The Batte-Lay Tea Room in Colchester

We visited twice: the first time we shared a toasted cheese and ham sandwich and a cream tea, with a fabulous hot chocolate. The second time we had lunch of a mixed ploughman’s and a sausage baguette with tea and fruit juices. All the food was excellent and service was also very good.

A good, well priced, cafe. All the food looked excellent, with a base of Tiptree product. You can even buy various Tiptree products as well. The coffee is standard, but perfectly palatable. The cakes on offer also looked good, though i had a toasted sandwich and my parents the soup speciality.

A welcome change, the decor is as what's to be expected for a Wilkins establishment "I think in franchise with the art house development. The chap who served me was rather nice and I commend him for the non quibbled service he gave me. However the building inside is notoriously drab and looking very tired. To get the tea room unless going via the outside is a very odd walk down some weird corridors which remind me of an old hospital? (I was given my extra pot of hot water without any equivocation or questioning), I don't like strong tea and dislike having to buy two pots when in company as it goes to waste, I certainly couldn't manage 2 of those scones to myself! Scones were good, the Rhodda clotted cream came in a sealed container as did with an "extra large" mini jar of the famous tiptree jam, when offered a choice I did ask for cherry, only to be given blackcurrant, I wasn't in the frame of mind for complaining, the blackcurrant was just as nice! There was a loud disco thumping noise coming from the grounds of first site art centre, but this was not the tea rooms fault, (there was a show on). The service, the food, the presentation for £6.75p was fairly good I rate this visit as 3.5 stars however 'Trip A' doesn't do half star marks. To compete with The George hotel which does the best cream tea in town at £5.50p, this establishment needs to bring its prices down to £5.99p other than that a very welcoming experience. The feel of the place is a cross between country cottage and auntie's sitting room, I got myself the comfy armchair and had 45 minutes of a lovely private moment with my wife. I found a couple of the other staff accommodating to talk to but I did have to work at it to be fair, taking into account it was the end of the day could mitigate the situation. My sons eat at this establishment with their former university and college chums, although on the mid to upper side of pricing, its always came back with good to above good reports. Consistency in service is an issue, I would recommend a try at least, but be mindful the place has foibles that could irritate you.

A group of walkers met here recently. The staff coped well with three larger groups (8+) at lunch. A good choice of lunches including gluten free. The only downside was the shortage of cheese (cheddar) on many choices. The brie sandwich however was very good.

Batte-Lay have taken over this cafe/tea room since we last visited The Minories. It all looks rather 'dainty' and well-appointed but the service and attention to detail was lacking. Waitresses looked bored and under-whelmed. If we asked for anything their response seemed as if they were doing us a favour rather than offering a service. Lunchtime for 3 of us: a BLT, salad and a jacket potato. Tea and coffee arrived 10 minutes before our food. BLT and potato arrived next. Wasn't asked if we needed any sauces etc. Bacon in BLT was very cold, straight out of the fridge with a smear of spread on the bread. Salad arrived 10 minutes after that but only after we asked where it was and no apologies when it did arrive. Food was OK and drinks were hot. Toilets were grubby. Disappointing

lCalled in after visit to castle. Was going to be cream tea but soon developed into Quiche Lorraine and then Lemon Meringue Pie. So good, cant wait to go back again. Food and service well worth five stars of anyones money

After a visit to another Tiptree Tea Room which left us underwhelmed we gave this one a go. Am so glad to say our faith was restored when it came to good old fashioned service. An extremely polite young man who was busy but still managed to fit in giving us our menu and returning to take our order. Nothing rushed though. The order arrived promptly, ALL parts of it in quick succession, and was delicious, a proper lunch for us all. He loves the ploughmans and often this is his choice. She liked the jacket potato that came with plenty of filling. My choice was the quiche which was nice and cheesy. A small inside area but a very pretty walled garden outside. One let down or this would have been excellent, no clearing of the floor where food, crumbs and a serviette lay.

The best thing about this tea room is the garden, a secluded oasis with mature trees and plenty of space. It was chilly on our latest visit so we sat inside, and regretted it. There is something very wrong with the acoustics so the levels of noise were unbearable, and we had to add to the noise by shouting at each other. The waitress seemed unable to understand what we were ordering, although it was just tea and cakes. We had to repeat our requests several times and changed our requirements to make it simpler for her. The drinks came out first, but we had to reject a very dirty glass and an unclean cup. The cakes and scones were served in phases, and took a full ten minutes from the first cake to the last. We then had to ask for the cream and jam for our scones, and even get the menu out to show the waitress that they were part of the offer! One pot of tea between four people gave just more than one cup each, and when we asked for more hot water, the tea was then so diluted that it was undrinkable. The cakes were not fresh and very dry. The sealed pots of jam and clotted cream were good.

