Verdict: Opposite the Abbey, this could easily have become a tourist trap. It has not. Abbey Tea Rooms remains a reassuringly traditional café-restaurant with breakfasts, lunches, cream teas and Sunday roasts cooked on site.
The best reason to go is not novelty but competence: local bacon and sausages at breakfast, homemade scones and cakes, classic sandwiches and a proper Sunday lunch. Recent reviews particularly praise friendly service, generous portions and the old-fashioned tearoom atmosphere.
The afternoon-tea menu is pleasingly straightforward rather than theatrical: sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam, cakes and tea. That simplicity suits the room and the location.
Best for: visitors with parents, breakfast, cream tea, Sunday lunch and anyone who actively does not want avocado smashed onto anything.
Worth knowing: some prices feel a little high for a conventional tea room, but the central location and portion sizes soften the complaint.
GW&B rating: 4/5. Traditional, welcoming and much better than it needs to be for such a tourist-facing position.