DeWynnsCornwall

Falmouth on a summer's afternoon, with its holiday vibes and
pretty bunting-clad streets is a swell place to find yourself
wandering where to have tea. Although no shortage of similar
establishments pepper the South West coast, De Wynns has
rightly and apparently very proudly earned a place in the Cream
Tea hall of fame for delivering a high standard, highly polished
five o'clock experience. In practical terms this means you'll
probably have to book in advance and suffer some rather loud
conversations from adjacent tables, tediously over- evoking words
like "quaint" and "proper". The ship-shaped barrel windows and
motley assortment of nautical brasses are such that on the first
couple of passes we mistook it for an antique shop. On the inside,
the scrubbed wooden floors and cosy private booths make for a
romantic atmosphere. The runny Roddas clotted cream is
gorgeous and gooey and as it dribbled over the table and down
our chins we found ourselves also falling for the dulcet soft South
tones and teapot good looks of our waitress as she brought over
the understandably award winning fare. The tea was a serious
affair, sourced from the local Trigothan estate and our enthused
infusion banter was effortlessly parried by a pride for blend and a
passion for brew time. The specials board cried out for attention
and had there not been other teas in other towns we could have
happily made an afternoon of it.

The whole affair was so nearly wonderful. The plastic table cloths
and laminated menus - which in less laudable establishments
would have passed unnoticed - seemed to jar. The large scones
were fresh that day rather than fresh out of the oven and the
result was a structure so heavy and intimidating that we felt
exhausted by the time the bill came.