A Yelpy Supper and a Cuppa @ Teacup!

It has been a while since this event but its fond memories are still stuck vividly in my mind! What a fantastic way to spend a Tuesday night, and all for free! Who can ask for more: delicious free menu, delicious free gin and delicious company.
As I was driving I had to go lightly on the gin, which was very difficult as the lovely staff came round with a GIANT RED TEAPOT which shouted YUMMY GIN! So skipping the alcohol lets move on to the main event… the food. It was why we were all there, bang on 6PM, eager for a taste!
I think as a veggie I came off well at this event! Meat dishes were to be shared with many carnivores where as the veggie dishes were only shared between a select few herbivores and this meant more food for my hungry tummy :)
The potatoes which came first were so exciting! Brought in a rustic paper bag and still with their thick brown skin, it gave a lot of texture and tatoe taste and provided a new tatoe experience!
The bruchetta which came next, was well bruchetta; nothing to out of the ordinary but still good. What really impressed me was some kind of dumpling that I don’t event know the name of! It was extremely spicy (a bit too much for my liking) but full of flavour and the soft root vegetables inside were really tasty next to the thick crispy casing.
My favourite feature of the event had to be what I can only describe as a Tea Extravaganza! Tea pot after tea pot made its way over to our table and with all different kind of flavours and brews it made for a brilliant tea experience. My favourite flavour (and name) had to be «Look Lively» which was an alternative version of lemon and ginger and it provided the zingy lift that I needed to perk my energy after all that food!
Last but not least, what a fantastic turn out; I’ve only been to a few Unilocal events and it this was the busiest I’ve seen. So thank you to everyone involved for this event, it was tip top!

I loved the event, great atmosphere, very welcoming staff! The moment I walked in I was offered a delicious cup of… gin! Fantastic idea! The food menu was very varied and I enjoyed the heritage potatoes, the bruscheta, the Himalayan dumpling (although I found the sauce a bit too spicy) and loved the deserts!(berry, banana, cream and popping candy). I was very impressed with the variety of teas on offer (although Im not a big tea drinker)! And absolutely LOVED the red tea pots.
The organisation of the event was fantastic as always, thank you Emma-​Louise for everything you do! And many thanks to the staff, I feel that the service was great (I can imagine the evening was pretty stressful, having to serve so many people at the same time).
I’ll definitely return and looking forward to it — I’d like to try some of the beautiful cakes on display as well!

I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s event, with Teacup’s really tasty samples of their new menu. Great service, and a lovely atmosphere. Gin and rose lemonade? Delicious. The range of teas? Fabulous. As a tea-​freak, it was wonderful to sample 7 incredible different teas, including a wonderfully refreshing peppermint and the best Assam I have ever tasted. It being my favourite type of tea, I do not say that lightly!
Unilocal! And Teacup both did a wonderful job last night, and I am looking forward to going there for a full meal in the near future.

As someone who had been to Teacup a few times before, I was both excited and sceptical about what the Unilocal night could bring to influence my opinion. In some ways I was right — I still adore this slice of gastro heaven in the Northern Quarter — and in others I was wrong… because my love of this place has grown even more after last week’s event of joy…
To be greeted by cheeky red teapots full of the most divine, delicate pink lemonade gin treats (with sugared ice cubes if you desired) was just gorgeous — I was in heaven within 10 seconds of arriving. The cute vintage teashop feel, while welcome. belied the feast to come.
Once we moved to our tables we were served a sort of roe taramasalata and lemon mayo, with the most delicious heritage new potatoes. It was at this point you realised that while Teacup can do «cute“and «trendy» (and they do these very well), their main joy and focus is on bloody brilliant food from excellent suppliers. I’ve had this pre-​starter treat a few times and it’s just a joy.
The food that followed was nothing short of a revelation. Clever English ingredients (many of them local) served simply but beautifully were delicious. Sample dishes would be steak with a marrow and herb crust, or seared liver and bacon on mash. A monkfish dish served with caviar mayonnaise was just stunning. But the words just can’t do justice!
All finished off with any tea you can think of, including sleep ones, revitalising ones… Mr Scruff does part own this place and his influence is clear throughout too.
An absolute jewel in Manchester’s glorious foodie crown. Well done Teacup — you’re the place I bring all my London friends when they visit, to show we’re doing it waaaaay better here…

