Chessell Pottery Barns Cafe, Nr Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

We had visited the cafe once before last summer on a hot sunny day and remembered the scones to be fantastic so we were looking forward to a return visit.  We were both hoping they were as good as we remembered!

This time the weather was grey and wet so we found ourselves a table inside where we could stay dry and watch the ducks outside pottering around the garden enjoying the rain.

Tea and scones ordered (decaf coffee for me) and we sat down to wait.  At this point we both noticed that quite a few of the tables had not been cleared and cleaned from previous customers giving the place a generally untidy feel.  This was a real shame as it was not exactly busy and there was at least three staff in the kitchen and serving so surely one of them could have cleared the tables!

The cake counter looked very appealing and it happens to be the first thing you see when you come in the door.  Cakes and scones are laid out on traditional cake stands which I think always makes cakes look even nicer; it’s just something about them.

Our order arrived.  The cafe uses its own especially commissioned pottery made on the premises on which to serve their food and drinks.  Its cream with a really cute strawberry pattern on it.  You can buy it in the shop if you want to (alongside a huge range of Emma Bridgewater pottery which I happen to love).

The scones as hoped were very good indeed.  They are homemade.  We had fruit scones but you can also have plain, cherry or cheese.  They were served with butter and strawberry jam for me, and strawberry jam and clotted cream for Craig.  The jam I believe is made by a local man and the cream was from Calbourne mill.  Back to the scones, they were really light and fluffy and huge but the fruit was a bit lacking. In fact I hardly had any dried fruit in mine and certainly none in the middle when I cut through it.  The cherry scones on the counter however looked like they were packed full of fruit.

As well as scones and cakes the cafe also does a small selection of light lunches such a soup and sandwiches or filled baguettes. A high tea can be pre ordered which includes little sandwiches and cakes.

There is a lovely gift shop where as already mentioned sells a range of pottery wares and other items such as greetings cards and children’s traditional toys.  You can also book to go into the pottery studio and paint your own piece of pottery to take home, something several families were doing while we were there.  I thought this was a great rainy day activity.

Our verdict, we still like the cafe and will pop back next time we are on the Island.  It’s worth a visit for the lovely scones (even lacking fruit).

As it happens we did pop back a few days later as we were looking for afternoon tea however the place was so busy that we couldn’t even get a space in the car park.  It will have to wait until next time.

Chessell Pottery Barns

Sharon x