It's Teatime at the Longitude
Kim
McAusland straddled the globe
in search of a healthy snack
Pavilion
Tea House, Greenwich Park
If
you're a regular Greenwich Park-goer
or a local like me, you'll have
heard that this child friendly
eatery The
Pavilion Tea House, next
door to the Greenwich Royal Observatory,
has recently had a grooming and
changed its raison d'être. Once
known for its 'fast and fried'
approach, it has metamorphosed
into offering something more
'fast and fresh'.
If
my experience one busy Saturday
lunch time is anything to go
by, I would say that the Pavilion
Tea House is succeeding in its
mission, i.e. generally raising
the expectations of park catering.
My idea of 'grab-a-bite' to eat
followed by a stroll in the park
became a wholesome gastronomic
experience.
Possibly
appreciated more by the locals
rather than by children, chips
have been banished from the menu
along with the deep fat fryer.
Now, only the freshest, free-range,
organic ingredients are offered.
Serving breakfast, lunch, snacks
and alcoholic beverages, the
new 'posh café' menu has retained
some of the better traditional
café favourites such as chicken
soup, the classic Caesar salad,
shepherds pie, welsh rarebit
on toast and prawn cocktail.
Nearly
everything on the menu is home-made,
from the soup stock to the trifle.
Each dish is very attractively
presented and, you could be mistaken
for thinking you were in a fine-dining
restaurant, not a Tea House.
On the other hand, civilised
though the food is, the ambience
is down to earth with plastic
chairs and wooden benches, the
self-service counter and little
packets of salt & pepper.
Worth
noting, although closed for business
on Christmas Day, there aren't
many hostelries that can boast
they are open for business 364
days a year (or 365 days on a
leap year!), but The Pavilion
Tea House can.
Pavilion
Tea House
Greenwich Park, Blackheath Gate, SE10
Tel: +44 (0)20 8858 9695
http://www.pavilionteahouse.co.uk
