If you cast your mind back just a couple of summers ago, you’ll recall the uptick in socially distanced, makeshift eateries popping up across the region - a creative solution devised by food and drink operators as they grappled with Covid-19. The shift to outdoor dining, which was readily welcomed by the public, saw a major shift to pavement dining and the proliferation of creative spaces from yurts and greenhouses to pods outfitted with heaters, fairy lights and trendy garden furniture.
While this trend could have easily been a flash in the pan, it appears that public appetite for al fresco dining concepts is here to stay, which is good news for Heaton Park and its new summer Lakeside Dining Domes, where you can book in for a unique afternoon tea experience. With stunning views of the lake, their new offer is designed to be the ultimate treat and may even rival afternoon tea served in Manchester’s very best hotels.
The domes first popped up over by The Stables Cafe in November 2021, as part of a 'Afternoon Tea beneath the Trees' dining concept. In March this year, the park then opened the pods by the lakeside, though just a few weeks later they were vandalised, with plants strewn on the floor and tables and chairs flipped over. They reopened to the public last month, just in time for summer.
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We recently went along to try the classic afternoon tea to see if the dining domes were worth forking out £60 for. The menus are priced at £23.95 per person, but you have to pay £60 for the dome - for an hour and a half - prior to arrival, with food and drink included within the minimum spend.
You are then required to pay the balance of anything that exceeds the £60 you have paid in advance, meaning if two of you were to go, the afternoon tea works out at around £30 per person.
As we arrive we’re greeted by Maurice, one of the servers from the park’s café across the way, who proves to be the host with the most, and who quickly tells us that the afternoon tea is “bountiful”, but not to be intimidated by it. So far, so good.
Having sampled everything from afternoon tea to high tea on his travels around the world as a first class flight attendant, it's safe to say that Maurice knows a thing or two about scones, finger sandwiches and a good pot of tea. With his encouragement we agreed to taste test both the classic afternoon tea and the vegan option to get an idea of the variety and quality of the food on offer.
While we wait for our tea and coffee to arrive, I notice how the small touches they’ve incorporated here go a long way. Windows are shaded with glazing to keep the sun out of your eyes, some non-offensive pop music softly comes through the speakers, and the air conditioning, which is a godsend given that you’re basically sitting in a greenhouse, can be notched up as high as you like so you don't ripen like a tomato.
First up, the Classic Afternoon Tea, which arrives in a large serving tin filled with a free-range Heaton scotch egg, sage and onion sausage roll, an assortment of sandwiches and sweet treats like homemade Victoria sponge, chocolate brownie and the house scone with jam and vanilla Chantilly. For £23.95 you really do get a lot for your money and it’s clear just how much effort has been put into the preparation and presentation.
The standout from the assortment of savoury treats has to be the perfectly flaky sage and onion sausage roll, which is perfectly seasoned and doesn’t fall apart, and the roasted chicken, crisp lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich, which, unlike most chicken sandwiches, is anything but dry. The scotch egg also deserves a special mention here, as does its vegan counterpart - both are generous in size and boast some really beautiful flavours.
It’s hard to pick a favourite when we move onto the sweet portion, but it’s a close call between the house scone, which Maurice affectionately refers to as “the doorstop”, and the Victoria sponge. The scone is large and perfectly formed, which I’m sure will be welcome news for afternoon tea connoisseurs, but the vanilla Chantilly cream is something else - they should probably bottle this and sell it in the café.
As well as the sponge, chocolate fans will enjoy the indulgent chocolate brownie with salted caramel ganache, while those after something a little bit different will be impressed by the baked meringue with pineapple and passionfruit, which adds a brilliant touch of summer to afternoon tea. The vegan afternoon tea is also very good, and you can tell that it most definitely isn’t an afterthought.
The barbecue jackfruit sandwich shares a similar consistency to the chicken on the classic menu, while the tofu and watercress mayonnaise option is easily as good as traditional egg mayo. Sweet wise, you've got Victoria sponge, pistachio carrot cake, a vegan scone with homemade jam and plant-based cream and fruit jelly with pineapple and passionfruit.
The scone is excellent, however the heat may have gotten to the cream slightly as by the time we get to it, it’s a little watery, but we’ll look past that as it can’t be helped. The pistachio carrot cake is both moist and light, and the nuts and frosting really make it. While the fruit jelly has a nice flavour I’m not 100 percent sure on the texture, but I’ve never been partial to fruit encased by jelly. That said, the vegan afternoon tea is a really interesting selection of sweet and savoury, and pretty much on par with the classic offering.
It would be remiss of me to skip past the drink options, which are plentiful. It’s nice to see that even though afternoon tea can sometimes be a bit stuffy, here you can get a proper builders brew if you so wish, while the barista crafted coffee, made with Life Cafe Blend Coffee Beans, makes for a really good cuppa. Not forgetting the children’s afternoon tea (£14.95) as well, which is served in a decorative wooden boat.
Children can choose from a fruit juice or babyccino to drink, while to eat they can tuck into the Manchester Bee Sandwich, sausage roll, a not-so mini scone - seriously it’s massive - as well as Victoria sponge and chocolate brownie bites.
Afternoon tea can sometimes feel a bit inaccessible, but despite what at first glance might seem like quite a steep price tag, in the case of Heaton Park's Dining Domes, you really do get a lot for your money. And while it might not be something you do very often, given the £60 cost up front, as a treat it really is quite special. Whether it's the lakeside setting, the opportunity to dine a little differently or just the chance to tuck into some delicious sandwiches and sweets, the dining domes tick all the boxes.
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