Cake Break: Bean & Cole, Chester

When you've found somewhere that does that perfect latte and brownie combo, it can be very easy to get stuck in a routine of going to the same coffee spot week in, week out. Whilst we're all for cake-loyalty, that regularity can often mean you miss out on what that new coffee shop in town, the one you swear you've been meaning to try, has to offer. We found a perfect example this weekend when we popped into Bean & Cole, a new coffee house on Frodsham Street in Chester.

There is a lot to love about this place; cool stripped brick walls, colourful hippie-style seat cushions, selection of independent magazines, puppy-friendly atmosphere, but the stand-out feature of Bean & Cole has to be the coffee itself. We went for a latte and cappuccino, complete with smooth coffee art and colour block cups and saucers - perfect.

Of course, all good coffee deserves good cake, and Bean & Cole offers a range of pastries, tray bakes and generous slices to accompany its menu. We opted for a coffee cake and have to say, it was one of the best we've ever had. So good, we felt incredibly guilty leaving any trace on the plate but this time the chunky portions (which by no means should be changed based on this critique!) managed to defeat us - we will back.

Special mention must also go to the lovely team at Bean & Cole who were super friendly and made us so at home, we didn't want to leave.

The coffee scene in Chester is certainly growing and that makes us very happy. If you're heading to the city any time soon, why not skip your usual high street haunts and grab your coffee break here? We promise you won't be disappointed.

Laura

Afternoon Tea at The Townhouse Hotel, Chester

A stroll along Lower Bridge Street towards the River Dee is one of my favourite things to do on a lazy Sunday. Throw in a pit stop for pastries and prosecco on the way and you've pretty much described my ideal afternoon, which is exactly why we stopped by The Townhouse Hotel in Chester last month for a spot of afternoon tea.

Set in a Georgian style townhouse building, the hotel has a luxe feel right from the start with a teal colour scheme signposting your way in, which continues inside with a more contemporary feel accompanying its Victorian features. Afternoon tea is served in the bar area which bridges the lounge with the dining room. The latter may have been a slightly better location for tea but as it was a particularly quiet afternoon perhaps the bar area was preferable for service. Nonetheless, it's a pleasant setting, kitted out with velvety grey dining chairs and dark wood furnishings.

There are three options for tea; traditional, sparking and bottomless prosecco. We opted for sparkling which comes with a glass of prosecco each (as not to overindulge) but given the price of bottomless (£29.95pp), it's well worth upgrading if bubbles are your thing.

Tea is served on a two-tier slate stand and is chock full of different flavours, shapes and sizes. To start, the range of sandwiches include both finger sandwiches and brioche buns with fillings such as; roast Ham with fruit Chutney, roasted red pepper and hummus, egg and cress, cucumber and cream cheese, and smoked salmon and crème fraiche. The red pepper and hummus brioche was amazing and the overall selection was equally impressive and catered to just about every kind of palette. We're not particularly fussy so successfully scoffed the lot in no time at all and would have happily made room for more hummus.

Next up, the scones aren't exactly presented as the main event here, nestled in amongst the rest of the patisserie selection, however they deserve their own little place to shine due to being deliciously soft served with a handsome dollop of jam and cream.

The sweet selection was probably our favourite part (let's be honest, when is cake ever not our favourite part of anything?). Balanced out with exactly the right amount of chocolate, traditional flavours and fruit, the selection earns itself a big thumbs up. On offer was a chocolate and pistachio layer cake, white chocolate and coconut sponge (sooo good and unusual), ginger cake, and macaroons. It's been said a million times before, but we love a macaroon with afternoon tea, not least because they Instagram so well, and the blend of traditional with some unusual flavours made for a memorable top tier. 

Overall we had a lovely afternoon at The Townouse Hotel. There wasn't a great deal of atmosphere as we were one of only two groups dining at the time but that's a real shame, and hopefully not usually the case, as this is definitely a tea worth putting on your list. At £23.95 per person for sparkling, it's reasonably priced for a city centre tea, and if you're a prosecco lover, for £6 extra, two hours worth of free-flowing fizz makes its a no brainer.