Going to a secret, group menu-​tasting event in Teacup was the perfect accompaniment to a Tuesday evening with friends. The staff were friendly, the décor chic and simple as ever, and the food– oh the food! If you have a chance to go to Teacup for Supper and a Cuppa, don’t miss it.
The gin and rose lemonade, served from giant teapots into dainty teacups (complete with saucers) was delightful and refreshing on a hot summer’s evening; though I’m confident it would be lovely even in the depths of winter. It was fresh and fruity, given extra quirk in its presentation.
Shot glasses of Brew Dog beers allowed me (a normally non-​ale kinda girl) a taste of the different beers they sell. Again, the presentation brought a smile to my face, and it was nice to be able to sample something new.
The foods brought out were equally impressive– freshly baked potatoes with made-​from-​scratch mayonnaise, perfectly cooked steak with an intriguing green topping and monkfish all graced our plates, and quickly were gobbled into our eager stomachs. The portions were a little disappointing; we often had to split two or three morsels between the five of us, and our table was seemingly forgotten for chips and ribs– especially upsetting as they both looked fantastic.
For pudding: sticky toffee pudding with a (somewhat weird) cream cheese mousse, and Manchester Pop Tart– a pleasing combination of berry, banana, cream and pop rocks, taking us all by surprise.
As for tea, no one does it like Teacup. Seven different types of tea were bandied around, each in their own neatly labelled teapot. The peppermint especially struck me, as it was much fresher and had a lot more oomph than the cheap peppermint tea I apparently drink at home. The mint and chili fit well into their nouveau cuisine menu. And traditional Darjeeling and Assam were welcome with the members of our group more old-​fashionned in their tea tastes.
It’s obvious that in experimenting in expanding their new menu Teacup have not lost their routes as a tea-​and-​cake parlour, yet have created an exciting, lip-​smacking new menu, definitely worth a visit!

Tomatoes on sour dough bread – very nice– excellent snack!
Chocolate cake was pretty good but not sure about the mascarpone – found it a bit salty for some reason.
The spuds in the bag reminded me of bonfire night as a kid –some were good, but unfortunately some were very black & inedible.
Sorry to say this but none of the hot dishes did anything for me.
Whilst I realise there are financial reasons to utilise the space for longer,
Tea cup is an ok place for a pot of tea and a snack, but in my opinion shouldn’t try to become a restaurant, this will spoil it’s charm!
As for a deconstucted Manchester Tart – please don’t ponce about with a Manchester classic, call the pleasant dessert we were served a Mancunian fool if you want but leave our Tart alone!

I’m glad that lots of other people have already commented on what food was on offer here because even a few days after the event I can hardly believe my luck at some of the fare that Teacup put on offer — gastronomic doesn’t even begin to cover it!
The Gin and Rose lemonade were a welcome start and Josie from Brew Dog put in another very welcome appearance — bring some ’77 next time though yeah?;)
This was a strange event in that it was a straight up at the table affair with constant visits from waiters with new dishes — a complete tasting menu!
Think of an animal body part — yep we probably ate it! Heart, liver, and even caviar were all on offer in one form or another. Now I’m a simple man with simple tastes so whilst all kinds of delicacies were being thrown our way, it was the monk fish, syrup pudding and pork with noodles that stole the show for me — those with a more adventurous palate would find plenty on offer here. Two very small things that might have improved the experience slightly (and tis is more for future reference for those paying for the tasting menu) — firstly a menu explaining what everything was (had to guess a couple of things but bless the waiters they were rushed off their feet!) and secondly letting those on the table know how many portions had to be shared was great — now I can hardly complain being given all this for free, but there were a couple of things that I didn’t get to try purely because we thought more would be coming out (don’t worry, I made up for it by eating more of everything else!).
Of all the places in Northern Quarter, Teacup is one of the few that I’ve visited the least and I guess that was because (other than tea obviously) I didn’t really know what was on offer — I can’t state categorically that hat we sampled on the night was representative of Teacup’s usual fare but if it is then I think they might well be on to a winner as fine gastronomic dining is a niche that is oddly uncatered for in the NQ — those looking for something more interesting than the usual gourmet burgers or home made pizzas on offer will find a lot to like here.
The organisation of the event was spot on and I’d humbly like to thank the staff at Teacup for welcoming so many people in on a hot and sweltering Tuesday night for a lot of free nosh — thanks as always go to Josie for the booze, Jody for the snaps and usual event sufferes Lee, Ange, Andrew and Toby for putting up with me eating more than my fair share of everything.
And as for that Emma Lou H, she knows how to throw a party and she’s pretty easy on the eye too — I’m going to have to get in there and ask for a date before somebody snaps her up. Does anyone know if she’s available?

