For more than a month since its "soft opening", The Lanes Cafe Tea Room has always attracted people to come and leave with many positive feedbacks. What is it about this tea shop that has won over customers? Perhaps it is the stories of... England, told through cups of tea, cakes, picture frames or music. It is also because of the "Britain" shadow lurking in this tea shop that led Travellive to learn the story of the two shop owners.

England, more than 10 years ago

The city of Brighton welcomed two Vietnamese female students. There, in the typical cold of the foggy land, the two young girls were introduced to the British afternoon tea culture.

Afternoon tea is a daily habit of every family in England, "like the culture of drinking… iced tea (or hot tea) in Vietnam". Simply because the weather in England is cold, people need to drink tea and eat sweet cakes, very sweet, to quickly warm up their bodies.

"When I was in England, I didn't see anything special about afternoon tea culture. But when I returned to Vietnam, a cup of tea suddenly became a familiar thing. No matter how little or much, anyone who has experienced it will definitely remember it."

Miss, so since the end of 2013, after returning home, the two girls began to nurture the idea of ​​opening an English-style tea and cake shop in Hanoi.

Hanoi, 10 years later

“8 years since leaving Brighton, I miss Brighton and England so much. We cherish a place where we can find familiar things and feelings, a place that is trulycafé tea roomlike I used to go to England. Where there is coffee, fragrant tea, and simple, ugly English cakes...”.

At the end of 2021, the two girls were busy from renting the premises to designing and renovating the space. One searched for tea sources, the other tried baking, and they worked tirelessly until they found the most suitable products.

In February 2022, The Lanes Café Tea Room officially opened.

"Rachel" and "Hanky" - the two owners of The Lanes Café Tea Room, are also close friends who studied abroad in Brighton. As one of the rare English-style tea shops in Hanoi, The Lanes is unlike most other "posh" English tea shops today - which usually serve in a classic style, enjoying tea at low tables (low tea) and has a slightly fancy decoration style.

“Actually, British afternoon tea is not as 'posh' as ​​people often think.High teaThe essence is sitting at a high table in a cozy and gentle space, talking about everyday stories over a cup of tea and a plate of cake. English cakes are also very basic, not too focused on form, and of course not as sophisticated as French cakes" - Rachel, one of the two owners of The Lanes shared.

Not trying to decorate luxuriously in an "aristocratic" style, The Lanes Café Tea Room brings the rightconceptis an English-style tea house. From the outside, the place looks like atownhousetypical of the foggy land, with arched doors, divided windows and hanging flower trellis. Inside the shop, the two girls tried to bring the breath of England - especially Brighton, the city where they used to live - into every material, wood color, table arrangement, arrangement, and decorative details.

All the photos on the walls were taken by their friends during their years in England – mostly in Brighton, and a few in London. The teapots were brought back from England, and many of the decorations in the cafe were souvenirs from their time in England, each with a story to tell.

“Our aim in creating The Lanes is that for those who have lived in and have a love for England, The Lanes will be a warm place to remember. And for those who have not, it will be a new experience to learn more about the culture of the foggy country.”

When asked about the meaning of the name The Lanes Café Tea Room, Rachel said that in Brighton there is an old town called The Lanes, which is quite famous, with many restaurants, tea shops, bakeries... Because she wanted to bring back memories, both the name and logo of the shop have the mark of Brighton. The drawing on the menu cover also recreates the old The Lanes neighborhood, vaguely including the image of the pho shop where they used to work in the kitchen.

In order to fully recreate the spirit of the British tea shop, all cakes at The Lanes Cafe Tea Room are handmade by Hanky. Therefore, the shop always has typical and familiar cakes in British afternoon tea:sconeserved with clotted cream and jam,sponge cakegoodbrownie- have been reduced in sweetness to better suit Vietnamese taste.

As the name suggests, The Lanes Cafe Tea Room, the shop serves both tea and coffee. Without going too deep into the coffee realm, the coffee drink list is just enough to evoke a sense of familiarity and closeness to Vietnamese people. The main character of The Lanes is of course tea.

All the hot and cold teas at the shop use tea leaves from the famous British brand, Camellia's Tea House, with ingredients of natural and organic origin. Rachel shares that everyone who comes to The Lanes is satisfied with the tea. However, a few guests have commented that they would like the tea to be a little stronger.

The shop owner explained: “Vietnamese people tend to drink strong-flavored tea, but in England, tea is usually lighter. They mainly drink it to enjoy the aroma, only steeping it for 2-3 minutes. In addition, tea in England - although imported from many countries such as Vietnam, India, China - has its own tea-fragrance technique; even if the water is poured 4-5 times, the flavor remains the same.”

Since afternoon tea in England is essentially for serving people on cold days, this model when brought to Hanoi seems to be most suitable for winter and spring days. Rachel said that in the summer, the shop will add some fruit teas and iced teas, to suit the hot season and diversify the drinks.

“I still want the menu to have more pages, so I can tell my story in it. It's a long road ahead.”

“It's the culture, the atmosphere, the memories, it's all combined, blended together to create a tea shop like this,” Rachel continued. “Other shops can sell the same teas as The Lanes, but perhaps the difference lies in everything used here.”

Everything used here, that is, images - moments that cannot be found anywhere else; taking pictures of the cat they used to raise in England, taking pictures of the sky of Brighton city on a gray day; or taking a "portrait" of a... pear - the fruit that Rachel once found "the most delicious in the world", just because it was the first time she ate a European pear, given by her friend Hanky ​​on the first day she arrived in this country...

Would The Lanes be confident if an Englishman walked into the bar?

"Yes," the owner answered loudly to Travellive's final question. "Just the other day, a rather elderly British customer stopped by The Lanes. Coincidentally, he also used to live in Brighton. After drinking tea and eating cake, he took the initiative to chat and thank the shop, because he felt like he was back home."

Perhaps there will also be people who come to the shop and find that this is not the British culture, not the British tea and cakes that they used to know. But, entering The Lanes is like entering the England of a separate memory, seeing England through a separate lens, and listening to stories about England through a completely separate experience.

Of course, the experience was fragrant, delicious and gentle.