Busby's Tea Hive - Bungay, Suffolk

(Now closed)

3 Upper Olland Street

Bungay

Suffolk

NR35 1BD

Breakfast served all day

Tuesday - Thursday

10.00am till 3.30pm

Friday

10.00am till 4.30pm

Saturday
10am till 4pm

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 Busby's Tea Hive has just recently opened in Bungay.

 It's located on the picturesque Upper Olland Street.

 A delightful interior with bunting, fairy lights and homemade cakes.

 You can sit back and relax with coffee and cake on the sofa.

A classic black and white checkered floor and good solid traditional tables and chairs.

 Table number 2 had a warming glow from a jar of fairy lights.

Full English and a veggie breakfast can be found on the main menu, these are available all day.

Quality sauces and salt and pepper in grinders arrive just before the food.

The cappuccino cost just under £2 and was excellent.

 My wife chose Earl Grey tea which arrived in a tea pot with a quaint cup and saucer.

The full English was nicely presented and looked delicious!

The root vegetable hash tasted excellent and complimented the other items nicely.

 The chunky cut mushrooms were sensational.

Quality meats from Baird's Butchers and a perfect fried egg

The veggie breakfast comes with haloumi, delicious!

I discovered Busby's Tea Hive's facebook page whilst killing time online last week and noticed they had recently opened in Bungay. Me and my wife had been talking about visiting Bungay for the day for some time now. This seemed like the perfect reason to so we jumped in the van and headed across the border to Suffolk.

 

Upon entering - The dining area is fairly small but nicely laid out with plenty of natural light flooding in through the windows. There are a number of tables to choose from to eat breakfast at or a sofa and vintage school desks better suited to relaxing with tea and cake. A selection of homemade cakes are displayed on a table by the door, beside this is a dresser storing a selection of tea pots. The style is a nice blend of kitsch/traditional with gingham curtains, polka dot table cloths, fairy lights and bunting. A vintage sewing machine sits on the window ledge and a selection of old photographs hang on the far wall. It's a lovely environment to dine in and there is full table service. Choose a table and a menu will be brought over to you, your order is taken and everything you need will arrive at the table in good time. 8/10

Service - The service here was really friendly and couldn't have been any better, we were greeted as we entered and offered a choice of tables to sit at. A menu was brought over and our order was taken, we were given the option of fried/scrambled eggs and white/wholemeal toast. First the drinks arrived and then the cutlery and serviettes, we were offered sauces and a quality brown and red was brought over for us. The food arrived in good time and we were later asked if everything was ok. At no point did we feel like we were waiting longer than we should been and everything we needed arrived without having to ask, perfect! 10/10

Contents - 1 sausage, 2 slices of bacon, 1 fried egg, half a tomato, root vegetable hash, mushrooms and a slice of toast & butter. 7/10

Presentation - The colourful selection of items sat nicely together on the plate. The sight of a decent quality sausage and a nicely fried egg is generally a good early indication that the entire breakfast is going to be fantastic, which it was.  It was nice that the toast arrived hot at the same time as everything else but I did wonder if the toast might be better served on a separate plate with some butter in a small bowl or possibly ready buttered. 8/10

The food - The Suffolk pink sausage from Baird's butchers of Bungay had a good firm texture and delightful meaty taste. The bacon with nicely browned rind was cooked to perfection and tasted great. Once I had buttered the toast I popped the beautifully fried egg straight on top and was delighted to find the yolk nice and runny when I cut into it. The root vegetable hash was something a bit different and tasted great, it consisted of potatoes, carrots and possibly butternut squash. What really stood out on this breakfast though was the large sliced mushrooms, they tasted amazing! Everything arrived hot and nicely cooked, a really enjoyable breakfast with some excellent flavours. 10/10

Value for money - The full English breakfast included toast and cost £5.50, a very reasonable price for something this delicious. 8/10

Veggie option - Haloumi, 1 egg (scrambled or fried) tomato, mushrooms, root vegetable hash and a slice of toast & butter. £5.25

Overall - A great place serving a delicious breakfast at a reasonable price. With efficient and friendly service and a cosy environment it is certainly worth visiting Busby's Tea Hive. The root vegetable hash made a nice change, it tasted great and made me feel a bit healthier knowing I was getting some of my 5 a day! Some breakfasts do benefit from baked beans but this one I felt worked ok without as the juicy tomato, mushrooms and a good squirt of ketchup balanced the moisture levels quite well. It is nice to see a good veggie option on the menu and the breakfasts being available all day. 8.5/10

  Update - March 2015

Just over a year since my last visit I decided to return to Busby's Tea Hive again. Their instagram page is possibly the best ever and displays their vast selection of amazing homemade cakes. The selection offered here are really creative and often feature your favourite chocolate bars or sweets. I knew they already served an excellent breakfast here, I just had to try those cakes!! 

Many places are going with a traditional kitsch look but Busby's carry it off in a very unique way that feels effortless and genuine.

 

Cadbury's caramel slice

Pretzel, M&M's and Butterfinger cake

Reeses peanut butter cup chocolate slice

Terry's chocolate orange cake

The afternoon tea is beautifully presented with thick cut finger sandwiches, crisps, a salad garnish and homemade cake. I chose a brie, bacon and cranberry sandwich, it was delicious and cut from a really nice loaf. You can take your pick from a selection of sandwiches on the main menu and any of the cakes on display.

Lovely cups and saucers to enjoy the generous sized pot of tea that arrived.

It was a difficult decision as all the cakes on offer looked amazing. We were in cake heaven with the Pretzel, M&M's and Butterfinger cake, we finished off with the stunning Cadbury's caramel slice, both so good!! 

Here are the current afternoon tea options and prices