For more info and to book: 

https://chestertownhouse.com/afternoon-tea-chester/

Have you ever visited The Townhouse Hotel? What did you think?

Afternoon Tea at The Chester Grosvenor

London tends to steal the limelight in a conversation about the best places for a classic afternoon tea experience. But we would argue, we’re quite lucky here in the North West to have some distinguished venues that offer a traditional tea experience, such as Crewe Hall or The Midland in Manchester, that don’t require a two-hour Pendolino trip down south. One that seemed to fit the bill and had been on our list for a while upon recommendation from friends (aren’t we supposed to be the tea experts around here?), was The Chester Grosvenor, so we decided to check it out last month. 

You can’t get much more central Chester than this hotel, situated right in the middle of town amongst the flurry of shoppers on Eastgate Street and practically on my doorstep, it wins at the location game. Afternoon tea is served in the The Arkle Bar, a sophisticated lounge seeped in deep greens and mahogany, offering a similar atmosphere to that of our favourite London tea venue, The Milestone. Good start. 

There are three types of tea to choose from: Traditional, Gentleman’s and Indulgent. We went for the Indulgent (because why not?), which comes with a glass of champagne and strawberries with clotted cream. As regular afternoon tea-goers, those kinds of touches always stand out for us and the fresh strawberries were delicious. 

Soon after, tea arrived on a three-tier silver stand, a pretty selection of sandwiches, scones and cakes but nothing too thrilling. We tucked into the sandwiches, flavours included, beef and horseradish, ham and tomato, salmon, and cheese and onion. A good choice of flavours and once finished, we were offered a refill so eagerly topped up on the salmon.

Then on to the scones of which there were two each; one fruit, one plain. The scones were quite small but in my opinion - and as someone who's eyes are usually bigger than their stomach - this is a good thing because you never want to overload on scones and leave no room for cake. 

Finally the cake selection, which while absolutely beautiful, did feel a little lacking. We noticed a few tables around us seemed to have a slightly different variation of cakes to ours but that said, the ones we did have were very good and faultlessly decorated. This included a strawberry cheesecake topped with white chocolate and fruit, a raspberry pie, chocolate and lemon on a biscuit base, and polenta cake with pistachio. It’s quite common with afternoon tea to not get two of everything, and that’s fine unless you both end up fighting over the chocolate cake, but I think for an ‘indulgent’ afternoon tea, two cakes each just didn’t feel enough and perhaps a couple more would have done the job. As a side note, we did spot a table next to us were offered a refill, whether this is usual for this afternoon tea or because we were the last sitting of the day, we can’t say for definite but unfortunately we were not offered a cake top up. 

To drink we went for Earl Grey and coffee which came served in one of the most beautiful tea sets we have seen. The coffee pot in particular had an almost steampunk vibe to it which gave the setting a little quirky kick.

This is undoubtedly a ‘traditional’ afternoon tea from the venue right down to the sandwich fillings and while that can be a good thing, it can also mean it misses the wow factor. This is often why ‘traditional’ or ‘classic’ is a tricky game to play. Not everyone needs punk fries or brioche with dipping chocolate to stand out from the crowd but there still needs to be something that makes it special. At £45pp the Indulgent Champagne Afternoon Tea is not the cheapest and therefore I would have expected a little more, particularly when you compare to some London venues which are on parr with the price and offer a lot more for your money. But if classic is your style and you’re looking for a luxury tea setting up North, then this could be right up your street.

Words - Laura
Photography - Caroline

The Afternoon Tea Club Reviews: Edgar House, Chester

Easter is upon us which means chocolate upon chocolate, easter egg hunts and cute baby chicks and bunnies. For those who like their weekends filled with cake and tea, that also means welcoming in those Easter themed Afternoon Tea menus. We spent the afternoon in Chester to try out Edgar House’s new Limited Edition Spring Afternoon tea.

Situated inside the City Walls overlooking the River Dee, this beautiful Georgian building is the ideal setting for a spot of Afternoon Tea and cake on a sunny spring afternoon.

