Sweetmeats Tea Rooms in Babergh

stopped for an ice cream yesterday. We had the rum and raisin horrid no taste grainy. It had thawed and refrozen £10 wasted

Having been turned away by most other cafes - it was 3.30pm so fair enough - we fell upon Sweetmeats. WHAT a treat. Stilton and back bacon on toasted muffins beautifully served with a wonderful salad. Great service great value and great food. I will be back.

Absolutely awful ice cream, 2 ice creams came to £7 I wouldn’t have minded if they had tasted of ice cream and not watery chocolate with big lumps of ice in them.

Wowow what a wonderful place, I never thought someone could cook in the smallest kitchen I've seen, but wow Paul can definitely cook, the food is beautiful I can't recommend this lovely place enough, I've had many meals here over the years, and always had the best food, and Paul covers gluten free, vegan so great choices, And the prices are incredible, And in the summer there is fantastic ice creams for sale too, 😋 and a beautiful selection of sweets in the shop as you come in Love going there,

Wonderful find. A great welcome, fast service and delicious light lunches, and hot drinks. Thoroughly recommended the muffins and the bouillabaisse.

Firstly a positive: best sweet scone ever tasted. My hot chocolate was very nice and chocolately, however, unfortunately I can’t recommend you visit because of the appalling service. The cook/chef also waits on the handful of tables and he was in a terrible mood and quite rude. My very bland chickpea burger didn’t come with the chutney it was supposed to, and I was too scared of the owners angry response to ask if I could have some, and the beetroot was just dry strands of the stuff from a cheap bag of bistro style salad from Lidl or similar. My husbands coffee tasted off, either the beans were really old or the machine needed cleaning. Would never return here.

Stopped for an ice cream, which was revolting, it should have been called flavoured ice as that is all that it was. Only ate a quarter of it as inedible

We ordered two cream teas. One with coffee and one with tea. The coffee which came in a cafeteria was revolting. It was weak but had bits floating in it. The tea pot and cafeteria were very stained. Even the sugar pots looked grubby. The scones were nice however. I did explain to the server that I didn't like the coffee and I think he got a bit offended. We then bought 2 ice creams on our way out from downstairs. There is a freezer full of tempting flavours. I should have realised that the quality of the ice cream is very poor after seeing the bright green pistachio flavour. We had a coffee and a toffee flavour. I have to say they are the most disgusting ice creams I have ever had. It looked slightly curdled, tasteless and had chunks of ice in them. Not creamy at all, after one mouthful I threw them in the bin. We then walked around the corner and bought decent ice cream from the parlour. I was tempted to go back in the shop but I did find the two servers in there slightly unapproachable and for the sake of a fiver I didn't want confrontation. Avoid this place

I should of trusted my gut feeling when I entered the shop, which is shabby, but I went ahead and ordered fudge for myself and 2 children. The shop assistant seemed a bit short with us when there was a slight hesitation when my children also wanted to have a drink. I wouldn't normally write a review just for that, but when I tried my fudge later, it was awful, just like pure granulated sugar. The other fudge wasn't as bad but still very grainy. £12 for the pleasure. Very disappointing.

Popped in on a whim, was a bit later on a Sunday afternoon. The gent who served us was great-really friendly and had the balance right of checking if we were ready to order etc without being over bearing. Nice little cafe with lovely food and very reasonable pricing. Quirky surroundings. Would recommend!

A very pleasant surprise, after visiting the Guildhall on a cold day in Lavenham, to find a small quirky cafe upstairs above a small sweet shop that had an interesting menu with some unusual food combinations for all dietary requirements at very reasonable prices. Non dairy home made vegan ice 'cream' also available- i had the ninja ginger flavour. The chocolates also looked delicious and a number were vegan. Also had home made turkish delight. If you visit the cafe look out see the quirky Suffolk time clock.

