RICHMOND TEA ROOMS : TEA TIME EPISODES (UK)

I'm currently a student in Manchester, and have been for the past months. For the most part, I don't really eat out very much cause I'm usually pinching for money since eating out is super expensive.

So when I do go out, I rather spend it on good food or asian takeaway. I do takeaway cause I'm homesick and british food can be so bland.

A couple of days ago, in celebration of my friend's birthday, we went out for afternoon tea. It's a past time in the most of UK, an old social that was fashionable back in the seventeenth century which has been toned down from cakes and scones with tea and finger sandwiches to just biscuits and tea. But if you wish to have a grand afternoon tea, most fine hotels here would serve it and some even with champagne.

I've eaten afternoon tea here just a couple of times before, and once on the airplane, and it's honestly a great experience and something one should do when you're a sweet tooth and visiting the UK. The one we visited was called Richmond Tea Rooms, a really pretty place with an Alice In Wonderland Theme going on.

It is located in an area, famously know as the gay village. Well, the area is not only known for their rainbow proud-ness but the good bars and clubs there.

The outside of the Richmond tea Rooms is quite grand, with british flags and pink banners hanging above. The entrance as well. Living in Malaysia, we don't see alot of old buildings like this with brick roads and giant wooden doors with steps. I love this sort of antiquity and passing by these sort of architecture makes me smile. Though I wouldn't want to live in it.

There was an offer of afternoon teas in the menu, since it was an Alice In Wonderland theme, there were Alice's Afternoon tea, the Queen's Afternoon Tea, the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea, and one I found adorable, was the Gentleman's Afternoon Tea. They all served for different size parties, with Alice's tea for one person only having scones with clotted cream and jam and tea of your choice to the Richmond Afternoon Tea with savory pastry, finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and tea of your choice with champagne. But the Gentleman's Afternoon Tea has beer with sausage rolls, battered fish fingers and peas, with sandwiches and cumberland Scotch Egg. For more information, you can look them up.

To be honest, the afternoon tea in here was alright, but the atmosphere and decoration in the space is really nice. They have the whole space furbished with things related to the story of Alice in Wonderland. The amount was quite small, but affordable. The scones were I think pre made, and re heated, which isn't very nice to eat. It was hard and crumbly, fell to pieces when I tried to cut it, but when paired with clotted cream and jam, those thoughts really fall to pieces. Clotted cream is when you indirectly apply heat to cream, and it gets clotted and you spread it over warm scones. The sandwiches were good, just spread of the usual finger sandwiches, egg and mayo, butter and cucumbers, beef and horseradish. We were given a carrot cake, which was quite good, moist and dense. It was covered with cheese cream like all carrot cakes are. They also gave us a small jar of trifle, consisting of cream, custard, cake and diced cherry syrup. It was a finger long, very tiny but it tasted really good together. A slice of swiss roll, with custard inside. The savory pastry was alright. They had a sort of pastry with melted cheese inside. It was buttery, soft and warm.

Ultimately, in the whole meal, I've only remembered the tea. Which was afternoon darjeeling. It was seriously good. Light, with subtle tones of fruity flavors. I would buy that tea from now on.

For more information visit their site: http://www.richmondtearooms.com/



Opening Times:

Monday to Thursday: 11am to 10pm

Friday: 11am to 11pm

Saturday: 9am to 11pm

Sunday: 9am to 10pm


Richmond Tea Rooms,
15 Richmond Street, 

The Village, 

Manchester M1 3HZ, 

United Kingdom.

This is Sharon signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.

-

The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and don't forget to subscribe to us. Cheers.