Tea for you and me

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Category Archives: Review


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Caversham Artists Trail

Tea and 'Nutella and banana' cake on the Caversham Artists Trail

Not a full review as this is only a temporary source of tea, but it was so lovely I thought I’d stick it on here. The Caversham Artists Trail is on Sat 7th and Sun 8th May 2011 and then again on Fri 13th to Sun 15th May 2011. People exhibit their art and works for sale in houses and you can go round and see them. Some offer refreshments – L and I really enjoyed the tea and cake we had at number one on the trail. There are even some artists who make tea related things – such as cups! So that’s another reason to take a look. Go see, drink tea and enjoy!


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Jam Street Cafe

209 Upper Chorlton Road, Manchester, M16 0BH   0161 881 9944   (View on map)

All manner of good breakfast things at Jam Street Cafe.

Jam Street Cafe is a small cafe bar that has recently started opening for breakfast. It has big wooden tables, an outside seating area and a cellar seating area. Even when we went at 8am it had a good atmosphere and was playing great music. I would love to go again in an evening and see what it was like with more people around.

Tea was in a mug with the milk added, nice and strong for a morning wake-up. I had a breakfast bap – sausage, egg and bacon – and it was the best breakfast bap I’ve ever had. All the elements were cooked to perfection and the sausages were the good herby meaty ones rather than the pappy fatty ones that you sometimes get. H had an egg bap with mushrooms and a cappuccino. We both had some juice as well, just to make ourselves feel a bit healthier – H had cranberry and I had orange. An excellent breakfast.

Teapot? Not sure, tea arrived ready made.
Leaf tea? Not sure, but probably not.
Milk jug? Came with milk in already.
Price? £3.50 for the breakfast bap, £2 something for egg and mushroom bap, £1.20 for the tea. Not sure about the price of the juice.
Cake? No.
Go again? Yes.


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Sweet Tooth Cupcakery re-visited

Cupcakes, tea and cappuccino at Sweeth Tooth Cupcakery.

I’ve already reviewed the Sweet Tooth Cupcakery, but we went again as it’s just that good. This time I had an Edith Piaf (chocolate sponge, cream cheese frosting and a glittery strawberry) with a pot of Earl Grey tea and H had a Kylie (vanilla sponge and pink glittery frosting with a gold thing on top) and a cappuccino.

Worth visiting if you’re in the area. And they now do chocolate brownies and other cake as well as just the cupcakes.

I love the way this cupcake looks against this plate. And a glitter-tipped strawberry too.


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North Tea Power

36 Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1LA   (View on map)

The inside of North Tea Power, look at all the different types of tea on the wall.

LB suggested this place as somewhere to meet up as she’d heard about it and thought it would go well on the blog. She was right. North Tea Power is tucked away in the Northern Quarter but has a very good selection of loose leaf tea and – and this is the bit that makes it so great – have adapted their coffee machine to take tea. This sounds mad, but I am telling you now that black tea latte is the future.

We started with loose tea though, as the coffee-styled tea was a bit too much for us at 11am on a Sunday morning. I had Earl Grey Blue and LB had White Hairy Monkey, which is a white tea. LB had not tried white tea before but declared it was good. Both were fragrant and tasted of the tea rather than the pot – perhaps this is because they were served in glass cafetieres?A croissant was the food of choice for LB, but I went for a slice of the ‘Lumberjack’ cake. This was a date and apple cake topped with coconut that I would certainly have again. Filling and moreish.

Croissant, white tea, Earl Grey Blue and the mighty Lumberjack cake at North Tea Power.

After the tea and food we went back to the counter and ordered a black tea latte each. We could have had a tea mocha, a tea cappucino or a tea americano. I just wasn’t brave enough to try the tea mocha. It seemed very wrong at the time, but now I wonder if it would have had the combined comfort of a chocolate biscuit and a cup of tea.

My first mouthful of tea latte was strange and confusing. My brain said ‘coffee’ and my mouth said ‘tea’ and it took a few sips to reconcile my senses to the shock of a smooth frothy drink that didn’t have the bitter kick of coffee, but instead had the reassuring soothing quality of a cup of tea when it’s most needed. LB announced that she had found her new perfect drink.

LB's 'new perfect drink' - tea latte at North Tea Power.

I will be going here again the next time I’m in Manchester and this time I will try the tea mocha. If you want to have a strong cup of tea but need the frothy milk that goes with a good coffee, North Tea Power is the place to go. A brilliant retreat on a rainy Sunday morning.

Teapot? Yes, but one of those glass cafetieres rather than a traditional teapot.
Leaf tea? Yes, with the choice of having it made into a drink or buying a bag full to take home.
Milk jug? Big retro style milk bottle.
Price? £2 for the Earl Grey Blue, £2.20 for the White Hairy Monkey, £2.60 for the Lumberjack cake, £1.20 (I think) for croissant and jam. £2.20 for the tea latte.
Cake? Yes, and biscuits, sandwiches, tray bakes etc.
Go again? Yes.



