One of my goals for the year is to go for afternoon tea more. Ever since I went a couple of years back for my birthday I’ve been kind of hooked. I don’t go all of the time. I think that would spoil it and it wouldn’t be as special anymore. Every now and again though, I stop by somewhere for a cake and a cuppa. Or like this month I think I’ve been about three times.

Groupon and Living Social Deals are to blame. They just have offers on all of the time and I can't help myself. I leave them until last minute and sometimes forget about them, that’s why I end up going to a couple in a short space of time. (Anyways, I’ll stop with the babbling.)

I dragged my brother Nathan along to Grape and Bean (where I had a voucher) for some brother/sister bonding. It happens every so often. I usually bribe him with food.  He usually drives me places, it’s a win win situation really.

Grape and Bean is a wine and coffee house based in Jesmond. When we went in we were kind of the only ones there. It suited us fine as we got a nice big corner space to ourselves and could just chill without anyone bothering us. Inside is a pub. The little cosy part where we were had slouchy brown leather settees and little coffee tables. I loved the way the wood looked on the walls. It was like rustic with a blue/grey wash over it. There were some nice wooden furniture pieces too. Old fashioned sacks had been used for pillows and cushions which was a great touch. It was in need of a bit of TLC and isn't probably up to everyone's standards. I liked it anyways.

The woman that served us was lovely. She came straight over with our tea and was just really nice. I couldn’t fault her at all. As for the afternoon tea, it was alright. It is definitely not the best afternoon tea I’ve had. I didn’t like the sandwiches at all and it just didn’t really have the wow factor. I’m not going to sit here and bitch about it though. It’s not my intention to rate and slate places. I just like to document where I’ve been and write about the places I enjoy.

There was a nice little cake though and a great tasting chocolate mousse pudding. It cost £12 for the two of us using the Groupon code and although it wasn’t my favourite, I can’t really complain too much for that price.

This place for me was more about the décor. The little cubby where we was sitting was old and rustic looking, a bit unkempt, but nice. It was more about just having a catch up with my brother, about having a quick cuppa and a little bit of cake. Fair enough the afternoon tea as a whole wasn't amazing, but parts of it were ok.

Would I go back again? Probably not, but it's still worth experiencing it in the first place in my eyes.

Have any of you had afternoon tea at Grape and Bean?