Belinda's 16th Century Tearoom

My very first full day in England was perhaps the best. I stayed in the quaint riverside village of Arundel in an old-fashioned hotel on the upper floors of a bustling restaurant, with the picture-perfect castle (a Victorian renovation of the Norman-medieval original) towering over the mossy shingles and chimneys of the shops across the street. Before the castle opened at ten, I took a walk through the meadows and around the castle pond, now a wildlife refuge full of swans and various interesting and unusual breeds of ducks. Then I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon wandering all over the castle grounds and through the chapels, bedrooms, state rooms, and portrait-lined hallways. The hotel's ample English breakfast kept me going all day until about 3:00, when I started to feel ready for a light lunch and my first highly anticipated English tea.
A few streets away from the castle I happened upon an old, slightly slanted building with a bay window showcasing baked goods and tea cannisters, and a sign proclaiming it to be Belinda's 16th Century Tearoom. Once a stable, it was converted to a restaurant and is now a popular cafe, serving both traditional English cookery and a wide variety of home-baked cakes and pastries. There was a terrace in the back, but as the day was chilly I was happy to be seated in a corner table near the door but still inside out of the wind.

Wanting to keep up a semblance of healthy eating, I ordered soup before indulging in my scones with jam and clotted cream. The soup of the day was carrot-parsnip (a seasonal combination that kept recurring on menus throughout my trip), served in an attractive tureen-shaped bowl with a deliciously crumbly chunk of cheese-herb bread alongside. The tables around me were all full, and watching the Victoria sponge cake and Bakewell tarts going by almost made me change my mind about tea and scones. But I decided to stick with my original plan, and I didn't regret it. The scones were delicious, soft and warm and just as moistly crumbly as the bread had been. The tea came in a silver pot on a flowery little tray, and the china was all pretty blue and white. It was a lovely meal, and a wonderful place to reflect on my first perfect day in England.


Belinda's 16th Century Tearoom

13 Tarrant Street

Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9DG

(01903) 88297