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Thirsk market square

Travellers' Choice 2026

Breakfast, Bakes and Afternoon Tea,on Thirsk market square

One room on the market square, full of homemade cake, and all of Thirsk still ahead of you.

  • Flavours of Herriot 2022
  • 5 star food hygiene rating
  • Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice 2026
  • Restaurant Guru 2025
  • Arthur Haigh's of Dalton (4 miles)
  • Doreen's black pudding (Yorkshire)
  • Baltzersen's bakery (Harrogate)
  • True Tea Co (Harrogate)
  • Brymor ice cream (Masham)
  • Longley Farm (Holmfirth)
  • Wensleydale Creamery (Hawes)
  • Fruity Kitchen (North Yorkshire)
  • Appleby Creamery (Cumbria)
  • Lonton Coffee Co (Teesdale)
  • Fentimans (Hexham)

How we work

8:00

Baking begins

Cakes and scones go in before the door opens. Ask at the counter what came out this morning.

4 miles

Arthur Haigh's, Dalton

Sausages, bacon and Doreen's black pudding come from a butcher four miles up the road. Fruity Kitchen make the jam.

Tea Time

The place to start the day

Market stalls and charity shops a minute away, Cod Beck two, the World of James Herriot four. Have breakfast here, then walk into the rest of Thirsk.

From the kitchen

Customer favourites

Full Yorkshire

14.9

Butcher's sausage, Dalton bacon and Doreen's black pudding, with a free range egg and a hash brown.

Potato scone

8.9

Two pieces of traditional potato scone fried in butter, with crispy bacon and a fried egg.

Toasted Reuben

10.9

Peppery beef pastrami, homemade slaw and chunky gherkins, toasted in local sourdough.

Loaded paprika fries

9.9

Skin-on fries with paprika salt, smashed avocado, homemade salsa and red crunch cheese.

Sweet cream tea

8.9

A warmed tea-soaked sultana scone, Fruity Kitchen strawberry jam, clotted cream, and tea or an americano.

Today's cakes

on the counter

Whatever came out of the oven this morning, on the counter.

Rosa at the counter inside Henrietta, the 1967 Citroen H van, with the Henrietta sign behind her

Rosa's story

It started with a van called Henrietta

In 2018 Rosa bought a 1967 Citroen H van, named her Henrietta, and spent two summers selling scones at Yorkshire festivals as The Rolling Scones. In 2019 she took on the old Arabica cafe at 87 Market Place, and Tea Time opened before the year was out.

Traditional afternoon tea

A proper afternoon tea in the market square

Finger sandwiches, a warm scone with jam and clotted cream, three of the day's cakes and as many hot drinks as you like, on vintage crockery.

Traditional Afternoon

Tea Time

  • Selection of finger sandwiches
  • Sweet scone, strawberry jam & clotted cream
  • Three of today's homemade cakes
  • Unlimited hot drinks, plus iced tea and iced coffee

24.9 per person

Minimum 2 guests · book any half hour from 12 to 3, or 12 to 2 on Sundays

Make a day of it

Start at ours,then see Thirsk properly

54 places worth your time, 18 of them close enough to walk. Load a ready-made day or build your own, check the weather, print it and go.

Map of the day out

Tea Time in gold, and 18 places within a walk of the door. Tap a pin for the walk time.

Visit

Find us on the market square

87 Market Place, Thirsk, YO7 1ET. Market days are Monday and Saturday, when the square fills with stalls. Dogs welcome; treats behind the counter.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday
9am to 4pm
Saturday
8:30am to 4pm
Sunday
9am to 3pm

01845 523869

Journal

Latest from the market square

  • The frontage of Rural Arts at The Courthouse on Westgate, in late summer

    Plan a day

    What's open in Thirsk on a wet day

    Six places to spend a wet day in Thirsk, all within five minutes of the square, and which of them are open on each day of the week, Sunday and Monday included.

    28 September 20265 min read
  • The white running rail curving away in front of the grandstand at Thirsk Racecourse on a quiet day

    Plan a day

    The Moonlight Glow Walk at Thirsk Racecourse

    Herriot Hospice's first Moonlight Glow Walk sets off from Thirsk Racecourse on Saturday 3 October: a 5k after dark through the centre of town and back, glow sticks encouraged.

    28 September 20264 min read
  • One of the barrel carts the tractor pulls round Monk Park Farm, blue with the farm logo on the end

    Plan a day

    Pumpkin picking near Thirsk

    The Great Yorkshire Pumpkin Festival at Monk Park Farm, ten minutes from the square: which days, which ticket, what happens in the rain, and the two kinds of evening.

    28 September 20264 min read

On the socials

Follow the cake cabinet

Today's bakes and specials, as they come out of the oven.