Afternoon tea.....with kids!

When you think of afternoon tea you think of dainty sandwiches, fine china and wearing your Sunday best. It certainly isn't something you would usually associate with a 6 year old boy and two boisterous toddlers. I attempted it though! And it was fab.

The venue of choice was the running fox bakery in Felton. It is a small but perfectly formed bakery in a picture perfect setting on the riverside. Because of the size (and Popularity) pre-booking is definitely recommended. Afternoon tea is served between 3pm-5pm.

As soon as you open the door to the running fox, you start to feel hungry. You are greeted with a counter full of freshly baked goods like you have never seen before! There are Cakes, pies and breads galore for you to feast your eyes on before you are seated.

The staff are super friendly and immediately provided us with a highchair, menus and removed the glasses that were on our table our of the reach of little hands. We were the only people with children there but never felt uncomfortable and all the other customers didn't seem to mind. The running fox does have a children's menu available and also provides treats such as child friendly hot chocolates and homemade milkshake's (my children loved the latter)

The afternoon tea menu is fantastic value. You can pick any sandwich (we chose smoked salmon, ham and pease pudding and cheddar cheese with smoked ham), any slice of quiche (we chose bacon and Brie), any slice of homemade pie (we chose steak and ale and steak and Stilton), any scone ( we chose cherry and almond scones filled with jam and cream) and any cake from the cake counter ( we chose chocolate fudge cake, a chocolate brownie and Bakewell tart). You are also provided with unlimited tea and coffee which they top up regularly. The price of afternoon tea is a mere £10 per head which is just fantastic! The portion's are huge and everything is homemade and delicious. We paid for 3 afternoon tea's between the 5 of us and still had leftovers to bring home for which the staff kindly provide you with cake boxes.

When we could eat no more, it was time to feed stretch our legs and we promised the children they could feed the ducks. The staff in the bakery provide you with free bread to do this which is such a lovely touch. The ducks certainly seemed to enjoy the artisan bread as much as we had!

3 x afternoon teas, 2 x chocolate milkshake's, leftovers boxed to take home, unlimited tea and coffee and free bread to feed the ducks came to less than £30 which is not only the cheapest meal we have ever enjoyed as a family of 5 but definitely the best value and tastiest!