From the three cheese scone (stilton, gorgonzola, Shropshire blue) to the halloumi salad with smashed peanut brittle the menu is fantastic! We had the seafood chowder and avocado basil tomato muffins - delicious! The standout was the hot chocolate, perhaps the best we've had :) Paul was an absolute pleasure, so friendly and professional!

We had a lovely coffee and scones upstairs in the cafe. I had the 3 cheese hot scone which was delicious (I have never tried a scone like this before). Nice atmosphere upstairs with some cool jazz playing in the background. We bought some freshly made in house sweets downstairs. The owner kindly gave my wife her selection of turkish delight sweets when he found out it was her birthday today. It was an all round good experience.

Wow you need to make a visit here, cream tea is simply amazing, all home made x just look at all the home made chocolates, amazing customer services with total passion for everything they do x we will visit again for sure

I have had the privilege of going to sweetmeats on many occasions, there's always a warm welcome and the most incredible food served from what I think must be the smallest kitchen, with perfection, and precision, great flavours too There's something for everyone, even gluten free, I can't praise the owner enough, And great prices too, There's also some great ice creams to try too Give it whirl I can assure you you won't be disappointed

I visited today with my daughter. Cake was excellent and went above and beyond to ensure all my dietary needs were met. Really friendly owner who took us through the history of his shop. Can’t wait to visit again.

Unfortunately the worst ice cream we have ever had in our lives. Admittedly, expectations were high. The enormous variety of exciting flavours offered, written on a board outside on a sunny April day, led us to believe that this was an expert purveyor of iced goods. How wrong we were. We decided to get four different flavours between the two of us as we wanted to tickle our tastebuds in as many ways as possible within our budget of £8.40 i.e. the cost of two two-scoop waffle cones, and the serving lady kindly allowed me to have a small amount of one extra flavour on top, taking our total to five. It gives me no pleasure to say that we might as well have got five scoops of the same flavour as they tasted identical. We were faced with a watery, gritty, slushy, icy substance faintly reminiscent of weak milky tea, in five different colours. We're talking slivers of pure ice, by the way. The individual flavours - A Date with Honey [dates and honey], Peaches on the Beaches [Allegedly peach with homemade tablet], Marie Antoinette [strawberry jam,cream,cake], Pomegranate and Raspberry Sorbet, and Zesty Lemon were as discernible as a faint whisper across a crowded room. Ironically the Zesty Lemon, the flavour we had been warned could be somewhat overpowering, was the worst of all and about as punchy as an octogenarian facing Mike Tyson. As an aside, I have travelled through many foreign lands and tasted varieties of iced cream, both within the boundaries of our humble nation but also the motherland of iced cream and creamed ice, Italy. These global meanderings had foolishly led me to believe that ice cream had reached a base level of tastiness, whereby anyone jumping on the glacial production bandwagon was free to adopt the tried and tested methods. Whereby a product could be created which was at the very least predictable and ticking a certain ice-cream shaped box. This ticked no such box. Perhaps this was related to the exciting looking but clearly dysfunctional large metal machine behind the till where new flavours - or new names for the same flavour - are invented each day. My friend hypothesised that the tastemaker's sense of taste and smell could have been adversely affected by Covid-19. One red flag was that when I asked the serving lady which her favourite was out of two of the flavours, she said she DIDN'T KNOW!!! This could be why. Worst of all I now feel environmentally unethical as when I threw my cone out of the window as we drove out of the town, the serviette went with it. I can only hope no local livestock had the misfortune to encounter my deserted dessert.

I lived have be coming here for as long as I can remember. Today was awful! Cheap tasting ice cream and the most uninviting/rude person to serve it. Very dissatisfied!

absolutely diabolical attitude from both of the owners regarding initial entry to their premises with a small well behaved service dog. 3 adults in our party of 6 silently decided against staying to eat (no disabled access anyway so would of been difficult) so we...

We called in for takeaway coffee at the start of a walk all around Lavenham and also picked up 2 delicious homemade 3-cheese scones fresh out of the oven. The proprietor could not have been nicer, and the prices were very reasonable. At the end...