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The Lowry Hotel

50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf, Manchester, M3 5LH   (View on map)


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This was a special afternoon tea tasting trip with the usual suspects of H, E and N. H and E had organised this visit and N and I had chosen not to be told where we were going, but instead it was going to be a surprise. This suited me fine (once I’d checked the dress code and the price) as I like surprises. Perhaps because I didn’t know beforehand, or just because it’s a very stylish hotel, I got a bit snap happy and took lots of photos.

Before heading to The Lowry Hotel we had looked round the craft and design gallery of the Manchester Art Gallery. This had dozens of beautiful teapots as well as other beautiful yet useful things. I appreciated the design care The Lowry Hotel had put into their afternoon tea surroundings and food all the more after seeing the gallery.

Stylish as it was, the lack of carpet and liking for chrome meant the room was very noisy and this meant we couldn’t hear each other properly at times, but never mind. The Ritz‘s love of plush upholstery and thick carpet is justified. And they had sugar cubes – The Lowry only had sugar packets.

The menu was already on the table when we sat down and our first thought was ‘this is not enough tea’. The menu gave of a choice of about seven types of tea and only three of those were black tea. The choices were Earl Grey, Breakfast blend and an Afternoon blend (described as 50% Assam, 50% Darjeeling). H prefers a lighter tea and would usually have a Darjeeling. She ordered the Afternoon blend and found it too strong.

We sometimes have trouble with an equal amount of sandwiches as H and N are vegetarians, E will eat fish but not meat and I eat everything. The Lowry coped without any trouble and presented us with ham, salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, Lancashire cheese and tomato and egg – all to the correct people. I think H and N also had a hummus sandwich.

Scones were small and lovely with enough jam and cream to go round. The cake course had a raspberry and white chocolate cake, a passion fruit tart and a pistachio and chocolate mousse. They were all delicious, my only grumble was that the spoon we were given to eat the mousse with was too big to get all of the mousse out of the glass it was served in. A variety of methods were employed to try and get this last bit of extremely good mousse out and the favoured technique was turning the spoon upside down and using the handle. It’s not good table manners, but when there’s chocolate at stake…

All in all a reasonably good afternoon tea and the restaurant was decorated in my favourite colours so I was happy.

Teapot? Yes, but the three of us drinking the afternoon blend had to share a teapot that looked like a coffee pot. And we had to ask for hot water.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes, but only one between four so we had to ask for a refill.
Price? £19.95 each, but with service charge automatically added so it brought it to just under £22 each.
Cake? Yes.
Go again? Yes.


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Gorvett and Stone

21 Duke Street, Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, RG9 1UR   (View on map)

'Breakfast' drinking chocolate and a rose hip truffle at Gorvett and Stone.

Don’t all shout at once, but this isn’t a review of tea. I know, I know, this is a tea blog, but it wasn’t my fault, honest. I saw the listing of different types of tea in the window and so went into Gorvett and Stone to drink some tea. I should point out here that they make chocolate and the whole place smelt so invitingly of chocolate that I found myself asking what kind of drinking chocolate they would recommend. The lovely gentleman behind the counter explained the different types and I plumped for the ‘Breakfast’ blend. Oh, it was good. So good I’m throwing caution to the wind and sticking it on here – rules were made to be broken. And if that shocks you then cover your eyes now – before I can tell you that I take my Earl Grey with milk.

It was frothy and smooth with just a hint of the kick that comes with 70% cocoa, but none of the bitterness that you sometimes find in cheap dark chocolate. If you order a hot drink to drink in you also get to pick one of their lovely chocolates to have with it. I picked the rose hip truffle. It was a tiny mouthful of pleasure. And such a pretty tea cup. I will go back one day when I have more time and order the tea and then order the drinking chocolate afterwards (I was going to say I would just order the tea, but in my new confessional spirit I admit I will not be strong enough to resist the chocolate, best to have both).

Teapot? No, but then it wasn’t tea.
Leaf tea? Er, no.
Milk jug? Not applicable.
Price? £2.65 for the drinking chocolate. The tea was around £2 for a cup for one and £5/6 for a pot for two.
Cake? No, but lots of chocolate!
Go again? Yes.


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The Spirit of Endeavour

Mayflower Park, Marsh Lane, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 7QS   01205 356678   (View on map)

Lamb tagine, tea and burger at The Spirit of Endeavour.

It’s a very grand name for a chain pub near a car showroom but those in the know apparently shorten it to ‘The Spirit’, which fits in with a licensed premises nicely. We went for lunch on New Year’s Eve and the tea was surprisingly good for a pub. R and AM both had a large burger that was made with the small thin patties  and they had both been hoping for a big burger patty rather than many little ones. I had a lamb tagine that tasted like it was made in the microwave, but both the tea and the chocolate pudding I had were good.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? Good question. As we were paying for other drinks and other food and bought in rounds it all got very confusing, but I think it was around £2 to £2.50.
Cake? Only the normal desert type cake.
Go again? I probably would, but wouldn’t go again for the tea, just for somewhere easy to go for lunch.


