Afternoon Tea at Laduree Soho

Afternoon tea outdoors is not easy to find in New York City, but Laduree Soho offers one in a pretty garden. Take a look at my review of the tea service from finger sandwiches to sweets.

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Laduree Soho

Famous for their macarons, French pastry shop Laudree has 2 shops in New York City (Soho and Upper East Side) and a handful of kiosks in malls like Hudson Yards.

The Soho location of Laduree has a restaurant with an outdoor garden seating attached to their shop where there’s a full menu beyond macarons and pastries.

Afternoon tea is served at Laduree Soho every day.

What is Afternoon Tea?

Afternoon tea is a meal that consists of sandwiches, scones, and pastries, that’s served with a pot of tea.

It’s a set menu, which means that you don’t get a food selection to pick from. Whatever is prepared by the chef is what you get. One thing you can select is the tea.

Afternoon tea is usually served from 2PM – 5PM.

Laduree Soho Afternoon Tea Menu

There are 3 afternoon teas on the menu.

Teatime for 1
$65 per person
2 finger sandwiches
1 pastry, 3 macarons, 2 marshmallows
1 coffee, tea or hot chocolate
1 cocktail or Detox mocktail
1 box of 3 macarons in a box to take home

Teatime for 2
$130 for 2 people ($65 per person)
4 finger sandwiches
2 pastries, 6 macarons, 4 marshmallows
2 coffees, teas or hot chocolates
2 cocktails or Detox mocktails
2 boxes of 3 macarons in a box to take home

Teatime for Kids
$35 per kid
2 finger sandwiches
1 pastry, 2 macarons, 2 marshmallows
1 hot chocolate

Questions You May Have

Do I need to make a reservation?

Yes, and you need to prepay through opentable.com. They won’t take reservations over the phone. (That is, if they ever pick up the phone.)

What do I wear for tea at Laduree Soho?

There isn’t a dress code but I would recommend smart casual. You can also dress up for the occasion.

What time is afternoon tea at Laduree Soho?

It says 3PM on their menu, but I was able to book my afternoon tea for 11:30AM.

Is it good for large groups?

Yes, since it’s a restaurant, they are able to accommodate large groups.

How does afternoon tea at Laduree Soho work?

Reserve and prepay for afternoon tea and once you get to the restaurant, let them know you’re there for your prepaid tea service. The server will ask for your drink preferences first. The drink menu is on a QR code that you can scan at the table. The food on a 3-tiered tray will come out with the drinks. If you order the Teatime for 2 option on the menu, all the food for 2 people will come out on one 3-tiered tray.

Laduree Soho Afternoon Tea Tips

Make reservations through opentable.com and prepay at least 24 hours in advance, especially if you’re a bigger party.
You may have luck as a walk-in for afternoon tea since it’s a restaurant but there isn’t a guarantee.
Avoid sitting near the hostess stand by the walls outside since there were a lot of flies and bees once the food arrived at the table.
It was packed at 11:30AM on a weekday due to the lunch crowd. Around 2PM, it cleared out and there were a lot more open tables.

Laduree Soho Setting: ★★★★☆

There’s indoor and outdoor seating at Laduree Soho and on a lovely summer day, it was wonderful to sit outside.

The decor is minimal but very on brand. Laduree’s tables and chairs are all in the signature Laduree light green. The lightly padded metal chairs were comfortable.

Since it was outside, and we did sit by the plants, we were constantly shooing bugs (flies and bees) away from the food. This is less of an issue when you sit closer to the middle of the restaurant, away from the plants.

Laduree Soho Service: ★★☆☆☆

The servers were friendly but they didn’t really explain how the afternoon tea menu worked. The menu is a little confusing since it listed a bunch of pastries but we were never asked to select one.

My main complaint is how it’s impossible to get anyone on the phone when you call. I called multiple times throughout the week and the phone just kept on ringing.

This is an issue if you want to make any modifications to your reservation. I was definitely frustrated with the lack of customer service on the phone.

Laduree Tea and Tea Selection: ★★★★☆

There are a few options for tea and I selected the Darjeeling. Instead of tea, you can choose coffee or hot chocolate.

There are about 2 tea selections for each type, including 2 herbal teas.

Not the widest tea selection, but not too small that I couldn’t find a tea I liked.

Laduree Soho steeps and strains their tea for you in the kitchen so there aren’t any loose tea or tea bags in the teapot. I appreciate this since it means your tea never gets bitter from oversteeping.

Along with the tea, you also get a cocktail or a Detox Mocktail. I got the mocktail, which was essentially a watered down sparkling raspberry drink.

Laduree Savories: ★★★☆☆

Tasty? Yes.

Easy to eat? No.

The smoked salmon one was easy to eat but the chopped cucumber one was hard to eat neatly since all the small cucumber bits would fall off the sandwich.

Each person gets 2 finger sandwiches and they bring out an assortment, which makes it hard to figure out who eats what.

I wished they had given each person 3 finger sandwiches so it would be a little bit more filling and help to balance out the sweets.

RELATED: Afternoon Tea Course Order

Laduree Scones: N/A

There isn’t a scones course and instead, they have a macaron course.

Laduree Sweets: ★★★☆☆

3 macarons per person on the top tier of the 3-tiered stand.

I ate the green one thinking it was pistachio but it was a surprising lime basil!

Laduree is famous for their macarons and pastries so it’s not so much a surprise that they served so many sweets but still, it was a sweets overload.

Along with the 3 macarons, each person gets a full size dessert, and 2 marshmallow squares.

With afternoon tea, I expect the sweets course to be filled with small, bite sized treats not normal portioned desserts.

The sweets were messy to eat, even with a fork but they were delicious. My favorites were the pillowy marshmallows.

Laduree Overall: ★★★☆☆

This one is a solid 3 stars. The good: Cute outdoor garden space. (One of the few places in Manhattan that offers an outdoor afternoon tea option.) The bad: Way too heavy handed with the sweets.

I’d skip the overpriced afternoon tea ($65 per person is too much for what they’re offering) and go for a leisurely lunch in the pretty garden.

LOCATION:
Laduree Soho
298 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012

AFTERNOON TEA HOURS:
Menu says 3PM, daily, but you can go earlier.

COST:
Teatime for 2, $130 for 2 people ($65 per person)

RESERVATIONS:
Best to reserve online, selecting “High Tea” and prepaying on opentable.com at least 24 hours in advance, especially with a bigger party.

Good luck having someone pick up the phone (646-392-7868) if you need to make any modifications to your reservation.

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