Cafe Tenby — Restaurant in Port Townsend

NEW and UPDATED review on June 22nd, 2024, we took one of our regular day trips to Port Townsend. We purchased some items from the farmers market there, went to Willabee Farms, and decided to have lunch at Port Townsend's little tea room, Cafe Tenby.

Our experiences at Cafe Tenby have always been delightful. The food quality is consistently good, and their plain scones are a true delight. However, the pricing was a bit unexpected.

For two sandwiches, which were smaller in size, along with two scones (included with about a tablespoon of jam and clotted cream) and we drank water, it was $44.00. The shock came when we realized they now charge for the clotted cream and the jam, making the price seem even more disproportionate to the portion size. As much as I love their plain scones, it is hard to justify that amount of money.

Although cute but relatively plain, Cafe Tenby states it is a "modern" tea house. Either way, it has seen better days.

While I've always been able to overlook some of Cafe Tenby's shortcomings, such as cleanliness and table availability, it's hard to ignore that it doesn't quite capture the essence of a traditional tea house, at least not the ones I'm familiar with. Even those who claim to be a little more modern than old-fashioned tea houses or tea rooms. Cafe Tenby, in my opinion, falls just a little short.

The window area was a little dirty. Under our table, there were crumbs and dust. Also, every time we go there to eat, most tables are reserved; although they say you don't have to have reservations, there is rarely any place to choose from to sit.

My point is, if customers are paying the price we did for smaller sandwiches, then the establishment should consider some updates or at the very least, a thorough cleaning.

Next time we visit Cafe Tenby, it will be just for their scones!

"HAPPY SUMMER TO EVERYONE" And, Please remember, be kind to ALL...

Very, very disappointed 🙁. I had company visiting from Texas. I made reservations for High Tea, which Cafe Tenby schedules for Saturdays. I received a confirmation for my reservation a few days before the appointed Saturday, asking that if we cannot make it, to give them notice. We drove 40 minutes to arrive for our High Tea and the place was closed! Cafe Tenby did not even have the courtesy to send me an email advising that our reservation was cancelled. So rude!

Followup: Cafe Tenby contacted me and said they sent me a cancellation notice 3 days before. I have gone through my deleted mail, not read mail, and junk mail and did not find that email. I am not saying I was not notified--I just do not find it. However, in all fairness to Cafe Tenby, High Tea is by reservation and I am confident I was not the only reservation that day. That being said, when I arrived at the cafe, there were no lines of people waiting to be seated; which leads me to conclude Cafe Tenby did send out...

Very nice little place. My wife and I came in from Texas on our vacation, and were really excited about getting "Cream Tea" here. From the website "includes two scones with clotted cream and jam served on pretty china and unlimited tea." But what they meant by unlimited tea, is unlimited hot water in your kettle. I don't know of anyone who steeps tea more than once. I was very disappointing by this. Frankly. that's not unlimited tea. We didn't even get to enjoy the one kettle of tea we were given, because of the use of a french press style kettle. By the time we went for our second cup, the tea was already bitter from being over steeped. I found this to be unacceptable for a tea house.

The scones and clotted cream were great, which is why this review isn't lower.

*updated my score to 1 star because the owner didn't...