And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

This place really is as cute as the name suggests. Everything about it is just so sweet and lovely.
Staff are always friendly and welcoming. It can get super busy in here in the weekends and with it being so small, there can be a little wait for things, but the staff are always going as quickly as they can so I never have a problem with a short wait.
Cakes here are to die for! If you like cake then you seriously need to visit. If you love cake, then you’d better leave now. Seriously. That good!
The only reason I’m not awarding an rare 5star is because the coffee is a bit pants here, but who wants coffee when there’s tea?!
And the dish ran away with the spoon… whilst I ran away with the red velvet cupcake…

I really really really like this place — in fact it was that much of a pleasurable cake and tea experience that I’m gonna give it 5 stars!
Having a rare afternoon off recently and having our oldest child in nursery, my wife and myself had a quick trip down here and treated ourselves to 3 cakes and tea between us — the salted caramel cake was amazing and the tea tasted lovely in proper china cups.
You can eat in or out with just a small number of tables for the even smaller number of days of sunny weather.
I hear the afternoon tea is excellent (my wife goes regularly) — I really need to get here again soon and check it out. Tea and cake FTW!

I had been excited all week about the prospect of hitting this famed Didsbury tearooms. With friends visiting from London, we made an afternoon of it and all six of us had afternoon tea.
For the reasonable price of £14.50 you receive your choice of sandwich (vegetarian option too), two choices of cake from the expansive display, a scone with clots cream and jam, a pastry and a chocolate dipped strawberry all accompanied by your choice of tea, coffee or soft drink.
While I can’t fault the food at all, it was truly delicious, and the portion sizes are very large, the service was a real big let down. It was a Saturday afternoon, and yes it was a little busy, however there are maybe only 10 tables in total and we definitely felt like we were waiting too long for our order to be taken, some table water and eventually the bill.
Perhaps this was just an off day service wise, if I go back (and the draw of the cake certainly helps) then I’d try to go midweek and hope for the best.

I was having a really bad day when I visited And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon. A combination of being displaced from the home and being severely disappointed with the election results ( Unilocal is not a place for politics but suffice to say I was not thrilled).
This place made my day so much better due to everything being delicious and adorable but also a bit worse due to them playing a variety of (awesome) songs which made me very emotional. Think Emmylou by First Aid Kit, The River by Bruce Springsteen, etc. I may have got a little teary while eating an amazingly delicious slice of brownie cheesecake.
I didn’t realise that they don’t do much by way of savoury food. I ordered crumpets with Marmite which were delicious, buttery and indulgent. I guess the real focus is on the cakes. As it should be, because there are many and they are amazing. Their afternoon teas also look very special and I’d love to head back for one, hopefully in a better frame of mind.

Being a new-​bee to manchester I had to check out this ‘Didsbury’ place everybody is always talking about… so out for a sunday stroll I couldn’t help but try out one of the cutesy little cafes!
This place definately cutesy! very small, probably room for 20 people max inside! All produce is home made and cakes change daily depending on what their team fancies creating that day!!!
We opted to share a salted caramel and chocolate tart which was amaaaazing!!! The hot chocolate however was a bit disppointed, but i’ll not let that get me down, i’ll be back for the cakes!!! nom!
The waitress was also super friendly and added to the homely feel!
TIP: Check out their savory or sweet cream teas, they looked dam good!

I love a cute neighbourhood café and this is a winner. Lovely friendly staff, seriously good cake and a wonderful variety of tea make this café a highlight of Burton Road.
On my first visit to ATDRAWTS I had a pot of tea and a wonderfully dark chocolate brownie. My picky brownie self was very satisfied. For my second visit I managed to avoid the cakes and had a double chocolate iced mocha instead. It was quite tasty although the quality of the chocolate ice cream wasn’t great. But that’s me being ultra pedantic. I love this place. Go there for happy smiles and sweet times.

