12 Top Places for Afternoon Tea in NYC Eater NY

Table Of Content

• May 13, 2019, 6:23 p.m. - The Russian Tea room features an Iconic atmosphere that is unique and eclectic. 🍵 ✨ 🍽️
• Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel
• British People Think It’s Alright To Put Salt In Your Coffee
• What is the perfect afternoon tea menu?
• The Williamsburg Hotel
• Best Places Serving Afternoon Tea In NYC Right Now

Physical GraffiTea sells organic and fair trade teas on the ground floor of the historic Physical Graffiti building that graced the cover of the Led Zepplin album of the same name. They have over 200 teas to choose from, with everything ranging from green to rooibos to special house made herbal blends. This New York City hangout of the stars serves a sumptuous afternoon tea in a dramatic setting. Enjoy decadent pastries served alongside tea blends such as peppermint and cinnamon spice. Enjoy a delicious English afternoon tea at one of these New York City tea rooms, whether you are looking for a special way to spend an afternoon or have a bigger celebration in mind.

May 13, 2019, 6:23 p.m. - The Russian Tea room features an Iconic atmosphere that is unique and eclectic. 🍵 ✨ 🍽️

Thankfully for New York City residents and visitors, there are plenty of restaurants serving up afternoon tea. You'll find everything from ultra-luxurious high tea with caviar and pastries in some of the city's best hotels to simple (but still delicious) cream teas with tea and scones served alongside clotted cream and jam. Founded by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet in 1927, The Russian Tea Room is a famous place to indulge in afternoon tea in NYC. Offered daily, afternoon tea menus range from the standard, with several sandwiches, blinis, scones, and sweets, to a Royal Afternoon Tea, which includes an international caviar tasting.

Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel

Instead, men can rock a collared shirt and women can sport a casual dress or shirt and skirt combo. While it can vary from restaurant to restaurant, people usually wear “smart casual” attire. Add in some tufted leather banquettes, plush velvet pillows, natural mosaic floors, and graffiti-inspired murals and you have the perfect place to hang out in one of Brooklyn’s liveliest neighborhoods. But, the desserts here are imaginative, whimsical, delicious, and super Instagrammable. That’s not really a bad thing since they do classic, uber-chic dining really well.

British People Think It’s Alright To Put Salt In Your Coffee

For an old-fashioned, charming affair, Lady Mendl’s tucked inside a townhouse on Irving Place is the place. Afternoon tea, including a gluten-free option, is split into five courses, which makes this one of the more filling offerings in town. Tea starts with a seasonal soup, then moves on to finger sandwiches, scones, a vanilla crêpe cake from Lady M, and petit fours of macarons and fruits. Best of all, while some teas can range in price up to hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars per cup, these shops in New York instead curate focused menus of excellent teas that encourage price-savvy exploration before breaking one’s budget. And with their founders dedicated to educating their clientele, these listed teahouses are the perfect places to navigate the vast world of tea in NYC. Bosie Tea Parlor is a quaint French tea house in West Village that maintains a much more relaxed vibe than the other options on this list.

What is the perfect afternoon tea menu?

Personally, I absolutely love afternoon tea, and it’s always a great option for a special occasion or birthday celebration. Then, indulge in an expertly-curated selection of single-origin teas from luxury tea house Bellocq Tea Atelier, all of which are served in bright hand-painted bone china teapots. Highlights include cucumber and cream cheese tea sandwiches, cranberry scones (with homemade preserves and Devonshire cream), and earl grey-infused truffles. Next, take a seat inside The Lobby at this 5-star hotel and listen to live jazz music while enjoying a classic selection of homemade sweet and savory delights. Yup, they’re all delicious, come to you on a three-tiered plate, and are served inside this cozy restaurant. The staff is also super nice, making this another great pick for the best afternoon tea in NYC.

The Williamsburg Hotel

It presents a sweet counterpoint to their savory samosas and breakfast paratha filled with eggs, amul cheese, tomato jam. Whether your preference is black or green tea, oolong or pu’erh tea, New York has some spectacular spots for tea for a fun tea-tasting date, a group outing in lieu of coffee, or a tranquil pause in a serene setting. It’s a quiet place that offers diners a much-needed respite from the chaos of the city as they sit down inside a tranquil dining room designed to resemble a traditional Japanese tea house. It basically feels like you’re dining inside the most ornate greenhouse that you ever did see since the large, open glass-ceilinged restaurant features ornate marble columns and is filled with tons of giant potted plants. So, if you would want to enjoy the best afternoon tea in NYC, then have a seat inside a stunning restaurant that is designed to mimic the lavish private dining room of the sultan at Topkapi Palace in Turkey.

The fascinating history of New York’s Russian Tea Room and the irony of boycotting it - Firstpost

The fascinating history of New York’s Russian Tea Room and the irony of boycotting it.

