The Art of Tea — Restaurant in Manchester

Didsbury, of late, has become overrun with large, corporate businesses and charity shops. Such a shame!

You can imagine my excitement when I recently discovered this rather eclectic little tea/coffee shop whilst off work. I have been absolutely addicted ever since, introducing friends and neighbors alike. Only a short walk from my house, this independent hideaway is a wonderful, unique, venue to sit with your book and wile away the hours. It is only a small cafe bar but is fronted by knowledgeable, friendly staff, serving ‘home-style’ fresh food daily, making use of the local produce at Evans, the local fish shop, The Cheese Hamlet and Axons’ butchers. There is something for everyone, including a large array of loose leaf teas, milkshakes and smoothies, a selection of coffees, home-made cakes, wine, spirits and speciality beers. My favourite is the Goose Island IPA! The breakfast/afternoon menu consists of a whole host of choices including toast, pancakes, yoghurt with muesli, soup, sandwiches, bagels and salads, with daily blackboard specialities. In the evening, the menu includes rather delicious thin crusted pizzas, as well as some platters to share. These you can enjoy under subdued lighting with convivial and unpretentious company. All ingredients are consistently handled and to my mind, pretty faultless. This place has become a huge success in the village and long may it continue.

They also have the all new Ginger’s Emporium ice-cream – but which is the favourite? I am at a loss here. So far I’ve tasted Apple Crumble, Salted Caramel and Peanut butter and Chocolate. My money is on one of the latter flavours. Not a massive fan of ice-cream this has to be the nicest I have ever tried. Absolutely sumptuous, made lovingly with oodles of cream. It has such an addictive flavour you’d think there was a mountain of MSG – but no – just a huge amount of love in the preparation. An...

This is somewhere I used to go often and was my spot with my best friend- we usually went for breakfast or tea and desserts. The staff there are super lovely but the owner honestly is so rude. I went there a few weeks ago to study with my laptop (the first time I’ve taken my laptop), I ordered food and drinks and was asked to move to a table right at the back of the cafe as I had a laptop with me and the owner wanted to seat people who were ordering food. There was no heating and it was freezing. I went back to ask someone to either call me if an another seat becomes available or fix the heating. The owner came and was extremely rude to me and told me the heating is working- she checked and realised it wasn’t but didn’t apologise- she rolled her eyes and told me heating is expensive ? Like wtf I’m still a paying customer. After this experience, I am sad to say that I am not going back. There isn’t that much choice in food or desserts and everything is overpriced anyway. I liked going because of the warm decor and atmosphere but you can find this in EXPO lounge down the road or another cafe...

Got dragged down here by my son who lives in Manchester (currently Northern Quarter but has lived in Didsbury). I wasn't holding my breath but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, from the outside peering in, it could put you off, but I found looks were deceiving. Warm welcome, you can see it has its regulars but not to the point where you feel excluded. Good range of food from a menu that changes at 5pm - but there was no problem with my wife getting something from the breakfast part of the menu that supposedly had finished two hours earlier. The food we ordered was excellent in all ways - so obviously NOT mass produced it was delightful. My only gripe was the coffee - but given it is called The Art of Tea, I maybe could have chosen more wisely! It wasn't that it was bad coffee, it was quite good coffee, but it wasn't as outstanding as the rest of the meal/drinks. Price wise - I thought it was very good value for money. We didn't venture into the bookshop at the back - something we will have to savour for next time. Not sure the next time we'll be in the area, but would detour back to this...