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The Orchard Tea Garden

Restaurant | Cambridge | England | United Kingdom

The Orchard Tea Garden in Grantchester, a picturesque village near Cambridge, is a traditional tea garden café that has been a staple of Cambridge life for over 125 years. It offers a peaceful oasis where guests can relax under fruit trees and enjoy the atmosphere of times gone by. The garden is known for its famous homemade scones, which are served under the fruit trees in late spring, summer, and early autumn months.

The menu includes a selection of light lunch dishes, including fresh salads, sandwiches, and quiches. The homemade scones, served warm and topped with clotted cream and jam, are particularly popular. For those with a sweet tooth, there is a variety of cakes and pastries that are freshly prepared daily. The Orchard Tea Garden also offers a variety of teas that pair perfectly with the food on offer.

Guests can enjoy their meals and teas either indoors, adorned with pictures of famous former visitors, or outdoors under the fruit trees, which is especially delightful on sunny days. The café attracts not only locals but also many tourists and literature enthusiasts, as it was a popular meeting place for writers such as Virginia Woolf and Rupert Brooke.

Overall, The Orchard Tea Garden offers a unique combination of history, culture, and culinary delights in an idyllic setting that appeals to both locals and visitors.

Contact details

Web

Phone

Address
47 Mill Way
Grantchester
CB3 9ND Cambridge

Map view

Opening hours

Sunday10:00 - 16:00
Monday10:00 - 16:00
Tuesday10:00 - 16:00
Wednesday10:00 - 16:00
Thursday--
Friday10:00 - 16:00
Saturday10:00 - 16:00

Reviews

2347 Reviews

MIGUEL ANGEL HIGUERA
02.02.2025

Te traslada a un sitio de tranquilidad y paz que tiene que ser impresionante con buen tiempo
Malcolm Cowan
26.08.2022

Expensive but ok
Michal Teplan
11.01.2025

Gets very busy in the warmer months. It’s a very cute tea garden. Good selection of cakes, pastries and sandwiches. Not far from the Granchester Meadows :)
David Curtis
29.12.2024

Great service and a fabulous beetroot and horseradish soup.
Andrew Bentham
23.12.2024

Popped in on a walk just before Christmas. Enjoyed my flat white even though it's kind of cheating here (see name of venue 🫖) and was sad it was not lunchtime yet when they told me about the beetroot and sour cream soup 😋 Nice, relaxed indoor space for winter, lovely garden for summer (if any in UK 🇬🇧☔🙂)
Chris White
12.12.2024

Not bad but over priced
melita micevski
04.12.2024

Beautiful place to have a coffee or a bite
Laura PJ Latham
01.12.2024

I visited this venue many years ago. I enjoyed spending time in the garden with friends (who were living in Ely at the time). We had 🫖 tea and 🍰 cakes near to the ✍️🪑philosophers garden (Ludwig Wittengenstein, for instance) I was reminded of this venue just this morning re: ageing society (the Dame Sheila Hancock interview by Anita Rani on 📺 BBC1 TV - My Life at Christmas - although she talked more about the 🪚Carpenter Arms pub and her attendance at a variety of religious/belief meetings including, finally in her later years, settling for 'non-traditional' Quakerism). There was plenty of parking and space for a walk when I visited
Paul and Carolyn Fredrickson
15.11.2024

Very excited to pop in and have a toasty and cream scones after reading great reviews. Sadly the service fell WAY short to basically ruin the experience. No hint of any customer service by the young lady on the till. Inflexible with regard to timing of our lunch. Made it very clear there was no table service! Appreciate it was probably the end of a long day, but keep it going until the doors close! In summary .. good food, tainted by poor service. 😞
Shivakumar Thandavan
12.11.2024

Great place and good breakfast .
Claire Murgo
09.11.2024

A magical setting in the woods overlooking the meadow. The Red velvet cake was really nice. The coffee was perfect. Really enjoyed the atmosphere of this place.
Katie at Home
04.11.2024

Absolutely lovely place for lunch/afternoon tea. We had the most delicious scones there today - Cranberry and Cinnamon - wonderful, such a treat. Had a lovely walk afterwards down by river with our dog. Total gem.
Cheah K
26.10.2024

A serene tea garden to enjoy your tea and breakfast.
CAMBRIDGE EMBROIDERY LTD
19.10.2024

Booked for a Saturday afternoon tea treat for mother-in-law's birthday was placed in a freezing cold room, food was not nice at all - lad that served us rushed through telling us what was on the afternoon tea stand when it arrived - we had no clue what we were eating at all! need ingredients/allergens and descriptions of what food is served, so we at least could tell what was served Felt like we were just shoved in a cold unwelcoming café and charged 36 pounds each for the inconvenience! Will not be returning
vera s
19.10.2024

Always lovely here. Delicious food, a very nice walk from Cambridge.
Zsolt Kis-Varga
18.10.2024

On the 17th of August 2024, I visited [Tea Garden Name] with the intention of enjoying some time there, but the experience turned out to be anything but pleasant. When we arrived, the place was overcrowded, and we were stuck in a long queue for 20-30 minutes. Despite this long wait, we never even made it to the entrance, which is apparently where the parking log system is located. We decided to leave due to the excessive crowd and the slow-moving line. What made the situation even worse was that I received a parking charge notice a few days later, even though I never had the chance to register my vehicle due to the queue. When I contacted the tea garden’s manager for help, they were unable to offer any assistance or resolve the issue with the parking ticket. I was left with no clear way to appeal the charge through them or get any meaningful support. The overall experience was frustrating and disappointing, both in terms of the long wait time and the unresolved issue with the parking charge. I certainly wouldn’t recommend visiting during busy periods, and it’s disappointing that the management couldn’t offer any help with the parking issue either.
Joan Marshall
18.10.2024

We went having read about it and was dad to find Rupert Brooks museum was no longer open. There were some information boards in garden. Unfortunately we were not impressed with the food considering the price and will not visit again. Maybe just unlucky
Elisabete Lima
15.10.2024

Great place but the queue was enormous! So gave up due to the very long waiting time... Must be fabulous to sit outside in the garden in summer time!
Kyriakos Paraskevas
12.10.2024

This place real letdown is the horrible noise. We were looking for a place to relax and drink our tea, but we were really frustrated by the noise and the staff constantly moving chairs and tables, so noisy and unprofessional.
Richard Parrish
06.10.2024

Just lovely to sit among fruit trees and enjoy the weather
Sally A
04.10.2024

The location and atmosphere of the garden are magical and the staff are very friendly. Regrettably, the cafe seems to rest on it's location's laurels. It was the first soup I had in my life that was so dilute that it tasted of tap water. It could not even be made palatable with 2 bags of salt. The cutlery had caked-in food residues on it, and the outdoor tables had clearly not been cleaned in months. Considering the intended shabby chique effect, it only achieves to look empoworished, which is sadly not reflected in the extortionate food prices. Shame, this place could so easily be made to be exceptional.
mark allen
02.10.2024

Love the place!!
Brian Higgins
25.09.2024

It's a bit shabby and run down. I ordered the Ploughmans, the bread was lack lustre, not the crusty type that I was expecting. It was not worth the price that they charged. On the plus side, I had a scone later, which was delicious.
Sophie Depas
20.09.2024

Very pleasant time with family.
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