The afternoon tea that embodies Teesside - Skelton Mill Tea Rooms

The humble parmo. I've spoken about my love for it before and explained what one is. A parmo is a Middlesbrough 'delicacy' which includes fried chicken, bechamel sauce and CHEESE! In Middlesbrough, it will be hard for you to find someone who doesn't like the parmo. Recently my Mum came across an afternoon tea that included one rather than the usual sandwiches. That's like two of my favourite things combined into one which meant I had to visit and try it out.

Located around 10 minutes from Middlesbrough, Skelton Mill Tea Rooms is just off a country road surrounded by greenery. As well as the tea rooms, on the site, they have glamping pods and a vintage/shabby chic shop.

Having booked our time slot and pre-ordered our afternoon tea, it wasn't long before we were presented with a stand full of gorgeous food and a plate of chips. The staff were super friendly and couldn't do enough to ensure we were happy.

With our parmo and chips, the tea rooms included two pots of garlic sauce, a bowl of salad and some buttered bread. Although I had not long had my breakfast, I practically wolfed down my portion as it was really tasty and something so different for an afternoon tea.

After the parmo, it was time for the scone. As I'm not one for fresh cream, and they'd already pre-creamed the scones, they kindly gave us another scone (raspberry and white chocolate) for me to have with butter and jam. This was the perfect consistency for a scone, very light but also solid enough to ensure it didn't crumble on my plate. The flavours of this one were really nice and complimented each other perfectly. I'd definitely be back for 'cream tea' if it included these scones.

Last but not least was the cake. In my opinion, the selection of sweet treats wasn't the best with only a small chocolate cake and a little jelly and custard, but to be honest, by this point I wasn't bothered. The parmo and the scone filled me up, so I was happy with the delicious food I'd already had. Having said that, I did spot some delicious cakes on the sideboard, so I definitely think I'd pop back just for cake.

Myself and Mum thoroughly enjoyed our time at Skelton Mill Tea Rooms. The staff were exceptionally nice, the food was so good and the price was very reasonable. For our parmo afternoon tea for two, it was only £20! Usually, you'd pay that much per person at some places.

If you live in the area I would definitely say you need to visit if you are fond of the humble parmo.

For more afternoon tea reviews, click here!

Taking tea with Valerie - Patisserie Valerie afternoon tea, Durham

Among my friends and family, I'm known as someone who goes out for food quite often. Anywhere someone is interested in going, I've probably been and can give an in-depth review, or direct them to my blog (#pageviews). So when Christmas rolled around, Matt's Uncle decided it would be a great idea to buy us an afternoon tea for two at Patisserie Valerie, which has not long opened in Middlesbrough. Having only ever been for cake and a warmed croissant sandwich, I couldn't wait to try their afternoon tea.

After an especially busy period at work, I took a random Friday off and we ventured to Durham for the day to redeem our afternoon tea. From where we'd parked, we walked up the stairs to ground level and Patisserie Valerie was staring us right in the face.

We ventured to the cafe around 2.30pm, after a wander around the town, trying to spot the Marvel Avengers cast, and were seated immediately. Our afternoon tea didn't take long to come out and it looked packed with yummy treats.

We switched out a few of the sandwiches and were left with chicken, sun-dried tomato and pesto, egg mayonnaise and ham and mustard. As an extra in this afternoon tea, we both had a small, warm, vegetable quiche which was a lovely addition. Having worked our way through the sandwiches, which were very fresh and tasty, we were on to the scone level.

We had a plain and a fruit scone accompanied by four different mini pots of jam, clotted cream and butter. The scones were the perfect mix of firm, yet soft, and when accompanied by unlimited cups of tea, were great.

Finally, we reached the top level, the cake! It was a bit disappointing that we only had one of each type of cake, apart from the chocolate eclair, which meant we had to split the small servings of cake. I tried the chocolate and the carrot which were both very nice.

Overall for a 'chain' cafe, this afternoon tea was of a very high standard. Patisserie Valerie pride themselves on their top-notch cakes and their afternoon tea didn't falter on creativity or quality. For £25 for two, this afternoon tea is very reasonable and could be taken whenever you fancy it.

How to put together the best Afternoon Tea

I've been out for my fair share of afternoon tea. I've tried the fancy establishments, the casual and the unusual. I love the ritual of venturing out to enjoy copious amounts of tea, filling up on sandwiches and scones and finishing with sickly treats. I know some don't 'get' afternoon tea and that's fine but I like chilling out for a few hours with some delicious grub and a warm cuppa.

Recently I went for afternoon tea at a local venue and was so deeply disappointed. I try not to be an afternoon tea snob, but I'm afraid that's what I've turned into. Following this, I wanted to lay out what I would say makes the best afternoon tea experience.

