Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts


Whilst in Wigan for an appointment, I decided to look online for places to get some breakfast or brunch whilst I was in the area. I don't know the area well, but it seems there's some good choices. The one that stood out for me, and was closest and open, was Caffè Rosso on Wigan Lane.


From the outside, Rosso is unassuming, but the first thing I notice is that at this point of the morning it can't have been open long, but there were already people dining in the outside seating, and two tables occupied inside. The inside of Rosso is modern with retro and vintage touches, but as well as being clean and pleasantly decorated and furnished, it feels welcoming. The details around the room such as newspapers and magazines for customers to read are nice, but its small details like free wifi, and books on things like trips around the British Isles that make you realise that not only are you welcome, but if you want to stay a while and relax, you're welcome to.



When I mentioned to one of the owners that I liked the feel of the place and the décor, he thanked me and said that it was a carbon copy of their living room at home, but without the television. I think I can believe that, because it's very welcoming and comfortable.

Upon reading the breakfast menu (a specific "good morning!" menu, which I like the idea of), and the main "welcome" menu on the table, the two words I would use to describe Rosso are "provenance" and "passion". The details given in the guide exude pride at listing where their foods and ingredients are sourced, their views on ethics and quality, and emphasising the home-made elements, and the awards they have earned. I like this. If you have something of quality and you know it, then by all means, shout it from the rooftops!



 As it was morning, I opted for some granary toast with marmalade and a pot of tea. I liked that I was able to ask for decaf tea, skimmed milk, and sweetener, without it being an issue that it can often be at small establishments like this.

Sounds healthy doesn't it? Only thing is, I had my eye on a particularly nice looking slab of Belgian chocolate tiffin in a cake cabinet on the main counter next to an equally delicious looking key lime pie. Well it'd be rude not to, wouldn't it? I ordered with one of the owners at the counter. He was friendly, welcoming, and professional.


The tea was perfect as to be expected, but the tiffin was really excellent! Rich and chocolatey, it was the perfect little treat, and knowing it was home-made was another nice touch. I'd be tempted to come back just for this little beast, but in seeing that they also do Afternoon Teas, I'm sure I could be persuaded to return a few times... just for research purposes of course!

As it stands, I wasn't expecting to find anything amazing early on a Monday morning in Wigan, but I found a real gem. I must explore Wigan more!

You've got something good on your hands, Rosso, and you deserve your awards and praise! I only came for a brew and some breakfast, but I left feeling great! I will definitely be back


Caffè Rosso
17 Wigan Lane
Wigan
WN1 1XR
(01942) 581 609
www.cafferosso.co.uk

Caffè Rosso

by on 19:50
Whilst in Wigan for an appointment, I decided to look online for places to get some breakfast or brunch whilst I was in the area. I do...
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We were in Blackburn town centre for a street festival of food. We had an enjoyable bit of lunch, then spotted flags outside of a shop declaring it was Mad Hatters Cupcakes and Tea Room, which had me floating over like a moth to a flame for a little dessert!

It has a nice big window allowing the tearoom to be well lit, and seen clearly from the outside, making it all the more inviting.


The first thing you see as you walk in is the fantastic blackboard wall full of hand drawn chalk images of quirky scenes from Alice in Wonderland, and various picture frames containing images of cupcakes, signs saying "eat me" and the such. A really nice touch. It's nice that despite being Mad Hatter/Alice in Wonderland themed, they haven't gone absolutely crazy with colour and made it gaudy and horrid, but have gone for some vintage touches, and soft varying pastel colours and bunting, to take the Mad Hatter and soften him a little into a vintage English tearoom.





As expected, the space is light, bright and relaxed as various mirrors bounce light around the room. Large and impressive cakes sit on cake stands and bell jars dotted around the space, and on the counter sits a display stand of delicious cupcake varieties. Staff are friendly and welcoming, and happy to reel off the various tea flavours when I asked what was available.

The menu has both hot and cold drinks, and offers breakfasts, salads, sandwiches and light lunches, as well as a full afternoon tea.

In this instance, we can't stop looking at a large salted caramel cake which seems to be giving us the eye from a stand on one side of the room, and decide to have a slice each, and share a pot of tea.



The cake was delicious, and we were offered cream with them too should we want it. It was marvellously sweet and tasty without veering off into "sickly" territory, and naturally it went perfectly with a big pot of tea, which was served with traditional vintage china.

Staff were friendly and social, and informed us that they have only been open for around 5 weeks, so everything was still settling, but from what I can see, they're doing very well, and should hopefully continue to do so!


Although this was only a fleeting and unplanned visit, we enjoyed it, and agreed that we will definitely pop back in whenever we are next in Blackburn, especially as I had my eye on a strawberries and cream cake that was flirting with me from a cake stand on the opposite side of the room, in all its lovely pink splendidness... I shall be trying that one next time!

