You may have recently been down to Heaton Park to see the mightily impressive Lightopia show down there, and you may have subsequently noticed a brand-new food and drink offering over at the Heaton Park Stables.
Usually home to a cracking café, a couple of alpacas and a particularly bolshie peacock, the stables have been transformed this year, offering up a menu of Christmas cocktails, beers, wood-fired pizzas and tacos – all of which can be enjoyed under a rather cosy heated canopy.
The area around the stables have also been transformed – with the arrival of ten heated dining domes, where you can enjoy a luxury 3-course meal curated by 3 AA Rosette Chef Chris Holland in the evenings and now – ‘Afternoon Tea Beneath the Trees’.
The main offering is the Classic Afternoon Tea, with a range of savoury savoury sandwiches, such as coronation free-range egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, cream cheese and chive, roasted ham, apple, and mustard and a warm homemade pork, apple, and sage sausage roll.
Alongside sweet offerings including warm all-butter scones with clotted cream and local jams and Victoria sponge with English strawberry compote, profiteroles, and Yorkshire parkin loaf.
For little ones, there’s a Children’s Afternoon Tea (£10) – they can choose from strawberry cloudy lemonade or fresh fruit juice (apple or orange) or add ‘a little bit smaller and cooler’ hot chocolate to the menu. To eat, they can enjoy tomato and two cheese ciabatta pizza, mini BBQ sausages, carrot and cucumber batons and mini donuts with chocolate sauce. The Dining Domes can seat up to six and there’s one larger dome for up to 12.
There are also bespoke Afternoon Tea creations including the Hearty Heaton Park Savoury Afternoon Tea with winter vegetable broth, homemade Heaton Park soft-centre scotch egg, pulled barbacoa beef tacos, hot duck and cranberry lollipops, smoked salmon bagel and loaded baked potato skins, and the Vibrant Vegetarian Savoury Afternoon Tea with the broth, spiced ‘no sausage roll’, pulled jackfruit with guacamole and tomatillo salsa, vegan buffalo cauliflower wings, celeriac, avocado, apple, sage and onion crumble bagel, and loaded baked potato skins.
There’s also a Vegan Afternoon Tea featuring BBQ falafel sandwich with house coleslaw and local chilli jam, vegan cheese sandwich, roasted pepper and balsamic dip with crisp vegetables sweet potato, chive, and spiced lentil “no sausage roll”. Desserts include warm scone with ‘not so clotted cream’ and local jams, vegan Victoria sponge, carrot cake dusted with icing sugar and Yorkshire parkin loaf.
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The Afternoon Tea menus are £20 per person and served with a pot of English Breakfast or Speciality Tea – or add a glass of house Prosecco or local Ale for £5.00.
