Birsay Bay Tearoom

Just can't believe that we are over the summer and heading into our winter opening hours already! Boy that went quick! We will be open this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10.30am until 4.00pm and next week will only be open on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th before we head first to the Orkney Food and Drink awards, where we've been shortlisted in the top 3 for Best Tearoom/Cafe (wish us luck!) and then off on our Annual Holidays - will be closed from 13th October until 1st November inclusive. Hope to see you before then!

Wow, it's been some time since you heard anything from us.....oops, so sorry! While things here have been keeping us busy, we've also done a little forward planning for the next few months. With October creeping up on us next week, really thought we should let you know there's a few small changes to our advertised opening times: Monday 1st: OPEN 10.30am until 5.00pm Tuesday 2nd, Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th: CLOSED Friday 5th, Saturday 6th, Sunday 7th: OPEN 10.30am until 4.00p...m Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th: CLOSED Thursday 11th, Friday 12th: OPEN 10.30am until 4.00pm 13th to 31st October: CLOSED for our annual break! OPEN again on 2nd November ! Hope this makes sense, just give us a call if you want to check or book a table!
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Haven't had much time lately to show you our Taste of Orkney special! Here's today's special which is Russell's farmhouse cheese with our Birsay tomatoes, and balsamic dressing. Very colourful!

With the departure of some our staff for University, School and new jobs, this week sees us reverting back to opening 5 days a week. From this week we will be closed every Tuesday and Wednesday - from now until the end of September. Apologies for any inconvenience!

We are going to be altering our hours today - Dounby Show Day is always a hard day to manage the staffing! With us being in the West Mainland this is a tradition for some of our staff, especially those from farms, so in order to maintain the standard of service that you come to expect from us, we are reducing hour opening hours today. Open from 11am until 3pm only Open usual hours tomorrow: 1030am until 5pm!

There's a change to our opening hours today (Sunday 5th August) - we will be closing at 4pm for a private function in the Tearoom - apologies in advance for any inconvenience!

Sadly we haven't managed to fill our vacancy for our weekend cleaner role. With this gap, and there being so much to do at the end of the day to clear down, it will be necessary to close a little earlier for the next few Fridays. From TODAY we will be closing at 4pm each Friday to accommodate this extra work! We can only apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, it's unfortunately unavoidable! It would be really helpful if you could spread the word and share this post.....thank you!

Sorry you've not heard from us for a while - its been super busy with the super weather! With now opening 7 days a week, it is proving more and more difficult to keep up with stocking up with our supplies and of course, keeping on top of baking cakes! With this in mind, there will be some small changes to our opening hours until the end of August. We will still be open 7 days a week, will just be closing earlier on a Tuesday and opening later on a Wednesday. It will be very helpful if you could spread the word - see the picture here for the time changes - thank you!

We were delighted to be able to be one of the sponsors for this very well organised event. A big well done to the organisers for all their hard work and planning - and of course to the runners too! The route for the 5k Fun Run also passed the tearoom too - maybe next year we can have a tiffin stop to keep everyone going! Well done everyone!

A busy weekend with not only keeping up with our daily customers, we've provided goodie bags for the local Cycling Club (Orkney Cycling Club) and now tonight preparing goodies for a St Magnus Festival event being held on Monday at the St Magnus Church in Birsay. Got treated to this beautiful sunset while doing so tonight! We'll be closing earlier at 330pm on Monday 25th June so we can get ready to serve the festival goers! Opening hours back to normal on Tuesday!

I've decided that it's not humanly possible to do everything...even though I think I can! If you have a couple of hours spare to help out with this gap, or know someone who could, then I'd love to hear from you! (This position will be available until the end of September) please get in touch with me at the tearoom! Our phone number is 01856 721399 - thank you!

