During any day of tourism there comes a point were you just need a cup of tea. I don’t even like tea but the act of sitting down, rehydrating and having 20 minutes to reassess can be so simply summarised in the phrase “let’s have a cup of tea”. Which is why, after a morning of silly snapchats round Manchester Art Gallery and a look round Manchester Cathedral, I found myself saying those words. At the time we were sat on a tree stump just outside the Cathedral. As we stood up to find somewhere to have a cuppa, there it was, right behind us, Propertea at Manchester Cathedral.

Propertea is a beautiful, bright tea room with a modern feel. They’ve got the balance between simple, clean modern design and the nostalgia of a British tea room just right. The menu offered a range of drinks and homemade cakes as well as set afternoon teas, scones and snacks. All sounded tempting enough to make us want to return next time we’re in Manchester.

The “tea” in my case took the form of a cold, fizzy pink bottle of rosé lemonade. Despite not liking rose flavoured food there’s something about Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade that I can’t get enough of. While I was living in wildest North Wales I’d sometimes get the craving that could only be cured by trekking across the bridge to Anglesey to visit Waitrose and purchasing a bottle.

My friend Alice is the tea drinker out of the two of us. In the end she went for plain old breakfast tea but she was impressed with the range they had on offer all on display on the shelves behind the counter. Her tea arrived in a pot with a timer to help her pour it into a fresh pot once it had brewed to her liking. Along side that was a small dish of sugar cubes and an adorable little milk bottle. It was enough to make me wish I liked tea.

Knowing we were going to have dinner in an hour or two we went in for just a drink but, after gazing hungrily through the window at a man’s half eaten chocolate cake, we decided it looked too good to miss. Unfortunately, as we ordered one to the share, the waiter informed us they’d sold out (we arrived 30 minutes before closing on a Sunday). He did however suggest try one of their “townies” a peanut butter brownie with raspberry jam in a pastry tart case. We were sold as soon as he said the words peanut butter. Despite our glaring at the man through the window with the last bit of chocolate cake I think we came off better. The townie was delicious and just enough to hit the spot and left us ready to explore some more of the city.

Proper Tea 
at Manchester Cathedral,
Cathedral Yard,
Manchester,
M3 1SQ

http://properteadeveloper.com

(Cross-posted from Wordpress 29th September 2014)