Well done, Mad Hatters! I wish you luck in your new business! :)

Mad Hatters Cupcakes & Tea Room
15 Town Hall Street
Blackburn
BB2 1AG
07380 942 382
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I remember visiting Spring Cottage during Christmas last year to check out a market event they had on. Although I didn't get into the cafe as it was busy, I found the location and the spirit of the place to be really wonderful, with a great atmosphere, and so I promised myself I'd come back sometime to try the cafe itself. So I did.


I went along on a quiet Thursday morning just as they were opening. I pulled into the car park, loomed over by the lush woodland setting, and walked up to the gates, where I heard a rooster crowing. Lovely.

As I entered the cafe, I was the first customer, and was welcomed warmly by two friendly members of staff who were setting up, and who took my drinks order and left me with the breakfast menu board. The menu board is only small, so I ordered a croissant, and was asked if I wanted it with chocolate or apricot, so I said apricot, thinking it would simply be a jam on the side, or possibly spread for me. More on that shortly...




My Earl Grey arrived in a pretty glass teapot, and so I relaxed, listening to the music, and taking in the cafe. The cafe is really lovely, it's unique in that it's basically a rustic bohemian woodland cafe. Furniture is eclectic, and varies from barstools and regular tables and chairs, to comfortable armchairs and a Central Perk-esque couch. Tables are adorned with fresh flowers and books, and there are posters and books on display as well as to buy. It has a lovely atmosphere.



Now remember the croissant I ordered? The board just said "croissant" so I was just expecting a warmed up croissant with a pot of jam, but what came was a FRESHLY BAKED croissant, with the apricot jam BAKED INTO IT! It was fresh and warm, dusted with icing sugar and served with fruit, and was absolutely sublime! It wasn't just a "croissant", but I suppose that little menu board couldn't go into full details, but what a treat! It makes me ponder the other items on that board too, given that they may be just as surpassing of their simple descriptions!





As I was enjoying this wonderful breakfast, I watched fresh cakes continue to be brought out onto the main counter where the owner hand finished them with a little fruit here, a sprinkle of sugar there, with real care and love. I then saw the scones, and despite not planning to have anything else, I had to order one! It came waaaaaaaaarm and with cream, a lovely quality strawberry jam, and fruit.



Upon chatting with the staff, I found that their daily food menu frequently changes. Although a few well loved stalwarts remain, the daily food offerings are fabulously written on a big piece of baking paper, and displayed for the customers to see. This is a lovely idea... freshly made food, and variation meaning that you can visit repeatedly, still get some of your favourites, but have something new and exciting to try every time you visit!

The cafe also displays above its main bar, a blackboard detailing events going on through the year, such as their current Caribbean festivities, the upcoming Sausage and Ale event, and of course Christmas (for which they have some marvellous sounding plans!).



I had a really lovely time. I can't remember when I've enjoyed breakfast quite so much. The atmosphere is friendly, welcoming, and peaceful, the staff are friendly, warm and welcoming, the food is absolutely wonderful, and I got to give a good morning ear-rub to the café's two lovely dogs, Jean and Patrick, who were outside enjoying the morning sunshine... what more could you want?

I'm most definitely going back!

The Café at Spring Cottage
Rivington Lane
Rivington Village
Bolton
BL6 7SB
(01204) 772 920
www.springcottage.org
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I'd heard of Bakers, but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was. I saw it named as Bakers Tea Room (which appeals to me!), but the internet also lists it as a coffee shop, an ice cream parlour, a gift shop, and other signs list it as a bar and kitchen.

So I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the great thing is that it's actually a mix of all of these things! No wonder they don't have a single label!


This eclectic approach also extends to the décor, which is not akin to anything I've really seen before. It's not a traditional English tea room, nor a coffee shop in terms of design, but more like a themed design, but I don't know what the design is. I'd call it perhaps rustic? Either way, I really like it, it's solid and uses lots of wood, chrome ducting and faux exposed brickwork, and fun decorative elements as well as some bits which are just a bit odd (buckets mounted on the wall anyone?), but I like it. It's unique.







It's split into two areas, a lower area which is more aimed at the coffee shop element, and a rear upper area which has comfy bench seating and larger tables for diners. We initially sat in the lower area as it was quite busy, but after the upper area emptied a little, we retreated up there for a little quiet from a few mums with their little ones (who sounded like they needed a nap!).

The menu is simple but has some good choices, and regularly changes, so there's not an online menu. This is good though, it means you get something new fairly frequently.

We ordered a pot of tea. The Kilner jars stocked behind the bar show a great variety of teas for us tea lovers out there! Good tea too!


From the main menu we ordered a toasted chicken and stuffing sandwich, and the Bakers Burger, both of which sounded great, and I liked the sound of the burger... I wasn't expecting burgers at what was potentially a tea room!

