We stopped off in Steyning on the way home the other day. I'd never been before, its one of those historic market towns that takes quite lot of pride in its not particularly remarkable heritage. Still, it has some cute old buildings, and, as it turns out, a bloody fine tea shop. The Steyning Tea Rooms certainly look the part, with a very Cath Kidson-esque aesthetic. As well as being a tea room, there are also a few gifty bits on sale, like embroidered Matryoshka door stops, bird shaped pegs, and so on. What really makes it great though is the food. The menu is extensive, and reasonably priced. They obviously do a great selection of cakes and drinks, but with some more interesting additions than just the norm, for example, you can have a cream soda or a coke float to drink. We shared a tuna, cheese and sunblushed tomato melt, a rhubarb scone with cream and rhubarb jam, some Sicilian lemonade and a raspberry lemonade. The lemonade was wonderfully strong and traditional tasting, the melt was heavily loaded with the tasty toppings, and the rhubarb scone was the best of the lot, with lots of pieces of real rhubarb baked in, and a tangy jam to offset the cream and scone's sweetness. Those items together came to about £13. We were served by a not exactly effusive, but not unpleasant lady with long dreads, more what you would expect from a café in Brighton than this quaint Steyning tea room. Altogether it was a ruddy jolly show. read more