Exploring Bedford Street Independents

If you're hip and happening living in Middlesbrough you will have heard of the new place to be, Bedford Street. A redeveloped section in central Middlesbrough, Bedford Street hosts a selection of restaurants and bars all fresh and diverse. I wanted to give you a virtual tour along the street and you can see what you fancy from the comfort of your sofa. Then obviously hop a taxi to Bedford Street to fill your boots with great food and drink!

First up is Songbird Bakery. A beautiful little spot selling a wide selection of the cutest and most delicious cakes. If you want somewhere to chill out with a cup of tea and a cake, this is the perfect spot. If you don't have enough time to stick around you can always take some cupcakes away, maybe even pick one up for a friend?

Next on the street is the Nuthatch. For cocktail lovers, this is what Middlesbrough has been crying out for. This sophisticated space boasts a huge menu filled with more alcohol then you could even try to name. The cocktail list is extensive and having personally taste-tested a couple, I can say they taste pretty darn good!

To read more about the Nuthatch and see some fancy photos, head over to Megan's blog - Thumbelina Lillie.

Down from the Nuthatch is Barbarossa Pizza Kitchen & Bar. Barbarossa specialises in creating delicious pizzas from fresh ingredients and cooking them up in their authentic pizza oven. When we visited the restaurant was bustling with all ages with everyone looking to enjoy their food. Definitely somewhere to stop if you're hungry for a pizza!

If you'd like to read about our visit to Barbarossa, click here.

Another micro-pub to add to Middlesbrough's collection although this one is a little larger than the others. The Chairman is a good spot for a casual drink serving a selection of beers, wines and spirits. I ventured here late on a Friday night for drinks trying out some different tasting vodkas including salted caramel and orange. It was a good atmosphere with lots of seating which I loved as I hate standing on a night out! I didn't try it but the Chairman also has a food menu which lots of people are loving.

Taken by Gianni - The G Edit

If you're looking for a good cup of coffee whilst wandering down the street, I suggest you visit Bedford Street Coffee House. Although I'm not a coffee drinker and haven't actually visited here yet, this place looks very trendy and the coffee looks amazing. Here they literally buzz off the coffee offering only the best, presented ready for your Instagram reel.

To read more about Bedford Street Coffee House and Rounton Coffee Roasters visit Gianni's blog, The G Edit.



I'm a real burrito lover so I knew that Mohujos Burrito Bar was going to be one of my favourite additions to Middlesbrough. I was not disappointed. The shop is small as it's only really meant for takeaway although it does have two small tables. The selection to pick from was great and I ended up with a burrito full to the brim of goodness. I will definitely be returning for another, and possibly some nachos!

To read more about Mohujos Burrito Bar check out the Gazette's article.

I love Bedford Street and will be visiting these restaurants again and again. Let me know if you've been to any of the places on Bedford Street and what you think of them!

Pin for later!

SaveSave

English Table Tea Party - Katie Alice Collection Review

Afternoon tea and tea parties are all the rage right now. They used to be for older people but now us young'uns are taking up the lazy pass time eating cakes and scones whilst drinking tea. English Table, one of the UK's leading suppliers and manufacturers of quality design-led tablewear and giftware, asked if I'd like to review some of their products. I browsed their site and found some gorgeous products for all different tastes. I love these items which I've picked from the Katie Alice Collection.

I decided in that in order to make the most of these pieces I would provide the bits and pieces I needed for a tea party. I put a brew on, perfected my scone making and baked a few chocolate cupcakes!

Cottage Flower Cream Wire Cooling Rack - £10.00*
Now I am in my house I have started getting in to baking. In order to cool whatever I make after it has come out of the oven I needed a cooling rack. This rack is so adorable, its in a circle shape with little petal extras to make the space available wider. There are words printed on saying 'bake, eat, enjoy, cake'. It is such a sturdy wire rack which can hold around 10-12 small cupcakes. I think this is great if you want something cute but useful!

Cottage Flower 12 Round Green Silicone Cupcake Cases - £7.00*
When I've seen people make cupcakes before it has always been with the little paper cases. These were something different to use that came in a gorgeous mint colour. The cases are flexible, yet keep their shape when used. It is great that they can be washed out and used again as it saves money but if you want to give cakes away you have to ask for the cases back!

Bird Song Pink Spot Fine China Palace Mug - £4.99*
This is such a cute mug made of fine china. A lot of people say that tea tastes better in a china cup! I love this pale pink colour of this mug with the little white polka dot pattern.

