Tea By The Lock in York

I knew the tea room was vegan and was happy to go with that but £26.80 for two vegan sausage sandwiches and coffee for two was a bit beyond a joke. The sausage were rather bland and tasteless but made tolerable by the fact they were absolutely lathered in onion relish. I’ll not rush back.

We’ve been meaning to visit for a long time and wish we had travelled sooner! Absolutely delicious food, lovely atmosphere and very friendly staff. I need the recipe for the cheeze scones! Unbelievably tasty! Will definitely be returning!

Lovely unique setting to enjoy a nice table and nicer treats! We had a couple of gluten free oat slices which were especially delicious! They are very generous with the peanut butter! My partner had a fennel tea, and I, a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. The entire menu is vegan, which is fantastic for our dietary requirements! Will be coming back to try the gluten free scones.

This tearoom has so much potential. It is a shame that it is not reaching it. The furniture inside was chaotic. It could have been set out better The outside was untidy, with dead plants & pots of plants blown over Signage was very poor & unclear When we arrived we were ignored by staff & left standing for at least 5 mins. They knew we were waiting Prior to arrival it was not clear it was plant based. It would be good to have a choice. Very disappointed We will not be visiting again.

Beautiful location, amazing cake! Setting is lovely, fabulous listed building besides the lock. Vintage interior. Totally awesome cake!

Amazing experience as ever, wonderful welcome, beautifully made cakes and scones. Such a joy to play board games and have an enjoyable visit. Staff always kind, considerate and wonderful. Tip top time.

Fabulous lication .Friendly, welcoming staff. Good home cooked food. Delicious cakes. Cosy dining room, plus large troom for afternoon teas

We love this plant based tea room, it is a gem. Today’s afternoon tea was delicious very generous sandwiches, sausage rolls, savoury scones, cake, sweet scones and cute details such as mini teacup soup starter and finished with after dinner chocolate mint mousse. Lovely service, quirky setting and needed a doggy bag as very generous. If you go for a cuppa and cake or blow out afternoon tea it is lovely.

What a dump!! Why does this vegan establishment have be such a messy untidy environment? Food is passable but my goodness, a broken toilet, cracked plates and dirty forks!! Avoid especially with a 1 star hygiene rating

What a fantastic quirky place. Ruth is passionate about her cafe and everything is home made. The cafe is totally vegan which made me a little wary, but its probably one of the best cakes I have eaten anywhere. Its a growing business and it has a great future. So pleased I visited.

Great food, atmosphere & lovely friendly staff 👍 the best scones we have ever tasted 💖 Dog friendly 🐕 Lots of lovely homemade cakes to choose from 👍💖

What a FANTASTIC PLACE! I live 200 miles away, and while visiting my pal in the area, I was utterly delighted when she took me here for Vegan Afternoon Tea. It was a delight. Everything was fresh, delicious and delectable. I'm vegan and savoured every mouthful - but you seriously don't need to be vegan to appreciate this amazing place. A gorgeous setting, the most friendly welcoming staff and food to rival the best tea rooms in the country. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, I'll be back!

The location beside Naburn Lock/River Ouse and the Canal allows for a riverside walk or a potter around the history boards and carvings. The house is welcoming and high ceilinged. The staff are lovely, the vegan cafe offers fresh food and lovely cakes. It was lovely to sit in the smaller drawing room with its wood fired stove. The larger dining room next door looked splendid. Worth a visit and I hear they are applying for an alcohol licence and a wedding permit - so easy parking and wedding photographs in an almost Edwardian setting!

Beautiful cafe So unusual, got to be the most scrumptious cake I’ve eaten in a long time There’s also a campsite near it that looks great - will be back to do both ❤️

Popped into the cafe for tea and a scone, but on arrival I was presented with an impressive array of cake, of all sorts! I opted for the orange and apricot sponge. My comment is wow! Best sponge I've ever had from a cafe and I've had a few in my 65 years! We also had a fruit scone. These aren't the normal scones you see, but look like a tea cake, and the size of a large tea cake...but very nice and light. We had a selection of tea, serve in China tea pots into china cups + the setting is lovely. You can't go far wrong than a trip here, staff are lovely too so without hesitation 5* review!

An excellent discovery on a perfect summer's day. It's a very pleasant waterside location. Sat outside and shared a mezze which was excellent. The staff were very attentive and friendly. Tried the homemade (vegan) chocolate and ginger cake which was superb, not over sweet and a perfect balance of flavours. Will definitely be returning and would highly recommend it.

I’m not surprised it’s just got a 1 star food hygiene rating… the place was filthy when we went there, the staff were useless and clearly had no idea of customer service. But what really annoys me is they discriminate against meat eaters. It’s only vegan food, a sausage roll is made from pork not lettuce. Horrible place.

Very limited choice unless you wanted cake. Food ver average .Appreciate it's vegan but it's a bit dirty and falling apart inside. Ceiling on verge of collapse. Nice touch that there were some books and toys for kids to play with.

What a gem! Charming, quaint setting inside the banqueting hall. Friendly staff. Delicious cheese scone and coffee. We will be back with friends for lunch very soon.

My cousin Paul and I had the very good fortune to be moored by this delightful looking cafe. Whilst neither of us are vegetarian or vegans we were very surprised at the array of home cooked food that was available. I was a little reluctant to have a tea or coffee that cost roughly the same as a costa coffee and not like it because there was only plant based milk. Nevertheless, Ruth the owner gave us both a sample of oat milk which was astonishingly good. We both opted for the sausage rolls which were delicious and a piece of cake. I would say its not the cheapest place to go but Ruth and her girls were very welcoming, the service was great and the actual building is beautiful. You can see it’s work in progress. Definitely, one to try.

