What better way to treat yourself than with a bracing cup of tea and a warm, flaky scone served with clotted cream and raspberry preserves?

Between 40 and 50 customers a day apparently agree. In December, the tea shop's busiest month, the dining room's 12 tables are packed, especially Saturdays.

There's something about the ritual of afternoon tea, with white table linen, bone china and silver, that nourishes the soul, owner Tara Buzan said.

"I think the process is really relaxing," says Buzan, who has operated the shop for two years, although it's been in business for five. "We try to be pretty formal about the way we serve our tea."

Tea can be sit-down or take-out, but it's always upscale.

It includes a variety of loose-leaf imported teas. Those who want a strong brew ask for English, Irish or Scottish breakfast tea, Buzan says.

Included in a full tea are tiny sandwiches containing delicacies such as roast beef with watercress, or English Cheshire cheese with fruit chutney. There are scones in lemon, raisin, plain buttermilk and cherry-almond flavor.

And there are desserts, such as decorated shortbread, pastel-colored petit fours, and wedges of chocolate walnut brownie dressed with coconut.

"Everything is made from scratch," Buzan says.

Buzan has expanded the menu to include soups, chicken pot pie, and traditional shepherd's pie. She also offers an English pub food called Cornish pastie, which is cheese and onions or other fillings encased in pastry.

Cost: A complete afternoon tea served at the shop costs $15.95 per person. It's available all day.

For a pickup order, the cost is $13.95 per person for up to three. For four or more, the price is $11.95 a head.

Call ahead for reservations, 610-971-0390.

Where: 40 Berkeley Rd., Devon.

Hours: Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays are reserved for private parties. The shop stops serving one hour before closing.

- Bonnie L. Cook