Located on the edge of Wakefield, West Yorkshire is a lovely little farm shop and restaurant. The Barn Kitchen is located in a, well a barn, behind the farm shop of Blacker Hall Farm.

This is somewhere I had never visited before but my Mum has and when I asked her about going for afternoon tea for her birthday she suggested Blacker hall Farm. She has gone there herself before, for a main meal, but had seen the afternoon tea in action and wanted to give it a go so I happily agreed.

Before going to our reservation, and I would recommend booking a table whether you’re going for food or afternoon tea as it was fairly busy even for a dreary normal day at the start of February, we took a look around the shop and I eyed up a few items for getting afterwards.

The shop itself was packed with fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables and eggs as well as breads, baked items and fresh cakes across a few areas of the shop. They also had a selection of pies, make your own pizza kits and of course selections of cheese, deli meats, raw meats and fish alongside oils, tinned goods, seasoning and other pantry staples. In short; There’s a huge variety of fresh, local and quality produce in the shop and plenty of it was a decent price as well.

I ended up picking up 700g pork ribs for less than £6, some Maldon smoked sea salt flakes for around RRP and also a decent sized cake of parkin. I could so easily have grabbed a few more items but knew I didn’t really need them in that moment so resisted. My mum got a few items herself, although I think all of it was for her partner, including some fresh burgers and a super cream and jam filled scone!

But what about the afternoon tea itself? It was £26.95 per person, though you could upgrade to a glass of bubbles for an additional £6.95 per person, and all the desserts and scones were the same across the choices of two afternoon teas. There was a classic sandwich selection, which my Mum opted for, and a deli delights one that I went with.

The sandwich selection came with four different types of sandwich, all totally about one actual sandwich, and the deli delight one came with half a sausage roll, half a pork pie and a slice of quiche.

All the items were absolutely delicious. The scones were super light and fluffy and came with a good amount of jam and cream and they come loaded with fruit and I think these ones had cherry inside. My favourite on the entire selection had to be the slice of chocolate cake; The menu describes it as a gooey brownie but it wasn’t gooey at all but just an intense amount of rich deep chocolate flavours with a bit of a crumbly texture from all the cocoa packed in there. I’m pleased I didn’t eat the chocolate piece at the very end though or it might have made my mouth go a bit funny from the intensity for a while and instead I balanced it all out by finishing with a Bakewell tart.

We do need to talk about the cheesecake; The creamy main bit of the cheesecake was delicious and the biscuit base was crushed ginger biscuits and both of these made it really delicious. It did, however, cause me a bit of flavour confusion though as the menu labels it as a fresh fruit compote but the top was much more like a raspberry or strawberry jelly and then in the middle was a piece of stewed rhubarb that you couldn’t taste through everything else.

The staff were friendly and attentive, although after an initial ask if everything was okay and if we needed anything else, nobody came back round even about an hour later asking if we were still okay or needed anything like extra hot water for our drinks or anything else. Given the menu seems to be seasonal though I think it would be a bonus if they were able to say the fruit in the cheesecake is currently rhubarb or the quiche is currently this one as it would allow for more informed decisions by the customer. not only that but if somebody loves the quiche, or one of the other items, it’s good to know exactly what it is to consider picking some up in the shop afterwards.

The atmosphere was wonderful as well and, whilst we were near to other occupied tables, the sound wasn’t travelling across the restaurant or from one table to another. We were sitting upstairs which overviews the main bit of the restaurant where there are a lot more tables and despite being in a more open space it was still a pleasing temperature on a chilly and rainy February day. There wasn’t any table decorations or anything fancy going on but it was simple and rustic and fitted the intended barn vibes of the place.

I certainly enjoyed the experience, though I did keep eyeing up the hefty burgers and pies that kept getting taken to other tables, but after going to Farmer Copley’s it’s hard not to draw comparisons and if somebody asked me to recommend the two I probably would lean more towards Farmer Copley’s than Blacker Hall Farm. However, they are both on the other sides of Wakefield so if you’re near to Blacker Hall Farm then it’s absolutely still worth the visit, eating of the afternoon tea and experience.