What is a 'Country Teapot'?. (Sue's Country Teapot, Dereham)

Sues Country Teapot,

Dereham,

Opening times Mon-Sat 09:00-16:00,

Sun 10-15:00

No I don't know either but apparently Sue has one and it's in Dereham, so, after nearly two weeks since a cafe visit, I set off with my guest for the day (notoriously hard to please Andrew) to test out Sue's Country Teapot. 

Once again the ride came with added pressure as Andrew had to be back by 1.00pm to collect his son. This meant a good pace, short refreshment stop and no incidents would be necessary if we were to get round in time. Unfortunately we achieved none of these as there was far too much talking with not enough pedalling. 

We arrived in Dereham and started to search for Sue's Country Teapot. Much to my annoyance Sue's Country Teapot was not where it should have been. I clearly remembered where it was on the internet map I had studied before we left but in the real world it just wasn't there. We were aimlessly cycling round Dereham when Andrew bravely stepped in and asked a local where Sue's Country Teapot was,  a question I couldn't bring myself to ask. Fortunately the local knew what he was talking about and was able to direct us. We found it attached to the side of the Dereham factory outlet shop.

Outside entrance to Factory shop where you can find Sues country teapot

On entering it was clear the décor was aimed more at the OAP shopping crowd rather than the cafe seeking cyclist. White table clothes, lace curtains, and lots of pink plus a strange perfume smell would normally see me moving on for my refreshments but it passed all my criteria for a rating review (see post 'there must be rules') so in we went. Sue seemed to have attracted a number of local ageing shoppers into her country teapot and  it was busy and buzzing. Unfortunately the car park location along with the old fashioned furnishings did not give much room for a high ambiance score and was rated accordingly.

As always I went straight to the cake display zone to review the cakes and award the effective cake selection rating. There was a good selection but only a few lonely slices of each cake and none that leapt out shouting 'eat me' so I could only award an average ECS score.

The drinks menu was also a little disappointing, the only coffee available was described as 'hot milky coffee' but I did notice there were 4 types of tea. I suggested to Andrew he choose from the tea menu. He pointed out the 4 types were pot, cup, pot for two or mug so not really the fine tea selection he had in mind. He went for pot and a scone and I went for Hot chocolate and chocolate cake.

Once again the focus of my drink had been put on the hot part of the drink and very much not on the chocolate bit but at least the milk was not burnt. Andrews cup of tea was a standard cup of teabag based tea but he did get to pour it into a china cup.

Scone and chocolate cake were both fine but nothing special. Overall Sue's country teapot did not score well as a cycle ride destination but did seem very popular with its target Dereham factory shop customer base. Despite the very friendly staff it is unlikely I will be making a return visit on a ride and therefore turned down the opportunity of joining their loyalty scheme.

We left still unsure what a country teapot was and if Sue had even been there. We returned to Norwich on some very nice roads with the wind behind but not at a fast enough pace to meet our deadline so sorry to Andrew's son for late pick up.

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
4.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	5.5	5.30

Route

Click link to download 37 mile Norwich Dereham loop GPX file for your GPS