Tiffany's Cafe Bar, Great Baddow

Tiffany's in Great Baddow has become our favourite place for a coffee in the Chelmsford area since it opened 3 or so years ago. The coffee and loose-leaf teas are superb and the homemade shortbread, cakes, scones and pastries always hugely tempting. They also serve hot food, and the specials board always has an intriguing soup of the day and a different main course. There are comfy sofas available, so it's very easy to while away an hour with one of their newspapers or just chilling while the fab 60s/70s/motown music plays quietly in the background. There's also outside seating available, great for having a beer on a sunny day. Children seem well catered for, with highchairs, beakers and a small menu available. But for me, what sets Tiffany's apart from the rest is the fabulous staff and service. The owners are very genuine, warm and lovely people who have often gone out of their way for us, and our young children are always made to feel very much at home. The rest of the staff are always hugely welcoming and it amazes me how they manage to remember the names of returning customers. I think Costa's et al could learn a lot from how such personal service benefits a business. My only criticism of Tiffany's is that they did away with table service about a year ago, so you now have to order at the counter - in fairness, ordering is always fast and friendly, I just preferred that