McGregors tearooms in Palmerston

While travelling around the south island recently, I accidentally stopped in the small town of Palmerston on the way back to Ashburton from Moeraki. Actually, I think we stopped there because someone wanted some of McGregors famous mutton pies. Personally, I like a good cup of tea, so stopping at a tearoom is always a pleasure and never a chore.



You go up to the counter, grab a tray, load on the baked goods or pies you want to buy and eat, and then proceed to the till to pay for what you have and order a pot of tea or two. After which you meander over to a table, picking one - it doesn't matter which, they haven't had time to clean any of them yet. It may have featured a lotto counter (which wasn't working of course), but it was an authentic tearoom experience.



As soon as we sat down, having cleaned off our own table, the tea arrived. It was remarkable how fast it arrived. And it was good. It has a bubbly "the detergent wasn't washed out" sort of look, but it was one of the better cups of tea I have had in a while.



And they had sugar buns. If there is one thing I like to eat with a cup of tea, it isn't a biscuit (or cookie as they say in the states), but a good slightly stale sugar bun. This wasn't stale and it wasn't the greatest, but it completed the tea experience.



No raspberry jam or lemon curd.. clearly it was not made by a sugar bun appreciator.



They also sold bran muffins. I tried a little of this, but it wasn't very memorable.



And of course, their famous mutton pies. This looks like a mutton ball placed inside a pie pastry shape. It didn't taste amazing, but after having lived through several years in pie barren Iceland, any pie which isn't a bad pie (Couplands?) is a good pie.





If I am ever back in Palmerston, this is the first place I will visit. Actually, given that Palmerston is off the main road, it will probably be the only place I visit there. Or the only reason I would even go there..