Review: The Gotham Lounge at The Peninsula

On a rainy Sunday, I met up with a friend for afternoon tea. Went to The Plaza Hotel only to find out they were fully booked and we were turned away. A quick walk over to the Four Seasons and found out they no longer have afternoon tea service. Finally, we went to The Peninsula and thankfully, the third time was the charm. 

SETTING:
Afternoon tea is served in the hotel lounge so the room is not just for tea. The tables are spaced far enough apart so you don't feel like you're joining in on the next table's conversation. The lounge has a very business casual feel to it, perhaps a little too corporate. It didn't feel special.

SERVICE:
Great, except for one misstep. When the tiered tray was brought over, the server didn't stop to tell us what was being served. I like it when they go over what's on each plate on the tray. 

TEA & TEA SELECTION:
Small but varied tea selection. I got the Earl Grey Supreme, which was very good. Perfect for a rainy day.

Three-tiered tray for two.

SAVORIES:
Five finger sandwiches each. All made with fresh bread. The sandwiches were all very good, with nice touches of caviar. I really liked the egg salad and the smoked salmon sandwiches. Nice presentation and tasty!

SCONES:
Odd, we were given three scones for the two of us. I've always gotten even numbers of scones so I was a little surprised. Not sure if they forgot to give us another one or if that's how it's served. With the scones came the clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry preserves. Scones weren't warm, but the size was good. 

SWEETS:
The pastries were adorable but they were a miss with me. The cakes were too dense and it didn't taste freshly baked. I ate only a couple of bites of each one.

OVERALL:
The afternoon tea here is $55 per person, which is the same cost as the tea at The Pierre, St. Regis, and the Ritz-Carlton but The Peninsula isn't on the same level as those three. Mostly, it's due to the setting. If the lounge had a more of a elegant or posh feel, it may be worth the cost. If this was a $40 tea service, I would have been very happy, but it's definitely not worth $55. 

LOCATION: The Gotham Lounge at The Peninsula | 700 Fifth Avenue at 55th Street | New York, NY 10019 | 212.956.2888
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS: Daily from 2:30PM - 5:00PM
COST: Traditional Afternoon Tea $55 | Menu

Review: Two E Bar/Lounge at The Pierre

The Pierre used to be my favorite place for tea for many years, then they went ahead and moved afternoon tea out of the Rotunda, a gorgeous space in the hotel used just for afternoon tea. Everything was white glove service, down to the servers pouring the tea for you. They would keep the teapots at a nearby smaller serving table and would magically appear to pour your tea just before you saw the bottom of the teacup.

They no longer serve tea in the Rotunda -- now it's served in the Two E Bar/Lounge. 

SETTING:
The Rotunda was THE BEST place for afternoon tea. I was upset that they had moved it to The Two E Bar/Lounge, which is a space not exclusive to afternoon tea, unlike The Rotunda. The setting is a lot more casual, but it does feel grand and the decor is art deco.The tables are nicely spaced apart and it never gets packed in there, so that gives it an intimate feel.

SERVICE:
Service is great. I was looking for a refill of hot water and just as I was going to ask, the server already had the hot water carafe in hand, heading over to our table. 

TEA & TEA SELECTION:
There's a small tea selection with just two kinds of green tea. I went with the Lung Ching green tea, which got a little bitter too quickly. More hot water helped dilute the bitterness.

Afternoon tea three-tiered tray for two. One thing to note right away, EVERYTHING is miniature, which, of course made me swoon.

SAVORIES:
Carefully thought-out mini savorites and sandwiches filled the top tray. Everything was fresh and damn tasty. No stale bread here. A good variety and just the right amount of savories.

SCONES:
Perfectly sized and made the same day, the scones were very good. Served with Devonshire cream, lemon curd, and raspberry jam, the scones were enjoyable, flavorful, and moist.

SWEETS:
A fantastic selection of sweets. A lot of them and all none more than two-bites. The marshmallow meringue  was especially good. Oh, and the tarts were also a highlight. They were super fresh and delicious.

OVERALL:
The food and presentation on the three-tiered tray is one of the best in Manhattan. Definitely in my top 5 places in New York for afternoon tea.

LOCATION: Two E Bar/Lounge at The Pierre | 2 East 61^st Street at Fifth Avenue | New York, NY 10065 | 212.838.8000
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS: Daily from 3PM - 5PM
COST: Traditional Tea Service $55 | Menu

Review: Keko Café

A friend lives in Midtown East and I was looking for a place for us to meet up and found Keko Café. They have a Tea Time which is their version of afternoon tea which starts at 2:30PM, which we both ordered.

SETTING:
It's a small place with about 10 tables and you can either order at the counter for items to go or be seated for table service. It's really laid back with no frills. 

SERVICE:
The server who waits on you is the same person behind the counter so the service is bare-bones. You just need to flag down the server if you need anything.

TEA & TEA SELECTION:
The Keko Tea Time is $14.99 per person. Choose one of their Harney & Sons teas listed on the menu. The selection is small, but organized nicely and a good variety within each type of tea. I ordered the Japanese Sencha. All teas come loose leaf in individual teapots. 

Each of us got a two-tiered tray. 

