Taking tea on Paveletsky Square, Moscow

I think it says 'coffee', not sure...

I am sitting in what must be Moscow's answer to Starbucks. There's plenty of these places around town. In fact, there's more of these than there are Starbucks, which is understandable, and I've only seen one outlet of the American coffee brand since I've been here and that was adjacent to the Paveletsky Square railway station. Here passengers can pick up the Aero Express to Domededovo airport. In fact, as I write this, I'm literally around the corner from the very same railway station so there's no more than 50 yards between Moscow's answer to Starbucks and Starbucks itself.

It's a bright place with wood-effect floors and cream-coloured tables. The clientele consists of mainly young people, some with laptops. There's roughly an equivalent number of men to women and it's clear that this place (and the chain's other outlets, which are scattered liberally around Moscow) is popular with Muscovites.

The menu is pretty extensive, offering a range of excellent cakes (all the well-known favourites including carrot cake, a range of delicious-looking cheesecakes and tiramisu desserts). I'll admit I was tempted by the tiramisu, but instead I opted for a more sober lemon cake and, of course, a pot of black tea served, I hasten to add, with milk (rare outside the UK). This is good news as avid readers of this blog will know how difficult it is to get a decent cup of tea outside of the UK. In fact, it's worth emphasising that the milk, served in a jug, was warm and the tea was served in a pot (enough for two and a half cups).

Lemon cake and a pot of tea...excellent stuff!

The lemon cake was pleasant enough – nice and moist with a thin layer of icing on top – and that, in my book, was perfect.

In addition to the cake there was a wide range of snacks and hot meals.

There's a flat screen television over the door (the sound turned down) and music playing in the background. In other words, there's a good hubbub going on and when blended with the general chit-chat of the customers, a decent vibe is created. Oh, I wish I'd brought my book along with me (Robert Tressell's The Ragged Trousered Philantropists) but I didn't, which is just as well as this excellent caff might not have made it to the blog if I'd been otherwise occupied.

Last but not least, the service was good, which is very important. Although perhaps it would be fair to say it was good up until the point when I asked for the bill. The waiter ambled over after I'd attracted his attention (not the same person who initially took my order). I asked him for the bill. He consulted another man and that was it – nothing more was done, and I was forced to ask again. This time, the girl who originally took my order arrived – actually, I caught her attention as she passed by – and my bill followed swiftly. It was 400 rubles.

There's a Starbucks just around the corner...

For more information on Moscow, click here.

Café Sinn & Sinnlichkeit, Augsburger Strasse, Berlin.

I decided to wander around the back of my hotel and found myself on Augsburger Strasse, a quiet street where I found this rather pleasant café with a friendly owner who was baking croissants when I arrived. The smell was fantastic so I ordered one and he brought it to my table outside along with a black tea – or rather a cup of hot water and a sachet containing a teabag, which is the way they tend to do things in Europe. No, it's not cricket, but when in Rome and all that. Well, alright, Berlin.

Café Sinn & Sinnlichkeit, Augsburger Strasse, Berlin – great croissants!

I took the teabag out of the sachet and placed it in the hot water and left it to brew. Then, a few minutes later I put the teabag on the small plate provided and enjoyed my tea. A hot croissant arrived on a quirkily designed white plate. It was hot so I left it a few minutes.

Tea and a croissant – perfect, and only 3 Euros.

A group of five men arrived and also decided to sit outside. There was seating inside, but it was warm so they, like me, chose to sit outside in the bright sunshine.

The blackboards carried menu information, but it was all in German, but this is a German café – and a very pleasant one, across the street from the Alsterhof Hotel.

I could see that the café offered a range of teas and coffees and there was a phrase, 'Das Leben ist zu kurz...fur schlecten Kaffee.' I assume this meant something like a wide selection of coffees were available.

The bill was a cool 3 Euros – very good value considering the quality of the croissant. Think how much that would have cost in any UK café – a bloody fortune! Let's think now: a cup of tea would have set me back £1.80 and the bakery item, I'd say about £2.10, that's £3.90. Probably double the price. And Berlin's so much nicer than London.

Corner Bakery, Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois, USA

I took the CTA into downtown and it rattled its way from Cumberland all the way until I jumped off at Clark and Lake, an area of the city that seemed closed. There were hardly any people on the street, there were no restaurants, just snack bars, and they were all shut. I moseyed around for a while before realising that I would get bored if I stayed there any longer, but being hungry I dived into the Corner Bakery for lunch.