The decor and tea shop was.... dated. The owner was polite and passionate. The menu was pretty muddled in honesty but... the food we ordered was stunning frankly. Pretty unique and quirky. Different

Sorry but this place was just bad. The menu is really strange. It's cramped. It needs a serious deep clean. Feels grubby, sticky and unloved. Stairs carpet looks like it could walk out on its own, given half a chance! Not a great experience -...

It’s just a bit odd really - tiny place, very unusual menu (not great for little ones who may just want a sandwich for example), didn’t feel clean, and the service felt manic/rushed with dropped crockery and a general feeling of stress. What we had...

A small and query cafe above a chocolate/sweet shop. The owner reminds me of Basil Fawlty (in a nice way) due to his urgency rushing around from the shop to the upstairs cafe. Food was lovely, not a standard sandwich type menu - we had...

It was 4pm and this was the only tea shop open. I’m so glad we went in! The best cheese scone ever, beautifully presented with onion jam and salad, and a great cuppa. The place is miniscule and it was closing but I’m so glad...

On a dull Monday we mounted the steps to Sweetmeats in the beautiful old Suffolk village of Lavenham in search of a late morning coffee. Passing delicious looking homemade icecreams, chocolates and boiled sweets we mounted steep old stairs to find ourselves in a cosy...

Called in recently for a snack, which was quite nice, but the decor is a bit of an eclectic mix, (unusual to say the least) as was the owner ! okay for a one off but not a place to return to.

It's the wettest October day since official records began and we need coffee and cake. Sweetmeats Tea Room has a very attractive upstairs tea-room serving good cake (made to vegan standards) which is served warm and drizzled with a fruit coulis. Talking to the man,...

We purchased a selection of sweets from the shop. A mixture of fudge, tablets and Turkish delight. Unfortunately none of the products were tasty and the price was actually quite high for the quality. Afraid we won’t be going back.

Quite an unusual menu which was ok but a little disappointed with our choices, omelette a bit overcooked for my taste, same with scrambled eggs. Don’t think we’ll be going back

We came across this quaint tea shop on a cold January morning. On the door was a sign, ‘put wood in hole’, a message from the north about shutting the door. Understandable in this cold weather. Walking through a shop full of ice creams and...

Our first visit to beautiful Lavenham and decided to stop for a drink at Sweetmeats. Very small quaint shop that sells various amazing flavours of ice-cream and confectionery downstairs, tea room upstairs. Not your typical menu with some very unusual combinations of food but all...

I always come here when I need a proper scone fix with a very decent coffee. A very relaxed, friendly and a wholesome food menu that has something for everyone. I am extremely fortunate to live so near to this fine tea room.

We popped to Lavenham while on holiday in the area , I grew up in th area and used to come as a child with my parents . We decided to find somewhere to eat We found Sweatmeats . We went upstairs and found a quiet room with only one other customer as another was leaving . Wwe sat down and the owner I presume , came over and offered us tea , he brought a huge pot over and plenty of milk . My husband chose a Brie and walnut omelette which he said was lovely . My daughter had brie and cranberry toasted muffins . Which she enjoyed . I had the seafood Bouillabaisse. Which was delicious. When we commented on the food after , the owner explained how he had made it from scratch and all the ingredients he used . Showing true passion for the food he was serving . A wonderful find in a lovely village.

First, the good part. The food was tasty and unusual and didn't take too long to arrive. Prices reasonable.Next the bad part. The male owner was serving and cooking but as we were the only ones there for most of the time this wasn't a problem. However he was 'odd' to say the least. Absolutely no 'customer service' skills whatsoever. Customers bring in money and keep the business going - so for goodness sake make them feel welcome by the occasional pleasant word or two.

