The Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room, Hathern

I’d never heard of The Old Curiosity Bookshop until they were nominated in the Muddy Awards earlier this year. Run by Tina Walford, the bookshop and tea room has been open a little less than a year but is already a hit with the locals as well as out-of-towners.

The small tea room has been styled to resemble one from the 1930s -there’s original 1930s furniture, hand embroidered table cloths, bone china, silver spoons, proper napkins, a vintage book case and little cabinets filled with curios. No snazzy state-of-the-art cappuccino maker here, it’s good old fashion tea (flavoured and herbal also) or filter coffee as well as traditional cakes and scones all made locally of course.

And of course you can browse or buy from a range of non fiction books, covering everything from archery to zeppelins.

Wymondham Windmill Tea room, Wymondham 

Enjoy your coffee while gawping at an incredible 200-year-old windmill from the quaint, cafe. Partially restored, the Grade II Listed five-story tower is a working windmill and open to the public on specific days. Along with the tea room, there are now eight boutique shops onsite so you can make a real morning or afternoon exploring the area.

The pretty eatery features original wooden beams, exposed brick walls and serves breakfast and lunch. The menu changes regularly and everything is home cooked from soups to sandwiches and every last Saturday of the month, there’s a bistro evening and you can BYOB!

Tithe Barn, Cosby

In a beautiful spot in the village of Cosby, the Tithe Barn sits in the shadow of a church, surrounded by beautiful gardens and flowers.

This Grade II listed building dates back to the early 15th century and was once used as one of the many granaries within the Leicester Abbey parish. In the late 1980s, it was fully restored and converted into commercial offices and a few years later, transformed into a cafe. Lunch here is delicious, there’s sandwiches and salads but it’s the sweet chilli fishcakes and the Tithe Burger that gets my vote.

Prana Cafe, Leicester

Stonehurst Tea Shop, Mountsorrel

If you’ve ever been to Stonehurst Farm, chances are you’ll have wandered into the tea room too. Located in the oldest part of the 300-year-old building, the main area of this family-run eatery was once a cattle shed. It then became a storage room for the potatoes grown on the farm before being converted to the tea room in 1994 – there’s still a few old iron hoops on the walls which were once used for tethering horses giving a nod to the history of the site.

Open from breakfast and lunch they have daily seasonal specials – think roasted squash and chestnut soup as well as plenty of delicious homemade cake. They use their own free-range eggs in cakes and scones and blackberries and pears from the farm in their honey and pear cake. 

Fika, Oakham

Café Ventoux, Tugby

Named after a mountain on the Tour de France, Cafe Ventoux really is worth visiting even if you’re not a cyclist! The decor is pretty cool too – bikes suspended from the ceiling, a classic Fiat 500 plonked in the middle of the lower floor, and if you are a cyclist, there’s a handy cycle shop next door.

With superb views of the countryside and set within a 20 acres site, it’s a brilliant spot to explore and take some pics for Instagram. As well as coffee, cake and food, the cafe has a fully licensed bar so you can order something a bit stronger too and food wise, there’s everything from salads to chillis.