The Corner Bakery, conveniently on a street corner

"You click. We Cater." said a sign, referring to the store's online service, but it was too late for that. I ordered from the counter – chicken carbonara and a cup of tea, served in a paper mug. I wasn't expecting great things, but in many ways I got great things. The food was good and was accompanied by garlic bread. The tea was just tea, but overall, I was quite pleased with my $10.80 meal, although a glass of wine would have been nice, but the Corner Bakery wasn't licensed.

There was nothing special about the Corner Bakery – and there were other branches elsewhere in the city – but it was a pleasant joint with wooden tables and mosaic Linoleum floors. One wall of the restaurant offered framed photographs of bakers, presumably from the Corner Bakery's past. The ceiling showed exposed air conditioning and outside there were cream and black awnings.

In addition to being able to order food online, Corner Bakery offered both eat-in and take-out food. For on-line orders there was a specific pick-up point.

One of many meal options was the Garden Gate Scrambler (eggs scrambled to order, diced chicken apple sausage, fresh spinach, red bell peppers, mushroom and Cheddar). In many ways I wished I ordered this dish, but I didn't.

Chicken carbonara and garlic bread

Also on offer was a range of panini breads, breakfasts, salads, soups, chilli, a kid's menu, oatmeal and yoghurts.

The Corner Bakery was good and while I could have done with more, it was sufficient and I took a cab back towards O'Hare rather than sit on the CTA. Click here for more details.

Bob Evans, East Washington Street, Indianapolis, USA

My 'Be Fit' breakfast at Bob Evans on East Washington

Being as I'm staying on the outskirts of town and not a million miles from what is generally regarded as a bad neighbourhood, I've spent most of my week here in Indianapolis in the downtown area of the city. This morning, however, I felt it wrong not to visit the Bob Evans restaurant across the parking lot from the hotel in which I'm staying.

Bob Evans is good ole American food and the chain, which, apparently, is all over the USA, would like it's customers to think that the food is cooked by somebody called Martha and that she's also skilled in the art of making a good apple pie. Well, they're not far wrong. This really is a homely sort of place and it's quite large and airy. It's not licensed, which is good, and I thought I'd go there and have my breakfast. All week I've been surviving on Rice Krispies and tea back at the hotel, so I figured I could push the boat out a little bit.

There's a big counter up front offering cookies and cakes and Hershey bars and I was directed to a window seat from where I could look out on East Washington Street and the Richard Skirling car dealership on the other side of it.

Traffic roared past in both directions and it started to rain. Storms are promised after a week of summery weather full of bright sunshine and temperatures well into their 80s (fahrenheit). It's been great so what better way to end the week than with a 'hearty' breakfast. Except that I didn't want to go ruin my reasonably good diet over the past six days. Despite being in America I've managed to avoid heavy food on all but one day when I enjoyed a pizza on Massachussets Avenue – or 'Mass Ave' as its known over here. That aside I've been eating salmon and halibut and trout and keeping my weight in order. At least I hope I have.

So, here I am in Bob Evans on East Washington expecting some nutters from the hood to burst in with guns and rob the customers. It didn't happen, fortunately, although I was reading that Indianapolis is way up there in terms of the number of homicides it's had this year. While in 2013 Chicago was voted the murder capital, that honour is likely to be bestowed upon Indianapolis in 2014 and it's in my neighbourhood – certainly no more than a mile from the Bob Evans restaurant – that most of the crime seems to be taking place.

There were a lot of unhealthy breakfasts but I chose the 'Be Fit' Breakfast, which set me back a cool $5.99. Hot tea was $1.99 but not served with milk, proving once again that you can only get a decent cup of tea in the United Kingdom, and a large orange juice cost me $2.69. All in all the bill was $11.63 and I added $5 as a tip for my waitress who, by all rights, should have been called Martha but was, in fact, called Joni. I liked Joni because she was homely and, in many ways, just the sort of person that old Bob Evans himself would have employed as a waitress in his home cookin' restaurant chain.

The Be Fit Breakfast didn't pay that much attention to being fit. Alright there was the orange juice and there was a slab of tomato on the plate, but in addition to an omelette there were two pancakes and some maple syrup. Still, it was as healthy as it was going to get and I loved it.

Hanushka Coffee House, George Street, Hastings, East Sussex

The Hanushka Coffee House, George Street, Hastings – amazing!

The first thing that attracted me to the Hanushka Coffee House was that model yacht you can see in the window on the right, although I must say I was already enjoying the mildly bohemian delights of George Street, Hastings.

My tea and you can see the biscuit wrapper too. Lovely!

