"Over the past 8 years we have regularly made the hour or so journey to the Inn at Whitewell, for either a Cream Tea or lunch. Both have always been of a very high standard, the legendary, oversized and freshly prepared, warm scones, rivalling those offered by the finest Tea Rooms, being a particular incentive. I am glad to say that along with the unchanging beauty of the location and timeless architecture, the service has remained very good. It makes it all the more disappointing that the past two occasions we have ventured out, the scones have been very poor. The first of these 2 trips, we thought there may have been a batch that had gone slightly wrong that day or a new recipe had been tried and failed, without any evidence of quality control. And today we hoped the quality we had enjoyed in the past would have been restored once again. Sadly, this was very much not the case. The scones were exactly the same as the previous visit: dry, crumbly to the extent that it was impossible to butter without large chunks of it breaking off, and the bottom was slightly warm and the top cold. Bought in? Frozen? Certainly not freshly baked on the day, warmed thoroughly in the oven, and worse than that, more like an over-baked, dense sponge cake than a scone. This definitely falls into the realms of a First World problem, I know, but it is disappointing when any respected and reliable institution falters. I don’t know that much notice is taken of any negative reviews on this platform, but I can only hope that some sense of pride might lead to the kitchen once again perfecting this quintessential British staple."
