Wednesday 15 July 2015

Patisserie Valerie's Afternoon Tea


I do love a good cuppa - even more so when if it is accompanied with a few sweet treats on the side.

However, I can't say I've ever purposefully gone way out of my way to get either of these things before...but times a-changing and a few Sunday's ago myself and the Hubby took a little trip over to Manchester...

...for some tea...

...and some cake...

In all fairness we could have made a full day of it and indulged in a little pre-tea-drinking shopping spree, but due to our rugby-parent commitments we had to make do with a leisurely drive over to the city later on in the afternoon.

But where exactly were we heading?

We were off the Deansgate Patisserie Valerie on St Ann Street.

And our reasons for heading there?
(like any reason is really required!)

Well, being the lucky so-and-so's that we are, we were invited along to sample their fabulous Afternoon Tea For Two menu.


~ Great stuff ~

I can't say I've had many afternoon tea experiences really - there have been a couple, but not lots.

However, even with my limited tea/cake experience I have to say that this one did impress me, and at a cost of £25 for two, it would make the perfect treat to finish off a lovely, indulgent afternoon.


When we arrived, we were seated downstairs away from all of the usual daytime hustle and bustle within the man cafe and it was here that we met six other blogging ladies and wasted no time in getting a drinks order placed.

~ a frothy cappuccino for the Husband...


...and...

~ a lovely, comforting pot of English Tea for me...


It certainly did the trick at warming us up after our earlier dash through the rainy streets of Manchester.

So after a bit of chatting time, our afternoon tea crammed stands arrived in front of us...

...cue the crazy amounts of picture taking...


I was pleased to see a selection of finger sandwich choices on the menu.

We had cucumber; smoked salmon and cream cheese; egg mayonnaise and cress; ham, spinach and mustard; and then my favourite, which was a chicken, pesto and sunblazed tomato offering - it was packed full of flavour and I could certainly have eaten another (two!)


I actually did really enjoy all of the sandwiches and even though I'm not particularly a mustard fan I still braved the ham and mustard one - simply for research purposes of course - and I found that it wasn't all that bad at all really.

The teeny vegetable quiche was very yum too - it was still slightly warm when it arrived and was very flavoursome...I actually wished I'd had another one...


Very nice indeed.

Naturally, the sweet things followed the savoury, and the mini scones - one plain, one fruit-packed each - were simply amazing


Still slightly warm, then topped with strawberry jam and clotted cream, I can safely say that I could have eaten these all day long...or at least until I developed a stomach ache...


They were perfect - not stodgy or too filling at all, and the Hubby agreed with me too - they have certainly helped to create two scone fans over this way that's for sure.

After a drinks re-fill it was time to tackle the top tier of the stand...

...THE CAKES...



Everything was miniature sized which I thought was perfect and a brilliant way to prevent us feeling too over-faced and all "sugared out".

We shared everything so neither of us missed out on sampling something and again, I really couldn't fault anything.

They were all just so tasty - I particularly enjoyed the mini Victoria sandwich cake, it was light, moist and reminded me of my childhood and eating cakes at my Nan's.

~ Perfect ~

My only niggle with these was that I didn't fall too much in love with the mini chocolate eclairs - I thought they were a little, well, bland really - or maybe it was just that they weren't as sweet as everything else on the plate...either way, it was only down to my own personal choice that I didn't favour them...and...well, I still wolfed it all down...

We managed to clear our entire stand of Afternoon Tea goodness - the only twosome in the group that did - and I have to say I really enjoyed the afternoon...

~ the food and tea were spot on
~ the venue was clean, tidy and very pretty
~ the staff were all friendly and helpful

~ Very impressive ~

Thanks for having us Patisserie Valerie

Manchester now has two new regular visitors

* Afternoon Tea provided free of charge. Words, thoughts & photos are all my own
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