Last week I mentioned that there may be days where we are short staffed....well tomorrow (Tuesday 12th June) is one of those days! Whilst we will open from 1030 as usual, serving our full menu, we will close at 4pm, in order to prep, re-stock and for some essential maintenance of the coffee machine! This picture shows just how much cake is needed to keep up with demand - these cakes were made on Saturday night, and more have been made today too! Can only apologise for the disruption to our usual service and hope to not make this a regular occurrence! Thank you!

You may or may not know that tomorrow (Tuesday 5th June) sees the start of our 7 days a week opening. You may also have seen recently that we have been looking for Tearoom staff too, like quite a few other food businesses in Orkney, and have been unable to fill the gap. Just wanted to let you all know that over the next couple of weeks, there may be the odd day where we won't be able to offer our full menu, or even open for the whole day, but we hope to keep these days to a minimum and obviously hope that it won't affect our usual high level of service! It would be really helpful if you could share this with your friends and relatives to spread the word! Thank you!

I can't believe that 5 years ago I, Georgie Clark, became the new owner of the Birsay Bay Tearoom. Little did I know when I gave up my role as an Administrator in the NHS, how much hard work would be involved in running such a business! Despite the sharp learning curve (and even after 5 years I'm still learning...!), long days, stress about finances and staffing - it has to be the most rewarding experience of a lifetime. Of course I couldn't be where I am today without the... support of my very faithful parents....you've all seen them - they're the ones that work hard behind the scenes to ensure that things always run smoothly! My family are an understanding bunch too, who always save me a plate of dinner to eat when I eventually get in, and lastly not forgetting the staff - both past and present - you all know who you are - who work tirelessly to keep up the excellent reputation of the Tearoom! Here's to another 5 years!
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We've had sunshine all day here in Birsay, what's the weather been like with you? It's been such a busy day that we've almost run out of Lemon Drizzle cake! Three have been baked this evening, with one making its way to the Folk Festival Ceilidh at the Harray Hall, one for the cake cupboard and one for OASC (Orkney Amateur Swim Club) fundraising stall this weekend for Stromness Folk Festival events! Phew, time for home now and put my feet up! #folkfestival #orkney

What do you know, you can land not one, not two, but three helicopters by the tearoom! Bit of excitement to liven up a quiet afternoon and lovely people too! #helipaddy

It's a beautiful day in Birsay today! Waves are spectacular. ... must get on with some work now though! We have an Orkney Buffalo Taste of Orkney Special on the menu today: Slow Roasted Buffalo sandwich with red onion chutney. Open today until 5pm

Sorry you've not heard from us in a while.....we've been super busy with the sunny days and lovely visitors - both from near and far! Thought you might like to see something that we've been working on - we recently received some new biscuits from The Barony Mill's new biscuit range and have come up with this Ginger Crunch White Chocolate and Cranberry Tiffin, safe to say that it lives up to our expectations of being tasty!

Wonderful location and views from the ample windows, lovely decoration and friendly atmosphere. Nice staff. We went for an afternoon tea and it was great: still dream about their cakes, toasts and obviously the whipped butter! Another time I had a tasty soup. I'd come back anytime I could... pity I live a thousand miles away!

What an absolutely fabulous Mother’s Day!! Afternoon tea to die for � Just the right amount of savoury & sweet. Loved the little pastries! And I really enjoyed the selection of cakes in bite sized pieces so you could have a little bit of everything. It was so nice to see a huge age range of mums there, all well deserving of being treated. Thank you for a lovely afternoon!!

We had a wonderful snack (soup and a paté) today. Went there for the first time, it won't be the last! Place was full and had to wait a short while but the staff brought a chair for my wife to sit without being asked, as they saw she had a stick. Very friendly staff, what a pleasant change!

Visited today with our family. Staff were very helpful, sorting us a large table to fit us all. Food was excellent, great menu choices. The children's food was very well thought out. Everywhere should offer beans on toast as a children's option! I left something behind and it was waiting ready for me when I came back.

Thanks for a great dining experience.

