The St. Regis hotel is one of my top picks for afternoon tea in NYC. See my complete review of the service, the tea, and the food from savories to sweets.

The St. Regis New York

The St. Regis is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan and it’s one of the first afternoon teas I ever went to. I’ve gone many times over the years and tea was always served in an open lounge area so I was very surprised to see that they moved it to the newly remodeled restaurant that’s next to it.

Afternoon tea is served at La Maisonette, a restaurant inside St. Regis.

St. Regis Reservations

It’s best to make reservations online. It’s prepaid so you do need to provide your credit card information. Make sure you let them know of any dietary restrictions when you make the reservation.

Dress Code

They state on the website that the dress code is smart casual. This means you should look neat and polished in casual clothes. Feel free to dress up!

Afternoon Tea Hours

Afternoon tea is served from 1PM – 4PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays but the last reservation is at 2:45PM. The restaurant closes at 4PM so it’s better to make the reservation earlier than later.

How Afternoon Tea Works at St. Regis

Afternoon tea is a set menu, which means you get all the food listed on the menu and you don’t get to choose. You do get to choose the tea to make sure to look over the tea menu. St. Regis only has one afternoon tea and it’s the traditional 3 courses.

St. Regis Afternoon Tea Menu

Afternoon Tea
$125 per person
A pot of tea, 5 tea sandwiches, 2 freshly baked scones with double Devonshire cream and fruit preserves, and 6 mini sweets.

The menu and prices may change at any time.

Setting: ★★★★☆

The decor of La Maisonette, the restaurant where afternoon tea is served, is gorgeous. Lots of plush and comfortable seating in pink and teal colors.

I’m a little torn on the rating for the setting since it is so perfect for afternoon tea but there are a couple of negatives. One is that there are no windows so it does feel a little closed in. The other is that the space is also used for lunch, which changes the vibe.

The biggest issue I have though is that they stopped serving tea in the lounge area, which I absolutely loved, especially when the decor was feminine like it was right out of Bridgerton. But then again, this was like 15 years ago so I should let that go.

Service: ★★★★★

Excellent and friendly service from start to finish. I’ve been to The St. Regis many times over the years and the service is always great. Once, I did encounter a snooty hostess but that’s not the norm.

Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★

The tea selection is fantastic with a nice variety, without it being overwhelming. I like to see three to five of each type of tea (black, oolong, green, white, and herbal) represented on the menu and that was the case here. On the table are tea strainers, so I knew right away the tea would be loose tea.

My preference is usually black or oolong tea. Green, white, and herbal teas can be too subtle and can’t stand up to the flavors of the tea sandwiches and sweets.

Savories: ★★★★☆

The savories were my favorite out of all the afternoon teas in NYC at one point. This time, they were very good, but not amazing. The sandwiches were a little cold, like they just got them out of the refrigerator.

The savories are not super fancy but very approachable with a elegant take on the classics.

Scones: ★★★☆☆

The scones were the weakest part of the tea service since they were more like dinner rolls. I didn’t love them.

Sweets: ★★★★☆

The sweets were good, but not especially memorable.

Overall: ★★★★☆

St. Regis is in my top 5 afternoon teas in NYC and I do recommend it. A solid afternoon tea experience.

LOCATION:
La Maisonette, The St. Regis New York
2 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022

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Afternoon Tea at St. Regis in 2016

In 2016, the afternoon tea was served in an open lounge area called Astor Court and tea service was available every day.

With its gorgeous painted ceiling and luxury setting, the experience was a delight. Over the years, Astor Court, the room where afternoon tea was served, has had a couple of redesigns.

In 2016, they offered 2 different afternoon teas and the classic and traditional was called Lady Astor’s Tea and it was $65 per person.

I loved the savories here! Each tea sandwich was better than the next and everything tasted delicious and fresh. The variety was wonderful and I could have eaten two trays worth.

The St. Regis used to have the savories come out on a ceramic rectangular plate first, then after they were eaten they would take the plate away and bring out a three-tiered tray with scones and sweets.

(I’ve eaten two savory trays in the past and I was so full that I couldn’t eat another bite and missed out on the scone and sweet courses. Lesson learned.)

Double Devonshire cream, preserves, and lemon curd were always served with the scones. Two scones per person, one raisin and one plain. They were pretty good and a good size and not too big.

I didn’t love the sweets back then either. They all started tasting the same.

But overall, I gave the afternoon tea at St. Regis in 2016 5 stars out of 5.

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Afternoon Tea at St. Regis in 2014

Astor Court in 2014.

Teaware was white porcelain with silver strainers.

The tea sandwiches were really tasty.

Crooked three-tiered stand with sweets and scones.

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Afternoon Tea at St. Regis in 2012

When they had silver teapots.

Tea sandwiches were always served separately from the three-tiered stands.

A very blurry photo of the three-tiered stand with sweet and scones.