Posted: Wed, 09 Mar 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Enjoy our High Tea Menu which includes the addition of an entrée to our Afternoon Tea service. After a day of shopping at Bergdorf Goodman, there's no better way to relax than with afternoon tea at the department store's BG Restaurant. For $56 per person, the daily service includes tea sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and preserves, and a variety of petite sweet treats. With warm scones, beautiful pastries, and a glass or two of Champagne, afternoon tea is a welcome luxury.

The Whitby Bar at The Whitby Hotel

In a relaxing, no-frills environment of small tea tables and a long tea bar, T Shop delivers what is easily some of the best Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean tea New York City has to offer. The space encourages brewing at your own pace, with simple gong fu cha set up and the option to brew one’s own teapot or gaiwan (a traditional Chinese tea brewing cup). With a strong, die-hard community of regulars but a welcoming and accessible vibe, T Shop is a great place to first enter New York City’s tea world.

In San Francisco, Roasting Coffee For A Modern Patisserie At Craftsman & Wolves

Alice’s Tea Cup provides a whimsical atmosphere and menus for breakfast, brunch, and all day fare. You can order a pot of tea accompanied by a three-tiered platter of treats at any time of day. Creative vegetarian cuisine is served, reflecting a combination of Korean, Asian and Western influences.

The tea list and experience will be updated seasonally, with new themed treats and displays all served on regal displays. Have some tea in the Looking Glass Room at Alice's Tea Cup, conveniently located only a few blocks from Central Park. Like something straight out of Lewis Carroll's classic storybook, this shop is a colorful wonderland for the whole family to enjoy. Taiwan has what many tea aficionados consider to be some of the world’s best teas. Luckily for New Yorkers, Té Company in Manhattan’s West Village is entirely devoted to the teas of Taiwan, from inside an elegantly appointed salon-style space in a converted historic brownstone.

And last, but certainly, not least is the best afternoon tea in NYC brought to you by Brooklyn High Low. Therefore, be sure to reserve a seat (reservations are mandatory) on one of their cozy couches and relax by the fireplace as you dig into a New York afternoon tea to remember. Yeah, it’s not traditional but it’s awesome since the food is great and everything is served on an iconic, three-tier plate. So, this New York afternoon tea has been designed to reflect the chic, upscale tea ceremonies that royalty itself routinely enjoys. So, why not channel your inner Holly Golightly and enjoy the best afternoon tea in NYC at the Blue Box Cafe.

Traditionally, the purpose of afternoon tea was to fill the gap between lunch and dinner. They offer a tea box to-go that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home as you binge-watch Netflix. Williamsburg (the neighborhood where this hotel is found) is one of the coolest neighborhoods in Brooklyn, so you know this place is going to ooze sophistication and style. We love how colorful this place is, and it offers slightly different treats from what you might find elsewhere. Although you don’t get long to enjoy your tea (between 75 and 90 minutes), you can certainly put away plenty of food. This Midtown gem is utterly luxurious and literally feels as though you’re dining in an old-fashioned palace.

This isn’t a delicate, quiet spot to linger, but one to feast on generously portioned finger sandwiches and chubby scones accompanied by ramekins of clotted cream and jam. Sweets include a golden wedge of Victorian sponge cake, split and sandwiched with cream and jam. It’s relatively affordable to enjoy afternoon tea here, and at a slight discount for more than one person, priced at $38 for solo tea-goers or $68 for two people.

For a trip down Sweet Street, head to Sarisa Cafe, a Thai dessert shop in Midtown. Walk up to the second floor, and settle into a green velvet chair in a room that smells like sesame and sweet rice. Or try to get a seat in the comfy lounge chairs by the massive front windows overlooking 53rd Street.

As part of your set, you’ll get a seasonal soup served in a tiny silver cup, an array of finger sandwiches, excellent scones with clotted cream and two jams served in tiny crystal jam goblets, and some solid desserts. The no-frills eatery offers daily tea services, with an assortment of finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, a selection of sweets, and pots of tea. Visitors can also order off the regular food menu, which includes classic British dishes like bangers and mash, and Cornish pasty. This spot exudes homey ambiance that feels like you’re sitting in the parlor of your British grandmother.

Sometimes you’re just totally in the mood for afternoon tea, and nothing else will hit the spot. This is the spot to drink a hot cup of unconventional and tasty oat milk chai and listen to trap music in a minimalist setting that can be mistaken for an art gallery. French-Italian New Yorker Christopher Brunet has combined his experiences with service at Daniel and home decor at Bergdorf Goodman into Hideout. Among his five milk teas — which also include hojicha and rooibos — the chai is simmered and stirred in a large pot right before it’s poured into your cup. Kettl brings the rarest of Japanese teas to a spacious and sunny Greenpoint shop.