Patisserie Valerie

Afternoon tea for four (3)

For Danielle's birthday we got her afternoon tea at Patisserie Valerie as they had an offer on Groupon for £25 for 2 people. It was something different than the usual gifts we would get each other. (Yes her birthday was in July).

Kelly unfortunately couldn't make it as she's living in London but we had her fair share of the food.

It was the first time I'd been to Patisserie Valerie, I have had the macarons that Gabby got me for my birthday a couple of years ago. Sadly it wasn't a good one. 

We walked in & was told there was a 30 minute wait for a table. Told if we wanted afternoon tea it would be an hour wait or anything from the kitchen would take a while but drinks & cakes from the counter would be quick. People were asking if they could book & come back later, the guy said they weren't taking any bookings & that you would just have to wait. There's nothing he can do. The place was full & there just wasn't enough staff to go around which was why the service was so slow.

 It turned out to be a 15 minute wait which was ok. We were seated at a table that hadn't been wiped or cleared & got no service. There's a 15 minute rule of if no-one comes to you, you can go up to complain luckily for them the girl came at exactly 15 minutes from when we sat down. (Hannah was keen to time them). Took out drinks order & food.

Cappuccino 

An eyelash on my milk jug when things were already awful. 

Our tower came around 30 minutes after we seated.

Savoury

Cucumber on white bread

Smoked salmon & cream cheese on brown bread

Egg mayonnaise & cress on brown bread

Ham, spinach & mustard on white bread

Chicken, pesto & sunblazed tomatoes on brown bread

Mini vegetable quiche

Patisserie

1 x mini Victoria sandwich

2 x mini chocolate eclairs

1 mini carrot & walnut cake slice

1 x mini mixed berry mouse slice

1 x mini chocolate mousse slice

Scones

2 x fruit scone

2 x plain scone

Strawberry, apricot & blackcurrant jam, clotted cream & butter

Savoury food were fine apart from the ham mustard sandwich we didn't like them. Found it really weird that you only got 2 slice of each of the cakes between 2 people. The tiniest slices you could eat in one mouthful so not much to share between two. But yet you go 2 chocolate eclairs? Luckily for Danielle & Hannah I don't like them. 

I've turned into a scone after that think I had 4 scones or at least 3/8 of them. Effort in the gym this morning has gone...

Wasn't a great experience at all really disappointed, would not recommend or go again. Service was awful they just can't handle the afternoon tea when it was busy before they even started doing it. The idea of not taking bookings for afternoon tea clearly doesn't work. They really need to have a think over how they are running the shop. I'm sure I could do better!

Hopefully the service does improve & if you plan on going it's a lot better than it was for us today! If you're looking for somewhere to have afternoon tea in Liverpool I would recommend Cuthbert's which I have been to 3x & have blogged about them. Just search Cuthbert's or afternoon tea in the search bar down the side of the page.

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Shopping Spree

Catch with Danielle today not seen her since my birthday meal which was the end of August. We went for a super late lunch at Moose Cafe. I have a strange love for waffles & heard that their waffles & pancakes were really good.

I got the waffles with ice cream & Danielle got the pancakes with nutella. We shared them. I ended up having a waffle, pancake and a half. Felt sick after, ate way too much! The pancakes are so thick, 3 is too much looking around no-one seemed to be able to finish them so either got wasted or people took them away with them. (Can't see it being nice if you took it home). They don't just do waffles & pancakes they do full English breakfasts, sandwiches & other things that look good on the menu. Don't know how people can get a full English & have waffles or pancakes!

Wasn't expecting the interior to be like the way it is but it's a nice little cafe. I would recommend. It's on Dale Street down the road from the town hall. If I want my waffle fix I shall be returning! 

We did a bit of shopping, as I've been after a duster jacket/coat for over a year now I think I seen this khaki one in Topshop. Which happened to go into sale this week. 

 

Petite Contrast Panel Duster Coat

I got this in a size 4 from the petite section. Petite is for women who are 5"3 & below & the clothes are suppose to be 3cm shorter than the standard. But this is still super long. I'm hoping my mum can take it up so it isn't as long... It's gone 30% in the sale £50 which student discount & had £20 voucher I only paid £25 for it. I'm undecided on whether I suit it but I think if I can get it shortened then it should look ok as I really like it & it's sold out online.

