Afternoon Tea; We WOOD, you should. #Preview

Victoria Hayes
30th September 2019

We are always happy to be invited to afternoon tea, and I was particularly excited by this invite as I hadn’t had the chance to pop into Wood Restaurant yet.

For those of you, like me who may have missed it for whatever reason, it’s located in the ground floor of the Indigo Hotel, next to Grosvenor Park in the City Centre.

It’s beautiful, it’s stylish and with former MasterChef star Simon Wood behind the kitchen helm its no wonder that their food already has a phenomenal reputation.

The launch of their afternoon tea did not disappoint and offered something different from afternoon teas we have seen before.

Simon Wood, we are told was not actually initially excited by the idea of doing an afternoon tea and would only do it if he could do it his way. Well, that was certainly a good decision.

First off, there are two main options, the Afternoon tea which more closely resembles the teas we are used to, and the Gentleman’s afternoon tea which is very different.

Everything, and I mean absolutely everything is homemade. We were treated to selections from both menus and not a single item was disappointing.

The scones were light and delicate. The marshmallow teacake was sweet with home made marshmallow, bursting with fruit from the homemade jam and held together with the crisp home made biscuit and chocolate.

Home made Battenberg was a hit with everyone and the cinnamon cream on the mulled pear frangipane gave a delightful balance preventing it becoming too sweet.

All the sandwiches were equally well balanced, with touches of flavour which prevented them from being boring in anyway, the smoked salmon with a hint of horseradish, the ham with pommery mustard, the roast chicken with stuffing on sourdough.

The real surprises came with the gentleman’s afternoon tea dishes. The name is a little misleading as all it really means is less delicate sweetness and more savoury options however each of these was perfect too.

The mini fish and chips were crispy and delicious, the scotch egg centre was just a little runny. This is a big thing with me, I believe it to be very hard to do, but Charlotte from Wood assures me it happens every time there. Someone please remind me to ask Mr Wood how he does it next time I am in. The scotch egg is served with Piccalilli.

Pork Pie with brown sauce is not something I have ever seen at afternoon tea before, but as it was pork pie perfection, I for one am not complaining.

With the Gentleman’s tea, there is the option to add a cream tea element, but don’t feel you have to as it does come with more delightful battenberg and a draught beer, so there is no chance you won’t feel full.

The service is immaculate, and the staff are both friendly and knowledgeable about the offering. We were made to feel welcome and comfortable, and this is reflected in their afternoon tea offering. No snooty raised pinkys here…just a great place to enjoy some delicious food and catch up with friends or family.

This City centre eatery is not afraid to buck a trend or two in the hunt for a more delicious version of what is usually expected and we welcome that with open arms.

I Wood, Would you?

Taste Cheshire were offered the opportunity to sample the Afternoon tea offering at Wood free of charge, and were happy to. We are also happy to stand by all the comments in this article. Don’t believe us, or even if you do, we encourage you to try it for yourselves.

Our Thanks to Wood restuarant and all their staff for their kind hospitality.