Visiting Lavenham for the first time we looked around for a place to eat and found 'Sweetmeats' and climbed the stairs not knowing what to expect, The owner and cook was rushed off his feet and we do not know how he managed to juggle with the orders.Yes, we had to wait for our meals to arrive but they were delicious and you could say he was a one man band as in a lull from cooking he gave us a burst on his saxophone.So if you want a place with atmosphere and jaz this is the place for you.

We had a lovely afternoon at Melford Hall and thought we would pop to Lavenham guildhall as well, as only up the road. What a stunning little village and stopped the the Sweetmeats Tearoom for an ice-cream . Well .... the owner was very rude and needs to look up what hospitality means, he made us feel so unwelcome for popping in to buy an ice-cream. I suggest you hire someone who understands the service industry or take a course in hospitality. Working in the high end of the catering industry yself, I understand the important of customer service which this establishment clearly doesn't have unfortunately. I would like to add the ice-cream was lovely.

Sweetmeats is an interesting venue. Their is an ice cream stand on the ground floor, and a dining area upstairs. The stairs are fairly steep but manageable. There are a limited number of tables, and portraits of jazz musicians adorn the walls. Jazz music was ambient, and the lone server attentive. We had a triple cheese scone which was served with a spicy chutney and a salad, it was tasty but a bit dry. The latte was good, as was the hot chocolate which had nice cream and powdered cocoa. It was a nice place to relax, and just listen and look out onto the architecture of the Swan Hotel across the street.

Run by a Jazz blues aficcionado with Jazz FM as background and decorated with many black and white photographs of Jazz greats. With a novel menu of vegetarian food inspired by jazz influences. Coffee was good,tea unfortunately was weak. Food was a good standard and very reasonably priced.

This really is a great and beautiful venue. The food is diverse with Vegan options just dropped into the menu so that is just becomes part of the norm.The owner is very Basil Fawlty as per some reviews, but i really, really like it and it is very funny.Have been many times before and will come many times again

The server is the wrong person for the job.

We visited for the first time yesterday for a drink and light snack. The food was of a good standard, well presented and reasonably priced. However, the male serving/cooking (owner) was surly and not very welcoming. Well sir, we are local and won’t bother coming back because of your demeanour. You can be that way with tourists but who will sustain your business out of season?

We called in here today for coffees and snacks. Both were good, the cappuccinos were very very frothy! My friends had scones which they said were lovely.

Having just arrived in Lavenham on a chilly Saturday morning the first thing we needed was a warm drink.I was with my husband and friends, we came upon Sweetmeats. What a delightful quirky little place.The choices were impressive however all four of us opted for tea or coffee withe toasted teacakes with butter, cream and jam.

Lovely little cafe with great light lunch and vegan options! Good service though the gentleman was running the cafe without assistance.

We had lunch here. It is a lovely place with a very good menu. We had the steak, kidney and oyster tart with mash which was delicious. There were several other things that we would happily have chosen on the menu too. Prices are reasonable, so what's not to like with this place.

We had a very nice hot chocolate and cappuccino in this eclectic cafe up some steep stairs. We liked the look of the unusual menu offerings so we went back for lunch and were not disappointed. The owner is an interesting character. Worth seeking out.

Entered to the sound of a saxophone playing. Followed the music upstairs where we were made very welcome by Paul the owner and saxophonist!

This is a small shop in Water St.,Lavenham. It is absolutely amazing the food that Paul & Hannah produce in the space available. I would 100% recommend it for a lunchtime snack, or indeed a meal. Very quaint setting, but so full of character. Have visited many times, and will continue to do so in the future.

Fortunate enough to come across this very special place at lunchtime on a wet and windy Friday. Lots of interesting snacks and meals to pick from. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The background music (jazz) was different to the norm. Very interesting host with lots of enthusiasm for his food and business. Worth a visit if you are in Lavenham

After a great visit to the Guildhall in Lavenham market square, my partner and I decided to grab a small bite to eat.....

Ein sehr bezauberndes Café!Karottenkuchen war saftig,lecker und glutenfrei!Nette zuvorkommende Bedienung!

