Betty's Tea Room, York

Step inside the wonderful world of Betty’s Tea Room in York and it’s like stepping back in time, straight into Downton Abbey. Situated in the heart of the historic city centre, when you go to Betty’s you know you’re in York. Quaint, sophisticated and oozing in class, it’s as traditional as tea shops come, and it’s what we in Britain do spectacularly.

Betty’s Tea Room was first opened in Harrogate in 1919 and has remained true to form since its inception. It’s a family business and four generations and the legacy has been passed through four generations since the founder, Frederick Belmont, opened the first cafe 97 years ago. I’d like to think it hasn’t changed much since its inception, for it has no need to; it is gloriously vintage and authentic, with an art-deco interior, complete with ornate mirrors and flock wallpaper, tea trays with golden handles and silver cake stands piled high. It’s an afternoon of pure indulgence that will leave you feeling warm and nostalgic, just like the place itself.

With folks flocking from up and down the country to visit one of the six Betty’s Tea Rooms in Yorkshire, customers are renowned for queuing out of the door and down the street to get a table inside the famous café. During my day trip to York, we opted for the Stonegate shop rather than the famous flagship eatery for no other reason than that the queue was shorter and I wanted to experience the magic as soon as possible. Neatly positioned in a listed building along a cobbled street, the cosy cafe is located above the shop and bakery downstairs. We queued down the winding wooden staircase whilst looking at the highly impressive and vast Autumn Menu.

Whether you’re after a light lunch, a traditional afternoon tea or a three-course meal, Betty’s offers the finest quality food and a wide selection of hot and cold beverages, all prepared onsite, downstairs in the Craft Family bakery. I opted for a light lunch, mainly because I knew I couldn’t visit Betty’s and not sample one of their delicious-sounding cakes. This is what I chose.

Mushroom quiche with Waldorf, carrot & coriander and mixed bean salads

The mushrooms and thyme were encased in a buttery pastry and the filling was light and fluffy. However, the menu claimed that the quiche was ‘served warm’, when really it should have said ‘served lukewarm’ to be perfectly truthful. I don’t like piping hot food, as I always end up burning the skin off the roof of my ridiculously over-sensitive mouth. Not only that, but I believe food loses its flavour when it’s too hot. However, I do think it should have been a little warmer than this. It was nice to have three very different salads to accompany the quiche. You can’t go wrong with mixed beans, they were tasty and wholesome. I had never tried Waldorf salad previously; the fact that it contained apples was about as far as my knowledge stretched. It was light, crisp and refreshing, made up of apples, grapes and walnuts, all dressed in yoghurt. Couple this with the carrot and coriander, which was also quite sweet, and the savoury mushroom quiche was slightly overpowered. The three salads all had distinctly different, standalone flavours and it almost felt like four different dishes had been scooped onto the plate from a buffet; they didn’t particularly go together, but were enjoyable all the same and it made for a healthy and nutritious lunch.

One of my companions indulged in leek and emmental tortelloni, a sophisticated take on an Italian classic, with the tortelloni cooked to perfection and served with crispy kale, something else which crossed my palate for the first time. Crispy and salty, it reminded me of seaweed, albeit a much healthier version.

The most highly anticipated moment was when it came to tea and cakes. Our engadine torte, vanilla slice and mocha torte were elegantly served on an exquisite three-tiered silver cake stand, along with a pot of traditional English breakfast tea for me and Early Grey for one of my friends. It’s this kind of attention to detail that makes Betty’s a real treat. 

Cakes from top to bottom: Engadine torte, mocha torte and vanilla slice

I selected my Engadine torte from the cake trolley based on aesthetics alone, it looked stunning, and was unlike anything I’d tasted before. A Swiss speciality, this nutty treat is comprised of layers of hazelnut meringue and almond buttercream, with a hint of lemon and topped with hazelnut Medicis. It had a crunchy texture rather than it being soft and spongy, and wasn’t overly sweet.

The service was excellent, with the waiting staff dressed in the appropriate vintage clothing complete with floral-edged serving aprons. Our waitress was polite, friendly and welcoming, making the effort to bring the cake trolley over to us and helping us choose our desserts by taking us through what choices they had on offer on that particular day. At no point did we feel rushed to leave, and I certainly could have spent a couple more hours in the relaxed and cosy surroundings.