The first sign this was going to be a good experience was when we turned up and the car park was full, we were lucky to find a table, a nice lady and her little girl were just leaving. We had the burger for our lunch which was one of the best burgers I've ever had and the chilli jam was gorgeous! I'm afraid I couldn't resist a bit of cake afterwards as they all looked so good, I can definitely recommend the double espresso cake, so good. Great service, nice staff and lovely food. Thank you!

Such a lovely tearoom in a beautiful location. I have had a variety of food here over the years. It has always been delicious and well presented, and the staff are really friendly and welcoming. Last Friday I was there with my daughter. The coffee, tea, cakes and scones were first class.

One word YUM!

We didn't realise how busy a place it was and just turned up. We were lucky to get seats! The staff were obviously really busy but never felt that we were any bother. In fact someone stopped to point out the toys and things for the children when they were obviously en route somewhere else!

When we got our food the lady apologised for the wait and offered us free drink.

A great offer but we point blank refused as we hadn't waited long at all for such a busy place and it warns you that food is made to order.

The food was excellent and the Mocha was perfect!

One of the best tearooms anywhere. On this visit I had tea and a lavender sponge cake that was just divine. One of the few eating places in Orkney (or anywhere else for that matter!) with a view of the open Atlantic Ocean. An unmissable element of my annual visit to Orkney.

One of my fav places to come and eat and chill. After a hard day In my kitchen there’s nowhere I love more than to sit and grab some amazing soup and one of your scones and a lovely cuppa to refuel!!



Love all the staff too, always welcoming xx

On holiday from Aberdeen visiting family, took a trip up to the Brough of Birsay a look. Had heard wonderful things about this little place so used visit to our advantage and stopped in for lunch. I had a simple ham sarnie and my partner had a ham and cheese toastie. Both thoroughly enjoyed our lunch, very well presented and tasted delicious! Such well mannered and courteous staff also. Was served by a lass who admitted it was her first week, and her first day out front. Please let her know she's doing a wonderful job! Will be back next time for sure!��

Lovely Mother's Day afternoon tea! Highly recommend! Never had a bad visit! Georgie & her team do a wonderful job! � x

Love visiting and enjoying the food and the view. Loving the recipe book and have worked my way through quite a few of the recipes, have all gone down extremely well with my guests! I still prefer yours as they always taste better when you haven't made them yourself :-)

I had a fantastic afternoon treat with my friend, enjoying their Festive Afternoon Teas. Delicious savouries followed by a spiced scone with ginger jam and cream and a cake stand full of goodies! Highly recommended.

Had excellent lunch on Wednesday . Highly recommend going a look. Staff very helpful and friendly . Coffee cake is delicious !

Excellent cafe with superb staff & wonderful views [they even supply binoculars on the windowsills to watch the wildlife]. Just as well we arrived early for lunch as there were folk queuing up the corridor moments later. Reservations are advisable! We were happy to share our table with another couple.

If you haven't tasted their home baking, then make a pilgrimage. It is really worth it!

Discovered this little café by chance, just outside of Birsay village. Magnificent views of the ocean and Marwick Head. Super clean and friendly. Ask for the delicious fruit scones with butter and jam. Highly recommended!

Best to reserve a table but even if you don't the staff do a fantastic job of seating people as fast as possible by asking who's willing to share. The view is stunning and if the tides right you can watch the seals basking on the rocks. Food is fantastic and imho afternoon tea for two at £18 is a bargain and not to be missed. Oh and free WiFi �

Best tea rooms in orkney! I’d advise to book as it gets very busy. Staff are lovely as is the food!

This place has its opening hours on its website, Facebook page and on signs around Birsay. I drove out there on Saturday at 2 pm to find it shut, even though all information was to the contrary. In the time it took me to turn around and head back to the Birsay shop, another 4 cars had to do the same as me. Poor business practice and a long way to drive for nothing!