1. The first is the most important in my eyes. There must be unlimited tea. I don't like to go out to afternoon tea, be handed a cup of tea and then after I've slurped that, be told I need to purchase another. No, thank you. I need a teapot full, will additional hot water, and if this runs out I want to know I'm okay to ask for more. To be honest, it's the cheapest part of the afternoon tea, so why shouldn't we have as much as we want?

2. Fresh sandwiches with flexibility in the fillings. There is nothing worse than getting to your booked afternoon tea and discovering it features sandwiches you despise but you can't change it because they were pre-made hours ago. I think there should always be an option to change the sandwiches if you like as it's your afternoon tea. I'm not saying that they should let you have egg mayo even if it's not an option, but maybe to double up on sandwiches you like and ditch the ones you don't. This also ensures that the sandwiches are freshly made and haven't been sitting around getting soggy developing crusty edges.

3. Warm, homemade scones with the fillings on the side. Having a toasty, freshly-made scone arrive on your platter is the dream. It just adds that little extra to your afternoon tea which makes you feel giddy inside. Leaving the jam, cream (and butter if you're like me) on the side is an absolute must. There is enough controversy around what goes first, the jam or the cream, that you can't be deciding that for people. Also, how do you know how someone likes their scone? I don't like cream so if I see a scone already filled up coming my way, I feel sorely disappointed.

4. Cake. Cake. Cake. Having a good cake selection is a must. I love to see at least three different cakes adorning the top tier of the platter. The variety just adds options to the afternoon tea and ensures that people will like a bigger majority of the cakes available. Also, there must be one of each available for everyone partaking in afternoon tea. Making people fight over cake is a no-go. This is a relaxing past time which I don't want spoiling when someone takes the last piece of chocolate cake and I'm left with Victoria sponge cake!

This may sound a little over the top, but for people who enjoy afternoon tea, I think we all understand the elements that go together to make the best ones.

Who else agrees with my points and what other musts are there for a great afternoon tea?

Take some time to relax

Each and everyday we are kept busy by work, chores or activities and sometimes it all gets a bit too much. We can get stressed out which affects our wellbeing by leaving us with a lack of energy, bad health and aches and pains. It also affects us mentally giving us a lack of focus, insomnia and a making it difficult for us to relax.



By taking some time to indulge in relaxation we will be doing our body the world of good. Benefits of this include a reduced risk of catching a cold, easing acne, keeping us slim by reducing the stress that will make us want to eat, keeping your heart healthy and making us happier^.

I've created a list of ideas of things you can do when you are stressed and need a little bit of calm in your life.

• Indulge in some relaxation. Doing gentle stretches and focusing on your breathing can make you feel calmer and more in control. Mind has some great relaxation and breathing exercises you can do when you have some free time on your hands.
• Take a bubble bath. I think this is my answer to everything but it always makes me feel better. Taking some time to mull over your thoughts in a cosy warm bubble bath puts me at ease.
• Write a list of what you have to do. If you have a million and one things running through your head it might be best to write it all down to put it in perspective. Also, mark these as to what is most important and also note how long it will take. Get the quick ones ticked off right away and you'll feel much better seeing items being crossed off.
• Do something you enjoy. Whether it be baking, reading or walking, take some time to get into a hobby and enjoy yourself. That time away from your stress will make you feel ten times better.
• Exercise! Do we have to?! Yes. Exercising can boost your self-esteem and your mood, improve your quality of sleep and reduce your risk of stress and depression. Sounds like something we all should be doing more of!
• Getting to bed early. Following on from exercise, it is important that we fuel our bodies properly and get the right amount of sleep. We all know how we feel when we wake up from a few hours of sleep. Not good, very cranky and agitated. Not very relaxed now is it.
• Spa day! If you can take a day off work why not take a trip to your local spa? Step away from your busy life and pamper yourself for the day.

Will you be taking some more time out to relax? What do you like to do to relax?

*Collaboration with Time4Sleep - all content my own except where credited.

Falling down the rabbit hole - Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea at How Do You Do

After a glowing review from Katie about How Do You Do's Mad Hatters afternoon tea, I decided that I had to visit. Although it was all the way out in Whitley Bay, around an hour away from me, I thought it sounded too good to pass up on. I showed my partner in crime when it comes to afternoon tea, my mum, the menu and she was sold too. We are always on the lookout for new, exciting afternoon tea!

We arrived at the venue a little early for our booking, but towards the end of their afternoon tea service. There were many people quite the way through their cakey delights so we had an idea about what we were about to receive. When we were settled the waitress brought over a pot of tea, themed of course, which was spouting smoke. Very cool.

She then brought out the food and explained what everything was. We had ham and mustard sandwiches (the yellow ones), egg mayo and cheese & chutney (the green ones). These were nice but lacked a lot of filling. That was a bit disappointing but we carried on munching. With the sandwiches was a plain scone each with jam and cream which was nice and warm, a lovely colour and very tasty.