A visit to York simply wouldn’t be complete without stopping in Betty’s Tea Room. 

Automatic

Visited on Thursday 1 September 2016

Automatic is one of Bury’s most popular venues; a trendy restaurant/bar in the heart of the town centre, just a stone’s throw away from the Mill Gate Shopping Centre. Whilst it may not be in the most glamorous of locations, the inside is much nicer than the out. It’s versatile when it comes to formality. It can be informal, perfect for a quick lunch in the middle of the day after a morning shopping or a business meeting, or formal, as in the evening the surroundings ooze sophistication.

It boasts a varied menu with something for everybody and the food has a comforting air of home-cooking about it. Breakfast is served from 10.00 am until 11.45 am, featuring everything from hot buttered crumpets to a full breakfast. There’s a lunch menu, served from noon until 4.00 pm, consisting of very reasonably priced sandwiches and ciabattas, and, if you’re on your lunch hour, a dedicated ‘Worker’s Lunch’ menu, where you can order the dish of the day, which changes on a weekly basis, with a soft drink for just £6.00. What’s more, you’re guaranteed to be in and out within the hour. You can’t say fairer than that.

In the evening, there’s a seasonal set-priced menu, where you can have two courses for £10.95 (or three for £14.95) between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm from Sunday to Thursday. Set-priced menus are usually limited in their choices. I normally look at them and know instantly what I’m going to order, as there are only usually one or two choices which appeal to me. This is not the case with Automatic as there is a wide selection starters, main courses and desserts to choose from, some of which are taken from the a la carte menu.

I like a fixed-priced two or three-courser, so I was disappointed when my dining companion was running late, meaning we arrived too late to order from the seasonal special. Not wanting to let this spoil my evening, my thoughts to turned to the fact that at least I would have more choice on the a la carte menu. I searched for something different, not wanting to order a dish that I could have had as part of the early bird deal. Sweet potato and lentil pie was the main course that leapt off the page in my direction. I’m currently in a phase of being obsessed with sweet potato. I was late discovering it, but since I have it has brought so much joy to my life and enhances even the plainest of meals. Baked, boiled, roasted, mash; I enjoy it in all forms.

The pie came and it did not disappoint on the sweet potato front. However, I wouldn’t say it was packed with lentils or the ‘root vegetables’, as the menu promised. There was significantly more sweet potato than I anticipated. I expected the dish to resemble something of a vegetarian cottage pie, packed with lentils and vegetables with a layer of cheesy sweet potato mash on the top. What I actually got was 90% sweet potato with a few veg lying on the bottom of the dish. I mixed the picked red cabbage that came on the side into the pie, which added crispiness to the soft sweet potato. My main complaint would that it was simply too hot to eat. I’m forever burning my mouth and have to be very careful to allow hot food and beverages to cool down before I tuck into them, but this dish was having none of it. It was still steaming after 15 minutes of being sat on my plate, so much so that in the end I had to give in and just get going. I’m a firm believer that food can be too hot and above a certain temperature, the flavour is lost. This marred the enjoyment of my main course slightly.

Lentil & Sweet Potato Pie

Dessert was a classic: sticky toffee pudding. When it comes to sweet treats, Automatic has a fairly limited menu; it’s either a warm pudding or an ice cream sundae. The sponge was moist, covered in sticky treacle toffee, warm, topped with melting vanilla ice cream and lathered in toffee sauce, making for a comforting end to a pleasant meal. It’s the kind of dinner that would be a perfect winter warmer on a chilly evening as we head into autumn and the nights draw in. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Home Sweet Home

Great Northern, Manchester

Visited on Saturday 3 September 2016

Home Sweet Home is one of Manchester’s most popular haunts. It’s an American diner with a difference, mixing the traditional stodgy food with a quaint and cosy home dining room feel, complete with wooden panelling on the walls and mismatched furniture.  It’s a refreshing way to experience the USA without the hustle and bustle that you would normally take as a given.

The original restaurant opened on Edge Street in the Northern Quarter back in 2011 and was an instant hit, complete with scrumptious milkshakes and decadent cakes so colourful they wouldn’t look out of place in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  Over the last five years, this bustling eatery has grown and grown, to the extent that, in October 2015, a second establishment opened in the Great Northern Warehouse.