I had turned up to this event not really know what to expect other than it was a tasting evening. Me and my friend had a really warm welcome and I loved the rosewater gin although it did leave an oversweet aftertaste. The second batch tasted differently though.
Other reviewers have talked about the atmosphere etc so I’ll just talk about what I did and didn’t like foodwise.
Loved — The Manchester tart was amazing and was really the food highlight for me. It was light and delicious. The monkfish was great, really soft and full of taste and I could have eaten more of it. The steak with herb crust was really nice and was the best of the meat that I had. The pulled pork with noodles was also really lovely
I had stronger feelings about the food that I didn’t like. The pork belly was horrible, undercooked in parts and really chewy and sinewy. Having to chew it for minutes ruined any of the nice taste it had. I really diskliked the liver. Having never had it before I didn’t know what to expect and despite loving pâté I hated the texture of this, really mushy and lacking taste. The bag of potatoes was mostly off and while I liked the lemon mayo I thought the fish once just didn’t go well with the potatoes. The plain steak also didn’t do it for me. The mouse that come with the first desert was horrible and didn’t taste right, the pudding itself though was wonderful.
I tasted many items that I had never eaten before and so for that I’m really happy. The service was great and the staff helpful. I wish though that we could have taken away a nice little menu to help me remember all the dishes that I had. I enjoyed the company of other diners and had a great experience even if not all of the food sat well with me.

This being my first Unilocal experience I arrived with mixed feelings about eating out for free and then being expected to judge and offer ‘meaningful’ feedback without looking like a pretentious freeloader grabbing yet another opportunity to demonstrate my as yet unrecognised gift for writing.
I bypassed the rose water gin and went straight for the thimble of ale. Beer will always win over gin poured from a teapot even if I do realise why it was. The beer was great but as I hadn’t quite understood what I was there for, I caused some confusion when I requested a whole bottle of it. This is my normal reaction when I sample beer I like. I had money and everything. Couldn’t get one.
My thirst unquenched I paced myself during about ten minutes of chit chat until we were ushered into the dining area. A nice view of the kitchen, essential nowadays, in what was, not using a thesaurus here, a nice open space with large tables enabling us to mix with other diners. Not sure if this layout will be standard but I liked it.
Whether you like where you were seated, lighting, or whatever is all subjective. Quality of food is not. This for me is what will bring me back. The food was excellent throughout. If you’ve bothered to read this or any of the other reviews here, you will not care what I did or did not like or if I thought I missed out on a particular ‘free’ dish that someone else had. The fact that everything looked great, was cooked superbly and so consistently is the most important detail here. For eloquent detailed analysis of individual dishes, read one of the reviews on here from one of the self confessed food experts. My advice would be, look at the menu, if what”s on there appeals and you can afford it, and lets face it, if you’re a Northern Quarter regular you’re likely to be a hipster and image is more important than cost, you will not be disappointed.

I love food. I can out eat most people I am acquainted with and it actually caused ripples throughout my family when I turned down seconds on a recent Sunday dinner. So, free food, I was there.
I had never been to Teacup nor had I been to a Unilocal event, so, double whammy for me on Tuesday as I wandered through the Northern Quarter and stepped into the infamous Teacup for the first time.
My welcome from the girl behind the counter was less than warm as she ushered me away from the gin and towards a table. Now, I don’t exactly think I look 21 myself, but if you are serving free drinks and aren’t sure, just ID me, I wont be offended. When I was finally allowed to sup (thanks to the Brewdog lady ushering me back towards the gin) I was pleasantly surprised. Gin & rosewater lemonade, though I think they missed a trick with the name — (grand)mother’s ruin, perhaps? Water was dutifully topped up throughout our meal and, after some longing glances, my section of the table was finally allowed more gin; as we had sat in the middle, it seemed that we were overlooked a few times.
The food was a vast array of dishes, and I am only going to go through the one’s that stuck in my mind. So, firstly, the steak. Oh god, the steak. I could have married that steak. Slightly bloody, soft, melting, it was amazing. Definitley worth writing home about. The ribs were also up there with the steak, with a lovely spice rub which gave it another level above a standard rib. The Manchester Tart was a lovely little thing, including popping candy, which took me completely by surprise, but a good surprise at that. The sticky toffee pudding was an absolute delight, though the mousse that came with it was not tasty to my mind. Tart and lingering, it could have easily ruined that dessert for me. I was brave and tried the liver and monkfish but neither were to my taste, and the pulled pork with noodles seemed to be lacking something for me. Although when eating it all together it worked, the separate components seemed a bit off the mark.
Overall, I enjoyed my first Teacup experience, as I did my first Unilocal event. I would be interested to see the pricing of the menu as I would be afraid that, because Teacup is such an institution, it might price itself out of the market. Could be my cup of tea in future but, for now, I’ll just take that steak!

