Stamford is a beautiful stone town in Lincolnshire, about 20 miles from where I grew up. It holds a special place in my heart as I met my best friend here during our college years. There are some gorgeous quirky shops and also some great places for a spot of lunch or dinner. 

My sister bought our family a gift certificate for Afternoon Tea at The Fine Food Store for Christmas, and we redeemed it this weekend. 

It’s a small cafe, with maybe only 30 seats and the effort they go to for those customers is huge. 

Like an idiot I forgot to inform the staff that I don’t eat cheese, cream and butter. Thankfully, even with an hours notice they still pulled together a feast!

The four of us started with a glass of prosecco, which went down INCREDIBLY well. 

My parents and sisters board was first out, and my god there was so much food! It arrived beautifully displayed on a little picnic table. Much better than a cake stand in my opinion. 

Sandwich selections included chicken, bacon and mayo on white bread, cucumber on white bread, and a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel. The other savoury items were sausage rolls and quiche. 

The cake selection was huge! Toffee chocolate cups, brownie, raspberry mousse, scones with clotted cream and jam, Chocolate covered strawberries, macarons, meringues and cake. 

Then mine arrived. Wow. For one person it was a mountain! The savoury part of mine included a smoked salmon bagel (minus the cream cheese) a ham sandwich and a chicken, bacon & sweetcorn sandwich. These were great, and my favourite was definitely the smoked salmon. It was so fresh and the salmon just melted in my mouth. The other savoury item was an amazing sausage roll with chutney. I could have eaten loads of these, they were delicious. 

The sweet selection was brilliant. I started with the chocolate brownie. I think this had cherries in it and it was delicious. The macaron was light and fluffy. If there are made in the cafe then I would be stunned. They were delicious. The same for the meringue. Strawberry flavoured, light and crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, it was delightful. Then there were these toffee chocolate cups. They were like grown up toffee pops. Amazing. Toffee pops are my favourite biscuit so I was very happy. The almond scone was very rich, to be honest I couldn’t finish it. It was delicious but too heavy after all I had eaten. The chocolate covered strawberries were so fresh. They were so juicy I’m sure it ran down my chin at one point! They even gave me an almond dairy free cake which was brilliant and very thoughtful. 

After food, we also had a hot drink each, included in the package. I had a delicious mint tea, while the others all chose coffee. 

We all left extremely full, clutching the last of the foil wrapped hearts in our hands. 

At £20 per person, it’s not cheap. However it is by far THE BEST afternoon tea I have ever had and so I believe it is well worth the money. It’s a fantastic special occasion treat and mum is already talking about going back for Mothers Day. Thanks to the staff for making it so so lovely, especially given the short notice of the dairy intolerance.