is a choice of six different flavours of
preserve with the scones here rather than just the usual strawberry or
raspberry, which I thought was a nice little addition.
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| Indulgent Afternoon Tea |
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| Rocky Road Yum! |
I have to
say the sandwiches were delicious and very filling, so much so that it kept
spilling over the sides of the bread causing me to make a bit of a mess. I have since tried to make these sandwiches
at home but they never tasted quite the same. They never do, do they? The pots of tea were refilled several times
and we were never rushed to leave even though they were very busy and waiting
for available seats.
This is a
great cafe to visit if you are in Lytham St. Annes and although it is very
busy, it is definitely well worth waiting for.
I can’t wait to visit again just to try something else on the menu.
Ratings: Gluten Free:
Tea: 8/10
Sandwiches: 9/10 Baked Potato 10/10
Cakes: 8/10
Scones: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Would I return? Yes, I need to try something else on the menu!
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