You know those Facebook moments when somebody posts something hilarious/​profound/​heartwarming and the ‘like’ button seems woefully inadequate? Well this the Unilocal event equivalent … I NEED MORE THAN FIVE STARS! This was a truly stellar event from start to finish.
My companion and I arrived to a very warm welcome and, on a beatifully balmy evening, the perfect refreshing tipple; gin and rose lemonade in a… teacup! (ya see what they did there? Clever eh?). Now my companion doesn’t drink gin, but she was won over by this glorious concotion.
To be honest, that turned out to be the recurring theme of the evening — being won over. I shall expand. Are you sitting comfortably … (I’m giving my age away now!) then I’ll begin …
I’m not particularly adventurous when it comes to food so I tend to play it safe when I eat out, ordering stuff that I know i like. Well, on Tuesday evening I was given the perfect opportunity to try food that I had never tried before and I was very pleasantly surprised! The ribs, the heart, the calf’s liver (with the most divine mashed potato and gravy EVER) the beef with pesto … all were a revelation … me, eating rare beef … who’d have thunk it?
Another first for me was the monkfish (which was totally delicious!) with a tartare sauce that had caviar in it!!! Yes, you heard me right … CAVIAR! How posh is that? The monkfish was served with delicious baby potatoes in butter and parsley … mmmm There was so much food on offer that I’m bound to forget some of the dishes, so I apologise to those wonderful people who worked so hard in the kitchen to keep us all fed (but it was your fault for spoiling us!). Ooooh the noodle dish … pulled pork with pak choi and flat noodles — absolutely delicious! We were also treated to the most amazing chips with rock salt. Now, my companion is a bit of a chip aficionado and she will tell anybody prepared to listen where to get the best chips in Manchester — her opinion has never wavered on this point for a number of years — until now! She was completely smitten with Teacup’s chips — the prefect combination of crispy and fluffy –YUM!
Then, just when I thought that things couldn’t get any better — they did! We were served puddings! A wonderfully moist sticky toffee pudding type dessert with a delicious mascapone mousse topped with crunchy granola … heavenly! But the stand out dessert for me was the deconstructed Manchester tart, it had popping candy in it! The reaction was wonderful — a table full of adults getting giggly and giddy as the candy exploded — priceless! Ooh I almost forgot — guests were also treated to endless pots of flavoured tea — they do an amaxing slection and the tea drinkers amongst us were well impressed.
This was an awesome event! Congratulations Teacup! Your staff are wonderful (very friendly and hospitable) and your food is awesome!
The good folk at Teacup have certainly expanded my taste horizons and I will definitely be back for more (as will my companion, who reckons she has now found the perfect venue for her son’s end of uni celebratory meal!). Well done Emma for arranging yet another wonderful event, I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