SAVORIES:
You really get what you pay for. The way everything was served was a bit of a mess. I didn't realize that scones were in with the sandwiches, cut into 4 pieces, on the bottom tier. The finger sandwiches were just salmon and cream cheese on baguettes cut into small pieces. The baguette was nice and fresh. There wasn't a lot of salmon so the bread to salmon ratio was off. Good thing I love baguettes though, since I ate them all up.

SCONE:
Comes with jam and butter on the side. I didn't like they were precut and they were pretty big. They tasted fine. 

SWEETS:
So on the top tier, you have remnant pieces of the salmon sandwiches, baklava, and rugelach, all cut into small pieces. All very random. I didn't particulariy like any of the sweets.

OVERALL:
I wouldn't go back for their Tea Time, but if I'm in the area, I would stop in for a pot of tea and a sandwich.

INFO: Keko Café | 121 Madison Ave. btw. 30th St. & 31st St. | 212.685.4360
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS: Daily after 2:30PM 
COST: $14.99 

Review: Tea & Sympathy

Earlier today, I met up with Georgia, of Notes on Tea, for afternoon tea at Tea & Sympathy in the West Village. Afternoon tea is a part of their lunch menu, which starts at 11:30AM.

Right next door, is their store, Carry on Tea & Sympathy, where they sell British groceries, chocolates, and a wide range of teapots and teacups.

Sitting outside the restaurant is their London Cab, complete with an adorable puppy.

SETTING:
With just 23 seats, the place is tiny, but cute, in a quaint and your grandmother's kitchen sort of way. No frills, as evidenced by the floral plastic tablecloths and mismatched teaware, but really, it adds to the charm.

SERVICE:
Very friendly and attentive, and not at all intrusive. 

TEA & TEA SELECTION:
The tea section of the menu shows a mix of teas and it's not broken down by type, which makes it a bit overwhelming. They have three teas specifically named after their restaurant, an Earl Grey, English Breakfast, and a Rosie Lee, a blend of the two. I got the Rosie Lee, which was robust enough for me to have with some milk and sugar. I liked it.

SAVORIES:
Ok, I'm going to start off by saying that their Afternoon Tea, for One, is HUGE. You basically get THREE WHOLE SANDWICHES. That's a meal on it's own aside from the scones and the sweets. We selected three sandwiches each, and each came as 3-4 finger sandwiches. I would recommend getting just one afternoon tea and split it between two people and just order another pot of tea. There was so much food left over.

Back to the tea sandwiches, they were basic, but solid. The turkey with cream cheese sandwich was cold, which makes me think that one was pre-made and refrigerated. The others were freshly made.

SCONES:
Two per person, and they were fairly basic, but good. The highlights were the rich and creamy clotted cream and the not-too-sweet strawberry jam.  

SWEETS: 
You want cake? Oh, you're getting cake. No dainty two-bite sweets are found here. Giant slabs of Victoria sponge, banana chocolate walnut, upside down pineapple, and a sticky toffee cupcake to mix it up a bit. Too bad I didn't love them.

OVERALL:
Good for a casual afternoon tea in a cozy setting. 

Note: They won't seat you until your entire party is there. No waiting inside the restaurant either, but that's understandable since the place is tiny.

LOCATION: Tea & Sympathy | 108 Greenwich Avenue btw. 12th St. & Jane St. | New York, NY 10011 | 212.989.9735
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS: Monday - Friday during lunch hours, starting at 11:30AM
COST: $36 (Afternoon Tea, for One) 

Review: BG Restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman

BG Restaurant inside Bergdorf Goodman department store offers a great afternoon tea service for only $35 per person. 

Take the elevator to the seventh floor and it'll land you right at the entrance of the restaurant.

SETTING:
I love all the little details of the room, like the pretty wallpaper and elegant window treatments. Make reservations, and ask for a table with dome chairs if there's two of you. For Central Park views, ask for seating by the window. I prefer the dome seating since it's a little bit more intimate. The tables by the window are a little too close together. This is a restaurant, so this room isn't exclusive to afternoon tea service. 

SERVICE:
Good, although with afternoon tea service from 3PM - 5PM, they did rush us at the end when it was getting close to 5PM. 

TEA & TEA SELECTION:
Dammann Frères tea is served and there's a succinct tea menu. Lots of tea blends, all of which sounded fantastic. I went with the Nuit à Versailles, a green sencha with fruity and citrus flavors. It was very good.

SAVORIES:
Excellent! A nice variety of tea sandwiches (six per person) which were all tasty and fresh. No stale tea sandwiches here.

SCONE:
Freshly baked scones served with Devonshire cream and small jars of fruit preserves. You get one scone per person so the portion size is perfect. Oh, and it was excellent with a light sugary top and the texture with just the right amount of crumble.

SWEETS: 
Each one of the mini sweets were very good and I loved the variety. I was especially surprised by the macarons. I didn't expect to like them since I'm a huge Ladurée fan, but they were actually quite good. They're by a French company called Pat'aChoux. 

OVERALL:
Excellent and not a false note in any of the courses, but just know they want you done by 5PM so don't be too surprised if they drop off the check if you're taking too long. 

LOCATION: BG Restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman | 5th Avenue at 58th Street, Seventh Floor | New York, NY 10019 | 212.872.8977
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS: 3PM - 5PM
COST: $35