Last week thanks to a feature in the Nottingham Post, I was reminded that it was about time that I popped over for lunch at the rather homely Old Bakehouse Tea Room on Church Lane in Ruddington. The Tea Rooms are located a mere stones throw away from the Church and just yards away from the White Horse Public House. There is plentiful free parking which is an added bonus, but getting a seat in the tea rooms? Well at lunchtime it seems to be flourishing so you may have to be a little patient if you want the best tables.
I have popped in on a couple of occasions over the last week, either side of the weekend. On Friday I sat outside in the sunshine on one of their two little wooden picnic tables and munched upon a quite tasty Roast Beef cob, with a little bit of mustard. It was quite good value with plenty of slices of beef for just £3.50.
On Monday lunchtime, having missed my breakfast, I was contemplating something more substantial and as a consequence I failed to resist the charms of their “Standard Breakfast”, which for just £3.75 was exceptionally good value. It may not have looked too pretty on the plate, but the food itself more than made up for that. For your money (or rather for my money) you received a plateful comprising; bacon, sausage, egg, black pudding, mushrooms, bean and tomatoes, plus a side plate of very well buttered toast. Although my photographs do not really do justice to the quality of the food on the plate, my personal gluttony on this occasion did some serious justice to the meal. So much so that I even ate the tomato. The food was all cooked freshly as you waited, but even so I was in and out within half an hour, and as all the tables were taken I didn’t think that was too bad at all.
I was seriously replete after all of that and I had to rest for sometime before I was able to move again. It was no problem though as I had several cups of tea served in a lovely little china tea cup to wash my lunch down with. As I was paying I had a chat with the owner and had to compliment them on the black pudding and in particular the sausage which I was very happy to note was a proper sausage and not one of those mushy supermarket cheap ones. She knew exactly what I meant and I had to comment that the quality of the sausage on the plate of any café breakfast is often the key decider on whether one would come back and have another one. I was happy to say that it is well worth coming back for. She did tell me that her husband had made a point of getting hold of some good quality Lincolnshire sausages as he had the same opinion. You know what I would like to meet that man and shake him by the hand!
If you are driving here then you need to head for the church and the green and you will not be far away. If you want to use public transport then I have caught the number 10 bus (The Ruddington Connection) into the village, which runs right alongside the Old Bakehouse on it way down Church Street past the Church. The Old Bakehouse is at number 58. You can also follow them on Facebook if you want to see what they are up to.