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Ms Humdrum recommends ... The Courtyard in Southsea Castle


Location and ambience: I usually only visit here during our local Victorious festival, for their bbq and the toilets, if I’m being honest. 

Today after a short stroll along the front, we decided to pop in for tea and cake. For those who don’t know, it’s set in the courtyard of Henry VIII’s castle built in 1544. Sadly, he didn’t design the castle with enough forethought to have a cafe 500 years in the future with views over the Solent, so we are under the arches. We snuck into the comfy chairs at all the end, out of the main thoroughfare. Music came on at the end of our visit but it wasn’t intruding (unlike the Adele and Kylie blasting out at another seafront-based cafe ...). 

Refreshments: The cake selection was good; we chose coffee and walnut. It was neither dry not cold, two of my pet hates. Not sickly either, even for the large slice. 

The tea (Teapigs - breakfast I presume?) was hot (sounds silly but you know what I mean!) and brewed properly on arrival rather than having to wait 10 minutes. Normal pots too, rather tyhan those cool-looking colourful ones that don’t close at the top, with two and 2/3 cups (last still drinkable).

Anything wrong: Oh - Master Humdrum may complain we had normal forks rather than cake forks, but it didn’t spoil it!

Cost: £12.50 for two large cakes, a tea and a flat white. 

Verdict: Pleasant, nice cake, will bring Mum next time. 


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