This place is a cut above your average seaside tearoom or coffee house. It has a bit of class and a load of books adorning the walls inside. This is an arty sort of place with a serving counter at the far end and the pleasant sound of jazzy music. I loved it because it was full of Hastings' literary types. For all I know, the author Christopher Priest, who wrote The Prestige and Inverted World to name just two of his novels, pops in for a cuppa when writer's block kicks in, it's that sort of place and there's a more well-to-do clientele than you might expect, considering that Hastings is, well, it's a bit run down here and there, although, in reality, it's a proper seaside town.

Inspired by what I was experiencing, I made a few notes about the place on my iphone. "And then in Hastings we found a wonderful coffee shop full of books and round wooden tables. Jazz played softly in the background and I found a copy of Steven Berkoff's A Prisoner in Rio.

"The menu on the blackboard at the rear offered coffee, tea, soft drinks and alcohol. We ordered tea and apple juice and I spied cakes of all sorts for sale, not forgetting savoury items such as panini breads with various fillings.

"My tea was accompanied by a small biscuit to stave off my hunger ahead of the drive home. This really was the place to chill out and there's no way that its ambience could ever be replicated by, say, a Costa, Starbucks or Caffé Nero.

"We sat on one of two red sofas and I didn't want to leave."

Mrs Burton's Tearooms, Battle, East Sussex – is this the best ever Victoria sponge cake?

Well, here's a challenge to tearooms and cafés around the world: who can make the best Victoria sponge cake?

This is the best Victoria sponge cake in the world – or is it? You decide!

On a recent visit to the East Sussex coast, I dropped in on Mrs Burton's Tearooms in Battle for a pot of tea and some cake. While I didn't order any cake myself, I had a fair chunk of my daughter's Victoria sponge cake and can honestly say that it was the best one I've ever tasted.

Now that's what I call tea for one...

First, it was a fair size – hence my getting involved in the eating process – but once I'd sampled a bit I wanted more and more. I almost ordered one for myself, but managed to resist.

Why was it so amazing? Size for a start. It was a huge slab of sponge cake. But I think the winning ingredient was the icing in the centre. Whatever it was, this, in my opinion, was the best Victoria sponge cake I'd ever tasted so if you're in the Battle area, pop in to this excellent, traditional tearoom which, in addition to offering the best Victoria sponge cake in the country (if not the world) also offers the usual quaint stuff you might expect from a top notch tearoom.

Mrs Burton's Tearooms in Battle, East Sussex

Pleasant, fast and efficient service and right next door to the abbey where, apparently, King Harold fell when William the Conqueror invaded the country.

U Cerného Beránka Café, Mostecká, Malá Strana - Praha 1

At last I find a cosy café! Some of those accents above aren't right, I know, but U Cerného Beránka Café in Prague is just a few yards from the Charles Bridge on the Hradcany side of the city (where Prague Castle can be found). The castle, incidentally, is the official residence and office of the president of the Czech Republic.

A haven of cosy.

But that's enough tourism, let's get back to the caff. Indeed, the word 'caff' does this place no justice at all as it's a haven of cosy, for cosy people. I'd walked all the way from the other side of town as the light was beginning to fade, crossing the main square and then the famous Charles Bridge and, after some mooching about, decided to investigate.

Inside, there were sofas and normal wooden tables and chairs, the lighting was dark, almost festive as, indeed, is the whole of Prague, and there were half a dozen people relaxing. The serving counter was towards the back where I found a small display of cakes: chocolate cake, carrot cake, cheesecake and and a rather excellent-looking honey cake. The service was friendly and efficient.

I could have ordered a cup of English breakfast tea but was tempted instead by the fresh ginger tea and ordered that plus a slice of the honey cake.

The tea was wonderful, consisting of sliced chunks of fresh ginger and hot water (what else?). The ginger sat at the bottom of the cup and I gave it enough time to infuse with the water, making a perfect and very warming/comforting drink – something I must remember for when I get home. The combination of the ginger tea and the honey cake was perfect and I sat there looking out on the world. If only I'd had a book to read or a newspaper.

View from across the street. The Charles Bridge is to the right of the café.

The bill was a respectable 175 Czech Crowns, which is nothing at all, let's see, something like £3.50, no more.

Fresh ginger tea with a slice of honey cake – absolutely fantastic.

Feeling relaxed and chilled I headed back over the Charles Bridge and followed the cobbled streets to the square and beyond. The light was fading fast as I passed a busker playing Strauss on a collection of wine glasses filled with water. You wouldn't get such a cultured busker in chavvy England.