One of the newest restaurants in Plymouth is a unique concept for the States, a tea room! Shelly’s Tea Rooms is located in the heart of Plymouth’s commercial district on Court Street. As the name implies, this is an English tea room–think tea, scones, and finger sandwiches. Shelly’s is authentic, as the family who owns it is right from England. This is actually their third location, with two previous tea rooms located near Canterbury and Dover, England. Shelly’s Tea Rooms is owned and operated by Michelle “Shelly” and her husband, Sean, and their children. Buddy, their happy golden retriever, completes the family and was next to us during our visit for its entirety.
My visit to Shelly’s Tea Rooms
Upon picking up my older son at school, I talked him into picking up a scone at Shelly’s. To me, scones are typically dry. Quite honestly my favorites are the scones made at the Marshfield High School baking classes. As the tea room specialties are scones, I was excited to try one.
I figured we would just pick up a few scones to bring back to the house. Not so. Danny wanted to eat there. That was fine with me. Shelly’s is a long but narrow space with tables lined up in a row. We were seated and chose two scones, blueberry for me and chocolate chip for him. There is a combination deal for two scones and a kettle of tea which we opted for.
With loads of tea options, I was overwhelmed, but Shelly recommended a cream tea. Soon enough, our kettle arrived, along with our scones. For toppings, we had clotted cream and raspberry preserves. The scones were excellent. Sweet but not overly so and pillowy, I complimented my scone with a layer of clotted cream with a second of raspberry preserve over it. The tea was also tasty, Danny even tried a sip!
A fun addition to Plymouth
Along with the restaurant, Shelly’s also has a store. Here choose from frozen versions of their scones, a variety of teas, and other British goodies to take home with you. Shelly’s Tea Rooms is located at 51 Court Street in Plymouth, MA. Plymouth is a dining mecca, with other delicious restaurants such as Speedwell Tavern, Uva Wine Bar, and Artisan Pig on the same street.
Nice! I love a nice pot of tea with a scone or two (generally only one as they can be quite filling but I would be hard-pressed to turn down a second!) and it’s nice to see that Shelly’s like theirs Cornish style as evidenced by the photo on their website. You had yours Devon style but I won’t hold that against you though my British friend Claire certainly would! There’s big debate across the pond on what goes on the scone first – the cream or the jam! – which I found out about when I made the mistake of eating my first one “the wrong way”! Personally I think they taste great regardless of how you eat them, they’re so much better than the American version!
I’ve been looking for a good reason to take another trip back out to Plymouth one of these days and I think you may have just provided it. Cheers!
I had no idea of all of this! Thanks for sharing (and don’t tell Claire…)
I won’t! Though if she reads this post …
Haha!
Uh oh I read the comments! I knew something wasn’t right, felt it in my bones!
This place look delightful though!
You caught me!! ????
I love that Americans seem to really enjoy scones and tea! Not that I can bake the bloody things ????
Lord knows I’ve tried and failed at baking scones a lot myself! I think the one recipe that seemed to work the best was the one that used Sprite (or whatever it is they call it over there!) For a simple bake, it’s a lot more tricky than it seems which is why I appreciate a good one even more. There’s got to be a secret that I don’t know – and apparently Claire doesn’t either!