Three cafés in Chichester
If you’re exploring Chichester this summer, you will need coffee and cake and luckily the town is awash with coffee shops and tea rooms. Always one to search out the quirky, of the many cafés in Chichester you could try, here are three of the more unique.
St. Martin’s Organic Coffee House
Running parallel to North Street, St Martin’s Street is strangely quiet and sheltered from the hustle and bustle of the town centre. St Martin’s Street leads to St Martin’s Square which is home to St Mary’s Hospital Almshouse. In the Middle Ages, this was a place which provided shelter to the poor and vagrants as well as pilgrims and other travellers, and the houses with blue doors here are almshouses. Perhaps it’s this that gives this quarter an area of serenity but when you’ve finished admiring the properties here, head to St Martin’s Organic Coffee House.
Here an 18th century facade gives way to a Medieval interior, and a rabbit warren of beamed rooms, wonky doorways, and hidden staircases. For those that prefer eating outside, at the back is an enchanting courtyard garden spilling over with flowers, cobbled paths and the occasional sculpture. As the name suggests, everything here is organic. Their menu is simple but more than sufficient and I opted for scones and organic chocolate cake. All their savouries and cakes are made on the premises, they only use whole food ingredients that are very high in antioxidants, and free from hydrogenated fats, their tea bags are non-bleached and plastic free and they don’t use microwaves, artificial colouring, flavourings, preservatives, or adulterated convenience foods.
The Buttery
If you want more mainstream but still like something quirky, head to The Buttery in South Street just in front of the Cathedral.
With tables spilling out onto the pavement, you step down into an incredible 12th century crypt with vaulted ceilings and beautiful arches. It is worth a visit just for the architecture but they are also particularly known for their luxury cream tea!
J Voke’s Vintage Tearoom and Emporium
If it is unusual that you want, then it is unusual you shall have and make your way please to The Hornet just east of Eastgate Square where you will find J. Voke.
You might miss it because the front looks like a tattoo parlour and vintage emporium but once inside, you will receive a warm welcome. The tea rooms are at the back. I’m not entirely sure what is on the menu as the owner was in the middle of making wine on the chairs and I didn’t want to interrupt but I can pretty much guarantee it will be a unique tea room experience. A little weird perhaps but definitely unique.
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