Just Grand! Vintage Tea Room

Just Grand! Vintage Tea Room

Situated in Grand Arcade in the midst of busy Leeds city centre Just Grand is one of the prettiest tea rooms I’ve ever been to. With its plush cushions, cosy blankets and pretty white doilies the tea room oozes warmth and comfort!

However once seated inside our first impressions of comfort slowly simmered away. The small tea room uncomfortably fits around eight tables; the tables are all very closely compacted next to each other. On our weekend brunch date we were given a small rickety table by the wall.

The table was full of little retro ornaments, menus were neatly taped onto the sleeves of old vinyl record and each table was labelled with a photo of a musician instead of table numbers – all reflecting the tea rooms unique and quirky 50’s theme.

The waitresses were dressed in polka dot red and white skater dresses with matching hair accessories. Their welcoming bubbly personality and friendly faces were a quality in itself.

Before our visit I had already scoured through Trip Advisor and knew I wanted the Afternoon Tea. The Just Grand Vintage Afternoon Tea for one consists of a selection of 4 sandwiches, a freshly baked scone, a choice of cake and unlimited tea or coffee.

£11.95 per person

We were a little disappointed with the presentation of our afternoon tea. The stand was slightly broken and like the tower of Pisa our afternoon tea leaned to its side. After playing about with it for a while trying to twist and tighten it we gave up and each just took it in turn to hold it straight for our much needed Snapchats and Boomerangs.

Starting from the top – our homemade buttery baked scones. The scones came with a choice of either butter, cream or jam. I’ve always thought the point of an afternoon tea is the pleasure of variety. The fact that we had to choose one was disappointing.

Despite that the scone itself was faultless! It had the right consistency between textures, hard on the outside and soft on the inside – light, tasty and perfect with tea!

On to plate two – the cakes. The menu doesn’t specify what cakes to choose from as it’s just what’s available on the day. I can’t remember what the white cake was called. (I should have done this review as soon as I visited – lesson learnt!) however all their cakes that are available are neatly displayed with their names by the till. This cake was similar to a gooey rice crispy cake with smarties – tasty but very very sweet.

The second cake was a fruit cake; we actually didn’t ask for a fruit cake… again I can’t remember what we did ask for but it definitely wasn’t the fruit cake. As the cafe was quite busy we didn’t bother asking if it could be changed. The home made fruit cake had the usual qualities a good fruitcake should have, however it was just too rich for us.

Last but not least plate number three consisting of a selection of four sandwiches. We chose two cheese and pickle, tuna and cucumber and egg mayo. The tuna and cucumber sandwich and the egg mayo were as good as any regular sandwich. The cheese and pickle had no pickle or at least we couldn’t taste pickle.

Just Grand! Vintage Tea Room do have a great concept and I can see why it’s so popular however I don’t think it’s value for money. For just slightly under £24 we were very disappointed with our afternoon tea. At £11.95 for one the afternoon tea simply consists of one scone, one cake and one basic sandwich cut into four. The stand was broken and order wasn’t exactly what we had asked for.

There are many other tea rooms that are similarly priced but offer a lot more for example Creams British Luxury tea room. The below picture is the Creams afternoon tea for one; in comparison the Just Grand afternoon tea was for two but still the Creams stand offers so much more. I will God Willing do a review soon!

Nonetheless if you are passing through Leeds City Centre and do have a love for the 50s era then I would stop by for a good Yorkshire tea and admire the hidden vintage treasures inside Just Grande!

Happy Brunching!

Lots of love, Hafsah x