Afternoon Tea at Liverpool One - #TrulyScrumptious

Bills

Liverpool has always been a second home to The Afternoon Tea Club, so when we heard about the new #TrulyScrumptious campaign from Liverpool ONE, we decided to get involved and write a round up of the top three teas to look out for the next time you're in Merseyside - and with today marking the start of National Afternoon Tea Week, you have the perfect excuse to venture out and eat cake!

Browns - Afternoon Tea

First up is Afternoon Tea at Browns Brasserie. Browns was actually the first ever 'proper' afternoon tea that we visited as a club and will always have a special place in our hearts. If you look back far enough, you'll probably be able to find the review (with our terrible iPhone 4 pictures) but where the photos failed us, the food didn't and we can definitely recommend it as one to look out for when visiting Liverpool ONE bars and restaurants this summer.

Bills - Cream Tea

Next on the list is Bills, a homely but hip restaurant, which probably isn't the first place you would look to in search of cream tea but look you should, as Bills offers a great value selection of sweet treats with its 'Teatime' menu. Choose from scones with Bills jam and clotted cream (served warm, and absolutely delicious) to toasted teacakes or sticky toffee pudding and beyond to get your mid-shopping afternoon boost.

The Exchange at Hilton - Afternoon Tea

Towering over L1 and just a few short minutes away from the Albert Dock, stands the Hilton, Liverpool City Centre and inside, The Exchange restaurant which offers a modern afternoon tea in a minimalist setting that's popular with guests and daytrippers alike. We first visited years back (in the much missed days where every Monday for us, was an afternoon tea day!) but this tea remains popular due to its central location and traditional yet sophisticated afternoon fare served daily between 1-4pm.

Have you paid a visit to L1 for afternoon tea? Be sure to give us your thoughts and recommendations in the comments or over on Twitter @teacupreview using the hashtag #TrulyScrumptious.

#AD - This post is in collaboration with Liverpool ONE, but as usual all thoughts and opinions are our own!

#BeeProud Afternoon Tea at The Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Manchester

This week we revisited one of our favourite Northern afternoon tea spots for a new Manchester-inspired menu in aid of the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund in partnership with the British Red Cross and the Manchester Pride Charity.

Served in the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel's contemporary Opus One bar which looks out onto Peter Street from the city's Free Trade Hall, the high ceilings adorned with bespoke crimson fixtures and ebony furnishing mean you will feel just at home sipping a cocktail as you will sampling its latest tea.

The theme is #BeeProud. Think Manchester, the symbolic bee, local favourites and you might have a good idea of what this tea consists of. But think again. The Radisson Blu has truly gone all out with this one, swapping out its traditional offering for a selection of thoughtful, artisan bites that will leave you needing around 30 minutes just to take enough Instagram-worthy photos - or maybe that’s just us.

To start, the sandwich selection is very good; honey roast ham with mustard on brioche, smoked salmon with lemon butter on rye, roast beef with horseradish on sourdough, and cheese and red onion on soda. A mix of breads always wins points with us and extra thumbs up for the delicious salmon filling (the cheese and red onion was a close second!).

Then to the scones, a plain and fruit scone each, served warm with strawberry jam and cream. As always, they were delicious and when we opted to leave a scone each to ensure we had enough room for cake, we were given an extra pot of jam to take home with our leftovers - a very nice touch.

Finally, the dessert selection is where the Manchester theme shines through. This included a classic Manchester tart, Eccles cake, honeycomb shortbread with cream (black and white of course), and cheesecake with caramel spiral art and pop corn on top. An impressive arrangement of sweets and a really sophisticated way of incorporating the #BeeProud theme without going over the top. Our favourites were the Manchester tart and the cheesecake which was as tasty as it was pretty.

To accompany, we each opted for pots of tea, earl grey and English breakfast, which were generously refreshed throughout, and also a glass of champagne - we are celebrating Afternoon Tea Week after all! 

