Mother’s are one of the most important women in our lives. They give you life, take care of you, raise you and if you’re lucky, you can be so close that they’re like your best friend. My mum means the world to me and when I knew I would be missing Mother’s day itself, I knew I had to have our own special day. It’s become a tradition that for special occasions, I take my mum for afternoon tea. You might have red about our afternoon tea on a London bus which I treated us to the Christmas before last or maybe last years Mother’s day edition. I was on the lookout for our next afternoon tea venue when a Groupon came up for Cafe Zim in Middlesbrough and I jumped at it.

Cafe Zim is the cafe which replaced the gorgeous Chilli Cake Deli, which we went to last Mother’s day, after it moved locations. Chilli Cake Deli was a beautiful little cafe with cute decor so I was a bit disappointed to see that Cafe Zim was a bit lack-lustre. I know with new owners comes redecorating but it was shame to see that such an adorable place was gone and replaced with nothing special. I also wasn’t a fan of the benched seating as after a while with no support, my back started to hurt. Yes, I’m getting old. Quarter of a century this year and already having back problems!

The food is what we were there for though and I’m pleased to say it was delicious. We were greeted with homemade lemonade which wasn’t really my cup of tea but it was refreshing.

The sandwiches were probably the poshest I’d ever had at afternoon tea. Out were the cucumber and the egg mayo, in were avocado with beetroot, salmon with cucumber, harissa spiced chicken and bacon with bacon jam. Having tried avocado on toast the previous day and not enjoying it, I wasn’t looking forward to the avocado with beetroot so went for it first to get it out of the way. I surprisingly enjoyed it, whether it was the beetroot that added flavour or the fact the avocado was roasted, I have no idea but it was nice enough. I still wouldn’t opt for avocado in other places but I wouldn’t knock this sandwich. Salmon can be a bit hit and miss for me, sometimes I love it, sometimes I find it too fishy and can’t stand it. The salmon with cucumber was perfect though, they hit the nail on the head with it. The final two sandwiches I didn’t have any reservations about and they didn’t disappoint. The bacon jam added a delicious sweetness to the bacon and the chicken was perfectly spiced.

The desserts were of a great variety with pancakes drizzled in melted chocolate, a raspberry and white chocolate cake, a chocolate cake, two macarons and fruit skewers drizzled with white chocolate. The pancakes were incredibly fluffy and tasty, the cakes wer moist and flavoursome, you can never go wrong with a macaron and the fruit skewers were a great way to cleanse the palate after so many rich options. The desserts were spot on.

Overall, afternoon tea was delicious and for the bargain price of £13.95 for two of us with the Groupon, you definitely can’t knock it. The only thing I can fault a little was the service. Some of it was great, the lady who greeted us and served our savoury course was lovely and polite. Other aspects were a bit of a downer, like when I asked for clean plates to cut the cakes as our current ones were dirty from the sandwiches, he looked at me like I was crazy or had asked him if I could do a shit on the table. Then halfway through our desserts, he tried to take away plates we were currently using and mum had to tell him we weren’t finished which was obvious by our full mouths and forks in hands.

The afternoon tea itself was delicious but the service was a little hit and miss. However, with the delicious food and the bargain price, you can let the shoddy service slide a little. Cafe Zim wouldn’t be my first choice for afternoon tea or the first place I’d run too for a coffee stop but I wouldn’t avoid the place as the food was top notch.

This blog post is not sponsored or endorsed in any way. All opinions are my own and just that: opinions.