Richmond Tea Rooms
Susie Stubbs
The arrival of Richmond Tea Rooms in Manchester’s gay village a couple of years ago was a welcome breath of fresh air. Many of the village’s venues can seem a bit morning-afterish in daylight, and settling down amidst its opulent and rather eccentric Alice in Wonderland-inspired decor for a pleasant afternoon break sure beats drinking a coffee in an empty and not-so-fresh nightclub.
The Richmond offers homemade breakfasts, lunches, coffees and stronger stuff for cocktail hour, but we’re here for afternoon tea and can report that this is clearly a serious business here. There are four tea options, with menus designed to serve the minimalist (Alice’s: tea and a cream scone, £6.95) as well as the maximalist (Richmond: cakes, sandwiches, scones, tea and champagne at £23.50).
All scones are accompanied with Tiptree preserves, and there’s an unusually wide selection of teas going, from Keemun to Kwazulu to Imperial Gunpowder. One for the serious tea drinkers among us.
