British Marketplace

If you think about it, there really aren’t many British restaurants or stores in South Florida, and for some reason, the few that are around, tend to be in Broward. I wonder why? While out and about in Fort Lauderdale, I decided to check out this one, since I was tasked by Nancy M. to find some English jams for Joy L’s upcoming baby shower, themed «an English tea party.» It’s a diminutive store, located in a large strip mall, and the British flags in the parking lot will let you know you’re at the right place, in case you’re in any doubt.
They had little trinkets such as a Beatles poster, English flags, Cadbury sweets, and other specialty items. The jams were easy to find, though at $ 8.00, not that inexpensive. There was a decent selection of jams, candies, and especially, teas to be found. Finding sugar cubes was another story, though. They didn’t have them at all! Considering the English are known to put those in their tea, it was rather baffling to find out they didn’t carry those.
I was unaware of the tea room in the back, and think they should advertise it more (or at least ask every customer they see if they’d like to check it out). As a big tea drinker, I might have enjoyed that. I also am not sure where the pictures of the food platters came from, as I never saw any food items, other than a sampler of sweets that was being passed around on a tray. The lady at the register (owner perhaps?) was from Sheffield, and very friendly. It’s a cute store, and worth checking out for authentic English shelf goods.

The British Marketplace is a wonderful little store. Their authentic British food and merchandise can’t be found anywhere else in the area. In fact, it’s the only place to find my wife’s favorite tea. The owner could not possibly be any nicer, he always greets you with a smile, and is always ready with a helpful recommendation. I’ve gone there the last couple years to do some Christmas shopping and was even offered warm brandy. I’ve sent my wife, mother & grandmother to have high tea in the tea room and they all loved it! This place is well worth the trip from anywhere in South Florida!

So yes some of the things they sell there may be difficult to find else where. But that’s no reason for the people working there to follow you around without saying as much as hello. It’s a small shop and I didn’t visit the tea room. Why would I it looks like a door to the back of the store.

I am only rating the tea room for now, since I have not yet taken a look around the store. I have no idea about pricing, since I was an invited guest. If you have a small ladies gathering coming up (birthday, shower, just because…) you might want to check this place out. Very homey (in a good way), cozy place.
Scones with jam and fresh cream were delish, as were the 3 types of finger sandwiches, all served on a cute 3-​tier display on the center of the table. Next came a nice little dish of sliced strawberries and bananas, also with a dollop of cream. A small dessert plate finished off the tea party. Nothing special there, just some packaged cookies nicely arranged on a small plate, for the center of the table. Don’t come here hungry… it’s a tea party!
This place is about the quaint ambiance; the unique setting scored it the fourth star. They had no wi-​fi, but I was able to mooch off one of the adjacent stores.

Whaaaaa? Where the heck did all this come from?
So we stopped by Stirling Place, a strip mall and found a treasure trove of stuff! A farmers market, a bird store, a french bakery and a nice consignment store, but this little marketplace + tea room was the quirkiest and Unilocal worthiest of all.
This is a quaint little spot filled to the brim with teas, sweets, kettles and a whole bunch of great stuff. It’s a little marketplace, with a nice secret Tea room in the back. We asked the fella that runs it and he says he rents it out for parties, special occasions, afternoon tea and high tea. We bought a nice box of delicious Masala tea and went on our way. We’re definitely going to give it a try again to try the tea room, maybe for a birthday or a nice date with the lady. It’s nice to know a place this different is around… in Hollywood… yeah.