Special mention must go to the great staff at the Opus One who made sure we had everything we needed for a lovely afternoon and kindly boxed up the few cakes we couldn’t manage, to go (it’s very unlike us to be defeated by cake!).

Overall this is a fabulous tea and the fact that proceeds are going to a great local charity makes it all the more worthwhile. If you’re looking for somewhere to indulge in tea and cake this Afternoon Tea Week or perhaps during the Manchester Pride big weekend, we can't recommend this tea enough.

The #BeeProud Manchester afternoon tea at the Radisson Blu Edwardian, Manchester is available from now until 31st August priced at £22.50pp or £29.50pp with Prosecco. 

For more info and to book visit https://www.radissonblu-edwardian.com/

We were kindly provided with a complimentary tea for review, but as usual, all thoughts and opinions are very much our own!

The Afternoon Tea Club Reviews: Pret-a-Portea at the Berkeley, London

The Berkeley's Pret-A-Portea has been on my afternoon tea hit list for as long as I can remember. Based on the key catwalk trends for the season ahead, the hotel's expert patisserie team have crafted a menu fitting for LFW itself, with a whole host of treats to satisfy everyone's inner fashionista. Located near Harrods in the well to do area of Knightsbridge, the hotel itself is highly regarded as one London's top five star establishments and is the perfect setting for sweetness and style.

The lounge where tea is served, is decorated throughout in airy grey shades, with comfy armchairs throughout and impressive statement lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling. From what I could tell, the tea room is split across two distinct areas - a lounge and an adjoining conservatory (which looked incredibly light and an ideal scenario for photo taking, if you're of the blogger variety!)




Upon arrival, you are presented with a beautiful lilac menu displaying the SS17 selections alongside a really comprehensive overview of the tea's influences and inspirations. Menu highlights for the Spring/Summer collection include:

Gucci’s pink candyfloss summer berry sable Breton jumper in a rhubarb mousse, accentuated with a golden sugar bow.

Ralph & Russo pain de Gênes dress cake with velvet lavender cremeux and beriolette jelly, romantically topped with a showstopper sugar frill.

Stella McCartney’s brilliantly British chocolate and vanilla Battenberg cake inspired by her chequerboard summer pumps.

Emilio Pucci’s playful colour-blocked jumpsuit reimagined as a caramelised pineapple compote with coconut jelly and strawberry bavarois, crowned with a psychedelic chocolate wave.



Charlotte Olympia’s high-kicking ‘Chiquita’ banana pump biscuits to channel your inner Carmen Miranda.

Dolce & Gabbana’s hazelnut daquoise pasta-print midi dress with praline croquant and Gianduja chocolate mousse, finished with a fun farfalle.

Mulberry’s ‘it’ Pembroke bag in a Valrhona ivoire chocolate-glazed cake, inspired by British collegiate stripes.

Balenciaga’s new perspective on street style, recreated as a raspberry bavarois and blueberry compote, topped with a kinky, slinky pointed stiletto biscuit.

Miu Miu’s retro bikini lime biscuit – the must-have swimwear making a splash on the seaside this summer season.

In addition to the sweet treats, we also had a savoury selection to die for, which consisted of delicate finger sandwiches, alongside a trio of small plates which included a tomato macaron, gazpacho with cheese croutons and grilled mackerel.

At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that whilst dietary requirements are willingly catered for, you should definitely call ahead to have these arranged in advance. My friend who's a non-mayo eating vegetarian, proved to be something of a challenge to staff on the day and whilst we eventually managed to get some veggie/non mayo sandwiches sorted for her, it proved to be a little more problematic than we had at first imagined. There also seemed to be some confusion over the difference in dietary requirements for vegetarians, pescatarians and vegans, which I have to say was a little surprising at an establishment of this calibre.




However, this aside, the food itself was excellent and I can wholeheartedly recommend the standard savouries to each an every one of you. The finger sandwiches were clearly prepared to order, whilst the small plates and macaron were presented to perfection.

