Boston Tea Party

Stopped here while on vacation. Love the location and atmosphere! Perfect tea. Squash soup is fabulous! No issues of having to wait in line, but we were fairly early for lunch.

Really beautiful old-​school building, smiley and polite staff. I ordered the Egg Royal, which was very tasty. My complaints are the mug I was given for my green tea was actually filthy and the toilets were very overcrowded, rather dirty and smelly and let the place down! But I would probably go back as Salisbury has little better to offer unfortunately!

Saturday lunchtime 13:00. Had a burger with applewood smoked bacon and cheddar — generous portion and beautifully cooked. Sweet potato chips were an unusual and welcome change from chips or fries. Accompanying salsa was really fresh and spicy. All for £7.25 — excellent vfm. The experience: staff very friendly and helpful; food arrived in good time (despite being really full and at the height of peak lunchtime); food fresh and hot; décor — really interesting grade 1 listed coach house with blackened wooden beams pillars and leaded windows. Can’t fault it — I’ll be back!

I’m sitting here in front of an empty plate that did have a West Country Breakfast on it. The food was so good I am seriously contemplating licking the plate! The sausage was firm and meaty (not pasty) and I had 2+ thick cut bacon, applewood smoked. The toast was delicious and the tomatoes and the eggs were just how I liked them– soft and moist. Not a drop of grease in sight and a steal at £6.95. This is a gr8 find so don’t be put off by the queue. The juices and smoothies are also worth a try. The place itself is awesome and there are 3 floors of seating.

I absolutely love the Boston Tea Party in Honiton and Exeter, and was really happy to find one open in Salisbury, my hometown. However after two awful experiences I will not be going back to this branch. It isn’t to do with the food or coffee, which is usually great, but the awful attitude of the staff. One girl in particular was shockingly rude. I asked for a latte macchiato, and was happy to explain to the girl, who didnt know what it was, that this was a drink of steamed milk with the shot of coffee added at the end. She refused point blank to do this, and told me that i would have to have a latte. When i asked if they could charge me for a latte but just put the shot of coffee in last, I was rudely told no and laughingly that this wouldn’t make a difference to the way it would taste. I work in the restaurant industry for an Italian restaurant chain, and know that there is a difference between the two. Eventually i asked who appeared to be the supervisor to do it and he did but begrudgingly. The girl then patronisingly asked if i go to starbucks, who serve a caramel macchiato. This is not the case. I now live in London, and frequent places serving exceptional coffee which do excellent latte machiatos with non of the arrogant attitude I experienced at BTP Salisbury. My mum was also then given a stewed pot of tea with no milk. When she went back to get milk, a large jug was pushed in her direction and she was made to put the milk into a smaller jug herself.
My dad had previously had a bad experience, having asked what the house blend of coffee was, was rudely told that it was ‘just coffee’. Is it too much to ask that the staff know where the coffee originated? They certainly always know in starbucks.
I think it’s a shame that a beautiful café is spoilt by the rudeness of the staff.

What a cute setting and I loved the name… yes… I am American. Anyway, there was quite the line inside to order, but I read some of the menu outside and decided to stop here for lunch. The menu is nice… you could have a burger, or you could have a nice healthy super salad!
It seemed a bit chaotic at the till and it would have been nice if there were two people at the till instead of one with two people standing behind her. I placed my order and the lady said to me that they were experiencing a 20 minute wait on food, which was nice to know, but I kind of figured there would be some kind of wait with as many people just ordered before me. Then she asked me where I was sitting… so I just said, «Upstairs?»
Anyway for my main I chose the Chorizo Bap with Sweet Potato Fries. I was really excited. Then came the task of finding a table… they have two rooms upstairs, one a little cozier than the other, which is where I found a small table that wouldn’t look obnoxious with just one person sitting at it. They do have free wifi and your password is located at the bottom of your receipt… so make sure you ask for your receipt if you would like wifi.
My food came and it looked delicious! I would have liked some kind of sauce on the sandwich because it did was a bit dry… mostly because of all of the bread, but the chorizo was very nice! I didn’t really like the slaw. The sweet potato fries were not quite what I expected… they were not really crispy, just a bit soggy, but they did go well with the chorizo. Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience… in fact I’d go back to try some of the other items on the menu… particularly the super salad or one of the breakfast items!

It’s my first time trying this chain.
High streets are packed full of coffee places, so it’s nice to see somewhere focusing on tea instead. Tea has been neglected for far too long. Here, select a loose leaf tea and it’ll get scooped into a cute individual sized teapot and served complete with a mini milk jug. I tried the house blend, and it was really good, quite strong. Hands down beats a teabag plonked in a paper cup full of boiling water, slowly leaching into the instantaneously added milk.
A few critiques though: (1) It’s full on sunny days and you may have to circle like a vulture to find a table outside (they also do a rubbish job of collected up used crockery) (2) Their teapots and mugs are indelibly stained with tea which makes them feel dirty (3) They’re inconsistent about charging the eat/​drink in rate, flirt and you might get it. If you’re a guy, too bad and pay up.

Having a welcome pot of tea at this café was a really pleasant experience. The historic location has to be seen to be believed. It dates back to the 1300’s and in one of the rooms, there is a listing of all the tenants of the building dating back to 1300.
The intriguing décor of the various rooms is exciting to explore. There are various types of seating and tables to meet a wide range of folk’s tastes and requirements.
The staff are very friendly, cheerful and energetic even when there is a continuous stream of eager customers. It was so encouraging to see families enjoying a time of refreshment there — in fact all ages were represented during the time I spent over my tea. Of course, there is a wide range of drinks and snacks…
Well done…
Global Nomad