Venue: The River Restaurant (The Lowry Hotel, Manchester)
Date: 10th February 2019
Price: £20 per person (this was a special offer via Wowcher)
Myself and three friends recently visited the Lowry Hotel in Manchester for an afternoon tea to celebrate my friend’s birthday.
We paid £20 each for the afternoon tea with a glass of champagne. We took advantage of a special offer on Wowcher for this. We simply ordered and paid for it online, then contacted the Lowry to book ourselves in. We then had to present the Wowcher print off and barcode on arrival at The River Restaurant. The usual cost of the afternoon tea with a glass of champagne is £33 per person.
We were seated and waited on by a lovely member of staff called Mohammed. He handed us all a menu, which listed exactly what we would be getting for our money, plus a selection of teas to choose from. We perused this whilst Mohammed collected our glasses of champagne.
Mohammed returned with the champagne and asked which type of tea we would like to order. I opted for the classic English Breakfast. He then asked if our table had any dietary requirements. I advised that I would require a vegetarian version of their afternoon tea, as I don’t eat meat. (We had also advised of this when we rang up to book).
The tea and sandwiches arrived at the same time. I have to admit to being slightly disappointed with the vegetarian selection. My meat-eating friends were presented with:
* Roast beef with Dijon mayonnaise and red onion on an open sandwich
* Heritage tomato and mozzarella with pesto on rosemary focaccia bread
* Smoked trout mousse with lemon and dill cream on a brown bloomer
* All butter puff pastry sage and apple sausage roll
I was presented with:
* Heritage tomato and mozzarella with pesto on rosemary focaccia bread x2
* Cheese and Branston pickle on white bread
* And a very tiny spicy chickpea tart
I felt a bit let down with having two identical sandwiches, although they tasted good! The focaccia bread was lovely. I just think that there are so many possible vegetarian options – egg mayonnaise, hummus and roasted vegetables, avocado, falafel, halloumi… it could’ve been better. My friends enjoyed their selection, the roast beef sandwich and sausage roll especially.
Next came the sweet treats – always the best part in my opinion! We all had the same here:
* Tequila sunrise gateaux with blood orange
* Toffee apple caramelised puff pastry and vanilla cream
* Lemon tart with Italian meringue and candied lime
* Dehydrated hazelnut mousse with chocolate and cappuccino
* Scone with jam and clotted cream
Four scones arrived at the table – two plain and two fruit. We were happy with this but I imagine there wouldn’t be an issue if you preferred to have all plain/all fruit. I think the toffee apple sweet was probably my favourite although it was a bit messy to eat! The scones were also really tasty and not too dry; I had a plain one. The mousse was slightly sickly in my opinion as it was too chocolatey (is there such a thing…?!)
Overall I enjoyed my afternoon tea but I’m glad that I didn’t pay full price for it, given the lack of variety with the vegetarian sandwiches/savouries. The rest of the food, plus the tea, champagne and service from the staff was excellent. The River Restaurant itself is located on the first floor of the hotel, which is accessible by stairs and lift.
There are other variations of an afternoon tea at The River Restaurant (all prices are per person):
* Traditional afternoon tea – tea, sandwiches/savouries, plus sweet treats and scone for £22.50
* Afternoon G&Tea – as traditional but with a gin and tonic for £33
* Bellini afternoon tea – as traditional but with a Bellini for £33
You can find out more information on how to book here.
It’s a shame the vegetarian options aren’t better, you think there must be plenty of requests from veggie/vegan customers. I’m glad you enjoyed the afternoon for the most part though.
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Yeah I think it was a tad lazy on their part unfortunately! Thanks for reading 😊
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I haven’t been to afternoon tea before but have always been intrigued by the idea. I love that everything is basically finger food. Mmm, everything looks delicious! They did a great job with the presentation and the experience. Glad you enjoyed your time there!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
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Afternoon tea is one of my favourite dining experiences! You must try it someday 😊 Thanks for reading!
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I’ve always been interested in having afternoon tea, but the selection of foods has never been to my tasting haha. It is disappointing to see that the vegetarian variety was small compared to non-vegetarian food, I have found that tends to be the same with other food establishments. The desserts do look incredible though.
Great review!
Jess xxx || http://littlepinkduckblog.blogspot.co.uk
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Yeah luckily the desserts made up for the sandwich debacle! 😂 Thanks for reading xx
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This sounds like a great deal for those who eat everything! I’ve only been for afternoon tea once since going vegan and it was awful. We’d told them in advance and they said they could do it. I was served salad sandwiches and a tiny fruit tart, that’s it. It was such a let down and we paid full price for it!! x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
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Oh my god, that sounds terrible, as if that was all they gave you – and at full price too! Such a shame when places can’t/won’t cater properly for vegetarians and vegans. It’s cutting off a whole host of custom in my opinion. Thank you for reading 😊
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Glad you enjoyed it! Some afternoon teas really are expensive though and arguably not worth the money. I’ve only had 2, in 2 different places and they were so different but both so yummy. I love the cakes the best too!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
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Agreed that some can be overpriced for sure! Yeah, as much as I do enjoy the savouries, the desserts always win for me 😂 Thanks for reading!
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Afternoon tea is my absolute favourite! It looks like you had the most amazing time, I wish there were some vegan options though!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
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Yeah, the veggie options were lacking enough so I have no idea what they’d even offer for vegans! Thank you for reading 😊
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We adore afternoon tea! We haven’t had it in a while go be fair, always such a great treat, especially for an occasion!
Jessica & James | http://www.foodandbaker.co.uk
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Yeah it definitely is! Thanks for reading 😊
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New blog follower! I wished we had afternoon tea places here in the US! Wow that roast beef sandwich looked so scrumptious 😋 Glad to hear the focaccia 🍞 was tasty, it’s one of my favorite sandwich breads to eat!
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com
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Ahh thank you and welcome! Agreed, I love foccacia bread too and it was delicious 😍 Such a shame that you don’t tend to get afternoon tea much in the States. I guess it’s more a quintessentially British thing! Thanks for reading 😊
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It’s such a shame they hadn’t given you more choice of vegetarian options, I think places forget of the wide variety of options out there and just go for the traditional cheese and tomato. I’ve found this in a few places I’ve visited previously. Although I don’t class myself as a vegetarian I always catch myself more drawn to the veggie options when I eat out because I don’t eat a huge amount of meat.
Sounds like the puddings were delish though!
Kayla | http://www.kaylajayne.co.uk
xo
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Exactly, as great as cheese and tomato is, there’s so much more they could’ve done! I’m the same as you, before I gave up meat, I’d still be quite likely to pick a veggie dish when I was eating out. They can be just as – or sometimes more – tasty than a meat dish! Thank you for reading 😊
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Great review. Very thorough and great pictures. I love tea but we don’t have many places like this in the USA. Too bad that the vegetarian options left a little to be desired. Thank you for sharing.
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Yeah I believe that A/Tea isn’t such a big thing in the States, which is a shame! Thank you for reading 😊
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