Richmond Tea Rooms

Yesterday Bailey and I had been out shopping in town since about 9am and were absolutely starrrrrving! We decided we couldn't be bothered to go home and cook something so lunch in town it was! I remembered having seen a Living Social deal for afternoon tea in a place called Richmond Tea Rooms and despite not having bought the deal, I had mentioned to Bailey that I wanted to try it out sometime.

We found Richmond Tea Rooms to be the most unexpected place as it was tucked down a little road near Canal Street and I don't think we would have ever found it had we not been looking for it. Which would have been a real shame as it is an absolutely beautiful building and great place inside.

Richmond Tea Rooms' décor and menu is inspired by Alice in Wonderland which makes for a very exciting dining location! We love, love, LOVED the amazing mirror that greeted us at the front door, although not too sure if Bailey was keen on me taking a photo of it before we even got inside...

Inside there were lots of nods to Alice's Wonderland with lovely fairytale furniture everywhere and the famous phrases "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" written above the bar.

Unfortunately the place was absolutely packed to the rafters and the manageress told us that she already had four tables' worth of people waiting next door in the adjoining bar The Lodge so we left feeling a bit glum... Until halfway down the road we just decided to go back and wait in The Lodge ourselves!

The Lodge was gorgeous too - decorated in the style of an old English huntsman's lodge and even though we were on the soft drinks, we had a look at the cocktail menu which looked great and decided we are going to take Craig and Francesca there next time they come to Manchester!

We didn't have to wait long at all to be seated in the tea rooms and the manageress was so nice helping us carry our shopping bags through. The menu looked ace - they have a great selection of light bites and exciting teas and the people next to us were having afternoon tea which looked amazing.

I decided to order a Green China Tea with Jasmine Blossom, which arrived very quickly... rather too quickly as the waitress suddenly rushed back apologising profusely that the tea was stone cold! It was really funny and she was so nice that I didn't mind at all. The tea was very nice anyway and another thing I thought was very good was that she told me that if I wanted a top up of hot water to keep the tea going I could just ask.

For our lunches, we both went for little sandwichy type plates. Bailey chose the Richmond Club Sandwich while I had Alice's Rarebit. Both came with yummy cress, salad and some salted Tortilla Chips which were a great accompaniment even though I swapped Bailey my tortillas for his salad - perfect.

Bailey loved his Richmond Club Sandwich, the chicken and bacon were cooked fresh, the bread was perfectly toasted and it was a great portion size. He commented that it was exactly what he wanted after a Saturday of shopping.

My Alice's Rarebit was amazing. I loved the combination of thick, soft, doorstep toast with gorgeous melted cheeses and flavoursome mustard, plus whatever the "secret ingredient" was which made it all amazing.

We loved our trip to Richmond Tea Rooms and thought the food was very tasty, the staff were lovely despite being rushed off their feet and we loved all the little details like the ornate plates and lovely candle holders on the tables. We will definitely be going back to try some of the amazing looking cakes!