Afternoon tea in Manchester

Halfway up Beetham Tower – aka Manchester’s tallest building – sit the two floors of Cloud 23, a bar offering the best views of any in the city, plus afternoon teas of sandwiches, scones, cakes and unlimited teas and coffees from £30 per person.

Winner of the People’s Choice award for best tea room at the Manchester Tourism Awards, Annie’s is very much a crowd-pleaser. It’s easy to see why, too. Ditching fancy-pants glamour in favour of something altogether cosier, its prerogative is to make you feel right at home. Bonus: it’s owned by Corrie star Jennie McAlpine (aka Fiz Brown).

Perhaps the best-value afternoon tea in the city is this impressive, award-winning independent chocolatier in West Didsbury. Specialising in handmade truffles, brownies, chocolates, cakes and other delicious and decadent things of a suitably sweet slant, Cocoa Cabana offers a range of fantastic afternoon teas – standard, champagne and bottomless. That’s a lot of fancies!

If you want an afternoon tea with a difference, then pan-Asian restaurant Sunset by Australasia really is as different as it gets. For £26.50 per person, you get a high tea in two waves – the first offers salads and sushi with a glass of Australian ‘champagne’, while wave two is a three-tier sweet indulgence.

Housed inside the iconic former Free Trade Hall, the five-star Radisson hotel has two restaurants, including The Library, which hosts afternoon tea. And how delightful it is. Available only at weekends from noon to 4pm, and with live music on a Saturday, it’ll set you back around £34, but it’s well worth it for a taste of proper indulgence.

Had Alice emerged from the rabbit hole in modern-day Manchester and found herself pining for a spot of tea, she may well have ended up at Richmond Tea Rooms. Tucked down a side street in the Gay Village, it’s a space of two halves and the tea room has to be seen to be believed, taking camp to a whole new level.

Open since 1903, The Midland is Manchester’s oldest hotel and was famed for its afternoon tea from the very beginning. A huge refurbishment in 2021 has transformed the tea room and an array of actually-rather-forward-thinking menus are well worth the trip. You can nab vegan and gluten-free options, as well as their traditional and ‘Royal’ selections.

These days, presentation is key. Sure your Nana’s little square sarnies might taste nice, but are they gonna cut it on social media? Sorry Betty, we think not. Menagerie have upped their afternoon-tea-visual game and then some, serving you dashing ferris wheels full of edible delights, from scones to brownies.

Naturally drawn to life’s old-timey pleasures? Then take a trip to Sugar Junction (don’t worry, it’s nothing like Towie’s Sugar Hut). There you’ll find vintage wallpaper, mismatched crockery and enough nostalgia to make you wonder what decade you’re really in. The menu’s pretty trad, too – but expect a couple of surprising treats.

For a touch of Austrian romance in the heart of Manchester, try Vienna Coffee House. Drawing influence from the Austrian capital’s historic Kaffeehaus scene, this city-centre café is a low-key gem. They do a mean high tea – expect all the classics, including some award-winning deli ham sarnies.