This was quite an event! It was great to start off the evening with my new favourite drink: gin and rose lemonade. Especially nice on a hot summers day, which, strangely enough, this was! Brew dog beers always go down well too, and the little Unilocaly shot glasses mean even the strong ones don’t deter your focus from the most important element of the evening — the food!
And us lucky Unilocalers were served up a very interesting and tasty array of dishes on the evening! I am an enthusiastic meat eater and so enjoyed the ribs and the steak, topped with tasty green seasoning. In fact, all dishes were wonderfully seasoned, even the ‘home-​made quavers’ (prawn crackers with cracked pepper and salt). Unfortunately, the heart didn’t make it to our table but the meaty monkfish did, and the accompanying buttery potatoes which were lovely. Chips were as chips should be: chunky and tasty. I liked the spuds in the bag bit, they were all very tasty, and I assume any «baddness» mentioned in other reviews was probably a good sign or natural veg, not hand selected «perfect» looking veg supermarkets think we should be eating. The lime and cod roe mayonnaise dips were yummy! I can’t comment on the liver as tasting it only confirmed that I’m still not a liver fan! The mash and green bean accompaniment were good though. Hmmm. what else.oh yes, the pulled pork with noodles and sesame oil seasoning — that might have been my favourite! I hadn’t had Momo before but loved it. Although it would need to be marked as hot on the menu, I like spicy but this was nearing my spicy cut off point!
Both the sticky toffee pudding type desert and the «Manchester pop tart» were perfectly done. Not too sure about the creamy coffee-​flavoured accompaniment though, it was very bitter or something, couldn’t quite put my finger on it but. Tea! Is one thing I love in life and we tasted a wide range on the night. Mint and chilli, Peppermint, Rosebud, Assam, Darjeeling, The Big Chill are the ones I can remember. I liked them all, and it’s nice to see how the Teacup tea-​loving ethos can be combined with the new restaurant aspect. It seems there’s a new entrance for the restaurant as well if I’m not mistaken. I think this is a good idea. While combining the tea-​loving element is good, I think the restaurant would do well to seperate itself somewhat from the café so as to develop a reputation in its own right. To my mind from tea and cake shop to restaurant is not exactly a natural leap to make but it seems to be working out well!
One thing that would have been nice would be to have had the dishes listed somewhere, even on a board or something, as people were often unsure of what exactly they were eating. The staff explained what a dish was when serving it up but the low ceiling (or something about the structure of the room!) means it was quite loud and we missed the descriptions. It would also be useful to know how the dish would normally be served, starter, main, side and portion size etc. The order the dishes were served in didn’t make this very clear. Or again, perhaps a menu would have helped here. I’d imagine the lack of one though was to do with the secret menu that us Unilocalers got to try first so shouldn’t really complain.
Staff were very helpful and friendly and seemed well able to cope with, what I would conisder, a nightmare amount of hungry people to serve! There were times when not all dishes made it to all tables but I think that’s inevitable, considering the sheer amount of us! Our water glasses were frequently topped up, and more gin (served in a teapot!) and brew dog beers appeared throughout the meal as well which was, of course, appreciated.
Thanks to Emma and the team at Teacup for a lovely evening. All the best with the new-​ish venture and new menu!
c*

Mixed feelings for this event from me. I was looking forward to Teacup making me regain faith in them again after a few disappointing visits leading to no future visits based on over priced eggs and coffee and poor customer service. They almost did it at this event. Most of the staff on the night seemed very nice and friendly and helpful but there were are a few times where a smile would have gone a long way, and there were times where one person on our table was offered a top up of water and then disappeared.
Arrival at the event was excellent as usual, with Emma-​Louise to greet us warmly. The atmosphere was buzzing, a very busy event on a warm summers evening in the fab city of Manchester. Good set up with gin and rose lemonade being served in teacups (similar to that of my very first Unilocal event in Sugar Junction way back last year) and shot glasses of Brewdog ales. LOVE the Unilocaly shot glasses btw.
We got a table right at the back of the building with a view out over Edge Street and the new kitchen of Teacup where we watched most of the dishes of the night being prepared. This made Teacup feel more of a restaurant than the original Teacup I knew which was more of a breakfast/​lunch style casual eatery. I’m not sure if it was because of where we were sat but a few dishes never made it to our table it seems from reading other people reviews… heart and spare ribs and pork with noodles…
As a veggie I found the food average. Tomatoes on toast was ok, nicely presented with the different colours of tomatoes but all I could taste was garlic. The heritage potatoes in the little bags with lime mayo was a great idea but some of the potatoes were bad :(and the lime mayo didn’t really do it for me. the Himilayan dumpling was a great surprise — some thought had gone in to making an unusual veggie option, the chilli sauce was hot hot hot and our table had a laugh about it! The one thing we all found was that a menu would have been very helpful — most of the time we were asking the staff what it was and on occasion instead of telling us exactly what it was they would tell us what it was like. Confusion hit when the meats arrived and the fish as no one was quite sure what they were eating. The de constructed Manchester Tart for me was just silly — why ruin a masterpiece? The taste was good though and I loved the popping candy on it. The other pudding — again unsure of what it was — was ok, we could just taste golden syrup… was it syrup pudding?
The ambience of the evening was wonderful, everyone seemed to be having a great time, I know I (and my mother) did.
It seems to me that Teacup has changed… for better or worse I’m still undecided.
But as far as events go, Emma-​Louise knows how to throw a free party for her followers. And I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the next one!