This tiny, perfect bakery in West Didsbury Village is my idea of heaven. Everything about the interior is delightful and they have really thought through all the little details that make it so special.
The menu changes all the time so I have to stalk their social media to try and see when my favourite peanut butter brownies are available. The cupcakes are lovely with delicious flavours, the red velvet is particularly good.
The afternoon tea is the best value in Manchester but book in advance if you can to make sure you get a table, the venue is very small. The last time I had the afternoon tea they offered key lime pie and this was one of the best things I’ve tried, light and creamy and just prefect.
If you can’t get a seat then remember they also have a company called The Brownie Post so you can order a dozen brownies and have a little afternoon tea all by yourself at home!

Manchester is not exactly short of places to eat cake these days but And The Dish… has to be one of my favourites. Situated on the lovely Burton Road in Didsbury, home of the independents, Dish is a super tiny but very cute tea and cake shop. I’ve popped in several times for a brownie and cup of coffee (as well as cake to go) but on this occasion I was meeting friends for the lovely treat of birthday afternoon tea and what a treat it was. We had little sandwiches (roast beef & horseradish and Lancashire cheese & chutney), scones with jam and clotted cream, chocolate dipped strawberries and the main event, CAKE! Rather than just giving you a selection Dish is different in that they let you choose 3 each from the cake counter which is amazing but tricky for the indecisive like me! I went for a popping candy cupcake, chocolate honeycomb cake and the very seasonal spiced pumpkin cake with salted caramel. Everything was absolutely gorgeous and as the portions are generous there was plenty for a doggy bag each– bonus! I went for classic loose leaf English breakfast tea to accompany but any hot or cold drink from the menu is also included.
For £11.95 per person this has to be Manchester’s biggest bargain for afternoon tea and certainly one of the tastiest with friendly and personable service to boot.

I had booked afternoon tea with a friend & was really looking forward to it as I have been for many afternoon teas & this one was made to sound fantastic. I have to say I was disappointed. The service was slow, the two girls working could not cope with the number of people they were serving on a Sunday afternoon & they were pretty miserable. It is not made clear until you sit down to order that you get one choice out of the three sandwich choices& they were the tiniest triangle sandwiches I have seen. The scones were described as mini & they were. Light & fluffy I beg to differ. The chocolate dipped strawberries were nice. And then the choice of 3 cakeswell if you have a cupcake you get the whole thing but anything else you get half a slice. again only mentioned when ordering. ‘Prepare to come hungry’.well I wouldn’t go that far. The experience was average & I have been to much better afternoon teas. I won’t return or recommend I’m afraid.

AMENDED REVIEW.
I visited again this weekend after the kind offer from The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon of a free afternoon tea after our last experince here had not been glowing. My partner and I were happy to find attentive and friendly staff, the manager also came over to say hello, which I thought showed a lot of caring about his customers.
The afternoon tea itself was very good, one of the best I’ve had in fact. The portion of sandwiches was spot on, small but tasty. I would suggest perhaps the addition of some nice crisps just to add a bit more savoury to the overall meal, but that’s my personal opinion. The mini scones, jam and clotted cream were fantastic as were the dark choc covered strawberries. The generous potions of three cakes each was also very tasty if a little much for one sitting but the staff happily packed up a doggie bag of our left overs which we enjoyed later at home (the rolo cupcake was delightful.)
All in all, this visit made up for the bad experince we had here a few months ago and the willingness of the staff to prove themselves and their shop convinced me that the bad visit we had was a glitch.
I am still a little unsure why afternoon teas need to be booked (we did see five ladies get turned away for afternoon tea because they hadn’t booked and they seemed quite upset about it for a while, even though they stayed for cake) but that is the shops own decision and I understand that but there does seem to be many customers that just want to pop in for afternoon tea at a moments notice.
Overall, I will be coming back, I think the cakes are mostly very good to excellent and the service impressed me. Thank you for giving us a chance to change our minds.

