Cocoa Tree Cafe — Restaurant in England

Fabulous little place in Helmsley, to stop off for a coffee and some cake (or a bite to eat, if you so fancy!) It was a bit of a tough one wondering where to choose, as there's a number of great-looking coffee shops in the area. But I decided upon the Cocoa Tree Cafe and I'm glad I did! On their menu, they offer a variety of things from toasted teacakes and ice cream, to sandwiches and quiches etc. I was in the mood for a coffee and a slice of cake, so went with a large cappuccino and a slice of their berry and citrus cake. Seeing as there was a table outside free, I decided to enjoy the warm weather and people-watch for a while. Of course, sitting outside, you're going to be by any traffic which passes by. I had the odd heavy vehicle pass by, but it didn't bother me. If you want something a bit quieter though, sitting inside might be the better option, of which there is more than adequate seating. The cake selection was nice and I'm sure, would satisfy most people. Served by a very nice gentleman, so that was a bonus! Would definitely recommend this coffee shop, if you're in Helmsley and looking for a place to sit and sip a coffee or have...

We did a long walk from the Abbey to get to town and then randomly walked around until we found somewhere that looked nice to eat (there are many places in town but the menu here is what appealed to us)

Nicely decorated small cafe. Varied menu (and all the food we saw going past us looked very nice)

I got the beef burger with cheese. The beef had a nice taste and was cooked nicely. Came with a ridiculously large amount of cheese (which was very messy to eat, but also very welcome!) in a lovely fresh brioche bun. Came with plenty of well cooked thick chips and lots of fresh salad/coleslaw.

My wife got the lemon berry sundae. Also a large portion (never an issue with ice cream!) and had lovely lemon curd ice cream as well as strawberry ice cream. With plenty of raspberry coulis and some wafers.

Prices were good (especially for the portion sizes) and the staff were really nice and friendly.

They had a good looking selection of cakes and other treats, but by the time we'd eaten our food there was no room left for anything else!

Would highly...

We had our first trip to Helmsley on Saturday and we landed at lunchtime so food was first on the cards.

There’s loads of places to choose from so we fairly randomly picked the Cocoa Tree and luckily for us their one last table was available for us.

The fella working there (possibly the owner I think) was absolutely spot on. And he had the coffee skills to pay the bills. There’s a sign on display that said “Life is too short for bad coffee” and on seeing this I thought, that’s a good sign that the coffee will be good here. Indeed it was, I asked about a flat white and said I liked a shorter one, that tastes of good strong coffee, not a milk-fest, and I got one. While the wife got a regular flat white. So full marks so far. A coffee tailored to my tastes.

And onto the food. Again really very good. Toasties and a Cumberland sausage sandwich that looked so good. Whilst I got the ham salad which was delicious too. All good portions and good prices.

We will definitely return; full marks for charming service, attentiveness...