No need for rose-​tinted glasses here…
It was roses galore at Unilocal’s Teacup event on Tuesday: gin and rose lemonade; organic rosebud tea… er… ok, so two examples doesn’t seem that many now but compare that with the amount of rose by-​products you normally encounter over an evening meal and you’ll see my point.
Well, roses aside, what can I say? Most importantly, the food — with a couple of minor aberrations (which largely derived from my aversion to offal) it was pretty darn good. Absolute star of the night for me was the monk fish– huge chunky slices of it, beautifully cooked… divine!
This was very closely followed in the star-​stakes by the Manchester Pop Tart — no, it’s not a an iced pastry that drawls «y’ariiiigh’» at you as it pops out of your toaster. Far from it, it’s an exciting, innovative take on the classic Manchester Tart with a cheeky surprise at the bottom which gives it its name. I can see this rapidly becoming their signature dish and deservedly so.
The HUGE ribs were great too; beautifully seasoned and cooked just right. As always a tad messy for eating with others but when they’re that tasty, do you really care?
I’m not massively convinced that the marrow pesto added much to the rare steak but then I’m one of those traditionalists who thinks adding anything ANYTHING to rare steak verges on heresy.
The ‘sack of spuds’ idea was a tad gimmicky for me but then this the Northern Quarter… The heritage potatoes were lovely though, and I could have pretty much just eaten the cod roe mayo that accompanied them with a spoon.
Overall, the new evening menu looks great — certainly something for everyone, a few well considered quirks to keep things interesting and very high quality ingredients and cooking. It’s hard to comment on value for money-​largely because we didn’t pay (!) but also because a taster menu doesn’t give much indication of portion sizes.
It will be interesting to see how the restaurant/​coffee shop dynamic develops — will they bifurcate? Will one subsume the other? Who knows.
Huge thanks to Emma and all the staff at Teacup for a really fab night!

The tasting event at Teacup was really well-​organised and the staff were really pleasant and welcoming.
Unfortunately it didnt get off to good start for me. We had boiled potatoes presented in a paperbag with lemon mayo to begin with, it wasn’t my cup of tea and I found the idea a bit odd! Some of the potatoes appeared a bit off with grey/​black hue and didn’t taste very good, whereas others were fine in comparison.
As a vegetarian I received a few nice options (spicy Himalayan momo with root vegetables and some sort of noodle dish) though the veggie options were not as substantial or didn’t seem as well-​considered as the meat menu. The mini bruschetta-​type dish was okay but not something I would order again.
The highlight was definately the desserts (one was similar to a sticky toffee pudding, the other was a sample of a deconstructed manchester tart with strawberry flavour and popping candy) and range of teas were fantastic, really lovely.
It would have been good to have a written menu of the food we received, as we sometimes didn’t know what exactly we were eating! It is also difficult to review without menu descriptions
I think I would go back to teacup for tea and cake but if I wanted a bite to eat in the evening i’d go elsewhere, sorry!

As the token vegan, I was very impressed with the effort that staff had made to ensure I could enjoy the evening. All of the veggie dishes were suitable and there was even a tasty strawberry and chocolate dessert. The first couple of starters were OK, they tasted nice but seemed a little too safe considering what the meateaters were tucking into.
Having been to Nepal, I was super excited to try the momo as I cannot tell you how much I have craved them since; I scour every Nepalese menu online trying to find the elusive little things. Buuuut, it was incredibly spicy, in a kind of uncooked spices way (like eating a packet of cayenne pepper!), and not to mention HUGE but the seeds inside were a nice touch of texture. The noodles were simple but really tasty — sesame oil makes everything taste amazing.
Unfortunately for my omni partner, I think we drew the short end of the straw when it came to seating. Our (massive) table didn’t get any ribs, liver or chips and only 1 plate of heart so he didn’t get to taste any of those. The staff were really lovely but maybe food could have been a little more evenly distributed. He really enjoyed the steak with pesto, got to try monkfish for the first time and tucked into the noodles gladly. Despite not having a sweet tooth, he really liked both of the desserts, I could even hear the popping candy from across the table.
The gin and rose lemonade drink was very more-​ish and all of the teas at the end were great to try. It was our first time in Teacup and we had a very enjoyable evening, the flavours and presentation was great and even the crockery was charming.
Thank you to all the staff at Teacup and Emma :)