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Waitrose Cafe, Newbury

Oxford Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1NB   (View on map)

Bear claw, pot of Earl Grey tea and Waitrose chocolate at Waitrose Cafe in Newbury

This Waitrose has a cafe and it serves proper pots of tea and some scrummy cake. I had a pot of Earl Grey tea and a Danish Fruit Bear Claw. All hot drinks come with a little Waitrose chocolate as well. I chose the Bear Claw as I’d heard it mentioned on American TV sitcoms and drama and wasn’t sure what it was. It appears to be named after the shape of the pastry, which sort of looks like a bear’s claw. If only they sold Twinkies and had Chinese takeaway in the little white cardboard pots, then my American food curiosity would be satisfied. It stays open almost as late as the store so can be a good place to go for a pot of tea with free parking and toilets when the other cafes in Newbury are closed.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Waitrose Earl Grey.
Milk jug? Little one.
Price? £1.45 for tea and £1.30 for the bear claw.
Cake? Yes – danish pastries, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, chocolates and more.
Go again? Yes.


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The Petersham Hotel and Restaurant

Nightingale Lane, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6UZ   (View on map)

The view from our table at The Petersham

I had never been to The Petersham before, but my Mum had and she recommended it as somewhere to go for my Dad’s birthday. S, R, Mum, Dad and I all met at The Petersham in order to have some afternoon tea. The hotel was hotel-like with squishy carpets and a big piano and grand staircase in the entrance hall.

We were squashed on two small tables put next to each other, in a corner, in fact everyone who was there for afternoon tea was in a corner area of the restaurant, with diners finishing off their Sunday lunches in the main section of the restaurant. We ordered our afternoon tea and chose the tea we wanted. The tea came about ten minutes later and then we waited another 35 minutes for the afternoon tea food to arrive. As we had specifically booked for afternoon tea and had eaten lunch a long time ago in order to fit the afternoon tea in, we were not that impressed.

The fake snow at The Petersham

The tea was Twinings teabags but I still thought mine tasted a bit odd. R had three teabags and the rest of us had one, or rather, R had three teabag strings and tags hanging out of his pot and the rest of us only had one. Later we discovered that we all had three, but only R had had the strings and tags taken out of the pot for all three teabags – the rest of us had the string and tag still wrapped round two of our three teabags. By the time we realised what had happened the cardboard tags were disintigrating and bits were floating around in our tea – so no wonder it tasted odd. We didn’t complain as we couldn’t get anyone’s attention in order to complain, so just gave up.

The jam came in tiny pots and the service was very slow; on the plus side there was a fake snow flurry just outside the window at one point (to keep with the festive theme) and the food was good. My Mum has been during the week and says it was much better then, but overall we were disappointed with The Petersham.

Afternoon tea at The Petersham - note the tiny jam pots and differing numbers of teabag tags.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, Twinings teabags that hadn’t been unwound properly. Not nice.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £19.50 each.
Cake? Yes, pastries and cake and scones.
Go again? No.


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Nelson’s Diner

Kingsclere Service Station, A339 Newbury Road, Kingsclere, RG20 4TA   (View on map)

Tea and two milkshakes at Nelson's Diner

Nelson’s Diner is an American style diner, bizarrely situated next to a petrol station on an ‘A’ road in Hampshire. I say bizarrely, but now I think about it every American style diner I can remember seeing has been at the side of an ‘A’ road. Did anyone else ever go to ‘AJ’s Diner’ on the A1? Strange.

I had been chatting to J about wanting to go somewhere that served milkshakes in those steel tumblers and tall glasses as I always saw them on Neighbours. J said she knew just the place and a few weeks later we were having lunch at the small but perfectly American Nelson’s Diner.

Far too much food at Nelson's Diner.

We had a milkshake each and I also ordered a pot of tea as I wanted to see what it would be like. One of us had a strawberry milkshake and one of us had a ginger one, but I can’t honestly remember who had what. They were both really really good though – thick and in the right tumbler and glass combination. Also extrememly large – enough for two glasses full. Tea came in a pot so that was all okay.

The portions of food were large too and just thinking about the visit makes me feel a bit queasy. I admit that I ate far too much – hot dog and chips and milkshake and tea and pancakes and ice cream. I over indulged and felt sick for the rest of the day, but I would go back – just order less food.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.70 for the tea, £2.70 for the strawberry shake, £3.85 for the ginger shake, £7 for cheesy hot dog, £9.50 for a ‘Houston’ burger, £2.95 for onion rings and £4.85 for some very tasty pancakes.
Cake? Not really, more desert and American food. And lots of milkshakes.
Go again? Yes.