After these were wolfed down it was on to the tray of goodies. There was little 'drink me' cream soda bottles, marshmallows, macarons, mini doughnuts, meringues and Petri-dishes of jelly. They were all lovely, although the macaron was questionable, but after it all, we were still hungry which is not normal for an afternoon tea. Usually, we are full to the bring with sugar and carbs. We ordered another pot of tea (which they charged us for, blah, we need bottomless tea!) and sat for a while contemplating chips.

For £12.95 each, it was a reasonable afternoon tea but there were too many fiddly bits and not enough substance. I would have liked maybe another scone and some more sandwich filling to keep me happy!

Would this be something you'd like? Have you been?

Ladies Afternoon Tea at Crathorne Hall with Butterwick Hospice Care

Having afternoon tea is one of my favourite things to do. I love the savoury and the sweet all mixed into one tasty little sitting. Luckily for me, I was invited to a special ladies afternoon tea recently at Crathorne Hall, organised by Butterwick Hospice Care. I arrived at 1pm on a sunny Thursday in February with some work colleagues and we browsed the few stalls that were set up. There were people selling many different things including jewellery, cakes and little bits and bobs. A stall that caught my eye was the Gingerbread Mam, selling lots of ginger related products including ginger wine, ginger syrup, ginger parkin and of course gingerbread men! Later on, in the event we got to hear from Liz, the Gingerbread Mam, about her 'ginger' journey to where she is now! She has come so far attending lots of farmers markets across the North East and now she is even stocked in Fenwicks Newcastle and York. I've picked up a ginger syrup sponge which I had a little taste of at the event and it was yummy! I can't wait to have it with some ice cream. After we heard from Liz, Adam Prest, a local renowned florist, took the spotlight to do some live arranging and talk us through his career up to now. He has travelled all over the world working at prestigious weddings and events. His arrangements are so unique and different to the normal run of the mill as he uses only flowers that are in season and really pays attention to what his clients want and brings his own ideas to the table.

On to the main event, the afternoon tea! On a table of eight, we were served two-tiered stands with a selection of sandwiches and cakes. To accompany this they brought a slate tray full of normal and fruit scones as well as bowls of cream and jam! To my dismay, there were only three of everything on the stands so we didn't all get to have one of each.

I started with the sandwiches (as you do) having a cucumber one, ham and an egg. My favourite was the ham! It was so delicious and didn't have any horrible chewy bits in like some do. After I'd eaten my three sandwiches I really wanted more but alas we were all out. Next, it was on to the scones. I was pleased with my massive bowl of strawberry jam and lots of butter but a bit disappointed that the scones seemed to be a little over baked.

Last but not least it was on to the cakes. As we were all unsure of what each other wanted to take, and we were still craving more sandwiches (seriously I was on the verge of asking for more), not many of the cakes were eaten. I tried a chocolate tart which was very nice and then I had a bite of the pistachio cake which I didn't really think tasted very nutty but it was a lovely little cake. I didn't try the other items which were a berry Eton mess and victoria sponge cake but I'm sure they were lovely too as the other guests on our table seemed to polish these off! I had a lovely afternoon at Crathorne Hall and it raised money for a great cause. For £22 I think its great value and a great afternoon tea.

The Treebridge Hotel Afternoon Tea Review

For Mum's birthday, we decided to try another location on the Gazette's list of places to try in Teesside for afternoon tea. In January, we visited number two on their list - Starters in Middlesbrough - it was okay but we are still looking for something better.
From the list, we chose the Treebridge Hotel in Middlesbrough and got ourselves booked up on a Tuesday afternoon. As we went during the week it was extremely quiet and there was no one else around. It didn't take long for our stand of food to arrive, accompanied by special plain sandwiches for my sister, little jars of jam and copious amounts of tea.

The sandwiches available included prawn mayonnaise, egg and cress, ham and mustard and chicken with chive dressing and mixed leaves. I mostly just ate the egg sandwiches as I don't like prawns but I did try the ham and the chicken and they were good. 

Next, it was on to the scones. Now I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on scones but I found these to be very flat and crumbly like they had been handled too much. I ate my fruit one and it was nice but it broke apart very easily when I tried to cut it open. I didn't fancy the cheese so my sister ate that which she seemed to enjoy.  During our food, we were offered more tea which we accepted. It was all included which I was pleased about!

Finally, it was on to the cake. There seemed to be a good few choices on the top plate with various flavours. When we started to tuck in we were very underwhelmed. The cheesecake was not nice at all, I couldn't actually tell you what flavour it was, me and my sister both left this. Then it was on to the red velvet, I wasn't a fan, but then again I just don't understand red velvet cake anyway. I'm not really one for macaroons so this didn't excite me, then it was on to the chocolate monarch. This was tasty, not the best chocolate cake I've eaten but the best of a bad bunch and I ate it all.

