Tea and cake...

For those of you local to Brighton or just one of the many visitors, I thought you might like some
suggestions for somewhere good to go for afternoon tea... so often it can be a bit of let down, especially when outside London.

Metro Deco in Kemp Town is relatively new as a cafe but has been an art deco furniture shop for quite a while, they have now cleverly combined the two. There is an eclectic mix of furniture and sculpture for sale.The feel is a mix of sitting in someone's home and an art deco tea salon.
It could easily be pretentious but avoids this by the welcoming, easy going ladies who run it.

There is a good choice of cakes on offer and I am always encouraged to see a gluten free option and not the usual odd, dry offering either, but something that anyone would want to eat. There is usually more than one cake on offer, lemon, chocolate and a delicious pineapple one, plus meringues. They have a wide and unusual selection of teas plus coffee of course.

As with most places gluten free only tends toward the 'sweet'. Finding a sandwich, pizza etc remains elusive even though there are several palatable breads available now, sold in all the supermarkets.
Change takes time , so ...heres hoping


Igigi in Hove is a real favourite, again a shop downstairs with a fabulous elegant staircase leading you upward to the delights of the cafe. Everything is displayed with a casual
rustic style that seems easy to replicate yet is clearly incrediably well thought out. It makes you want to go home and immediately redecorate !

This follows through into the cafe, with an open style kitchen where everything is on show, hard on the staff as you tend to watch them, without meaning to as the setting dictates. Fabulous cakes and pastries are displayed opulently under huge glass domed covered cake stands. The staff are knowledgable and very upbeat.

Always a gluten free option and I have even taken my own bread where they will happily toast it for you to go with their soup or salad.
So sensible...10/10