Bird Song Blue Fine China Cup and Saucer - £15.00*
I love this little cup and saucer! It is such a delicate piece that makes you want to drink the tea from it with you pinky held high. The colour is stunning and the bird image is adorable!

English Garden Two Tier Cake Stand - £20.00*
Last but no means least is the English Garden two-tier cake stand. It is absolutely gorgeous! Such a beautiful stand that could be without cakes as a gorgeous centre piece. The flower images on the porcelain plates are so pretty! This is one of my favourite items and I can't wait to have people round for tea and cake with this taking pride of place on my table!

I also received the English Garden jug* which would be perfect for keeping cold drinks in for a barbecue. I couldn't find a link for this on the site but it really is a gorgeous piece that would also work as a vase for some gorgeous summer flowers.

I can't wait to have a proper tea party and invite my friends around to benefit from this lovely stuff!

Cupcake in a Jar - The Cupcake Parlour, Redcar

Cupcake in a jar. We all dream of them. Some of us even get round to making them in their own home but not me. I'd never had one but always wanted one. One day Mum came across The Cupcake Parlour on Facebook, a local cake making business based in Redcar that produces so many gorgeous homemade goodies! Mum got me a large chocolate caramel cake jar which cost £8.50.

The presentation is gorgeous, layered with lots of chocolate, caramel and chocolate buttercream icing. On the top was a load of caramel sprinkled with little chocolate balls. The contents of this jar were gorgeous, the cake, caramel and buttercream icing were all amazing. I did find however that I could have done with more cake as there was a lot of icing which made it a bit sickly. I ate this over a few sittings and it has lasted so well not drying out but staying lovely and moist.

If anyone lives in Teesside I'd definitely recommend trying one of these jars, or any other cakes that The Cupcake Parlour do as I am sure they'd be just as tasty! From what I can see they just do orders on their facebook page so have a snoop at all the pictures of the gorgeous looking cakes!

The Primrose Bakery, Covent Garden - London

The Primrose Bakery is quite famed for their special swirl iced cupcakes and their many cupcake cookbooks that are sold in all shops. They have two actual shops, one in Primrose Hill and the other in Covent Garden. We visited the Covent Garden shop which is a sweet little shop a few streets from the main square with a some tables to sit in.

We've visited the bakery a few times before to take cakes away, and mum even attended a cupcake decorating class, but we hadn't had chance to get a cake and sit down. As it was mum’s birthday we decided to get a pot of tea and sit in. As I was paying for our two chocolate cakes, my treat, I sneakily asked the girls if they could put a candle in mum’s cake. After quite a while waiting for our cakes mum got impatient and asked if we could have them, turns out they didn't have a lighter and told mum this much to her confusion. Why did she need a lighter? They had put the candle in the cake anyway so she soon cottoned on.

After the candle debacle we sat and ate our cakes blissfully sipping our tea. My cake was lovely, there was just the right amount of chocolate buttercream and the sponge wasn't too dry. The decoration was Primrose Bakery’s famed swirl with a little icing flower on top.

If you are looking for a pit stop on your tours of London definitely try the Primrose Bakery for a cupcake!

Halloween Cupcake Decorating - That Cake, Guisborough

As my mum is a keen baker and cupcake decorator, when she spotted a session on in the local area to decorate cupcakes she was right on it booking two places for last Sunday. Now I don't ever pretend to be able to bake or decorate cakes very well, but I try my best... As I've never been to anything like this I didn't know what to expect.

The session took place at That Cake's Tea Room in Guisborough, if you are from the North East area you may have heard of them.

For £9 you received four cupcakes to decorate as well as two drinks (two cups of tea for me!). There are four tables in the tea room and they were all full of people ready to decorate their cakes. We were all given a piping bag and asked what colour/flavour icing we would like (although we all ended up having bit of each others as you can see from my cakes!). Then we were let loose with all the lovely decoration pieces we had on our tables as well as fondant, chocolate bones/skulls and sweets from the other table.

It was a lot of fun to get to decorate my cakes as usually mum does all this when she bakes so I never get a chance. I like to think I did well and that all my cakes look at least a little bit halloweeny/scary. If you can't tell what my cakes are - from left to right: a ghost, a graveyard, a cockroach and then a pumpkin.

That Cake did a great job running the sessions and I think they kept everyone very happy. After everyone had finished decorating their cakes they took pictures of each and posted them on their facebook page. The person whose cakes get the most likes wins tea and cake for two in That Cake's tea room! 

That Cake have decided to do Christmas cupcake decorating sessions due to the success of the Halloween ones. I would definitely recommend getting yourself booked up. It's something different that gets you out of the house for a couple of hours and who doesn't love cake?!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!