It is so nice to find somewhere with so many vegetarian and vegan options. They aren't the usual run of the mill dishes either. Everything is freshly made and cooked. It was hard to decide what to choose but the paella was delicious. There was a good choice of yummy homemade cakes, I totally recommend the Christmas cake and they serve a great coffee to!

Had a fantastic cream tea - scone was fresh and homemade. Really nice and refreshing cup of tea which was very much needed. Lovely couple in there who run the place as well. If we are ever over that way again we will definitely be back.

We were here with our friends for the 'Cockney Night' last Tuesday. In the small and quirky upstairs restaurant, we were served some delicious home-cooked food - with the skate main course being particularly enjoyable and cooked to perfection. The proprietors work very hard and service is excellent. We even received a saxophone rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for our friend, which was most appreciated. Really good value and we look forward to a return visit.

This wonderful Little tearoom is just that, rustic and honest, just a good basic homely food joint. It is not a la carte and doesn't pretend to be, it is what it is.

went in for coffee it is a quirky little tearoom the owner was very helpful and also quite funny will definately go back

We visited Lavenham on a beautiful, sunny Sunday Autumn afternoon, and there is only place to eat, in my opinion.

Sweetmeats Tea Rooms 71 Water Street, Babergh District CO10 9RW, Englan-nice place to sit and relax with nice atmosphere

Quaint place in a scenic little town. Very impressive menus on blackboards on the wall. I had ‘the Charlie Parker’ which was a chicken provençale and the flavours were really excellent. Go for the surroundings, the menu and the large array of ice cream flavours. Only disappointing part was the proprietor was having a difficult day and we got to hear all about it. It wouldn’t stop me visiting again though. He was very thoughtful in getting neighbours to stop drilling while we were eating.

We called in here because it mentioned dairy free/vegan options although we had see some dodgy reviews beforehand

Found this hidden gem above a beautiful sweet shop. We selected from the vast menu a very tasty home made soup and a three cheese scone with home made onion marmalade. I was impressed by the owners culinary knowledge. The husband and wife chef team had created menu catering for both vegan and Vegetarian and meat eaters. Will definitely return in the summer months

Although first impressions were not promising we had a very pleasant meal here. It was bliss to find somewhere serving vegan dishes in Lavenham and these were simple but tasty, with a nice bean stew. The jazz was atmospheric and the gluten free dairy free Victoria sponge a delicious treat.

We visited this tea room on 8 December and found the room upstairs warm and welcoming with lots of curiosities to look at. We had decided to treat ourselves to a cream tea each and the food arrived promptly and beautifully presented.

We were enjoying a lovely sunny October day when it temporarily changed! Because we were upstairs, the lady, kind of ushered us through to the cafe, we knew we had made a big mistake. Butvwe felt stuck! The man was obviously majorly stressed, banging, clattering, monosyllabic, and generally extremely unwelcoming. The soup of the day was delicious, but the ambiance, oh so wrong.... indigestion ensued... never to return, sadly. If you have had it, with this kind of job, consider something else for your own good..... please?

There were four of us going to lunch. Rather squeezed surroundings. As there were four chairs jammed around a single table that would normally seat just two we asked if we could join two tables with four chairs. We didn’t think this unreasonable as the place was empty. We said we were quite happy to revert if people came in that required the other table. However The owner made it very clear he was unhappy with this arrangement. Even stating that this was his ‘livelihood’ at stake making us feel very uncomfortable. We should’ve got up there and then. I felt the owner was quite unwelcoming generally and when he served the food and drinks they were practically ‘plonked’ on the table. Food and drinks themselves were quite acceptable but service and attitude left much to be desired so it gets just a poor rating. I would therefore not recommend this establishment. Plenty of others to choose from. Incidentally no other people came in during our stay. Oh, and bizarrely the owner started playing a saxophone which was simply far too loud for such a small place and seemed inappropriate!