This afternoon tea was £15.95 per person of which I had to pay £5 each as a deposit when booking. Although the Treebridge Hotel is a beautiful setting and the look of the afternoon tea was lovely, I was disappointed by the detail that had gone into it. The scones were flat and the cakes weren't the most appetising. I was however pleased by the offer of more tea. You always need more tea at an afternoon tea.

Even though I'm not keen on the afternoon tea here I can tell you they do fabulous food! I'd definitely recommend here for a nice steak or a Sunday lunch.

Starters Afternoon Tea Review in Middlesbrough

2014 was the year of the afternoon tea. I think I must have had at least one a month which I definitely didn't complain about. I tried out Betty's Tea Rooms in Northallerton, Let There Be Crumbs in Sunderland and The Vermont Hotel in Newcastle.  This year I thought I might try more afternoon tea venues in Teesside rather than venturing elsewhere! The Gazette (our local paper) put together a list of the top 10 places to get afternoon tea in Teesside and me and my mum have decided to try and visit them all. First up was Starters as it is right next door to the cinema and we were off to see Into the Woods. Starters is a restaurant located in Middlesbrough which previously had another restaurant in Yarm. The idea is that they sell starter size portions of food so that you are able to pick a few. A bit like tapas but better as you can get the Teesside local cuisine of parmo! I'm not sure when Starters began doing afternoon tea as it was a surprise to see them on the top 10 list. We decided we'd try Starters' afternoon tea after visiting Cineworld to see a film. We were quickly seated and brought our pots of tea.  I'm quite a fan of a strong tea, my favourite being Yorkshire Tea, but this was quite bland and the pots were very small. With an afternoon tea, I like to have unlimited tea, so it was unfortunate that when we asked for more we were presented again with another small teapot which I had to pay extra for.

When we were eventually brought our stand, after around 20 minutes of waiting, we were pleasantly surprised by the look of all the food. I was very excited to tuck in and started with the sandwiches of which there was a selection of ham, prawn mayonnaise, coronation chicken and cheese savoury. They were all really nice and I quickly moved on to my fruit scone. This had been warmed up, so was deliciously squishy. I had mine, like I always do, with butter and jam and it was very yummy.

It was then on to the dessert plate which seemed full of different treats. We weren't made aware of what everything was so we had to guess, taste testing along the way. As we were quite full from the other two plates we took a few of the cakes home. They were all okay but none of them stood out which was a shame as they looked so good.

Overall for £10.95pp, I would say this is a good afternoon tea. I enjoyed the different selection of sandwich fillings, no egg & cress, cucumber or salmon sandwiches which can get boring.  The scone was very lovely, not crumbly and dry like some I've had, and the dessert plate was brilliantly presented. Having said that we've had much better in other venues in terms of the amount of tea served (we need lots of tea!), the taste of desserts and better sandwiches.

Have you visited Starters for afternoon tea? What did you think?

Cedar Court Grand Hotel, York - Afternoon Tea Review

After a disappointing trip to the Cedar Court Grand Hotel in October, they kindly invited us back to enjoy their normal afternoon tea (as opposed to the Mad Hatter's afternoon tea which we didn't like as it was all too sugary!). We had expectations that this would be better than the last and these were met as we all left happy this time.

When we arrived we were directed to a different room than last time on the ground floor. It was spacious, quiet and very bright - brilliant for a ladies afternoon tea. The waiter came over and asked us for our tea/coffee order and we then waited eagerly for our food to arrive.

First up was the sandwiches which they brought a lot of including smoked salmon, egg mayonnaise, beef and pepper mayonnaise and ham and mustard. All the ones I tried were lovely, apart from the beef which was a little chewy but I had my fill of the others to make up for it!

Next was the scones and cakes! These were brought on little cake stands full to the brim with lovely looking treats! There were two scones each; one plain and one fruit accompanied by cream and a selection of jams. On the cake tiers was a chocolate delice which was SO chocolatey, quite sickly really but I had a good go at eating it. There was also a rhubarb and custard cone, banoffee cream pot and a lemon cupcake. The cone was lovely as it was filled with custard but I thought the banoffee pot was a bit too sugary. As for the cupcake, I didn't even try it. Call me a cupcake snob but I couldn't bear to try it as it was so dense and dry. Others said it was okay, but I had no interest in trying it. Like I say, cupcake snob...

Photo credit to Married to a Geek

Overall I have to say I really enjoyed this afternoon tea. The sandwiches and scones were top-notch as well as the presentation and overall atmosphere. As was the problem with the Mad Hatters afternoon tea, for me the sweet section was too sweet. As one of the girls said, having each of these desserts by themselves would be okay but it doesn't seem like they should all be together!

If you can suggest any good afternoon tea venues in the North I'm all ears!

*afternoon tea provided free of charge but opinions all my own