Afternoon tea with Sergeant Sausage

Whilst carrying out enquiries for breakfasts in Manchester I came across The Sugar Junction in Tib Street.  Unfortunately they didn’t do a Full English so I had to eliminate it from my investigations, but it didn’t stop me popping in for tea and cake. And boy, what a treat this place was……

Head for Tib Street in the Northern Quarter, the excellent Vinyl Revival is just round the corner.

All very Vintage

 

An excellent selection of teas

 

A wide variety of seating

 

The cake list  

 Tea for two

A cake selection platter is on offer for £6.50

 

This peanut butter & Crunchie milkshake looked incredible

 

Cakes!

 

Even the toilet roll holder was posh!

Upon entering–The Northern Quarter of Manchester is full of cool shops and eateries, but the Sugar Junction stood out as an exceptional one.  Its all very 50s throwback and the ground floor is light and airy, the instant you step inside you know this place means business.   A sign by the door incites you to wait to be seated. The party I was with chose the selection of comfy armchairs and sofa by the standard lamp in the corner. Lots of admiring comments from everyone.  9/10

Service - We were greeted warmly and made to feel very welcome. The menus are done out like newspapers that feature articles mostly about the benefits of enjoying tea and cake. A huge range of teas from classic blends and flowering teas are on offer as well as a selection of yummy cakes.  Our orders were taken with a big smile and arrived quickly.  We were even offered a top up of hot water halfway through our pot, which I thought was a really nice touch.  9/10

Contents–The cake taster platter consists of three (slightly smaller) pieces of cake. I chose chocolate & guinness, pear, raspberry and almond and a jam and peanut butter cookie.

The food–The chocolate and guinness cake was a smooth chocolate with a good moist but firm texture topped with a guinness flavoured buttercream, and yes they went together really well.  The pear, raspberry and almond tasted good, the pear and raspberry complementing each other. Although the almond was only hinted at in the delicious sponge the chopped almonds added a nice crunch.  Finally, the cookie was quite soft in texture and the peanut butter and jam were quite rich, but by this point I was starting to get sugar blindness.  A mention has to go to the Nuts about Tea which was a Sri Lankan black tea with marzipan aroma, containing almond and vanilla extract, which was an excellent brew.  9/10

Value for money–This was a real treat. My cake taster platter was £6.50 and I shared a pot of tea so the whole experience came to just under £9. It was top quality and well worth it. 8/10

 

Veggie option–Not a beef cake in sight. Plenty of Gluten free options too

Overall–The Sugar Junction sets its stall out in an uncompromising way.  Vintage 50s retro throwback melded with gourmet afternoon tea, and it does it very well.  I visited with some friends and we all had a great time. Everyone loved the place and the food and not a bad word was said. Pob was particularly fond of his peanut butter crunchie milkshake, only slightly upset when a morsel of crunchie got stuck in his straw, but a fresh straw was quickly dispatched by the waitress. The staff gave a great service and all look the part.  When we had finished our tea we all sat round in a sugar daze, completely satisfied.  It’s a shame they don't do a full English, although they probably would if you asked them. The Sugar Junction gets a thumbs up from me.  9/10