This cafe has a large menu with many vegetarian & vegan choices. I had a vegetarian spaghetti bolanaise which was a bit sweet for my liking but otherwise delicious and my friend had a lentil stroganoff which she thoroughly enjoyed. These were served promptly & were very reasonably priced. The cafe is above a shop selling handmade chocolates and a good range of ice cream.

What a find! This fantastic café and Deli run by Paul and his wife Hannah was great. Wandering in we were surprised to find a real throwback. The ambient jazz music suited us fine, the food and service was impeccable and we had a thoroughly nice lunch. We'll definitely be nipping here again when we're back in Lavenham.

Had lunch at Sweetmeats today, very varied menu, meal was perfect, lots of flavour, great portions, exellent price and service, will be back

This venue offers a good range of interesting flavours, some commercially bought in others made on the premises,

Sólo fue un poco en mal estado y no sentir demasiado bienvenido. Esposa torta de zanahoria - como barquillos y no agradable - bollo que tenía estaba recién preparado, pero más como un pastel de roca. Cuando fuimos a pagar me dijeron que era sólo...

Popped into this tea room to have a relaxed bite to eat and a drink. Leaving reviews is not something I normally do, but felt this experience needed a review.The man cooking was very grumpy and stressed and banging about in the kitchen area, huffing and puffing, shouting downstairs for a lad to come up to help him.We sat down and felt very awkward, feeling we were kind of in the way by being there, not quite believing what we had just walked into.... expecting a friendly greeting and relaxing atmosphere, we got the complete opposite, and only felt relaxed again once we got out of the place.We likened the experience to Fawlty Towers, minus the comedy.The cups were dirty and we asked for them to be changed, only to get dirty ones in replace. Then the cooking began, the room filled with smoke and we considered leaving, but stuck it out to be polite. The food was served, no time to stop to ask if any sauces required, just banged down on the table infront of us and off he went at haste. The food tasted ok, the muffin toppings were extremely sparse.We ate and left as soon as we could. Not a friendly chilled out placed to go, not people friendly and definitely wont ever go back or recommend.

The ice creams are fantastic and homemade. We sat upstairs for lunch and were given very generous portions for the crumpets and the jacket potatoes had heaps of filling. Good scones, too. I've seen very mixed reviews for this place, particularly about the service. The man did seem rushed running the place by himself, but the menu was interesting, prices reasonable and did I mention the ice cream? Delish.

Very good food and great customer service. Made to feel very welcome. Would come here again next time we visit Lavenham.

Wow so many varieties of ice cream I did not know what to choose , opted for salted caramel but will definitely return to sample the honey and date and the orange flavour . A lovely treat walking around a quaint village during a vintage weekend . Friendly staff and great service

Interesting from outside- like a sweet shop- that's downstairs. You go up to very tiny space . Jazz music playing.. a wide range of food and beverages. Food very tasty , service good . Lot of lovely ice-cream downstairs .

Me and my family found Sweetmeats tea rooms after venturing down through Lavenham a few days ago and decided to pop in. Cakes are wonderful and all of the food is homemade. They even cater for Weddings!! There is an ice cream shop downstairs, homemade again, and the tea room is upstairs. Small upstairs and down but it shouldn't put you off at all as the food is good! Would thoroughly recommend! The menu is great, including vegetarian options, and lots of different ice cream flavours you can mix and match with the cakes. Lots of charm and character! Far better than a chain. Would love to come back again soon.

We called in on a wet November day to be greeted by the owner and were served the best scones we have ever had in a café. The presentation was superb: we had both cheese and fruit scones and shared! Our coffees were also very good. It is well worth a visit.

Popped in for a cuppa and some quick lunch, out of the cold weather. Very accommodating and a lovely variety of food - vegan and vegetarian available. Had some home made soup which was lovely and warming given the weather outside. Off the main street, just round the corner but worth the visit.

A tiny cafe above a fantastic ice cream shop. Very cosy and the food was amazing. Fresh and plentiful.. will be back next summer .

