Petworth House Tea Shop, National Trust.

National Trust properties are always a guaranteed location for a cream tea. At Petworth house the restaurant is located in a large hall in the servants wing of the house. This wing also displays the kitchens of the house, and as always these are as interesting as the actual house itself.

The cream tea was an assemble it yourself tea. A large wicker basket with plain scones sat on the counter with a sign saying two scones, jam and cream for £4.90. Being picky we chose our scones from the basket and then looked for the jam. The options were Strawberry or Apricot in 28g jars from Wilkin of Tiptree, with only two types of jam to choose from it seemed a bit limited. Strawberry was chosen by both of us, as Apricot is a bit 'funky' for a cream tea.
We then moved up to the counter and were given tubs of Rodda's Clotted cream. The choice of tea was the usual,  And we chose an Earl Grey and and English Breakfast. These were both loose teas and were served in a Stump teapot. A nice detail and something I had never seen before. We also had a pot of water as top up.

We found a table and sat down.

The scones were good. I would hazard a guess that they were fresh that day and not frozen and defrosted. They were a bit hard but had a good texture and taste.

We gave marks as follows out of 5 in each category.

Ambiance and Presentation:- 3, we had to assemble ourselves, room was clean but a bit of a 'barn'
Jam and Cream:- 3, lost marks for limited choice of jam and pre packed clotted cream.
Scones:- 3, Good but nothing outstanding.
Tea:- 4, Liked the tea pots.
Service:- 2, Sadly not a great interaction with the counter staff.

Overall:-15/25

A good cream tea and about what we would expect from a National Trust restaurant.