Tea is served in the Twenty2 restaurant, a boutique lounge-style dining room kitted out with plump, studded seating, colourful artwork, a stunning fireplace and bookshelves which make you feel as though you’re sat in someone’s front room, albeit a luxurious one.

Food comes served on your standard three tier setting. The first layer includes a good selection of sandwiches on an interesting range of breads with fillings including, thick cut ham and tomato, cheese and onion, egg and mayo and pastrami. 

To follow, scones are served warm (though by the time we had spent our obligatory 20 minutes taking photos, they had started to cool!) with jam and cream. These could probably have benefited from a little more jam between two guests, but the scones themselves were really tasty and fresh.

Finally the sweet selection offers a vibrant mix of flavours which play on the seasonal theme with two easter chick chocolate truffles joined by rich chocolate tarts, lemon cake and mixed berry mousse. The mousse was delicious but as it’s Easter, we loved the chocolate trend running through the dessert palette and made sure we scoffed every last bit. 

To accompany we each went for a standard Earl Grey and coffee - does the job! 

Overall this is a lovely Afternoon Tea in a really beautiful setting. At £19.75pp it’s priced on parr with similar teas in the area and £2 of every Afternoon Tea goes to Clatterbridge cancer charity - cake with a conscious, that’s what we like to see!

If you’re in Chester this Summer, we would highly recommend stopping by for Afternoon Tea or even just to sample the al fresco dining on the terrace and watch the world go by from the Walls. 

For more info and to book, visit: http://edgarhouse.co.uk/

Coffee Break: Mad Hatters Tea Room, Chester

When you find yourself stuck on a rainy ‘summer’ Sunday afternoon, you’ve got two choices. You can either stay home and wait for the clouds to pass or you can go out and brave the storm for a slice of cake. And you know any option with cake is the right one.

That's exactly what we did last month on a day out in Chester when we came across the super-cute Mad Hatters Tea Room. Located on the The Rows, this tea room's cosy setting and colourful display of cupcakes made it the ideal place to get out of the drizzle and indulge.

On this occasion we opted for Harry's hot chocolate - with marshmallows and cream obviously - and a couple of rainbow sprinkled vanilla cupcakes. Absolutely amazing, the best cupcakes we've had in a long time and you can even buy some of your own hot chocolate to try at home. 

As the name may suggest, there are plenty of Alice-themed accents throughout for any Wonderland fans out there from the special Afternoon Tea names to the rustic menus - we will definitely be back soon to try The Red Queen's Afternoon Tea (priced at £20pp). 

The Mad Hatters Tea Room is open 7 days a week. For more info and to check out menus visit their website.

http://www.madhatterstearooms.co.uk/

Coffee Break: Jaunty Goat, Chester

Jaunty latte.

I’ve lived in Chester for just under four months now and I’m ashamed to say I haven’t done that much exploring. My job isn’t city centre based so my local coffee joint is sadly the Starbucks concession in the nearby Holiday Inn. The sexy world of journalism eh?

But there’s one place I’ve always wanted to try and that’s the Jaunty Goat on Bridge Street, a cool and sophisticated coffee spot that’s supposed to offer the best coffee in the city.

I popped in yesterday afternoon and my first thought was: is a MacBook a prerequisite in here? Furnished with long communal, bronze effect tables and church-like bench seats, quirky wicker art all with a neutral ‘beachy’ and rose gold hue, this place looks like the kind of place you could really cram in the hours getting some work done or just catching up with friends. I’d use the word ‘hipster’ but I was sat there with my fake snakeskin boots, iPhone and writing a post for my tea blog, so I’m not really one to talk!

It is TOTALLY my kind of place.

Loving the colour scheme here.

The coffee itself is fantastic and they’ve got a great range of teas for you to try too. And the CAKE – wow, so many to choose from. Unfortunately after spending my morning at the gym at 6.30am I decided not to indulge on this occasion but I’m thinking it’s likely I’ll be rushing back here this weekend to make up for it.

The Jaunty Goat is described as Chester’s best coffee – I can definitely see why. 

Laura.

Available to eat in or take away. For more information, visit their Facebook page here!