Bettys Café Tea Rooms, located in Northallerton, has been named as the best place in Britain to enjoy afternoon tea, after scooping The Tea Guild’s prestigious award for Top Tea Place 2012. This is the highest ‘accolade’ of the tea world.
The Tea Guild Awards, now in their 27th year, are the equivalent of the ‘Oscars’ for the industry, with the best tea rooms in Britain competing for this great honour. Taking afternoon tea is a cherished experience steeped in British tradition and will be particularly popular this year as the British public and many of this year’s overseas visitors celebrate British traditions with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Tea Guild has also awarded 39 special Awards of Excellence to tea rooms across Britain in this category in recognition of their outstanding quality and consistently high standards in tea service. As well as researching and judging The Top Tea Place Award 2012, The Tea Guild’s team of inspectors have been searching the UK to seek out the annual winners of The Top London Afternoon Tea and The Top City and Country Hotel Tea 2012 Awards.
The Tea Guild’s judges have taken tea in hotels and tea rooms in London and across Britain to find the finest tea experiences and all visits have been anonymous to ensure the results are completely fair and accurate. The anonymous judges awarded points for the variety, flavour, knowledge and service of the teas offered, together with the quality and service of food, décor, ambience, and presentation. With 125 points to be lost or gained on the judge’s scorecard, only those tea establishments achieving the very highest standards across a number of categories can make it to the top.
Bettys Café Tea Rooms was voted into the top spot after it gained a near perfect score from the The Tea Guild’s inspectors. The judges praised it for its delightful surroundings, affable staff, and the “quietly efficient” service that guests enjoyed. The judges were impressed by the variety and amount of sandwiches, scones and delicious cakes and were won over by the excellent selection of teas and the staff’s exceptional knowledge.
Commenting on Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Northallerton winning The Tea Guild’s exceptionally sought after Top Tea Place 2012 Award, Irene Gorman, Head of The Tea Guild, said:
Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Northallerton offers a truly special tea experience and this award is very well deserved. The attention to detail, quality of food, lovingly prepared by their team who strive to ensure, where possible, that all food is sourced locally, and whose excellent knowledge and service of teas served, is second to none. The very friendly welcome and relaxing and pleasant ambiance helps make afternoon tea at Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Northallerton a real pleasure. It is no wonder that families and groups of friends of all ages truly enjoy the Bettys tea experience.
The standard of entrants this year was incredibly high, with many excellent entries from across the UK. The tradition of afternoon tea has never been stronger, with Tea Guild members busier than ever. More and more people are taking time out to enjoy afternoon tea.
Afternoon tea is now the most fashionable way to catch up with friends. It has become increasing popular be it after a busy morning’s shopping, a business meeting, for that special family occasion, a romantic date or a truly memorable experience for the bride to be and her girlfriends. Tea Guild member establishments all have a wide variety of teas to choose from, including favourites such as white and green tea as well as special blends that are often unique. Modern life can be very hectic and demanding and taking afternoon tea is the perfect way to slow down and relax, bringing huge emotional and wellbeing benefits.
Bettys Northallerton Tea Rooms Manager Mr Lindsay Judd, said:
We’re very proud to be members of The Tea Guild, and to be given The Tea Guild’s Top Tea Place 2012 Award is a huge honour – we’re absolutely delighted. We aim to give our customers the very best afternoon tea experience possible and all our staff work tirelessly to make Bettys Café Tea Rooms a great place to relax and enjoy the highest quality food and tea. We know just how important it is to get all aspects of afternoon tea exactly right.