Great location with choice of seating inside and out. Wonderful old building. We cycled here and had a light snack followed by coffee and cake. The food is very tasty and healthy (plant based) and the staff friendly and welcoming. The cake flavours are unusual and very tasty combinations e.g. vanilla, strawberry and rose; dark chocolate and stem ginger - full of flavour, moist - delicious! Dogs can be taken inside.

Great spot but the experience leaves a little to be desired. Firstly it’s expensive, £35 for coffee for two, a sandwich, two cans and a Mezze platter. I would say it is average value, the mezze in particular was disappointing. One falafel crumbled over the salad and a thimble of coleslaw, at £12.50 it could be better. The biggest disappointment though was after spending £35 already, we were told at 13.20 we couldn’t order any cake. Absolutely bizarre decision and quite literally turning money away. Also if your dog friendly at least make sure there is a fresh water left out and changed regularly. It’s a great spot but we won’t be coming back based on the above experience.

Wonderful cakes, good selection of vegan food and great location for my friend’s birthday celebration.

If you don’t mind a 20 minute wait, the food is well worth it. I thought the menu was a bit limited but then it is a 100% vegetarian cafe. No frills filter coffee, which tasted good, and a wide variety of teas. Scones are very tasty. Yet to try the cake but there were loads to choose from. Definitely worth visiting again.

Have been wanting to try this plant based cafe for ages and it definitely did not disappoint. Lovely choice of food and cakes, was very impressed with the amount on offer. Finally decided between 3 of us to try the 'sausage' & onion sandwich, 'egg'...

I've eaten a couple of times here before and it's always been very good but yesterday's experience was shambolic. My friends and I arrived for lunch to find they'd already run out of Soup and fruit Scones (at 12.30). One of my friends ordered a...

Superb place to visit. I am not vegan but love the food here as you know everything is freshly made. Sausage and onion sandwich is one of my favourites. The cakes are fantastic.

When you turn in you need to keep going forward through the open gate, as the place is at the end of the lane next to the lock. This place is pet friendly, with lots of dogs coming and going during breakfast. There also seems...

Visited this cosy, friendly cafe over Christmas whilst staying in the area. The lovely ladies who run it could not have been more welcoming! Fabulous scones and excellent chocolate and ginger cake and always great to find somewhere that welcomes dogs. Looking forward to a...

Visited Tea by the Loch twice now. Can’t wait to visit again. The Plant based food on offer is truly delicious. The young girls serving are so helpful and polite with always s smile. This Cafe is a little Treasure. And the Lady who owns...

This place touched my heart... beautifuly situated next to the river Ouse, very welcoming staff, even tho I am not vegetarian, the food was delicious and colourful. Served on a gorgeous dishes.. I honestly felt like if I travelled in time into a past centuries....

This was my second visit to Ruth’s wonderful cafe at Naburn Lock. I first discovered it by chance almost a year ago. She had bought the former banqueting house that had been built for the River Ouse commissioners early in the nineteenth century. It’s a...

What a wonderful find, in a beautiful location. A most eclect assortment of tables and chairs and a couple of comfortable sofas to spend time looking around, whilst you sip your tea and enjoy the scrumptious cake and scones. A most friendly and interesting hostess,...

Visited naburn lock tea room during a recent vacation and wow it was amazing..!! To go in and have a fresh gluten free scone made with homemade jam in the middle was absolutely fantastic..!! It was so delicious!!!! Compliments to all the staff who were...

We came here after reading the reviews but were very disappointed with the place It’s a good place for vegans but not for us They don’t have any plain milk or proper butter so the drinks not taste very good

We sat outside as the sun was shining, there were more wasps around than I've ever seen anywhere, I'm not bothered by the odd one or 2 but there were hundreds, open jars of sugar in the walls not helping matters. We waited over half...

We are 3 elderly cyclists who found this cafe by chance after being unwelcome at the Waterfront cafe just up the road. The building is spectacular-like an assembly room from Pride and Prejudice. The furnishings are like being in an antiques warehouse. All mix and...

We called on a Monday morning before leaving for home after a weekend in our VW camper . The door was closed when we tried so we assumed it was closed . A lady appeared and apologised saying she was closed Mondays but had forgotten...

Called in for coffee and cake on a breezy Sunday. Pleasant staff, slightly disorganised , good carrot cake and a very nice scone. The interior is special, just in need of some tlc.

Lovely little find. I'm gluten free and didn't expect much but I was wrong! I had a lovely sandwich made for me and then the owner (I think) said she liked to make gluten free things from scratch at the time. She made me a...

A pleasant quiet place for lunch with quirky crockery and good coffee. My sandwich was good but the soup, though tasty, was luke warm at best. A pity.

Lovely place for to have your morning coffee, lovely owner and staff and cakes to die for, and so much more

While staying at the caravan site next door, we ended up popping in “just to see what all the vegan fuss was about” I, for one, was blown away. We ended up visiting three times over the week, each time trying a different one of...

What a delight to find this on our doorstep! A beautiful regency-era banquet hall housing a sweet vintage-themed vegan tearoom. There is a little shop in the entrance selling local produce and artwork too. A proper warm Yorkshire welcome from the staff and really great...

O dear. The well meaning staff were disorganised. Service was taking too long and we heard customers complaining about the time they’d been waiting and for wrong orders being delivered to their tables. The food was OK. All plant based. Sandwiches were made with what...

What a fabulous discovery! A tea room where my vegan daughter can have anything on the menu without having to keep checking ingredients, and her non-vegan mother barely notices the lack of animal products. We booked for afternoon tea - and were so glad we...

This place is a hidden gem. Situated by the picturesque Naburn Lock outside York along the River Ouse. It serves delicious home-made food and cakes. I ate here with some friends yesterday and the Pea and Mint Soup was delightful with big portions and served...