Afternoon Tea in York

---

A short and only slightly delayed train ride found us in York by lunchtime. The purpose of this visit was to have afternoon tea at Bettys, which is a Yorkshire institution and somewhere I have wanted to visit for years, but haven't got round to it on previous trips to York, and I haven't been to any of the places that have Bettys either. The original Bettys was opened in 1919 in Harrogate and no one knows why it was named Bettys. The story behind this successful small chain is quite interesting. A Swiss orphan, Fritz Bützer, travelled Europe learning his craft and in 1907 arrived in England. He took the wrong train and ended up in Bradford instead of the south coast, his original destination. He found work for a Swiss confectioner and by 1915 he had anglicised his name to Frederick Belmont, moved to Harrogate and opened a business as a chocolate specialist. Over the years, he diversified his business to open cafes in different towns in Yorkshire. Not all of them have survived but the original one in York has been going strong since 1937. Also, no one knows why the name Betty was chosen for the cafes.

It was a nice surprise that the queue wasn't too bad when we got there. I had expected it to be right around the square, but it wasn't. St. Helen's Square, which is where it's located, is really nice and there are plenty of other places to eat and drink if you don't fancy queuing. Our wait wasn't too long, only about twenty minutes or so. There was a bloke singing showtunes in front of St. Helen's Church, which other people in queue seemed to enjoy, but it was too loud for me. I did an internal happy dance when he packed up and left. While we were queuing, we were saying that it must feel like being in a fishbowl as everyone in the queue and those walking past were nebbing in to see the afternoon teas and other meals. So I was happy when we were told to head to our table in the basement. Some people mightn't like the idea of sitting in the basement, but I preferred it as I didn't feel like we were on show. The interior is nice in an old fashioned olde worlde way and the tables were well spaced apart so it didn't feel crammed. I really liked the traditional outfits the waiting staff were wearing, it felt a little like stepping back in time.

We ordered Afternoon Tea and didn't have to wait long for it to turn up. There were three tiers; sandwiches on the bottom, scone on the middle, and a trio of cakes on the top. It looked lovely and I hoped it tasted as good as it looked. I started with the sandwiches. There were four different ones, nice little dainty slices. I started with the ham and wholegrain mustard on white bread. The ham was tasty and just the right amount of mustard, not overpowering. The only niggle was the lettuce as when I took a bite of the sandwich, the strings of the lettuce wouldn't snap and I probably looked very uncouth. Next was cucumber, dill and cream cheese also on white. That was yum, too. Then I moved onto the Coronation Yorkshire chicken on brown. This one was my favourite. The chicken was delish, not too much mayo and the spice mix was very flavourful without being overpowering. Last was the Bleiker's tea-smoked salmon in brown bread, which I had expected to be my favourite. However, I was a bit let down by it. The bread was a bit hard, I wasn't sure if it was a bit stale or just the type of bread they used and I felt like the salmon was a bit lost in the bread. On the whole, I enjoyed the sandwiches. Now it was time to move onto the scone. This was a sultana scone and it came with strawberry jam and clotted cream. I wasn't really a scone fan until rather recently and I did enjoy this one. The scone was yummy, not too sweet or too crumbly. The strawberry jam was nice and the clotted cream was so thick. I needed to rest for a while after this as although the afternoon tea platter doesn't look like too much, it is deceptively filling. Drinking some tea helped me to make some more stomach space. The tea is their own blend and it is lovely, nice and strong and not too fragrant just the way I like it. Time for the miniature cake selection. I decided to try the Engadine slice first as I had not only never had one before, but hadn't heard of it. Well it was delicious, nutty and creamy with a hint of marzipan (maybe that was the almonds?). I could have eaten another one of those, I enjoyed it that much. I moved onto the lemon tart next. That was nice; a little pastry cup filled with lemon preserve/curd(?) and half a macaron and a pretty flower on the top. This cake was lovely, but a bit of a bugger to eat as it was so sticky. I really wish there had been a little water bowl on the table for my fingers. Finally, it was time for the chocolate cube. I was a little gutted as I was rather full and had been saving the best for last, but I didn't want to take it away as it would have gotten battered in my bag and probably melted into a giant blob with the inferno style heating TransPennine trains have. The chocolate cube was lovely. It was very rich which I like. I just wish I'd had a little more room in my stomach to fit it in.

After out afternoon tea, we went for a bit of a walk around York. I have been a few times and I like how compact the city centre is. We headed along Davygate and Parliament Street taking a look in some of the shops. Thankfully, they weren't too busy. We then made our way to The Shambles. It's such a cute street and I totally think it is the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. The rather unusual name comes from a now obsolete term for open air slaughterhouse and meat market. I think there is only one shop now that sells pie, and I'm not sure if it is a butcher's or not. I don't think I have ever seen The Shambles so quiet. It was rather nice as it meant I could walk uninterrupted as there were no big groups of tourists to dodge. There were still people about just not the hordes previously. I do feel sorry for the businesses though as they mustn't be making as much money.

Our walk took us on some streets that I hadn't ventured along before. We headed up Goodramgate. I love all the unusual street names. Lots of nice places to eat along there. We came to College Street, which is behind York Minister. In all my previous visits, I've never been around the back of the cathedral, so it was nice to have a walk around here. York Minister, as always, looked very impressive. It's such a stunning building. I also really liked College Street, it was very cute and quaint. St. William's College is a gorgeous looking building on the outside, but there seemed to be nothing on the inside, which is a pity. College Street turned into Minister Yard, where we were treated to some more impressive views of the cathedral close up. We came to a gate that was open and continued along Minster Yard. We happened upon the most beautiful looking house there. This is the Treasurer's House, which I had never heard of before. We got there too late to be able to visit, but it's on my list for a return visit to York. The gardens looked immaculate and I would love to have a look around it. Our walk took us across Dean's Park, which is adjacent to York Minister. I feel like I've been walking around York with my eyes half closed in the past, as I've never seen this park either. Our walk through the park was really nice and I can imagine that it is a nice place to relax on a warm summer's day. At one edge of the park, there are the ruins of what is believed to have been an old palace that date back to the 12th century. There are just some stone archways left and these had been turned into a war memorial. It's a lovely sight. Since it was getting cold and windy, it was time to retire to a warm coffeeshop until it was time for the train home.

---

Photos

Cakes
Bettys

Scone
Bettys

Bettys
York

St. William's College
College Street