A review of Lee Rosy’s

17 Broad Street, Nottingham, NG1 3AJ

Seeing as I recently wrote about Yumchaa tea (my new London loose leaf tea supplier), I thought I’d better get around to writing about Nottingham tea shop Lee Rosy’s given my infatuation with loose leaf tea can be whittled back to a chance encounter with this outlet back in my uni days (which ended all of a year ago).

I have previously written about my quest to find decent cafes in Nottingham on returning from studying in Melbourne and Lee Rosy’s was a happy output of this period of exploration. Conveniently located opposite one of Nottingham’s independent cinemas, this little tea shop hits the spot whether you’re after afternoon tea or pre-cinema snacks and is open until 10pm most days of the week.

Apple cake: http://flic.kr/p/5bVdAp

Primarily serving loose leaf teas of various assortments, you can have a sniff of the blends on offer before placing your order for a mug or a pot and perusing the decadent display of cakes. Carrot and apple cake are amongst my favourites of Lee Rosy’s sweet treats, but they also do hearty sarnies earlier in the day if you get there early enough – once they’re gone, they’re gone. Other snacks include hummus and pitta, toast, or crumpets.

Once you’ve made your selection it’s time to fight your way to a table as this tiny tea shop is often overrun by trendy types from Nottingham Trent University, or wannabe trendy types from Nottinham Uni who actually study politics... Tables are at a premium and you often have to loiter for a while before finding a seat, but the atmosphere is great and most people are happy to share their personal space if you ask nicely.

One of the great things about Lee Rosy’s is that the walls are adorned with a forever changing display of local art so that one day you may come in to find an array of stag’s heads, and the next, a series of light boxes. As well as keeping you on your toes, the wall space is a great forum to show off Nottingham’s talent and means there’s always something new whenever you visit.

You can buy Lee Rosy’s amazing home-blends of loose leaf tea on the premises or from this website. My favourites are their berry teas.

You can also find them on Facebook.