I was expecting the same level of food and service as at the tea room in Tiptree. Very wrong! We had to give our order 3 times and when it arrived it was wrong. Both white and brown bread were stale. My egg mayonnaise sandwich had a prawn attached to it which suggests that kitchen hygiene is lacking

Excellent service fro Izzy and her compatriot. Very friendly, good food. Great for light lunch and afternoon tea. Reasonably priced. Speedy service but not rushed.

Very nice lunch, well presented, surroundings overlooking the garden very good. The Minories is a beautiful house, an enjoyable visit.

We booked ahead our three lunches and found the staff to be excellent. I had a bacon sandwich first thing and it was really delicious. Lunch was homemade quiche with leek and mushroom, new potatoes and salad. Jacket potato with cheese and beans, side salad. Turkey with hot chutney salad, with new potatoes. all very nice - if a little ordinary - no dressing for the salads but butter offered for the new pots - so not all details lost. Service was very good but for nearly £9 per plate - I was hoping for better. nothing bad to report, but value lacking. Plenty of choice as long as you like salad and new potatoes.

We called in for lunch before visiting Colchester Castle Museum and were very pleased that we did. The day was very hot and we were fortunate to be able to sit outside under some shade. The garden setting is very nice with plenty of room to spread out. The Tea Room had a very good selection of menu and cabinet food and the coffee was great. Staff were very polite and helpful.

This seems to have been upgraded since the name change, the tables and chairs inside looked fine and were set out well and the tables and seating in the garden seemed to have been increased and set out well. I did not find a very large choice of food especially as it was lunch time and I chose the soup. I sat outside and when it was brought out there was a piece of warm bread and two packets of butter, I had already taken out my knife and spoon wrapped in the serviette. The first spoonful of soup was rather hot but the second was just the opposite and so it continued throughout the bowl even after I had stirred it. I also found the soup rather thick for my taste. I also thought that the food was priced rather high from reading the menu. On collecting my empty bowl I mentioned this after being asked if it was ok and was told that I should have taken it back inside to have it re-heated. It is a lovely garden, peaceful with many trees; the are two entrances to the cafe, one from the front through the art exhibitions and the other from the direction of FirstSite gallery.

Visited for an afternoon tea. Outside is lovely in the garden. Inside not so good. Very musty smell. We had the afternoon tea for two (£28.) The pot of tea was bought to us about 10 minutes before the food, whereas I like to have it together. Only one choice of sandwich each. The scones were excellent. We had to ask for a knife each for the scones. Not a lot of attention paid to detail. No one came to ask if everything was o.k. Not a very welcoming feeling. Felt it was overpriced and not really worth the money.

Discovered this tea-room from the rear and adored the garden setting with the quaint folly. Even if it was raining and you had to sit inside you would still have a great view. Their scones were top quality. It's not far from the castle.

This review relates to the Garden Cafe only and not the Minories Gallery.

We visited this tearoom recently on a warm afternoon and chose to sit outside in the spacious grounds. We walked through The Minories Art Gallery to get to the café but it is also accessible via Firstsite making it an ideal stop over.

Visited here upon the opening of the tea room and had an ample and excellent ploughman's lunch,however this was not not to be repeated upon todays visit.

Have visited twice and it was a lovely experience both times. Lovely breakfast very tasty. Afternoon tea was lovely. Sandwiches were tasty and the scones were the best I have ever tasted. Staff are very welcoming. Lovely setting inside and in the garden. Will definitely be visiting again.

Huge fruit scones, (could have done with a bit more cream and jam!), nice sandwiches, must try the three tiered full tea sometime (£28 for two) On a summers day there can be nowhere nicer to grab tea and homemade cakes, or big filled sandwiches, homemade quiche or salads.homemade soup good too. But eating in the garden is the icing on the cake, so to speak!

Lovely location in the Minories Galleries at the end of the High Street, worlds away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre and dime a dozen chain eateries. Quite a basic set up - though it doesn't quite capture the charm of the original Tiptree Jam Factory, it remains in keeping with the other Wilkin & Sons Tearooms, upholding their traditional service values. No doubt it will come into its own in the summer months with its unexpectedly vast and inviting outdoor space.