The Doll's house on the hill - Harrow-on-the-Hill

A little while ago I became very distressed at the lack of a good teashop near me in leafy Surrey. It seems so odd; surely Surrey should be teaming, simply over-running with the kinds of folk who have time to while away in the civilized and cultured practice of taking tea.

But all of the nice teashops I've seen appear to be specifically tourist traps at country houses. Well, that would involve me paying an extortionate entrance fee before I could even get to the blasted tea. And of course, once I am there, I will pay hugely inflated prices.

So I looked a little further afield and I found The Dollhouse in Harrow-on-the-Hill (these hyphens are essential).

Harrow-on-the-Hill is a beautiful part of the country, full of lovely architecture and winding lanes. It really doesn't feel much like London at all. It's the location of one of England's poshest and most expensive boarding schools, and as a result has hardly changed in over a hundred years. If you're visiting London and want to see somewhere quirky and old fashioned I can highly recommend its charm.

In this setting the tiny proportions of The Dollhouse on the Hill are perfect. I arrived near the end of service and was justly warned of the closing time. As we were only there for tea and cake, we had timed it just right. The place was packed with teenagers and families and couples. The usual teacups decorated the rooms and the freshly made cakes were out for anyone to have a good look at. A really nice touch is the painting of the "Harrow-on-the-Hill" poem by Betjeman on the wall. It really is a beautiful poem, and is a nice way of setting the mood. You should have a read.

I selected the Jasmine tea from the sizable tea menu, and the idiot with me had coke. I couldn't see whose tea I was buying, which was a pity.

There was no written cake menu, because the cakes change daily, but it's a shame. I think they could do something to help people decide. The waitress listed all the cakes, and even left me her handwritten notes, but I really wanted a menu. I suppose I'm just needy.

I opted for a cupcake because I'm not too into cake and I thought it would look nice in the photo.  My pal had the lemon drizzle cake. I am an idiot. The cupcake was nice, it was really nice, it had soft sponge and full flavour, but that lemon drizzle cake...It was indescribably delicious; so much lemon, so much sugar, such a soft sponge. Absolutely lovely. We still speak of that cake sometimes...

The tea was nice, delicate and refreshing, but my suspicions of teabaggery were well founded. There was no label, so I was going to ask "WHOSE TEA?", but we left at closing time so in my haste I forgot. The website doesn't give any details of the tea provenance as far as I could see. But it was good tea, in a teabag, yes, but still a nice blend.