Its almost 10 years ago since I visited my first proper traditional Tea Room, Bettys in York. Today, I visited Manchester’s latest addition to the “tea scene”, Richmond Tea Rooms.

Bettys Café Tea Rooms was opened in 1919 by a WW1 orphan called Frederick Belmont from Switzerland. It is thanks to his Swiss roots that to this day, rösti is served daily at Bettys. The first tea room was in Harrogate and ninety-two years on, and with Royal Warrants from no fewer than four reigning United Kingdom Sovereigns and scores of other distinguished patronages; Bettys has expanded to six locations, two of which are only a stone’s throw from each other in central York. Bettys does not just serve tea, they also select, import and retail tea leaves as well as coffee beans, bake their own bread in their Craft Bakery in Harrogate, with its own orchards, which also supplies their cookery school (open to the public). They even make their own chocolate direct from cocoa-beans imported especially for them. For out-of-town fans, there is a home delivery service, as well the option of ordering on-line for export to just about anywhere in the world. Short of a few refreshing, bottled beverages, everything served at Bettys is made by Bettys. The interior isn’t exactly something to write home about, its more a function over form concept that reigns here. Fitted carpets, sound proofing ceiling panels, panelled wood, lots of mirrors, heavy linen table cloths, panorama windows towards the street, shelves stacked with exotic tea pots and the polite staff moving around attentively in very formal black and whites. The total ban on using mobile phones is very welcome and during official “tea time” there is even a real pianist playing soothing yet entertaining music on the piano at the centre of the room. I have enjoyed 3 of the 6 venues so far.

By contrast, Richmond Tea Rooms opened in 2011 by Nicholas Curtis and Andrew Underwood, proprietors of the Eagle Bar, housed in the same building at the heart of Manchester’s “Gay Village”. Whilst they may not hold a single Royal Warrant between them, I dare say they have already achieved distinguished patronage. After all, it seems every queen in town wants to be seen there?! A great deal of emphasis has been put on the design and interior, which their homepage informs me is in the Tim Burton genre. There is a great deal of ochre green, cranberry reds, exposed floors, decorative plaster, plastic plants, chandeliers, something that looks like a double-length royal coach, an inside conservatory and the enormous copper urn at the counter; yet thanks to large windows and the high ceiling the room feels airy and light. Unfortunately the high ceiling and the lack of carpets meant the din made by my fellow patrons and the continual noise made by the energetic staff steaming, grinding and rattling things at the long counter, only feet away from the seating area, equally meant that any meaningful conversation was neigh on impossible. Whilst you cannot “mail-order” from Richmond’s, you can order out for delivery to your office, for a minimum spend of £25 that is. The name Richmond is from the street it faces, Richmond Street, which is a (back) parallel street to the world-famous Canal Street, and on the other side of their block, Bloom Street. Situated near the corner of Chorlton Street it has an ideal position near to trams, buses, coaches and carparks; this is a gem you simply don’t want to miss if you are in the area.

For £8.50 at Bettys, you get a pot of tea (Bettys blend), two scones, clotted cream and jam. For £6.50 at Richmond’s, you get a pot of tea (your choice of blend), one scone, clotted cream and jam. Looking over their two menues, both available on-line, there are remarkable similarities in the way they describe their teas, indeed they both claim to pay fairly for their Ntingwe Kwazulu leaves, whose UK importer is none other than Taylors of Harrogate, wholly owned by Bettys. If both venues then serve teas (and therefore probably coffees) by the same blender-importer, it makes judging them a lot easier. As it turns out, I found the same tea I drank at Richmond’s to taste better then when I had it at Bettys. Maybe it was just a trick of the mind, but then again, maybe not? There are differences in how the teas are served. At Bettys the water arrives with tea leaves infusing, in a typical metal tea pot. There is usually a second pot with just hot water, to top up with. Then there is the strainer, sugar lumps, and lemon slices. At Richmond’s we got neither sugar lumps or lemon slices, not another pot of hot water, instead the staff approached us regularly to enquire if we wanted our pot topped up with freshly boiled water. The tea pot was in china (porcelain) and the tea was very hot, I almost burned my gums in surprise! At Betty’s the tea is already close to drinkable by the time it reaches the table, not always a good thing! The cups our tea was served in was richly decorated, although by their shape I suspect they were probably more intended for coffee than tea (who requires a shallow, wider cup to allow the tea to oxidize its flavour).

The Richmond scone was significantly larger than Bettys’, so much I can honestly say that it made up for there being only one, instead of two! There was however a lack of cutlery at Richmond’s. You only get a single knife to cut the scones, spread the clotted cream and spread the two types of jams with. Coupled with an oddly shaped plate (very little level space) and I got messy fingers quickly, and the napkin was simply too small. At Bettys you get so much cutlery I often find that I have a surplus of knives at the end of taking tea – which I am sure some better mannered people will consider a slight on my character? “…surely he didn’t spread the clotted cream with the same knife he sliced the scones with? Spare the thought…”

The jam at Bettys is of course made in-house and arrives in a small jar for you to scoop out to your heart’s pleasure (and you can always have it topped up free of charge), but at Richmond the jam arrived in the shape of two of those small glass jam jars you see at Hotel breakfast buffets, novel with two different flavours which I of course didn’t notice until I had already mixed them on the same slice of scone (oops), but the lids were hard work to get off, especially with greasy fingers…

Silver service? At Bettys customers are often made to stand and wait for long periods, thanks to their popularity maybe, and it can sometimes be hard to order or indeed receive that which has been ordered. A 5-10 minute delay between speaking to a staff member and receiving the requested service, is sadly more the norm than unique. More than once have I finished eating by the time more condiments or top up water arrives. At Richmond’s our party of four got shown straight away, to a table with only three chairs… I had to go to another table where there was a free chair and ask myself for it. When I sat down my friends had already ordered. It didn’t take long to get a waitress attention, but she forgot to offer me a menu. When it came to paying a different waiter brought my friends their bill, I asked him for my bill (since I had ordered separately) but he explained everything was on the same bill, one of my friends (who was paying) sought clarification and the waiter insisted it was so and pointed to the bill where even I could see from across the table, that it said 3 tea. — Based on the above reasons, both venues are denied the top five star rating.

In summary then; both venues deservedly gets my 2nd highest ranking! If you are looking for a nice place to take afternoon tea, and you are a bit of a tea connoisseur then Richmond Tea Rooms is my recommendation – however, if you’re looking for a quiet Saturday afternoon refuge from the shopping/theatre etc, then there can only be one choice, namely Bettys. And please ask for the cake trolley.

Bettys Café Tea Rooms ★★★★★★ “Very Good” – branches in Harrogate, Harlow Carr, York (x2), Ilkley & Northallerton. Hours 9am-5.30pm 362 days a year, the main York branch as well as the branch in Harrogate, are open until 9pm. Visit their website www.bettys.co.uk for further information, addresses and menus.

Richmond Tea Rooms ★★★★★★ “Very Good” – located in The Gay Village, on Richmond Street (M1 3HZ), next to the Mongolian BBQ. Hours 11am-11pm 7 days a week. Visit their website www.richmondtearooms.com for further information and menus. They also have a dormant Twitter feed.