North East Staycation: Afternoon Tea at St Mary's Inn

When it comes to holidays Simon and I are pretty different.  I like to get up early to make the most of my day whereas Simon prefers a more laidback approach.  Although we had pretty late starts during our staycation I knew that I'd still managed to exhaust Simon so I thought it might be sensible to plan a more relaxing day, just to make sure that we were still friends by the end of Staycation.

Say the words "relaxing treat" to us and our heads immediately wander to afternoon tea so we decided to pop along to St Mary's Inn in Stannington to try out their tea.  

I first visited St Mary's Inn for an evening meal when it opened at the end of last year but I was yet to share the cosy pub with Simon.  It only seemed right that we should try the afternoon tea for the first time together so we ventured off the A1 to hunt out some peace and quiet.

St Mary's Inn is beautiful and we felt ourselves relaxing the moment we stepped through the door.  As much as we wanted to explore the maze of cosy corners and open fire places our tummies were grumbling so instead we settled at our table and made ourselves even more hungry by studying the menu.

We ordered our usual (English Breakfast) and happily poured ourselves cups of tea whilst discussing our week's staycation plans, secretly both keeping one eye on the door for the arrival of our food.

It wasn't long before our cake stand arrived and it was like nothing we'd ever seen before, made of wood and metal, it looked amazing and was perfect for an afternoon tea out in the countryside.

First tier first, we attacked the sandwiches - Salt Beef & Mustard, Cheese & Pickle, Prawn Marie Rose and Egg & Cress.   Each one was delicious and generously filled.  

We were very happy to get three scones each – a Spiced Fruit and Blackberry, Keens Cheddar and a Plain served with clotted cream and homemade jam.

The scones left us feeling a little full but by this point we were committed so turned our attention to the top tier - Lemon and White Chocolate Macaroon, Chocolate Brownie, Strawberry Bakewell Tart and Rhubarb Pavlova.

I love a cake tier that's an eye catching display of colour as well as presenting lots of different flavours and this one ticked every box.

The afternoon tea was just as delicious as our favourite at Jesmond Dene House, and you don't get praise any higher than that!

When we'd finished I was keen to take a look at the outside courtyard, a great little suntrap surrounded by beautiful flowers, it would be a perfect place for a relaxing lunch in the sunshine.

Unfortunately it was a little cloudy during our visit to sit outside, but that's given us a great excuse to go back – I think alfresco afternoon tea at St Mary's Inn would be pretty special.

As we climbed back into our little car and headed home, feeling slightly plump, we were more than ready to attack another day of Staycation adventuring.

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