Days Out!

Oddfellows, Chester

My friend Claire who lives in Luxembourg is currently in the UK, staying with her boyfriend on the Wirral. She suggested meeting in Chester as it is halfway for us both, and getting some lunch. As I know we are both avid fans of afternoon tea, I suggested that instead, mentioning Oddfellows as a good place to go having been recommended it by a fellow cake connoisseur who lives in the area.

We ventured there yesterday at around 1.30pm, and despite our lack of booking, were shown promptly to a table in the bar area. The venue is a hotel, bar and restaurant, and is decorated in a contemporary meets period style, with dark wood panelling and chandeliers directly contrasted with giant woodland animals transferred onto the walls and modern plush seating.

We were served our tea by a very professional young man dressed in full waiter's garb, and then told the sandwich selection for the day, which was cheese and onion, chicken with lemon and pepper dressing, and ham and tomato. After about fifteen minutes these sandwiches appeared, along with two other platters containing our sweet treats.

The sandwiches were in delightful little 'bridge' rolls, lightly floured and gorgeously soft and fresh. They contained plenty of filling, and I thought that the flavour selection, though not hugely adventurous, was a good variety that had something for everyone to enjoy.

The scones were fruited, and clearly homemade due to their irregular rustic shape, which I love. They were served with miniature pots of strawberry jam, and a dish with three huge curls of clotted cream in, delicious! Personally I prefer raspberry jam with my scones, so a choice would have been nice, but that is being really finicky.

Finally we moved onto the choice of cakes and desserts. There was a pink meringue garnished with a blackberry and yellow gooseberry, a piece of carrot cake and a chocolate sponge. All were beautifully presented, and the sponge had an almost brownie like texture which was lovely. The carrot cake was very moist, and was a huge piece, I had to take a break between it and the rest! The meringue was well made, but the pink was just colouring, it wasn't flavoured which I was slightly disappointed at.

An afternoon tea at Oddfellows is £15, or £19 with a glass of champagne, and is served between 12 and 5pm every day. I consider this about average price, most places that are cheaper are not in as luxurious surroundings or as meticulous in how they serve you. I would thoroughly recommend this venue to anyone visiting Chester, and would certainly return again - I think my Mum would love it here!