a good place for a cup of tea and a think

Llanfaethlu Coffee House

Llanfaethlu is an unassuming but friendly little village in the furthest corner of Anglesey. It's not somewhere you'd expect to find a place like this coffee house, but it's a rare treat. It was apparently donated to the village by a lady of the manor in the 1890s. She wanted the villagers to socialise in a teetotal environment and so gave it to a trust with a 999 year lease. As well as the original coffee house it now serves as chipshop, community centre, shop and post office. What a splendid thing to give to a village.

Very nice cup of tea, as you'd expect.

A lovely combination of classic fittings and modern accoutrements. Which reflects the atmosphere of the place. That nice Welsh combination of friendliness and respecting your privacy. We had an excellent, quiet cup of tea (and some fantastic fish and chips), while in the hall next door there seemed to be a tap-dancing session.

The book on the side appears to be an accounts book from the history of the cafe. There's all sorts of interesting little bits of history around the place.

I think that's Lady Reade on the wall (she's the teetotal benefactor). Hurrah for Lady Reade.

Just the sign you're looking for when you're heading home after a lovely long day collecting shells and scrutinising rockpools.

Vecchio Snack Bar, Madoc Street, Llandudno

This place is perfect. Slightly off the Llandudno main drag it was fairly quiet in December. I hope it's packed in the summer. It's completely fantastic.

As regular readers may know I'm normally a tea man. But this place demanded a frothy coffee - one which was clearly made by Tommy Steele in 1957 and transported here by time-machine.

Someone ate all the pies.

Fantastic formica. Lovely cabinets. Minimal, but sufficient, confectionary selection.

Deeply ancient and patinaed booths. Like the timbers of a well-loved yacht or the seats on an elderly ferry.

Of course they serve Tunnock's tea cakes. Anne would approve.

And Horlicks. Not cheap though is it? Is Horlicks normally a luxury like Hot Chocolate? I don't know much of the way of the Horlicker.

One of the things I love about cafes is the informal signage. And the way that cafe owners can just decide their own rules. This is a perfectly sensible rule. And magnificent hand-writing.

Again, nothing to argue with here. Though if persons did bring their own food could they still sit in there, despite not getting served? I think we should be told.

I have to quibble with this. I know why push-chairs cause trouble but I can think of nothing better for young parents who've just got little Ikea off to sleep than popping in here for a tea and a tunnocks.

This is the piece de resistance though. A brilliant sign. Look at that type. I love these people.

Go to Llandudno. Give these people your custom. Keep them going.

(a point of explanation on the comments below. I originally had this place listed as in Aberystwyth. Which it isn't. Sorry about that. Richard kindly pointed that out. And I disagree with Tony. There's some lovely people in Aberystwyth. And a lovely chip shop.)

great welsh cafes

Hannah at the Welsh Tourist Board kindly emailed to say that there's a series of programmes on this week about Great Welsh Cafes. Sadly, only on HTV Wales. There's some great history on the website though.

National Milk Bars, Penrallt Street, Machynlleth

This is a great place. Apparently National Milk Bars is a chain of cafes in North Wales and adjoining bits of England. There's a tribute site here. This place has the most relentlessly consistent retro aesthetic I've seen for ages. Lots of wood and green leather-like stuff. And fantastic 70s maps of the area.

And a quality cup of tea.

JT's snack bar, North Beach, Tenby

JTs is a classic beach-side snack bar, basic but splendid. And while you might look at the polystyrene cup as a bad thing, I look at it as an opportunity to walk around the beach with your beverage.

You're always under cover, but you're always outside. The perfect beach cafe arrangement.

Funny how 'burgers' have gone from being a very modern thing, to being a very old-fashioned thing.