Perhaps the only surprise was that the Pret-a- Portea afternoon tea doesn't include any scones. You don't exactly miss them, because there are so many other cakes and savouries, however I feel like they're needed as part of the traditional afternoon tea make up - even if it's just one each. I'll leave you to decide your thoughts on that one!



When it comes to the cakes, you can see the beauty for yourself. Out of the selection available, I think my favourite was the Dolce & Gabbana hazelnut cake, which I can only describe as a Ferrero Rocher cake and dreamy as anything you'll ever have. Coming in a close second was the chocolate Mulberry handbag because who doesn't love chocolate?

All in all I was pretty pleased with the Berkeley's offering and would be keen to visit again in the autumn to sample their AW menu. It's towards the higher end of the London tea price bracket, but the theme really makes the experience and if you're looking for somewhere to visit for a special occasion or are a die hard fashion lover then I would recommend this to you in a heartbeat.

For more information and booking, please visit:

http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/knightsbridge-restaurants-bars/fashion-afternoon-tea/

Have you ever visited the Berkeley? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

- Caroline

Bettys Giveaway!

It’s competition time! 

COMPETITION CLOSED

Who doesn’t love Bettys Tea Rooms? We recently took a trip to York and couldn’t resist popping in to peruse some of Bettys’ famous cakes and tea. 

Being the generous sort that we are here at ATC, we are sharing the Bettys love by offering you the chance to bag yourself this fab Bettys tea and biscuits gift set.

One lucky winner will get their hands on a box of Bettys Tea Room blend tea, Yorkshire shortbread box and a copy of “Who was Betty”, a collection of stories, poems and thoughts on the elusive figure at the heart of the Bettys story.

To enter, all you have to do is follow us over on Twitter at @TeacupReview and retweet the competition to be in with a chance of winning.

The competition will close on 6th August so get your entries in quick! (T&Cs below).

Good luck!

Laura & Caroline x 

Open to UK residents only. Only one entry per person. Competition will close at midnight (BST) on 06/08/2017. The winner will be chosen and announced on 07/08/2017. The Afternoon Tea Club's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Afternoon Tea Club is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied by third party connected to this competition. There will be no cash alternative. Winner will be notified via Twitter. By entering the competition the winner agrees to participate in such promotional activity on our website and Twitter. No responsibility can be taken for any entries which are not received for any reason.

Coffee Break: Miss Poppy Cakes, Camden

If you're an avid ATC reader, then you'll know that a few weeks ago Laura and I visited 'Townhouse at the Kensington', to try out their Beauty and the Beast themed afternoon tea - which you can read all about here. 

As we don't visit London as often as we'd like, we usually try to sneak in an extra pit stop or two en route, to make sure that we leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of afternoon tea perfection. Yes it means that we eat a lot of cake, and yes it means that we'll probably never reach our ideal dress sizes, but like any great creators we're willing to suffer for our art - and believe us, there are much worse ways of suffering!

On this particular excursion, we decided to head towards Camden for a peruse of the markets, before breaking to have some pre-tea treats at Miss Poppy Cakes. Owned by Sarah and Greg, this cute little coffee shop opened in 2014 and has been supplying the people of London with whole host freshly baked goods ever since - and we can confirm from first hand experience that they're great.

As it was the hottest day of the year so far and we were about to go and stuff ourselves with cake anyway, we decided to opt for a 'lighter' option, choosing a "simple" chocolate and salted caramel brownie, a pink lemonade for Laura and a tea for me. With the heat situation being as it was, we were incredibly grateful for the breezy outdoor seating that they have set up for days of this kind. On a fine day, this is the perfect situation for a spot of people (and pooch) watching in the sun.



Overall, I have to say that we were really impressed with Miss Poppy cakes. The dining space is only small, so we can imagine that it must get busy on weekends and bank holidays, but if you're lucky enough to grab a seat, then we can definitely recommend them for a tea and cake break.

Find out more about Miss Poppy Cakes at the link below:

http://www.misspoppycakes.co.uk/

What's your favourite coffee shop in London? Let us know in the comments below!

- Caroline