Tucked away about halfway down Martin’s Lane on the right hand side just before you get to the famous Ship Inn pub you find the very aptly named (Tiny) Tasting Room.
Entering the tea room off Martin’s Lane it’s on the right just before you get to the Ship Inn. You can’t really miss it as it just where the Lane narrows with the repairs to the old Clarence Hotel that caught fire in 2016 and gutted the hotel. Yes it’s still not sorted. If you see the pub sign you have gone too far.
The ground floor has the barista station, prep area with the cakes and very nice they are too. There is not enough room for seating here so you have to go upstairs so not really a disable friendly coffee shop unless you count the couple of small tables outside. Upstairs is light and airy but a bit shabby sheek with about 10 tables mostly 2s but the are a couple of 4s. So no big groups of kids which makes a nice change from Costa or Starbucks. The toilets are up another flight of narrow stairs again so really not disable access at all.
The coffee was excellent black, hot and just as how I like it. Everything is very reasonable price wise and a coffee and a cake did not break the bank.
The cake selection was quite extensive I tried the Blueberry Bakewell Tart and very nice it was too.
From the menus they don’t really do full meals apart from the cakes and pastries all freshly prepared at The Tasting Room coffee shop on Topsham Road Exeter. it’s sandwiches, toasties, bagels and some salads. Still it’s a great place to drop in for a cake or a snack.
The menu is off the internet my photo turned out to be a bit out of focus.