Tiny tea shop/café above chocolate/ice cream shop. Very extensive menu for such a tiny place. The owner was the only staff member on duty and he coped well with running the place. The food was great with menu items we had not seen before. Prices very reasonable for the location.

On this occasion, and we have visited numerous times, it was tomato basil and olive soup.the flavours complimented each other perfectly. The carrot cake and maple cream topping was one of the best cakes have eaten, and I have tried a lot, as well ice cream from around Europe. He makes some unusual and interesting flavours. The orange and cardoman ice cream sorbet was a great combination, as was the aniseed. He is passionate about what he makes, and as other reviewers have said, the tea room is quirky , with a great atmosphere.

Can't rate the food as didn't try it but our take away coffee was horrible. Served by a young lad who had to ask how to use the machine. Tasted like instant.

the atmosphere is quirky and the décor might not be to everyone's taste, but the food is varied and interesting, rather than same old tearoom sandwiches or roast lunch with no other option on a Sunday as is often the case in pubs. My husband's choice of sausages and mash was superior to my jambalaya (rather bland despite menu claiming it had chorizo and chillis), but the portions were generous and serving proper food at 3:30pm on a Sunday was perfect for us after a hearty English breakfast at our hotel in the morning caused us not to be hungry any earlier. We didn't need supper either, but would have loved to try a slice of cake or scone, but alas next time perhaps.

We chose to go into this tea room for lunch because of the unusual menu and the very reasonable prices. The seating area is small and we were the only customers for most of the time we were there, which seemed a shame, given the food that was on offer.The friendly proprietor was an enthusiastic "foodie", very happy to chat with us about his menus, his wide range of ice cream, his experience with vegetarian and vegan food, etc. Although we're not vegetarian, my husband thoroughly enjoyed his vegan Coconut and lime curry. I sneaked a taste, too, and it was delicious. My pan fried chicken was excellent. When it came to ice cream for dessert, we were offered a huge selection, and chose a Black Forest Gateau ice cream and a Tiramisu. Both were good, but the Tiramisu was outstanding.We're not likely to be in Lavenham again, but would love to try out more things on this interesting menu. Excellent value: £20 in total for a 2 course meal for 2.

Cannot recommend this place enough, charming setting, very quirky decoration and great location in the heart of Lavenham. Food is really lovely and for a small tea room, there is a great selection of choice which is all very good value for money. Ice creams are delicious too! Been here multiple times and there is always something new going on, or an interesting flavour ice cream to taste! Staff are very friendly and I am very surprised at the negative reviews on here. I know many people that have been and always had a great experience! Highly recommended if you go!

The tea room is above Sweetmeats' wonderful shop for ice cream (umpteen flavors) and hand-crafted chocolate, located in one of Lavenham's ancient medieval houses on Water Street. The tea room, which features light lunches, tea and cakes, including one of the best scones (wholewheat with raisins) I've ever had, has opted for slightly funky rather than twee. The proprietor is a jazz and blues saxophonist, who tootles the keys in his downtime, so the walls feature many photos of his musical heroes. Good food, jovial conversation--great way to end a long day out. And I bought a little bag of those chocolates to take away.

My friend suggested we went to this tea room for afternoon tea, she'd been before on an evening event, We happily arrived at 4pm and started going up the stairs when I had a feeling of awkwardness. I asked the owner if we were OK to have afternoon tea, which he then rolled his eyes. I said oh are you closed? Which he replied reluctantly that's fine waving his arms in the air and giving his co worker a look. I then said to my friend let's not bother then and no attempt was made to welcome us and they allowed us to leave. We felt they were about to close and didn't want to serve us. They call themselves a tea room but don't want to serve tea at 4pm ?!!!! We left hastily! My friend said she will never go back and neither will I ! Very rude staff!

A party of six of us arrived one Sunday afternoon. We were very impressed by the choice of dishes on the hand written blackboard. The service was excellent, nothing was too much trouble. We will definately be heading back to Sweetmeats next time we are in Lavenham.