Chain Detail Leather Ankle Boots

Since I seen these on the Zara website I fell in love with them. I've been after a pair of lace up boots & just love the chain detailing on them. I wish they were lace up & didn't have the zip on the inside but not much I can do about that. They're £89.99 on the website but on the size 5 & 6 they had in store they were priced £79.99 which meant they had to sell me them for that price. Holly got me £20 gift card for my birthday so paid £60 for them which is reasonable for real leather boots. I got them in a size 5 as they 6 felt really big even though all my boots are a 6. I'm going to be selling 2 pairs of my Zara boots I've previously worn on my blog just to try & justify my buying these. Plus I don't wear them anyway!

Danielle also got 2 jackets from Zara. She took some dresses back & swapped them for this jacket.

Double Faced Coat £39.99

This is from the kids section. She got in 13-14 years old. It's so nice I love the colour. I'd buy it if I didn't already have my black one I got from Topshop last year. I love shearling jackets they're so soft & warm!

Jackets with Zips - £19.99

She also got this faux leather jacket, think it was meant to be £39.99. She's currently undecided whether she's going to keep them both. I do love the shearling & think she should keep that one, as she does have a few leather jackets & needs to invest in a real leather one!

I go through fazes where I just spend so much money! Today wasn't the only day where I've spent a lot I bought some new trainers that were meant to be for the gym but I like them too much, I think they're going to be day ones. I also got a new top for the gym. They were both in the sale.

Been after a pair of Nike Prestos for over a year I think now (I've done wishlists in the past with them on) got these in the Nike sale online juniors for £33.59 as they have an extra 20% off sale. These are unfortunately sold out. 

Nike Dry Miler

I got a grey & black patterned one from the JD sale earlier on in the year. I love the fit & material as it's not that horrible clingy material that sticks to your body. It just fits loosely on you. I paid £12.79 for it.

Topshop Moto Rip Jamie Jeans

I got these when Topsohp were doing 20% student discount. Been after a pair of nice ripped jeans for so long. Just couldn't get a pair that were proper jeans material & positioned where I wanted them on my knees! I also got the super rip ones but didn't like them & kept these.

I need to stop spending money but I still need gym trainers, gym pants & tops! It's just never ending! I need to win the lottery to fund it all.

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The Refinery

Last night I went to The Refinery - Kitchen, Bar with Holly. It's on the corner of Hope Street & Myrtle Street in town opposite the Philharmonic Hall. A nice little place that serves food, cocktails & live music. They do breakfast, lunch & dinner. They're part of Bistro Jacques, The Hub Alehouse & Kitchen on Hanover Street & others around the city. People were dressed both casual & dressed up for a night out. It was nice & cosy since we were in there for hours.

I haven't seen Holly since my belated birthday meal at the end of August, as she's left me for Nottingham again. It was really lovely to catch up as I probably won't see her now till next month when we finally see Bastille!

We got the pre-theatre offer - 1 small plate & 1 big plate £13.50

I got the Beef short rib, fennel seed BBQ sauce & crispy onion rings. 

Superfood salad: Baby spinach, edamame beans, cherry vine tomatoes, tendertem broccoli, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, lemon & olive dressing with teriyaki salmon.

The rib meat was really nice & soft, the sauce was also good. Wasn't really a fan of the onion rings, didn't taste like onions. The salad I enjoyed but didn't my salmon was gonna look like that. I thought it was gonna be chunks of salmon, the reason I chose to go here was after seeing their instagram of the teriyaki salmon salad. This photo here doesn't look like that...

Holly got the Soup of the day which was tomato & basil with artisan bread.

She also got the Superfood salad that I got but with grilled chicken.

Food was good but it came so quick. I know the soup is already there but as soon as she took our order it was already at our table! Same with the salad not much cooking or preparation but that came straight after they'd taken our plates from our starters! If we didn't stay to talk & have a drink we would've been out of there within half an hour we got our food so quick! I've never been anywhere where the service has been that quick. 

I must look like I go out for these meals I blog about on my own as I always forget to take photos of myself & whoever I'm with. Priority is to take a photo of the food before anyone put their cutlery in it! But I promise you I was with Holly last night who might've been a little tipsy as she got a large glass of red wine & was on the Bailey's while I was designated driver so was on the orange juice.

I'd recommend The Refinery but maybe tell them your want a break after your starter so your main doesn't come flying out straight after it!

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