Vintage Tea Room, Fareham | Takeaway review

There is something so totally luxurious about diving into a plate filled with carbs and sugar while sipping on your favourite hot drink.

So, in these anxiety-filled times of lockdown, it seemed like the perfect moment for your Dish Detective to indulge in a spot of afternoon tea.

You will find Vintage Tea Room on West Street, Fareham, in a fairly unassuming building, which currently has the shutters down while it is closed.

Behind this facade though, the team appears to be working hard to deliver afternoon tea.

And if you’re wondering if you qualify for one of those deliveries, they do it all the way from PO1 to SO53.

To celebrate a lockdown birthday, your Dish Detective and housemate opt for a delivery at the same time as our family members to enjoy together over Zoom – how very 2021.

The tea room’s website is fairly easy to navigate, with options for varying amounts of cake and sandwiches.

You choose a time slot, alongside classic sandwich options on a choice of breads, savoury or sweet scones and a lucky dip of cake choices.

My hungry – and rather fussy if truth be told– companion and I opt for cheese, cheese and ham, cheese and pickle, and plain ham sandwiches, all to be enjoyed with fruit scones.

The site prompts you to fill out whether you have any wriggle room on the delivery time, which we do, although they can deliver to a specific time slot.

A cheerful woman delivers our highly-anticipated hamper right within the time window we had specified, and we are overwhelmed by how much food is included.

We are presented with 16 finger sandwiches, two huge slabs of cake, a large scone each and two little pots of jam and cream. We are bowled over, nay stunned, at how much you get for £25.

Immediately we decide to save half the sandwiches for the next day.

There is so much to get through and this seems to be the safest option. It also means we can enjoy each course to the fullest.

Although it is slightly disappointing there are no teabags included, luckily we have our own so will not go without. Settling down in front of the laptop with a freshly brewed pot, we tuck in after wishing a happy birthday to our loved one.

The sandwiches are generously filled, and the cheese is a lovely mature cheddar which tastes wonderful.

My eating partner and I definitely did the right thing by saving some for the following day because we are delighted to have room for sweet treats after finishing our round of sandwiches.

Rather controversially you might think, we both opted to spread the cream first on our scones followed by the jam.

Whatever, when we bite into those fluffy fruit scones they turn out to be the perfect accompaniment to a cuppa.

We save the slices of cake for slightly later as the generous, waistband-busting portions have definitely got the better of us, so we enjoy sharing one slice of carrot cake and one of chocolate. These are delicious, if perhaps slightly dry – however this could be our fault for not eating them immediately they were delivered.

A welcome treat comes the next day when we open the fridge to discover our leftover round of sandwiches, which are just as good as the day before.

Although it’s not as posh to eat this fare in your own living room, the delightful spread from Vintage Tea Room definitely hits the spot and leaves you feeling like you’ve eaten something luxurious.

Vintage Tea Room, Fareham

Telephone: 01329 284433

Food: 4/5

Value: 5/5