Small Talk Tearooms and Gifts Colchester — Restaurant in Colchester

This is genuinely one of Colchester's gems: I've been going to Small Talk for a few years now and it's always been a delightful experience.

The service staff are so friendly and welcoming, they always serve with a smile and they're wonderful with the more elderly patrons who frequent the tearoom.

Talking of tea, you'll be hard pushed to find another place with the wide variety this establishment has! My partner and I often try a new flavour every time but they have something for everyone: from black tea to fruit tea to green tea to teas I've never even heard of. My personal favourite is Alpine Punch - it tastes like a November evening, I don't really know how else to describe it other than an experience, not just a tea.

Small Talk also does food, and you might be mistaken for thinking that they put less energy into that (as it's primarily a tea room), but you'd be so wrong. Never had a bad bite to eat here, food is always delicious and they cater to allergies or preference. There's also lots of vegetarian options, if that's more your lifestyle.

The decor is dated but by no means do I say that negatively: Small Talk is akin to a 1970s living room, with doilies under the glass tables, trinkets in cabinets and plenty of wall hangings to look at. It's maximalism in the best possible way.

Finally, there's the cost: a pot of tea is about £2.70 (unless you're having some specialist like Darjeeling or White Monkey, which is only 30p more) and this will provide you with at least 3 cups of tea. As someone who has frequented many tea rooms, I believe that's good value for money - there are certainly bigger chains who charge more for less product, so nearly 3 quid for 3 cups evens out.

Now the food side is a bit more dear. A baguette melt (my go to order) is about £10: you do receive a side salad and a portion of crisps with this but, understandably, some people may not be willing to pay so much for a hot-pressed sandwich. I will say, however, that I nearly always order it because the taste justifies the price: you're not getting bad quality, you get what you pay for.

All in all, Small Talk has been a staple in our household for a while: it's great for local hangouts, perfect spot to take older family members and it's always so calm and peaceful there. Could not recommend this...

We chose to brunch here on our way through to Norfolk and chose the tea room as it looked lovely and quaint and liked the menu. The first waitress was lovely and helpful, we had a nice amount of space for the 3 of us and the pushchair and highchair around the table, our drinks were then brought out promptly. The food, however, was a nightmare: we ordered 1 full English, 1 half Vegetarian English, and 1 half English (with half the items left off and beans in a pot - so little one could eat them instead). Waitress was sent back to check the order twice (fair enough), then the toast and my full English were brought out. The next two plates brought out were both wrong (the vegetarian was meat and the other had beans right in the middle touching everything - the beans were for little one, husband won't eat anything they've touched, hence asking for them in a little pot). They apologised and said they'd bring them out correct shortly. I finished eating mine, it was nice. Still no other food... We asked and were told it was coming up next, waited again. Finally a plate was brought out - another full English, same as the one I had finished and rudely told it was what we'd ordered, still no sign of the other plates. Were told it was just coming (couldn't be brought out together for some reason). Waited again. By this point we'd been here nearly an hour and a half, I had eaten (and shared my beans with the baby), but no one else had even had theirs brought out. We gave up, up asked to cancel and just pay for my one meal. They kindly said no charge.... Which considering the ridiculous wait, the incorrect food and then the no appearance of food, I think was about right. 2 very ravenous adults. Thankfully a few shops another shop did delicious ice creams and take away sandwiches. Wouldn't recommend,...

Visited here yesterday whilst in Colchester for the day on holiday. I was impressed with the menu as there was lots of choice. Staff were very friendly when greeting us to seat us and when taking our food order/bringing our food etc. I ordered the ham and onion chutney sandwich. It was average price at £7.95 but not to bad as it did come with crisps and salad (as stated on the menu). It was presented very well, but unfortunately some of the ham was quite gristly and chewy. My partner had welsh rarebit which was very good quality, but extremely overpriced at £9.50 considering you only get one slice of toast/bread. For that price he expected to get 2 slices and we personally feel just 1 slice is quite stingy, as it is essentially just cheese on toast. His also came with a huge pile of salad which was not stated on the meu, which he wasn't too happy about as he hates the taste of salad and doesn't like this touching other elements of his meal. This really should have been stated on the menu that it came with salad so that he could have asked for it without and it wouldn't have gone to waste. I personally feel they give a huge portion o salad to try and make up for the fact they are only giving one slice of bread/toast to make it look like you are getting better value than you are really, when salad cost next to nothing. The cakes only looked bought in and not home made which I was surprised about, so we passed on having...