Hartley's Coffee & Sandwich Bar - Nottingham

So we had a bit of a "fat day" on Thursday! After going to Sobar for lunch (see post here), we decided it was coffee and cake time a couple of hours later! We were in the Hockley area and the fun and colourful exterior of Hartley's Coffee & Sandwich Bar seemed very inviting! You may have seen the cow that they have outside the café. Don't worry, it's not a real cow, although she does have her own Twitter account!

Mario opted for a regular latte, with a glass of tap water. The latte cost £2.00 and the mug was quite a substansial size. Mario wished that there was a larger shot of coffee in it though as it was a little weak for him. I'm sure if you ask for an extra shot of coffee, the friendly staff will be happy to oblige.

To accompany his coffee, Mario was tempted by a large raisin and oat cookie. For only £1.00, this cookie was huge! It had a delicious cinnamon taste to it. Not too crunchy or too chewy, this homemade cookie had a perfect texture to it.

As I have said in previous posts, I am an ice cream lover. This also means that I love milkshakes and I couldn't pass up the chance to have one! They're a little pricey at £3.50, but they're worth it and I decided to treat myself! I chose to have the mint-chocolate milkshake, and I was not disappointed! It was quite a large drink and even had pieces of chocolate in it, which was a delicious touch.

As for cake, I chose to have white chocolate and cranberry tiffin cake, priced at £2.00 (see photo above). It was so delicious! I wish it had chunks of digestive in for a little added crunch, but the overall taste was so tasty, especially with the odd sour cranberry in it.

Overall, the "afternoon snack" was absolutely delicious. All of Hartley's suppliers are local and the cakes are all handmade. It is an independant, family business and I'd definitely recommend them.

Lee Rosy's Tea, Nottingham

A couple of weeks ago, I went out for lunch with some friends and we ended up at Lee Rosy's for some tea and cake! I have already done a post about this quaint little tea room, which you can see here, and that post will have more information on the tea room.

We sat downstairs on this visit, as there is additional seating there. The stairs lead down to a room with about 5 tables, one of which has comfy chairs and a sofa around. I think this room needs better lighting as it is extremely dark (due to it being below-ground and there is, obviously, no daylight) and it could do with decorating. It looks a little shabby, but I suppose the whole tearoom has a shabby-chic feel to it.

Well in my last post, I wrote to say that I was disappointed that tea didn't come in a teapot. On my second visit, I saw a sign that said that it is possible to get a teapot if you'd like one, but a cup of tea is £1.40. I also found the tea menu on this visit! I hadn't realised that it existed so I got a peach tea this time.

This tea was a gorgeous deep red colour. I felt as though it was steeped to a sufficient time for me this time as the tea had a delicious peach flavour. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of fruit teas!

As we were waiting to order, we surveyed the selection of cakes that the tea room had on offer that day. As well as a wonderful-looking selection of cheesecakes and other cakes, there was one in particular that sounded interesting to me. I've had vegetable cakes before, such as carrot cake, parsnip cake, chocolate and beetroot cake, but I'd never tried courgette cake! The cake was advertised as chocolate and courgette cake with lime and I was excited to try it.

I was quite disappointed by this cake. I didn't expect to taste the courgette strongly in the cake, but it may as well have just been listed as a chocolate cake. I couldn't taste the courgette at all and I'm still wondering where the lime came into the occasion as I couldn't taste that either. The cake was a very tasty chocolate cake though, not dry at all and not too rich.

Lee Rosy's Tea, Nottingham

Lee Rosy's Tea is a lovely tea room with a very relaxing atmosphere located on Broad Street, opposite Broadway cinema, in the Hockley area.

NTU

I decided to go with one of my friends, Tasha, on a Friday afternoon as I am a big fan of tea rooms and tea. Tasha had been doing a college course, which was located near to this tea room, and she raved about the sandwiches to me, so I was obliged to try one! The sandwiches are located in the fridge and are packaged ready to takeaway in plastic containers.

As you can see, I chose to have the chicken breast, green pesto and tomato salad sandwich which was £3.20. These sandwiches are made on site and the ingredients are very fresh. I personally think that the sandwich could be taken out of the packet when it is served to someone eating in the café, instead of just being placed on a plate in its plastic container.

The bread was sliced thickly and was wonderfully soft. There was only a thin layer of pesto in the sandwich which was nice as the flavour wasn't too overpowering and enhanced the other ingredients. The sandwich truly tasted fresh and there's always the worry that a sandwich with tomato in that the bread will be soggy. This hadn't happened with this sandwich!

Tasha had eaten lunch already so she chose to have one of the delicious cakes that Lee Rosy's Tea offers. She chose to have a slice of the lemon meringue pie (£2.40).

The selection of cakes was amazing and part of me wishes I'd had a cake instead of a sandwich! The lemon meringue pie was delicious. Tasha said that the meringue part of the pie was amazing; fluffy and light but also crunchy on the top. She did say that the lemon curd was a little too hard and the pastry base was a little too soft, although this could be due to the fact it was stored in a refrigerated space and may not have been fresh that day.

The tea took a little while to get to us and this is due to the fact they steep the tea for you so you don't have to mess around with the loose leaves from the tea. I chose to have a peppermint tea (£1.40), which is always a refreshing tea.

I was a little disappointed that my tea didn't come in a teapot as I think that's one of the lovely aspects about a tea room. I also didn't like that I was unable to choose the strength of my tea and wish I'd asked for it to be quite strong as the flavour wasn't strong enough for me. Although the tea was very tasty and was exactly what it said it was, I was hoping that the peppermint tea would have been fresh mint.

Tasha had an iced tea (£1.80), which is also available for takeaway. The tea room had run out of black tea so Tasha had a lemon and ginger iced tea.

Tasha said that the tea tasted a lot more of ginger than it did of lemon, but the tea was still very nice and not too sweet, which can be a problem with a lot of iced teas. She did also say that the tea wasn't that refreshing, which could have been amended by a stronger lemon flavour.

Lee Rosy's is a lovely, laid-back tea room perfect for students (due to the free wifi) but also those who want something a little more traditional for lunch. The tea room also sells loose leaf tea in the shop and on their website. In the evenings in the café, there are also events. Most Thursdays sees a film night, Tuesday night is the night for knitters and on the first Thursday of every month, there is a games' night.