I’ve visited the original site in the Northern Quarter on a few occasions previously and have yet to have a bad experience. It’s one of those places that you find yourself being drawn back to time and time again. When a close friend hinted that she’d like to go there to celebrate her 21^st birthday, we decided to mix things up a bit and try the new venue.

The Great Northern version of Home Sweet Home certainly has more of a restaurant feel to it; it’s more suitable for an evening meal, in contrast to the twee original. The menu has expanded, meaning the choice is even more overwhelming. You can indulge in breakfast, brunch, toasties, burgers and ‘big plates’, (which should really be called huge) including a Pulled Pork Pile Up and the old favourite, Mac n Cheese.

I opted for the ‘French Dip’: a brioche bun filled with thinly sliced, gloriously juicy flattened rump steak, swiss cheese and picked gherkins complete with a rich beer and onion gravy for dipping and pouring. It was a taste sensation. Although it looked small when it arrived, the bread was jam-packed with strips of the luscious steak which melted onto the surface of your tongue. It was a knife-and-fork job, as attempting to manhandle it would have just been too messy, with runny cheese and pickles dropping all over the authentic wooden board on which the sandwich was served.

When the two establishments revamped their menus recently, there was one major change. Whilst burgers and sandwiches used to come served with a pile of seasoned fries as standard, they are now all served on their own, with a selection of fries available to order as a side dish. Quite naughty, considering the prices are still the same. Taking advantage of the situation and using it as an excuse to eat more food, we opted for the bacon double fries: a basket of fries topped with crushed burger beef, cheese, ‘baconnaise’ and pickles. Quite frankly, they could be eaten as a meal all on their own. A rather cheap one too, given that they cost £5.00, which is pricey for a side dish intended to be eaten alongside your meal, but very cheap for a lunch in its entirety.

Suitably stuffed after those incredibly fattening fries, I could have skipped dessert but if you don’t leave Home Sweet Home rolling towards the door, clutching your stomach, then you haven’t experienced it properly. So, like a trouper, I struggled on.

Choosing a cake is a stressful experience. Stood in front of the cabinet, my eyes bigger than my already incredibly large stomach, a myriad of colours and flavours in front of me, it usually takes me at least three looks before I come close to making a decision. The ‘Blueberry Yum Muffin’, unfortunately, was the wrong choice. There’s a first time for everything and this was the first time I had felt disappointed by my choice of gateaux at Home Sweet Home. It looked much better than it was. A plain vanilla sponge studded with the odd blueberry, covered with blueberry frosting and topped with pieces of blueberry muffin, it wasn’t too sweet and was very light and fluffy, which perhaps was a blessing given that I was already feeling too full after the main course. In my opinion, the kind of cake that would be perfect accompanying a cup of tea for a mid-afternoon treat, but nothing out of the ordinary.

With so much choice on the menu and so many different cakes to sample (Exceedingly Cheeky is now top of my list, a bakewell tart inspired cake topped with a smorgasbord of Mr Kipling minis), I’ll never tire of Home Sweet Home. It’s perfect at any time of the day, whether you’re after a blow-out, artery-clogging feast or a simple cake break. 

Welcome to my food blog...

Hello there, you appear to have found my blog. Allow me to introduce myself. 

My name is Matthew Gormley and I'm an incredibly greedy person. There, I've said it. 

Some people eat to live. I live to eat. Food is such an important part of my life and, for me, dining out is one of life's greatest pleasures. I love the social side of eating out with friends and family, as well as being able to experience a huge variety of different cuisines and try dishes that you wouldn't normally cook at home. 

I am one of those annoying human beings who feels the need to post a picture of everything they eat on Instagram. Well, not everything. I mean, I'm not going to photograph my morning bowl of muesli or my beans on toast, but I always take photos when I go out. I love to nosey at other people's food pictures too; I'm usually salivating whilst I'm doing it, hurriedly logging onto the restaurant's online menu to plan a visit for myself. 

Another of my favourite pastimes is writing. My New Year's resolution for 2017 was to set up a food blog, in order to share some of my culinary experiences with you. And here it is. My very own space where I'll share regular restaurant and cafe reviews and photos, perfect for fellow foodies.

I'll aim to post new reviews every week. 

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