Cha-An Teahouse in the East Village serves afternoon tea on the weekends. Here is my full review of their Japanese-themed tea service.

Cha-An Teahouse

Cha-An is a very cute teahouse in the East Village in New York City. It’s a hidden gem and they specialize in Japanese teas and food, with an extensive dessert menu. It’s the perfect/ place to go to catch up with a friend over tea and sweets.

The teahouse is on a second floor walk-up (no elevator building) and afternoon tea is served on the third floor.

Reservations

A reservation is a must. There is a limit of 20 people per session so you must book ahead on their site and pick a time slot. You need to pre-pay but you can cancel and get a refund if you cancel 72 hours before your reserved time and date.

Dress Code

There isn’t a dress code but it’s a good idea to go with smart casual.

Afternoon Tea Hours

Afternoon tea is served only on Saturdays and Sundays. There are two timed slots on Saturdays, one at 1PM and another at 3PM. On Sundays, there’s just the 1:30PM time slot. Only afternoon tea is served in the third floor dining space during those time slots.

How Afternoon Tea Works at Cha-An

When you make the reservation, you select a time and when you get to Cha-An, head up to the second floor. Let the server know you’re there for afternoon tea and they’ll have you wait until someone comes down to let you know you can head upstairs.

Walk up the stairs and the server will take you to your table. There is a display stand on the table which illustrates all the food that comes with the tea service. Afternoon tea is a set menu so you don’t get to pick any of the food, but you do have to select the tea.

A pot of tea comes out first for two, then a 3-tiered stand with the bottom two tiers with the savories. You take the plate off and place it in front of you. They’ll take the tiered stand away. There isn’t a scones course so you get sweets next. If you want a second tea, that will come out with additional tea cups.

A stacking bento box is brought out with sweets in each layer. Once the afternoon tea is over, you can leave whenever you’re done since it has already been pre-paid, including the tip.

Cha-An Afternoon Tea Menu

Afternoon Tea
$68 per person
2 pots of tea to share, 3 savories, and 10 sweets.

Kids Afternoon Tea
$38 per children under 10 years old
4 desserts and 2 savories.

The seasonal menu and prices may change at any time.

Setting: ★★★★☆

I’ve never been to the third floor at Cha-An and was surprised that’s where they were now serving afternoon tea. The look is totally different and it’s not cozy and warm like the second floor of the teahouse but I do like that it’s a dedicated space just for afternoon tea on the weekends.

The space is also used for classes during the week.

Service: ★★★★★

Excellent service. They came around and asked if we needed more hot water for our tea even before we thought to ask. Friendly and attentive.

Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★

The tea at Cha-An has always been great so I wasn’t surprised when I loved both teas ordered. There’s just 4 teas to choose from. They bring out one pot of tea at a time so we got one tea that came out with the savories course and another that came out with the sweets.

They use loose tea that fill in their own filter bags. They’re don’t skimp on the loose tea so it never tastes watered down.

Savories: ★★★★☆

My favorite savory was inari, which is a fried tofu pouch filled with rice and cherry blossoms. It was really flavorful. I wish the bread used for egg sandwich was softer. The salmon rice was good but nothing to rave about.

I wish there were more savories since there were about double the amount of sweets. It’s very sweets-heavy and I like it when there is more of a balance with equal amount of savories and sweets.

Scones: N/A

There isn’t a scones course with this afternoon tea.

Sweets: ★★★★☆

The sweets were a hit or miss with me. Some I loved and some I didn’t. I love mochi, but there was way too much. The strawberry mochi was excellent as was the yuzu puff pastry and mochi chocolate chip cookie.

There was a raspberry mochi and a matcha mochi, which was mochi overload. I didn’t love the agar jelly cherry blossom since it was like eating plain jelly.

Overall: ★★★★☆

Even though I liked the tea service, I would skip the afternoon tea and get a bunch of savory and sweet dishes on the second floor for less, or the same amount of money.

LOCATION:
Cha-An Teahouse
230 East 9th Street, Second Floor
New York, NY 10003

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