Restaurant review: Late Summer Afternoon Tea at King Street Townhouse, Manchester

About
Latest Posts

Adam Lowe is an award-winning author, editor and publisher from Leeds, now based in Manchester. He runs Dog Horn Publishing and is Director and Writing Coordinator for Young Enigma, a writer development programme for LGBT young people. He sometimes performs as Beyonce Holes.

Latest posts by Adam Lowe (see all)

Restaurant review: Late Summer Afternoon Tea at King Street Townhouse, Manchester - 8 August, 2023
Meet our cover star: Lady Bushra - 28 January, 2023
Film review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism (Amazon Studios, 2022) - 30 September, 2022

Today we were lucky enough to be invited to try the brand new ‘Late Summer’ Afternoon Tea Menu that’s just launched at King Street Townhouse, Manchester.

The afternoon tea is available either with tea (£30pp) or champagne (£42.50pp). We opted for a refreshing peppermint and a sweet, floral kam-junga Himalayan tea.

The sandwiches served up were great and included some familiar choices with daring twists. We loved the rich brie and pear in cocoa bread – the gentle bitterness of the cocoa rising to meet the whipped richness of the brie.

An uncontroversial inclusion, the delicious grainy mustard egg mayonnaise on cereal bread, offers just a hint of fire amid the creaminess.

The chopped tuna salad on spinach bread was a comforting friend, while the chicken pesto wrap provided a neat fix of protein and basil for even the faintest palate.

The list was rounded out with the spiced prawn and cucumber on tomato bread, which we found to be a delightful mix of sharp, spicy and delicate flavours.

The scone with clotted cream and jam was, of course, the main event, and we were very pleased. It was satisfyingly crumbly in the mouth but reassuringly cohesive – it didn’t fall to bits when cut or handled, which is a test of both freshness and skill. I doff my cap to the patisserie chef for his deft touch. We had ours with raspberry jam but strawberry and apricot jams were also available.

For desserts, there was a sumptuous green tea and lime cake with strawberry, white chocolate and floral garnish that makes it simply beautiful. It was great to look at, but the taste itself was just the kind of light and summery bouquet we needed.

The blackcurrant and vanilla macaron was my favourite: tart blackcurrant gel against creamy vanilla bean ganache, with almond macaron shells. The light blue and white icing was reminiscent of holidays by the sea. The whole melted slowly on the mouth.

The malted double chocolate cake was a spongy, velvety take on a Malteaser. Dusted with gold, this was a luxurious treat indeed. This will suit those with sophisticated and classic tastes.

The lemon tartlet was an exquisite complement of textures: crunchy base, smooth and sweet lemon, topped gooey meringue and honeycomb. This was my husband’s favourite, and for good reason. It was simple, elegant and astonishingly well done.

The ‘Late Summer’ Afternoon Tea Menu from King Street Townhouse comes highly recommended.