Quaint cafe in a picturesque Lake District with an excellent selection of vegan cakes and where most items on the menu are vegan too.
Cuisine: Cafe lunch food – soup, paninis and focaccia, jacket potatoes. Depending on the season options like stew, chilli or buddha bowls. Breakfasts available until 11.30am
Opening Hours: 9.30am-3.00pm
Location: Main St, The Square, Hawkshead, Ambleside LA22 0NZ
Date Visited: October 2020
Price Range: £6-10
Contact: 07746 440530
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ginnyshawkshead/
WiFi: No
Charging: At some tables
Ginny’s teapot is entirely decorated in a nostalgic British farmhouse style that you will either find ‘charming’ or ‘twee’ depending on your point of view. But whatever you think, your Grandma would love it.
If you can get past the decor, the selection of vegan cake an food is excellent. We were overwhelmed by the choice of at least 10 different vegan cake option and almost everything on the food menu is vegan too.
There is plenty of seating and on good days there is outdoor seating too. Hawkshead itself is a beautiful village with boutiques, galleries and pubs, so Ginny’s can be the focal point of an enjoyably few hours spent exploring this quintessentially English spot.
We both had vegan hot chocolate with marshmallows – a rare treat as vegan marshmallows aren’t all that common. We eventually decided on slices of spiced apple cake and chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was good but the spiced apple cake was the star – it was a chilly October day and the richly spiced cake with the hot chocolate was a perfect warming combination.
We weren’t there for a meal so we can’t comment on the food, but it was nice to see that almost everything on the menu is vegan, or at the very least has a vegan option available. Everything is clearly labelled, as are the Gluten Free options.
The staff were friendly and welcoming and there was a jar of complementary dog treats on the counter which is always a thoughtful touch by cafes where dogs are welcome.
It’s worth noting that they stop serving food at 3pm, so if you arrive in the late afternoon you may be disappointed. Also there is only one toilet, so that may involve a little patience if you are there when it’s busy and find yourself in need.
They do charge extra for plant milk, which we’ve mentioned elsewhere is a bugbear of ours, and a little surprising from a cafe with such impeccable vegan credentials otherwise.
Nevetheless, Ginny’s Teapot is a splendid destination for coffee and cake or a light lunch and it makes a delightful resting point during a visit to Hawkshead.
Beware… the cakes are labelled VG, and after agreeing that this meant “Vegan” the staff member insisted that the VG-labelled victoria sponge was NOT vegan.
Unfriendly and unprofessional and why on earth label something as Vegan if you know darn well that it ISN’T?
I left without buying anything. How could you trust a place that does this?
Thanks for the feedback – we’ve never had this situation arise in the several times we’ve visited, but will make sure we ask carefully about the labelling next time we visit. Thanks for letting us (and the readers) know.