A Japanese-inspired afternoon tea is served at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Take a look at the gorgeous tea service and my full review.

Waldorf Astoria New York

The Waldorf Astoria New York is an iconic NYC hotel that reopened in 2025 after an extensive renovation. The afternoon tea is served at Yoshoku, a Japanese restaurant that’s located right off the hotel lobby.

Waldorf Astoria New York Reservations

It’s always a good idea to make reservations for afternoon tea. I made my reservation online and thankfully, they don’t require you to prepay.

Dress Code

They don’t state a dress code but it’s always best to go smart casual. Dress comfortably but look put together. Avoid athletic wear like sweatpants.

Afternoon Tea Hours

Afternoon tea is served Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11AM until 1:30PM. It’s a bit of a short window. Only afternoon tea is served in the space during that time, which I LOVE.

How Afternoon Tea Works at the Waldorf

There is just one afternoon tea on the menu so you just need to decide on the tea. You’ll get all the savories, scones, and sweets on the menu so there’s nothing to choose. They do have caviar for an additional charge if you want to make the experience even more decadent.

The tea comes out first and they’ll pour the first cup for you. The savories, scones, and sweets all come out together. The proper order of eating afternoon tea is savories first, then scones, and finall, sweets.

Waldorf Astoria NY Afternoon Tea Menu

Afternoon Tea
$135 per person
A pot of tea, 5 savories, 2 scones with clotted cream and jam and curd, and 5 sweets.

The menu and prices may change at any time.

Setting: ★★★★★

Even though the dining space is a restaurant, it has a very lounge-y vibe with comfortable, plush seating. I love it when a space is dedicated just for afternoon tea and that’s how it is at the Waldorf. Everyone else seated was there for afternoon tea.

Service: ★★★★★

Exceptional. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would. Every single person I interacted with was lovely. They take the time to walk you through the menu and describe all the food once it arrives at the table.

After you sit down, they place a little ceramic box in front of you that contains a hand wipe. I love details like this.

Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★

Since the afternoon tea is Japanese-inspired, so was the tea selection. They get their teas from Kettl, a Brooklyn-based tea company, and even though there are just 6 teas listed, I had no complaints since it’s a tightly curated tea menu. It’s mostly green teas but I went with a Japanese black tea, which paired well with the food. The teas are all loose teas.

Savories: ★★★★★

Each person gets 5 savories on a wooden pedestal tray and look how pretty they look! Even better, they were all delicious. I love the care and thought put into creating each of these bite-sized finger sandwiches.

Scones: ★★★★☆

The scones come nestled in a cloth napkin so that they are kept warm. Ever since my London afternoon tea trip, I have become a bit of a snob when it comes to scones. I did like the scones at the Waldorf, but they were more like muffins than scones. They serve you 2, a matcha white chocolate and a plain. It’s served with clotted cream, a jam, and bergamot curd.

They suggest eating the scones first while they’re warm, but I always start with the tea sandwiches.

Sweets: ★★★★★

I never really love the sweets course at afternoon tea since they all tend to start to taste the same, but this one blew me away. You should have seen my eyes widen after the first bite of sweets. WHOA, it was so good. I can remember how each one tasted as I write this now.

Of course, I can’t mention the sweets without talking about the presentation. The sweets are placed on a very pretty mossy tired lazy Susan.

Overall: ★★★★★

I highly recommend you go! The Waldorf Astoria is serving my favorite afternoon tea in New York City, dethroning the Baccarat’s tea service from the number 1 spot. I loved it.

LOCATION:
Yoshoku at Waldorf Astoria New York
301 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022