h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It certainly sounds like the same present Lanza.

The teashop that closed (remember the start of the conversation!) was much more like a coffee shop - sofas, fancy clock, wifi. Nothing at all like the Bettys-style mob-cap-mock-Edwardian cuteness or the aweful aweful monstrostities serving tea in steel teapots and stale cake.

I read that as stale teapots and steel cake Ben ...it might have been

Except for the local "Teavana" stores in my area, I don't think I've ever seen an tea shop. Coffee houses are so ubiquitous here that I don't know if a tea house would even be noticed. Dunkin Donuts seems to be spaced at half-mile intervals from Dedham to Walpole. [That's a nine-mile stretch of Route One.] In my neighborhood, there's one a quarter mile away, and another one on the other side of the street a quarter mile the other way. Then there's a Dunkin Donuts franchise at the supermarket, and another one at the rotary a quarter mile beyond that. I'm pretty sure they carry tea, and they have breakfast sandwiches that have enough protein to tide you over if you're stuck in the middle of nowehere and all the regular restaurants are closed.

did someone mentiion Betty's? mmmmmmhhhh Yorkshire tea and fruit-cake with Wensleydale. Yummmmmmmm

Betty's sounds a nightmare. None in this area yet thank god.

Seriously why would there be a brand for a teashop.

I'm sick of everything being branded.

It should be what fits with the local culture.

There are a couple of independent coffee shops in my area. One used to be a video rental place. When video rentals became less popular, the owner added coffee, sandwiches, soups, and pastries. He put in dark brown chairs and tables, and added wifi. I think he has most comfortable, cozy place in the area. It's a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the beverage of your choice and a few nice things to eat (all of which are tasty).

So, no pizza? No pasta? No curry? No kebabs? No cheddar cheese unless you live in Somerset?

B

I don't think there's any chance of a Betty's tipping up in Peckham, Effers, it's a Yorkshire thing.

All those things are part of our culture Mu Beta..because of the indigenous population living here....not because of some advertising thing.

"So, no pizza? No pasta? No curry? No kebabs? " {Mu Beta]

I'm not sure whether you're talking about the former video place I mentioned. They might have some of the things you mentioned. If not, there are other places nearby that have them.

Mags we may have the ocassional Yorky living here for all I know.

If you have, can poke 'em with a sharp stick, please.

Former Lancastrian and proud!

Actually, the successful branding of whole swathes of Asian cuisine (such as Bangladeshi, Punjabi, Sri Lankan) as "Indian food" is a triumph of branding.

And as I tell my clients, if you've got a name, a way of doing things and a set of values, you've got a brand.

Neither of these things are intrinsically bad.

Didn't know you had 'clients'.

That pimping business starting to take off, is it?

B

Zing.

"One thing I noticed is that teas in the UK, particularly the local teas, (yorkshire, lancashire, irish, scottish) are blended and optimised for drinking with milk, while tea on the continong is finer and thinner for drinking without."

Hmmm, I'd never thought of that as the reason, but you're right. I don't drink that much tea, but I do like it strong and bracing. Teabags from home were a much sought after commodity among the Irish people I worked with in the USA, too. If you were home on holiday it was an unwritten rule that you'd bring back a suitcase full of them to share.

Betty's, of Harrogate*, is a small café (and tea shop) that also has a branch in York (anywhere else?) And it's not twee or anything, it sells Yorkshire cakes and serves sandwiches, tea and coffee. It's a proper business in that they opened one shop, then opened another.

You have to wait for a table to become free and if you don't get there when they open you could be in for a long wait (I've always been of the opinion that persons of the Yorkshire persuasion should be able to go to the head of the queue, even those of us with apparently "posh" accents...)

*wondering now if it is from Harrogate... or is that Taylors? or is it both? I do know that I have a hankering for tea and cake)

ok I'd forgotten there were 2 in York. Turns out there are 6 altogether. And now I'm REALLY homesick for Yorkshire

http://www.bettys.co.uk/Tea,4.aspx

Is a "Yorkshire cake" a particular cake, or do you just mean cakes you get in Yorkshire?