The Mansion
Garden Restaurant
Mansion Lane
Roundhay Park
Leeds
LS8 2HH
Date Visited : 21 May 2011
Price: £12.95
GF Price: £12.95
The Garden
Restaurant at Roundhay Park is a lovely setting for afternoon tea, located right
at the top of the hill with views over the park. We had booked to visit here as a birthday
treat and this place seemed perfect as they catered for gluten free guests. Even
though it was May, the typical British weather remained ever the same so we had
to sit inside the restaurant to escape the cold, but there is the option to sit
out on the patio when the weather is a bit warmer.
Inside, the
restaurant is decorated quite modern with framed photographs and mirrors
adorning the plain white walls with dark mahogany dining tables and chairs with
green furnishing. It was nice and bright inside, although I much prefer the
cosy, cute settings of traditional tea rooms.
The tea was
served on a two tier stand to share between two and the gluten free option was
served on its own. We were given a
selection of brown and white bread finger sandwiches filled with cream cheese
and pickle, egg mayonnaise, roast chicken and cheese and tomato chutney. We opted not to have the smoked salmon
(again, I know. Fussy, fussy!). The
sandwiches were quite tasty but the gluten free bread was a little disappointing. My guest said it was very hard and quite
thick – a bit like pitta bread – making it very hard to chew!
The cakes
were equally disappointing. We were served just a slice of fruit cake and the
usual fruit scone – nothing very fancy. The
gluten free cake was a very thin slice of Victoria sponge topped with a
strawberry, but no scone. I’m sure the
chef could have made some (it’s not that difficult to use different flour) as
we had booked previously and informed them we required a gluten free tea.
Overall we
enjoyed the afternoon tea. The staff were friendly and the service was very
efficient, with more tea being brought to us upon request. It was the cakes
that were the biggest disappointment.
The gluten free option wasn’t very good, especially considering there is
really nice soft bread readily available from the supermarket, yet they still
provided something that was difficult to chew.
You can even buy ready-made scones and a much more appealing selection
of cakes. If you want the regular afternoon tea then I think it is worth a
visit, but if you require a gluten free option then you are probably best going
elsewhere.
Ratings: Gluten
Free:
Tea: 7/10
Sandwiches: 7/10 4/10
Cakes: 6/10 5/10
Scones: 7/10 N/A
Service: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Would I return? Yes
grt
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