We were in Manchester this weekend and whilst having a stroll around the Northern Quarter, came across this fabulous vintage tea room called Sugar Junction. I have been feeling quite uninspired recently by what there is on offer in Leeds to fit into this market, but this place is a proper gem. I wonder if they would consider opening something similar here?
You could almost be forgiven for walking straight past the cool green exterior of this place, except for noticing the handful of tea cups suspended from the ceiling glinting in the window. When you walk in the door, you are not overfaced by this being a vintage tea room either (which my husband was very happy about). It’s a subtle melange of 1960s sitting room and modern warehouse conversion. It manages to be cosy but airy, balancing exposed bricks with wallpaper and standard lamps, and softening high ceilings with chandelliers. There is an impressive array of cake on display, and staff look comfy in their own vintage style.
Importantly I need to mention that there are 20 types of tea available here – some I hadn’t ever seen on a menu before, like ‘Wendy’ and ‘Dancing Lover’s Bloom’. Most were leaf teas, served in vintage tea pots with strainers, which somehow makes it about the ‘ceremony’ of drinking tea, and feels quite decadent. I had a lovely China Congou peach tea, which was light and refreshing.
Their lunch menu is short and sweet, mostly sandwiches, pate and soup. Tom enjoyed the tequilla and cranberry pate, and I had a fabulous honey roast ham sandwich. Both were very generous portions, and in fact we spotted people sharing a sandwich in order to still have room for cake! We’ll remember that for next time. It was all home made and beautifully presented on vintage mismatched crockery.
Moving on to the cake – yes they had beautiful looking loaf cakes and the like, but really it was all about the scones. They were fruity and light and came with a silver and glass stand containing the clotted cream and strawberry jam which had dainty teaspoons suspended from the handle… (see photo to see what I mean.) This touch of presentation was very pleasing and really made it a talking point.
The atmosphere was pretty relaxed, and we commented on it feeling like a proper ‘Sunday’ thing to do as we whiled away a good hour there. It was comfy, there was a bookshelf of books you could borrow to read and it didn’t break the bank at about £8 a head for lunch, tea and cake. Excellent.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
