As if afternoon tea isn’t the best thing ever as standard… come December, everywhere starts adding a festive twist to it. Sunset by Australasia is a gorgeous “beach bar” spin off, from the amazing Australasia restaurant. It’s right round the corner from the main restaurant, and offers the cosiest, pinky peach sanctuary you ever did see.
Service is spot on, and this really stood out from the moment we walked in. It was also pretty quiet on a Friday afternoon, which made for such a gorgeous afternoon just relaxing and catching up with my friend. We had cocktails to kick things off – mine being a Tiramisu Espresso Martini – and these were incredible. Really well made, smooth, tasteful, and easy to forget you were actually drinking alcohol!
Afternoon tea here starts at £22.50 per person – that will get you the food offering, with all the trimmings. Then you can add a non alchoholic cocktail for £5 extra per person, a glass of Mirabeau Rose for an extra £5 per person, or a frozen pornstar martini for an extra £7.50 per person. We opted for the non alcoholic cocktails – again, gorgeous.
What I really like about this afternoon tea offering, is that it’s a complete twist on an original – I always like a twist – but this goes way above and beyond, and it’s extremely refreshing to see. It’s separated into two sections, your savoury offering, and your sweet offerings; and savoury comes in the form of a bento box. This was the highlight. It was fun, it was interesting, it got us talking, and it was tasty too! There was a great balance of warm and cold dishes, and I think we pretty much cleared the lot. We both really enjoyed it, and I’d love to experience and enjoy it again!
Once we had finished, this was swiftly cleared away, and we were provided with the most stunning presentation of little cakes and pastries I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the presentation was as good as it got for the sweet course… I’m not sure how something so beautiful looking can taste so… off? I suppose that’s a good way to describe it. Under baked scones, and cheap chocolate that reminded me of the all inclusive buffet deserts you get when you go on holiday (the chocolate is never the same, is it?). It seems like they attempted to make things even more different by flavouring each offering to make it really festive – for example mint chocolate, and what I think was an attempt on burnt toffee… however it didn’t quite work for me, and just added to the bizarreness of it all. The flavours were just way off what I think was meant to be attempted.
Was it worth the money? If you liked the desserts, then yes, it would be. I didn’t, nor did my friend, and nor did my boyfriend who I offered the boxed up leftovers to. Would I return? I’d return for drinks, and a savoury meal. I wouldn’t return for the afternoon tea though, sadly.
Sunset by Australasia: 1 The Avenue, Manchester M3 3AP
