Chantry Tea Gardens - West Somerset

Having read the Trip Advisor reviews of The Chantry only after our visit, it 's clear the management don 't read their reviews, or worse, don 't care. This review could almost be a summary of all the other 1-3 star reviews as our group nearly achieved Bad Chantry Bingo. 1) The attitudeoif the female owner is terrible. A customer facing role is clearly not for her. 2) Portion sizes are poor when compared to competitors in the area. Two in our party asked for more cream with their scones and were told That would cost extra . The original portion sizes were miserly at best. 3) Mrs. Chantry struggles with negative customer feedback. Everyone gets the same portion size (not quite enough) .... no one has complained before (she 's clearly unaware of Trip Advisor). After this exchange, one of our party suggested that 'never coming back ' was an option. This was a red rag to her, and she came back for a (verbal) fight. Luckiky, this was diffused by some of the more diplomatic members of our party. 4) Comments about packaging are fair. Paper cups and cardboard boxes should be for takeaway only. Some nice crockery would improve the experience... or prices should be reduced to reflect this. Positives: Mr Chantry was obviously having a good day (maybe he hadn 't spoken to his wife. He was clearly busy). The other staff were pleasant. The location is lovely. Summary: Unfortunately, The Chantry seems to be a profit maximisation operation, rather than being customer service based. We spoke to some other friends who have visited the area for generations, and they all have had bad experiences there (generally involving the owner 's attitudes) and haven 't returned. My experience is that I ordered and ice cream, it 's difficult to go wrong with Styles, but when it arrived (when I was away from the table) it came with a warning. 'The cone needs to be held in a particular way, or it might break '. This advice wasn 't passed onto me, and I was very impressed with the catch I made as the ice cream headed to the floor. My dog appreciated helping clean my ice cream covered hand (if not the dog ice cream I bought her). The fact that the cone came with a warning about its poor quality, rather than The Chantry fixing the problem by shopping elsewhere for better supplies sums this place up. Mrs Chantry has to be seen to be believed, but you won 't come back.

BRILLIANT as always ! We've been going here for 5 years, while holidaying in the area. We only found it by accident while viviting Kilve Beach. what an absolute GEM. The garden is straight out of a romantic novel. Lovely old fashioned garden and a mix of old and ruined buildings. The food is lovely as is the service, by the owner what a nice man. Food is served in boxes, and paper cups, introduced during Covid, and is a clever way to save their work. All the boxes and cups go in recycling bins on the way out. All in all, it's a lovely, idylic place, good value for money and an absolute pleasure to patronise. Thank you we WILL be back next year :

This charming outdoor tea room is located in a lovely countryside setting next to an old church-like building. They serve delicious sandwiches, scones, cream teas, and ice cream alongside a great selection of drinks. The rustic atmosphere includes casual seating with no tablecloths and old chairs, but the charm of the place is undeniable. We will definitely be returning next summer.

The setting is beautiful, but having been on holiday and sampling many cream teas locally, I was disappointed with the quality after visiting with family. It was a busy, sunny day and we waiting over 30 mins to receive our cream tea and sandwiches. As many reviewers have already mentioned, these come in cardboard boxes/ cups. The scone was very dry and crumbly but was served with a huge quantity of clotted cream and good quality jam. Unfortunately, due to the nearby bins, there were a considerable amount of wasps hanging around too which didn’t help with our enjoyment of the experience. The sandwiches were tasty but pricey since the they did not come with any garnish/ salad etc £1 extra for a bag of crisps). The hot drinks just didn’t taste as good in cardboard cups- they were incredibly hot to touch too. Lovely setting, but let down by the “takeaway” feel.

We stopped by this charming little outdoor tearoom on our way to Kilne beach for a walk in mid-October. The homemade Ginger cake and Coffee and Walnut cake were absolutely delightful! The owner was friendly and engaging, and we will definitely be back if we are in the area again.