BOOM!
Now to explain BOOM sums up my thoughts, feelings, musings, experiences of Supper at Teacup, it truly encapsulates what could be a thousand word review, I personally don’t feel I need to say any more. However I do appreciate that not everyone appreciates the full definition of Boom as I tend to use it a little at random and it jumps from behind a corner to surprise you and confuse you, a little like my cat when he purrs, he purrs at anything and so fairly sure he doesn’t know what it means, which I suppose means its nothing like my cat as I know what I mean when I say boom errr… but anyway back to BOOM! and it relation to this Unilocal event.
I didn’t know what to expect from the event, a new secretive menu being ‘secret’ means you don’t know what you’re going to get but you’re still purring because you’re hoping it’s good, and praying someone doesn’t present you with a small bowl of half a bread stick with a special sauce that’s sold as an art experience.
The opening of the event put the fears behind a fence in their holding pen as you were presented with the Gin and lemonade teapot drinkies, really nice way to start felt kinda civilised for a Ale man but it was good after a day at work felt a nice way to relax before continuing.
Then came the food… Oh my the food, let us begin (this paragraph) by saying the new menu has nothing to fear, its a goodie.
I loved the new potatoes with mayonnaise dippy type starter jobby (good word usage +1 to me) yes there were a couple of the potatoes that were abit bad inside, but it didn’t mar my enjoyment and I’d happily order it if its on the menu
Chips were lovely, I only know of better chips in on place and that’s on the other side of the country so Teacup you’re safe.
Monk Fish, hadn’t had this before but definitely want it again.
the meats brought before us were cooked perfectly, the flavours going on OH! (memory moment for me there, tasty)
The deserts, the sticky toffee pudding, loved the sticky toffee itself, not so keen on the sidey thing (good word usage +2) with it cheesey thingey not sure, not so keen on
the little desert of cream, custard and popping candy, brilliant idea, not expected the popping candy really good surprise for everyone round the table when it kicked on.
Brewdog samples got passed around, brewdogs lovely long may it continue
The Teas I’m gonna leave to everyone else’s reviews, I’m not a tea drinker, I don’t get it so I’m not even going to attempt to comment
Really good night, good to see the Unilocalers out in force, 5 stars easily so much so I’d like to add another star but I can’t as that would require changing the website’s options and i’m fairly sure I don’t have that power so instead I shall finish simply with
BOOM!

Awesome event! As someone who is not based in Manchester, the 7pm liveliness of the approach route through the Northern Quarter to Teacup was spellbinding for me. People enjoying at tables outside so many bars and eateries, or the diverse crowd spilling out from Manchester Buddhist Centre from whatever after-​work meditation or yoga session they had been doing, just everything seemed so nice on this warm summer’s evening!
In terms of ambience, Teacup is right on the money for me. The décor is fairly simple with blocks of brown, red and cream paint. But the design touch is definitely there, with the red of the teapots closely matching that of the girders and so on!
Although not what we were to be eating that evening, the Teacup cake displays tower impressively above the counter to an extent that massively exceeds any other cake display I’ve experienced!
As a non-​drinker, I was offered the run of the tea menu and chose a pot of organic pink rosebuds! Although there wasn’t such a strong flavour of roses, when you add in the aroma and the cute look of the rosebuds in the glass teapot, the whole thing was just like a Valentine in a pot and definitely put me in the mood!
For the sit-​down tasting meal, there were all sort of fun retro or quirky things happening — potatoes served in paper bags, camp-​style enamelled water jugs, retro-​styled (but new) crockery. As to the food, the lemon mayo was OK, and I would agree that with Celine Z that the potatoes in the bag didn’t cut it/​some were a bit off. I think mayo and chips is more like it, and some great hand-​cut chips were indeed served later and also the buttered new potatoes with parsley were also very moreish. The bruschetta was tasty enough — as served for sharing, I felt the wilted spinach should have been snipped rather than trailed across several toasts.
I don’t see myself as having a great enthusiasm for spicy foods, but I am surprised to read that others found the momo sauce too hot. I found the momo a delicious little bowlful and somehow as visceral as it gets for vegetarian food — in a good way!
I enjoyed the desserts we were served well enough, but I think anything would come off second in the shadow of Teacup’s towering cake display.
Service throughout the evening was informal, friendly and first class. I love the space, I love the ambience. However, in terms of dining out here, this is more one that I would keep an eye on to see how it develops rather than be sure to return to. But I will definitely try lunch and/​or tea and cake here.
However, as an event, the whole Teacup team and Emma-​Louise had done a great job, and the Unilocal crowd were a good balance of youth and experience and up for a good time — thanks everyone for making it a great night out!