Last time I wrote about Dishy Spoon, I’d only had a milkshake, and man it was awesome. Then a few weeks ago I returned just for a lovely pot of proper English Breakfast Tea, loose leaf as well. Darn nice it was — the experience made all the better by the little tot son of the lady in charge of the fab Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe repeatedly saying the word ‘cake’ excitedly and responding to all questions with that word, even if they didn’t relate to cake. Adorably entertaining.
Well, I finally tried the cake! I met with the gorgeous Susan of Susan Styles You and we treated ourselves to black coffee (lady after my own heart) and cupcakes. I went for the Very Berry, a white chocolate frosting topped creation with raspberry baked into the sponge. One of my main bugbears when it comes to cupcake is the all-​frosting-​no-​undies problem, where the top may taste great but the sponge is an afterthought, often dry. No such problem here. The sponge was as exciting as the frosting. So many folks jump on the cupcake bandwagon and fail, but these are cupcakes I’d happily recommend to even the unconvinced. This is how a cupcake should be. Epic.
Next time I’m taking home a raspberry bakewell slice, those things looked too good!

This place is so lovely. It has limited seating so I always go early on a saturday after my shopping at Unicorn.
On the drinks front they have lots of lovely teas, coffees and milkshakes, and on the cake front they have cupcakes, brownies and slices of cake which are all beautifully presented.
The staff are so kind, this is a lovely place to spend an hour :)

In a time when cupcakes seem to be The Big Thing I’ve been drowning in a sea of cupcake shaped dross for sometime. However since finding And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon this has changed. The cupcakes are fantastic, light, fluffy with great toppings. My favourite is the Mr. Whippy.
The décor is fun, lots of old baking trays, old fashioned kitchen tables and units and the staff are lovely.
I’d really recommend this place for both eating in and taking away.

Sumptuous and delectable treats. Perfect place for ladies who lunch or those just wanting an afternoon delight.
This little teashop in the heart of West Didsbury is a great place for those looking for somewhere to escape to for a natter with the girls, or somewhere to take that city weary relative.
Vintage charm accompany some of the more modern cupcake flavourings available.
A delightful haven for a spot of tea and slice of cake; ideal for cosy chats or watching the world go by.
Love it!

My ventures into West Didsbury were heartily rewarded at this adorable tea-​shop. I really had to believe in love at first site when I saw it was called And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon — it’s irresistible!
The saying ‘good things come in small packages’ really rings true here: it is quite a tiny place, only one or two small tables inside, and a couple more outside which are perfect for all the lovely sunshine we’re having at the moment. But small premises does not equal small choice, with a delectable selection of cakes and naughtiness behind the counter to be accompanied by a pot of tea, cup of coffee or an ice cold drink from the fridge.
The thing I love about this place: the teapots arrive dressed in woolen tea-​cosies and are ridiculously cute.
The thing that will get me to come back for more: the scone I had with cream and jam really was top notch.
So in short, this is a quaint little tea-​shop where one can sit and enjoy the pleasures of a spot of afternoon tea with scones, and pretend that one is truly English!

cakes, great! and the dish ran away with the spoon… boring, twee, undercooked cakes. visited here in the new year to meet a friend one afternoon and was very let-​down. Décor was cold, identikit kitsch and pretty much uninspiring. Had what was described as a bakewell but it was soggy, the tea was OK but then thats not hard to do. It was too cramped and felt like it was more about fitting in as many 1960’s repro props than creating a comfortable café atmosphere where there is room to sit. nice idea, but far from hitting the mark. there are far better places to spend your pennies on burton rd.

i found their cupcakes rather dense and synthetic tasting. the café is cramped and the service slow. much better places on burton road to spend your money!

Oh my god these cakes are fantastic, I’m addicted! They look fab too, cool decorations. The brownies must be the best I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried quite a few!). Also love the lemon cupcake and carrot cake. And the berry one. And the Victoria Sponge. Ok, I love them all!!! I work in Manchester so always make sure I pop to the stall on ‘Cake Friday’ as I now call it ;-) Everyone in my office loves them too! And when I visit friends and family I’ve started taking the cakes round instead of a bottle of wine, and they go down extremely well. I just wish they had loyalty cards!