Dedham Arts And Craft Centre Tearoom

Have always loved going to the Craft Centre tearoom and took an American friend there recently for an English 'tea and cake ' experience. But it was quite disappointing, sorry to say. The tea was fine, difficult to get that wrong, but the Victoria sponge cake was very, very dry and obviously not at all fresh. The jam had all soaked into the bottom layer, so the cake had probably been sitting around somewhere warm for some days.

Lovely cafe delicious food in an interesting and engaging environment. One slight criticism it can be jolly cold there in cold weather especially when doors are left open!

We ordered from the outside 'hatch ' and had to wait about 5 minutes before a member of staff noticed us. We ordered a pot of tea for two, a slice of carrot cake and a slice of lemon cake. These were brought out to us by a lady who looked as though it was an ordeal to be working there no communication or greeting from her at all. The tea was tepid and the teapot only contained enough for a cup each. The tiny slither of lemon cake was dry and flavourless not at all worth the price. However the carrot cake was lovely.

Stopped here for lunch today. lovely fresh sandwiches, served promptly by friendly staff in pretty setting. The tables were cleared quickly after each customer and cleaned thoroughly. What more do you need?

We have enjoyed eating here for some years, the setting is very pleasant and food tasty. The last couple of visits have however been a bit of a let-down. The first occasion when one of us ordered the Rosti at £7.50. It was very small and wasn't in our view enough to call a lunch at the price charged. The second was last week when a sausage roll and salad was ordered. The sausage roll had flaky pastry which had been overheated and was rock-hard underneath, and inedible as a result, We told the waitress who said she would mention it to the chef but there was no apology or offer of a small price reduction for what was only half a meal. Not what we would expect!