The staff are friendly and helpful, making recommendations, and going out of their way to make customers comfortable and welcome.

The food came in good time, and was presented well. To be honest it looked great!



The burger was juicy and satisfying, and dripping onto the wooden board a bit, not due to fat, but sheer juiciness! The chips that came with it were crisp and delicious. The chicken toasted sandwich was full of flavour and really nice quality. It also came with what looked like a bucket full of fresh salad (!) but we found it to have a cleverly concealed ramekin within the bucket allowing for a normal sized portion. The salad by the way was fresh and very tasty.

As we only popped in to investigate, we thought we might get a scone and a pot of tea or a slice of cake, but ended up getting a big lunch each, meaning we filled ourselves up to the degree of having no room for dessert... rookie mistake! The cakes and ice creams looked great, and now that I know the sort of food and quality to expect from Bakers, I'll definitely be back to give them a try... and some more of the rest of the menu... but... but... try not to overfill myself first... gah, maybe I'll make several visits instead!


There is free parking at the venue, but it's to the left of the shop and not in the small road to the right of it where I accidentally parked, requiring a 17 point turn to get out again. Whoops!

Go along, give them a try, they're good, and showing that local independent places can cut it with the big boys!

 Bakers
247 Blackburn Road
Egerton
Bolton
BL7 9SN
(01204) 306 266

Bakers

by on 14:00
I'd heard of Bakers , but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was. I saw it named as Bakers Tea Room (which appeals to me!), but...
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Leaf on Portland Street hasn't been open long. It can't have been, because a tea room I haven't heard of? Really? Leaf also is really passionate about tea, which is something I like to see. Tea shops that don't just serve tea but are BIG on tea are welcome in a world of artisan coffee blend shops!



This is self evident when you first walk in. The space is huge compared to what you'd expect given the shop front, and due to the nature of the building has a very spacious New York Loft feel to it, complete with iron girder columns. As you walk in, there's a large display on the wall showing tea blends of all varieties and tastes, with jars of loose leaves for you to smell and read about. For a tea lover like me, this is very much a kid-in-a-candy-store moment!

I'm approached by a member of staff who I later found out was called Carrie (or Cassie? I'm so sorry I forgot!!), but who was superb, telling me about the tea blends, suggestions on ones to try based on my tastes, and enthusing about their ethos, telling me about upcoming free tea tasting sessions. A friendly and enthusiastic knowledgeable member of staff greeting you as you enter is always a damn good sign in my book!





I had a wander around to take some photos. The space is really huge, and Carrie told me that there was also a large basement area that was event space too. I took my seat and read the menu. It was nice to see a good array of teas in the menu too, as well as some delicious looking lunch and snack options. I was a touch late for breakfast, but the staff were accommodating enough to still allow me to have some granary toast and marmalade.

After discussing with Carrie about tea blends, I decided to go for a flavoured black tea, and went for Wild Cherry. This was brought over to me in a modern glass teapot baring the old adage of "Where There's Tea There's Hope" (I quite agree!) . The tea was delicious, but as it was also a black tea, I thought I'd try a little milk.

I went to the counter and asked Carrie for milk. At first she simply looked at me and didn't react, so I thought she hadn't heard me. Then I realised as her eyes widened that she was in fact trying to compute what I'd asked for without recoiling in terror. "With wild cherry?" she asked, aghast. She turned to another member of staff behind the bar and asked "can I have some milk... for this gentleman's Wild Cherry Tea...", informatively. The other member of staff bent backwards, "really?!" she asked in astonishment. I didn't take even the slightest bit of offence or insult at this, because this was clearly two people who enjoyed their tea, and knew their tea well! We laughed, and said how with it being black tea it could still work, similar had worked with various chai teas and lattes, so I gave it a try.



It was alright, but eh... better without the milk. The staff were right. I'll remember that next time. TRUST THE STAFF! This impressed me actually. It's nice to see somewhere with as much enthusiasm for tea as a lot of places have for coffee.

The toast and marmalade was tasty, and I was now thoroughly warmed up from the cold December air of Manchester. Carrie told me that as the tea shop was under offices, their heating pipes ran down through the tea shop, keeping it perpetually toasty warm. Handy! 



Before I left I  had a look at some Christmas gift sets they were selling, as well as a framed receipt, which on closer inspection I saw was their very first sale, their first transaction. That's a nice thing to commemorate and display, and shows a pride in what they're doing.

In short, Leaf is spacious, modern, pleasantly furnished and decorated and fairly priced for both food and drinks, as well as being run by a friendly, knowledgeable and efficient staff.

Well done Leaf, I'll be back soon!



LEAF
113-115 Portland Street
Manchester
M1 6DW
(0161) 883 1138
www.thisisleaf.co.uk

Leaf

by on 11:30
Leaf on Portland Street hasn't been open long. It can't have been, because a tea room I haven't heard of? Really? Leaf also i...
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