The bone china blue and white bowls filled with loose sugar set the tone for this simple but cute tea room. Mrs Bridges is ideal for a girly afternoon tea or for somewhere to take your mum.

The Venue
It looks like something out of a Jane Austen novel, one where the young ladies have had to make the best of what they've got to make an elegant reception room. It's far from lavish, but it's simple and clean, almost elegantly so.

If you go in from Lowesby Lanes you'll see the not so nice portion of Mrs Bridges Tea Rooms. It's a small room furnished with black tables and chairs (although the chairs have intricate detail) and there are old framed prints on the wall.

It's rather simple, and a decorative ribbon on the top of the walls is the only splash of colour in an otherwise monochrome room. Mrs Bridges Tea Room also has another floor above, and a courtyard garden.

In these spaces, the tea rooms look a lot cuter. From the courtyard you can see it occupies an entire two storey house (it's tiny) that looks like it's out of a fairytale, and from the top floor you have a nice view over the pretty courtyard.

The People
At lunch you'll find workers gathering in the courtyard for a quick bite to eat, and at this time of the day Mrs Bridges is popular with anybody. During the morning or at mid-afternoon the crowd is a lot older and the place is quieter. However, because there's no music, there's an annoying hum from the fridges and fans.

With all its art decor overtones you expect to be served by old women in crinoline petticoats. But the place seems to be run by a posse of powerful women doing a great job with a fast and friendly service without all the unnecessary frills.

The Food
Sticking to the tea room tradition, the speciality at Mrs Bridges Tea Rooms is the sandwich selection. These are more suited to satisfying hungry mouths at lunch than complementing afternoon tea. The special sandwiches (£5.80) include hot roast beef with red-onion marmalade and crumbled stilton, sauteed wild mushrooms with cashew nuts and homemade coleslaw, honey roast ham with feta, beetroot and walnut relish.

The long list of regular fillings (£4) include other delicacies like wild-game terrine with stuffing and cranberry, smoked duck with stir fried vegetables, sticky chilli chicken with spring onion and mint yoghurt and many delicious others.

They also serve a great breakfast selection (£5.60), light bites and starters (£1.35 to £4.70), salads (£5.60 to £7.50), pasta and risotto (£6.50) and oven baked potatoes (£3.60).

They also do a small but good selection of classic mains (£5.50 to £7.50) like coq au vin (chicken marinated in red wine with smoked bacon and thyme), a flan of roasted peppers and mushrooms topped with cheese, quiche lorraine with maple smoked bacon and others. A good range of desserts (£3.10) is perfect to go with your tea as well.

The Drink
They serve a variety of classic teas and coffees (£1.40 to £1.90) plus Horlicks, milkshakes (£2.10), fresh juices (£1.10), elderflower or cranberry presse and other things. Although it's a tea room, Mrs Bridges seems to pay more attention to food. You can still get a properly served tea but the choice isn't wide.

The Last Word
Mrs Bridges Tea Rooms is deadly serious about food, and their gourmet dishes and speciality sandwiches are not to be missed. And nor is a good afternoon tea.

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