Cheese scone hot or not? (Piano tearooms, Wymondham)

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I had been trying for sometime to organise a ride to the recently opened Piano Tea Rooms at Ketteringham Hall but a combination of cycling guest availability and opening times had delayed my visit.

When golfing friend Tim mentioned he was keen to get back to cycling after a several year gap then it seemed like the perfect opportunity to combine a new cafe with a new cycling guest.

Tim has been going cycling mad over the last year but only at indoor spin cycle classes as he hasn't got a proper bike. As a man with a number of bikes (although I always have one less than I need) I was happy to lend him one for our 30 mile loop. 

After his cycling break I I was impressed how well Tim got going, it was just like riding a bike for him. It is always hard to judge what speed to go with a new cycling guest so my normal tactic is to go faster and faster until they can't keep up and then I know what pace to stay within. I had forgotten that in the world of indoor spin you must never show a weakness so no matter how fast I went Tim was determined to keep up meaning we made it to the Piano Tea Rooms in record time, although completed knackered.

The tea room is situated in the orangery on the side of Ketteringham hall. Outside there are lots of tables over looking the grounds. For a newly opened tea room on a Wednesday in mid November I was surprised how busy it was, which was a good sign.

In the outside seating area at the Piano Tea Room at Ketteringham Hall

The cake selection was very good, mainly big sponge cakes, and I awarded a high effective cake selection (ECS) mark. 

Good selection of sponge cakes

Owner Kim is a keen follower of the blog and knows my view on cheese scones in that I believe they are best served warm but she challenged me to try one of hers at room temperature, which I was happy to do along with a piece of toffee apple cake.

As a new cycling guest Tim clearly wanted to fit in and must have thought it was normal to order two items (or maybe he's just greedy) so he had apricot flapjack and coffee and walnut cake.

As it was busy inside and a mild day we opted for one of the outside tables to have our refreshments delivered to.

The drinks arrived first and my hot chocolate was a good one with a proper chocolate taste. Tim thought the flavour of his latte coffee was good but it wasn't hot enough for him to give top guest hot drink quality marks.

The cakes were superb, having good generous slices, with my toffee apple cake being the best cake I can remember enjoying this much for ages (and I have had a lot of cake). Tim also raved about his apricot flapjack as well. 

Cakes and drinks, although Tim had finished his coffee before I had a chance to snap it

But the question we all wanted answering was if the cheese scone could successfully operate at ambient temperature and I must say I felt it did easily carry it off being both light and cheesey although I still think it would have been even better if warmed.

I told Tim how lucky he was that we had gone to a top notch venue for his first ride and not to think all cafes and tearooms have views, cake and flapjack this good. As such I highly recommend a visit.

On the way back Tim said he had enjoyed the ride so much he was thinking of getting a new bike and doing more cycling outside in future, although if he always has two pieces of cake at his cafe stops he'll need to.

Ratings based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.375	7.3	8.25	9.07	8.35	8.27

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS