Vintage cafe Tea Rooms — Restaurant in Stockport

It's with sadness I feel the need to leave this review as we've been regulars at these tea rooms for years. We'd often go for a Tittertons sausage barm and brew, but with recent price increases, four thin sausages on a small barm for £5 had become expensive. Worse still, today our four thin sausages were reduced to two thin sausages each sliced in half, which is a bridge too far I'm afraid. I love to support independent businesses but can't justify being outright exploited. As much as we love the place we will no longer be customers. I hope for the owners sake other patrons won't mind being quite so taken advantage of. Such a shame.

Owner response 3rd March 2024 Hi Thanks for the review. Pretty unfair as the new owner hasnt changed the prices of the sausage sandwiches or how many you get. The old owner made them changes months before they took over so you musnt of been in since august last year then. The sausages are still tittertons too and we have never put 4 on a sausage barm either so thats incorrect.. All the regulars still do come in and support us weekly some even 3 times a week. They are happy with the new changes, more staff.. more options of food and alternatives for vegans and gluten free people.Thanks.

Edit 06 March 2024 (following owner response) Our previous visit had been around 3 weeks prior (not last August) and we had been customers every 2-3 weeks for years. Insinuating otherwise and effectively calling customers liars is not the best customer service approach to take. From mine and other similar recent negative reviews, the owner would be wise to acknowledge and address the current complaints being raised instead of continually blaming the previous owner for these. Just to add, stock rotation on the impressive array of cakes could be improved too as we'd often found these to be dry/stale over recent months.

Owner response 3rd March 2024 So why hide behind a private email? What you're saying is malicious and untrue. I have no problems at the tea room and been told how better it is by numerous people so your opinion doesn't really matter. Obviously got nothing better to do than bring down the positive changes I've made. The only issue the tea room has is not having enough space but you already know that don't you. you're not even a customer...I know exactly who you are and i know what you're tryinf to do. Thanks

Edit 07 March 2024 (following owner response) How rude. I can offer complete assurance I am just a customer and have no personal vendetta against whoever the owner/s are, or reason to be malicious and spread untruths as stated. It's just an honest review of my recent experience after many years of being a customer. Clear to see from owner responses exactly where this place's recent issues originate from though, and that they've obviously disgruntled somebody else along the way. Congratulations on all of the 5* reviews from brand new accounts with no previous review history too, particularly straight after a negative review has been left. Funny that? Fully expecting a slew of similar positive reviews to follow. I'd just recommend the owner stop digging as they're only embarrassing themselves and further damaging their own business. Very silly. Maybe better use the time to concentrate on addressing the issues raised across negative reviews rather than offending genuine custom? And/or do some training in customer service? Private email is to prevent repercussions from nutcases who can't accept constructive criticism. Man am...

Arriving at the eatery everything looked great. A comprehensive menu of food and drinks and a very enticing selection of cakes. Disappointingly the items chosen for main sustainance were sold out by 1pm, which is a shame especially because the place was still open for a further two hours. With an alternative chosen, cakes selected and drinks, which are our standard go to ordered we were satisfied, especially as they'd spotted the dog and offered a bowl of water for him too. A short while after ordering the cake and coffee arrived, with little finesse they were dumped on the table with coffee slopped onto the saucer, sadly with just one serviette provided between two people mopping up the mess wasn't practical. The coffees were most definitely not the flat whites ordered, merely a very, very weak milk coffee served in a tea cup, which ended up being left half drunk. The cakes were acceptable in their flavour, particularly the ginger and carrot cake whose cost bordered on extortion based on the tiny width of the slice. I'm sure itcmet government healthy guidelines on portion size, but at £4 it did not represent a fair price. Rather underwhelmed at this point my hopes that the main food item would be up to usual standards remained, afterall I had not reason to expect it not too. A £9.00 Goats Cheese and red onion chutney toastie on tiger loaf arrived, my expectations were most definitely met, so much so I did query with the person delivering the food to us that it was actually Tiger bread due to its appearance being akin to a cheap, thin, white sliced loaf, assured it was the correct bread I bit into it, it was nothing like any tiger bread I have eaten before. It was limp, entirely tasteless and of the lowest quality around. Positively the goats cheese alone was flavoursome, but to price that at £9.00 must be seeing a 400% profit margin based on ingredients. I have had heartier and more flavoursome Tiger bread from budget supermarkets, so quite how such a rubbish toastie can be made for commercial sale is unfathomable, save for price gouging a captive audience. The dog's water only made an appearance some 40 minutes after placing the food order and literally as we were about to get up to leave. Happily in the vicinity there are other eateries so cake and coffee isn't going to be missed out on. To give credit, the member of staff cleaning and clearing tables was delightful and held hygiene standards which I wish were seen everywhere, also the lady working the till was very friendly and customer aware. One has to wonder what has driven the pricing to the level it has, costs up significantly, position size and quality down. I expect things to retain their quality and price increase significantly, or a price freeze and position size reduction. I don't expect to be hit with higher prices and smaller portions and lesser quality...

Love this place! Since Megan took over as the new owner of the tea room, there have been lots of great changes that really improve the overall experience.

Last time we visited, the choice was a bit limited — but that’s definitely changed. There’s now a much wider variety of cakes, all freshly made by a local bakery, and they taste just as good as they look. Megan’s also made sure there are more options for people with food allergies or dietary preferences, which is a really thoughtful touch.

One of the most noticeable updates is the new counter, which replaced a few tables. It’s made the space feel more open and the service more efficient — everything just flows better.

We really enjoyed the food and cake during our visit. My favourite has to be the millionaire shortbread! It's clear that Megan’s put a lot of care into making the tea room more welcoming and well-run. It feels like a lovely spot to relax, with plenty of choice for everyone.

Would highly recommend and can't wait to...