Family run small tea room. Really friendly. Loads of choice and good deserts (home made) and also ice creams. Also Good choice for vegetarians and vegans.

My usual visit to Lavenham involves photography and having Sweetmeats Ice cream. You just have to taste this if you are in Lavenham. It is a must have for visitors. The waffle cone with scoops of my choice is the one I prefer. But there are loads of other flavours to choose from. Would highly recommend this ice cream. Have it twice if you go there. Should be on Lavenham's to do list for everyone.

We had afternoon tea yesterday in this family owned tea room and had the best scones we have ever tasted. The owner was really friendly and we would definitely eat here again if we are in the area.

Walked through small shop to steep stairs to first floor 'cafe'. About 5 tables that seat 20 max. The menu is 500, yes at least 500 is handwritten on surrounding wall boards. This all catered in a 4x4 ft square kitchen in comer of cafe in sight of customers. The chef/cook works alone, taking orders, cooking, tidying away and taking payment.....and reminiscent of a frantic, sweaty faulty towers Manuel with a tense stressed attitude (from being work stretched). Quite funny at first but by the time we left we felt tense too. Quite ridiculous frankly.He needs to reduce his menu to under 20, relax and enjoy life a bit more. The place is riddled with ex army photos and dodgy army ornaments and it's just crap.I'd only recommend a visit to prove the points made - sorry but everyone has an opinion but nobody has own facts - these are facts.1/10

We visited today and enjoyed a drink and cake. I live the homemade hot mince pies with cream and mum enjoyed her carrot cake.

Having grown up in the village, I can say I know the best places to eat without being bias. Paul, the owner of Sweetmeats, gives an excellent range of foods - from snacks to lunches - even including vegan options (good for some of my family)! I have had the best sausages and mash at Sweetmeats, it's gorgeous! My light lunch recommendation would be Brie & tomatoes on crumpets. Paul is extremely accommodating and does so well for a place with possibly the smallest kitchen! The decor is so unique and different from everywhere else. Ice cream from the place is also a must in summer.

Sweetmeats is just one of a number of Tea Rooms in Lavenham. We havn't tried any others to be fair but thoroughly enjoyed our short stop at Sweetmeats during a rainy tour of this delightful village. The coffee was strong and tasty and the host just perfect. Like being waited on and entertained by your Nan (no offence). The whole place is so laid back and quiet bizarre in some respects with the entrance via a busy sweet shop ground floor with carpeted stairs winding up to a tiny Elizabethan timber framed tea house that is a homage to Jazz Sax. The score was only going to be a 4 but, on review, Sweetmeats is so quintissentially English in this most English of towns but in such a different way that it warrants a full 5. Do go and try it.

My friend Angie and I went to Sweet Meets for a scone and a coffee on a very miserable November Saturday. Upstairs you feel like you have walked into a cafe in Harry Potter, or Amelie, saxophone quietly playing, bright booths, kooky pictures and photos on the wonky walls and the best scone I have ever had. This place is a haven in the winter and a place for ice cream in the summer, I highly recommend it.

Having read the TA reviews embarrassingly lead a group of fellow travellers here for a snack Sunday lunch. I am fine with quirky but this chef is trying to be too ambitious. He offers far too many options and nothing that the five of us ate was palatable. We were so disappointed. We came out and went into the Swan and all agreed we wished we had gone for lunch there.

Latta was like drinking hot milk food OK not much toppings on muffins. We were quite disappointed. To much food availability wasn't that inpressed

Ordered muffins with cheddar and avocado. Got 4 pieces of muffin with no more than an30g of cheese and a quarter of an avocado between the four pieces. So dry it was hard to eat. My husband had the 'giant 3 cheese scone' turned out to be a small very stale and dry scone. Asked for extra butter and got literally about 10g more. Could not eat it. Please eat at one of the many other tea rooms in the town. This one is very poor value for money and has no ambience. Tables so small there was no room for drink and food. If I could rate it 0 I would.