Yet again I awake the morning after an event wondering just how in the hell I stumbled upon a website that sees me fed and watered for free and to a pretty high standard on a regular basis.
Are we a Cult? I hope so, because the inevitable intervention should be fun.
«Lee, it’s time to step away from the lovely food, say no to the gin, champagne, rum and beer. Manchester isn’t your friend, it just wants to tear you away from your family and indulge in it’s unearthly delights.»
«Cool!».
I’m not 100% sure what I was expecting from Teacup last night, but it surpassed it anyway.
Yet again I find myself not only drinking gin, but enjoying it too! and with rose! a flavour that usually has me running for the hills, cursing the sky and generally being a bit of a loon.
Having made a comment about a Zombie diet, it was nice to be served heart first :) no brains, but you can’t have everything. Said heart was one of the offerings that I had never tasted before (Which is pretty bad for someone who is a trained Butcher) and I have to say I was impressed, especially with it’s peppery spice coating.
The short ribs, although very tasty could’ve done with cooking a bit longer for my taste, I’m one of those people who likes meat done very well.
The pesto topped beef was very nice, well the beef was, i’m not a big fan of pesto (mustard flavour is not for me) but I was reliably informed by a very impressed Ange that the pesto which if memory serves me well had marrow in it was very nice indeed.
Just realised that we were served a little bag of spuds first, and very nice they were too.
Not as nice though as the spuds that came with the monkfish, yep you read that right, we were fed monkfish! it was my first time tasting said fish and it was beautiful, and when I poured the butter that came with the potatoes over it, it was even more beautiful! Ange REALLY liked the greenery that accompanied the fish (and the fish, not just the lettuce).
I didn’t try the liver and mash, I don’t like liver, and mash is my kryptonite, although I did eat the sliver of bacon, and how nice was that?! Ange is a big fan of liver and bacon, and for her it was the stand out dish of the evening.
Next up i think was (I’m getting confused now) the pulled pork with flat noodles and pak choi. The pork was very, very nice indeed. Tender, moist and lovely of flavour. This was another stand out dish for Ange.
My memory is now failing me, I think next up was the sticky toffee pudding, which as far as puddings go was right up there with the best of them. A cube of moist, sweet puddingy goodness!
Apart from the banana, the little tub with the popping candy that followed the sticky toffee was a neat little thing, and who doesn’t like popping candy?
All of that great food was washed down with more rosey gin and some lovely samples of Brew Dog, served in Unilocal!shot glasses no less! I’m not the biggest ale drinker in the world (Toby is) but I do like the offerings I have tasted from Brew Dog.
Forgive me if I have left anything out and feel free to throw things the next time you see me (aim for the head).
Doh! forgot to mention the selection of teas, my favourite of which was the mint and chilli one…
Teacup and Emma can be really proud of what was laid on for us lucky people last night, and as I said to Em as we left, it’s about time she organized a crap event,’cause all these brilliant ones may start to get a bit boring :)
Well done, and thank you to everyone who made this event happen, you did yourselves proud!

Another great Unilocal event!
Teacup have a new evening menu so we were lucky to get a try of some of the new dishes in a «taster menu».
As soon as I entered Teacup, I was asked if I wanted a Gin & Rose Lemonade drink. Couldn’t say no :) A very nice refreshing drink.
After everyone arrived and some chating/​mingling, we were all directed towards the dining area for the secret tasting menu!
We got to try all sorts including a couple things I have never had before — heart and also calf’s liver. Heart tasted like a cross between beef and kidney — more the texture of kidney which is a bit firm. The calf’s liver was quite «loose» so to be honest a slightly odd texture — not my cup of tea personally.
The other dishes included a delicious beef with a marrow pesto type topping, a «meat-​y» monkfish, some juicy ribs and more. Also some lovely chips — can’t beat a good chip and these were nice and crispy on outside and soft on the inside. Mmmmmm
With the main courses over, we got a couple desserts. The first was a sticky toffee pudding type dessert. Second was a «de-​constructed» Manchester tart. I am not really a dessert fan or dont have a sweet tooth but I liked both — my fav being the Manchester tart. Nice cream, custard and it had popping candy in it!
As well as the food, we had some Brew Dog samples served in Unilocal shot glasses and at the end, a large selection of different teas.
Well done to Emma for organising everything and to Teacup for serving up some great food — and good service as well. I recommend checking it out.