TASTE of Manchester has been delighted with our select culinary imports from Liverpool. OK, Mexican wrestling homage Lucha Libre didn’t last long in the Great Northern Warehouse, but Lunya and Mowgli have both become essential stop-offs, in the Corn Exchange and on Deansgate respectively.
That will surely be the case too with LEAF. This cult tea bar has taken over the former Cube Gallery premises on Portland Street, installing its selection of over 60 loose leaf teas. But that’s just the start. Open from breakfast to midnight (and beyond on Fridays and Saturdays), it offers an extensive all-day food menu, including affordable mains and meze platters, and the promise of a multitude of events/gigs inn its 300-capacity space.
There is booze with a lengthy wine list and a mainstream selection of beers plus, sneakily there’s a rose petal tea infused with gin.
Like its current Bold Street Liverpool base, the Manchester venue is a Grade II listed building, reinforcing LEAF’s image as a class act, which has been recognised by two Great Taste Awards in 2015 and 2016. Not bas for an operation that began as a one-man operation in a Liverpool gallery nine years ago.
LEAF on Portland Street, 113-115 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 6DW.