Boston Tea Party, Cheltenham | Café Review

Tucked away in the far end of Cheltenham town centre lies a modern industrial coffee shop and café called Boston Tea Party, bringing copper and metallics back into fashion along side, as it's name suggests, British classics such as Eggs Benedict and beautiful cakes with American, Boston style with huge pastrami sandwiches and milkshakes. Discovering this little gem on my first day in Cheltenham was definitely a good thing...

Boston Tea Party offers the best of the British indulgences with fantastic American twist foods and drinks, and after the first time there indulging in their breakfast treats (with a brunch time twist) with Pete on our first day in Cheltenham, I couldn't wait to go back for more just a few days later with my Mum for lunch!

The first things that drew my eye to the cafe was the hidden-gem feel I got when we walked past, with it's copper and leather along with giant wooden boards filled with cake a nice contrast to the 70's style British Heart Foundation building next door and the high-end town houses, painted in pale yellows and creams over the road. It's become in recent years that this industrial style architecture and interior design has become big, and we can see it everywhere, but the places that we tend to see it in are restaurants and even in some tenpin bowling centres, but it's rare that you find something that has such a classic British vintage feel to it, combined with this American, industrial feel and it fit so well and feel so welcoming. 

All the cakes and the coffees smelled so amazing, and I had to resist really hard to not order about five different types of cakes to gobble down - although I couldn't resist their milkshakes, ordering a Marathon Milkshake, made with chocolate, caramel syrup and peanut butter, combining together to create a deliciously thick milkshake with an amazingly strong peanut taste which really did take me back to my childhood, sharing a Snickers bar with my Dad on a Saturday morning after they were renamed from Marathon Bars. It wasn't an easy decision to make, however, with so many soft drinks, smoothies and hot drinks to choose from - my favourites I have noted I will need to try being Organic Dragonwell tea, Organic Gunpowder tea, their range of Jekka infusion teas, Cawston Press Sparkling Rhubard juice, Old Fashioned Real Lemonade and their Berry Blast Off Smoothie, combining oats, summer berries and honey with yoghurt. 

In my two visits, I got to try some of their breakfast and lunch time offerings, the first time trying their Sourdough Eggy Bread with Smokey Bacon and Avacardo, which was so delicious. I'm not a massive fan of eggy bread, as I tend to find it quite stodgy, but this was so delicious and the toast still had a freshly baked crunch to it, which was a nice surprise. Everything was so beautifully presented and tasty! Pete went old school with his breakfast, trying their Eggs Benedict with yummy free-range poached eggs and locally sourced free-range ham. I love that their mottos include that everything from the cakes to the freshly ground coffee is made on sight or locally, including their salad leaves, specifically grown for them in Bristol and their breads made at the award winning local bakery, Hobbs House Bakery.

The second time I went with my Mum we tried some of the sandwiches that Boston Tea Party had to offer, thinking that they would be normal sandwiches, before being presented with enormous freshly toasted sandwiches with tonnes of filling. I had the Hot Chick sandwich with chicken, sweet chilli sauce, Cheddar and coriander, an interesting fusion taste of a classic chilli chicken sandwich on toasted sourdough. Mum had her usual sandwich of the Reuben of salt beef, pickles, Gruyere and Dijon on the same toasted sourdough. The fillings were crammed in and all so delicious! We also tried some of their Courgette Fritters and Dip which were so light, something which is usually hit and miss, I find with vegetable fritters with the water and oil sometimes combining to become greasy, however these were incredibly light and tasty, especially with a beautiful range of tangy and sweet dips.

There are so many amazing things on the menu, and it is such a struggle to choose what thing you would like as everything sounds and smells so delicious - although the top dishes I would like to try the next time I go would have to be their Slow Roasted Lamb Pitta, Portabello Mushroom Burger, Super Salad and their Kedgeree! Find their full range of dishes and drinks on their menu here.

Boston Tea Party, much to my delight, isn't just in Cheltenham, however, and operate with coffee shops and cafés all over the Midlands and the South East with shops in Barnstaple, Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Harborne, Honiton, Moseley, Plymouth, Ringwood, Sailsbury and Worcester - so get out there and visit one of their shops! You won't be disappointed.