NYC Afternoon Teas-Part 1
Hi Steepers! Let’s check out three afternoon tea spots in NYC.
Cacao Bar & Tea Salon by Mariebelle
Prince Tea House
Tea and Sympathy
1) Mariebelle: From the outside, Mariebelle just looks like a cute, fancy chocolate shop in SoHo. Yet hidden in the shop is a little Cacao Bar and Tea Salon where you can experience a full afternoon tea, or enjoy some quick pastries and hot chocolates.
A Little Bit of History: Maribel Lieberman, the founder of MarieBelle New York, had experience in fashion and food which led her to create not just delicious, but beautiful chocolate concoctions. In 2001, the flagship store opened, MarieBelle New York in Soho. That same year MarieBelle Soho opened “the Cacao Bar” inside a small café offering coffee, chocolate, and baked goods. Today, there are Maribelle stores all over the world and the Aztec Hot Chocolate is featured as one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things!” Based on my research it looks like daily Afternoon Tea only started to be served in 2020 as well as brunch for the weekends.
The Experience: Because the tea room is so small and tucked away behind a chocolate shop, it feels like a very exclusive, cute experience. Service was EXCELLENT. Our waiter was so attentive while also handling the Cacao Bar for those who just stopped by for a quick snack. The savory bites and scones were brought in on tiers by themselves and we were told the dessert tier would be brought out at the end.
Mariebelle offers unlimited tea OR coffee. This is nice if you have coffee people in your life who are not fans of tea, so are hard to convince to join you for afternoon tea. I also started with the hot chocolate before I selected my tea because I needed to know what Oprah was raving about. It IS very good hot chocolate, BUT also very rich so a small cup was perfect.
The afternoon tea is listed to start with a salad, but we were actually served a small carrot soup which was delicious! Like most afternoon tea experiences, we were served traditional scones but my party of two each received two small scones. The savory bites we had could be considered open faced sandwich style: Butternut squash with balsamic vinaigrette, Salmon & dill cream cheese, Endive salad with blue cheese & walnuts, Ham with gruyere cheese (this was a mini sandwich), Roasted spicy hummus with cucumber, all on a variety of breads.
We were then given our mini tier with our desserts! Macarons, Mariebelle’s classic chocolates, a trifle, and a lemon tart. To finish off our meal we were also given a parting gift! One of Mariebelle’s classic chocolates in a box.
As of Today: Take a look at the current menu. The afternoon tea price is not for the faint of heart, because this was definitely one of the most expensive teas I’ve been to at $70pp. This is an indulgence and not a regular place to visit for the average person.
My Rating: 4/5 teacups. I love the vibe of Mariebelle’s and would like to return. The service and the food were good. The price compared to the experience makes it inaccessible for regular visiting for me. I think I would do some of the à la carte options, like hot chocolate or pastries, and not the full tea experience on my next visit! It is a beautiful shop, worth checking out at least once!
2) Prince Tea House: Prince Tea House is a chain of tea shops with locations all throughout NYC, Staten Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Virginia. I had the pleasure of trying the Browery street location in NYC as well as the Philadelphia location. Both experiences were comparable.
A Little Bit of History: I couldn’t find too much history online or information about the original owners, but Prince Tea has multiple franchise owners and are continuing expanding. Prince Tea House describes itself as an Asian-European fusion dessert, brunch, and afternoon tea spot. Their first location opened in 2014 in Flushing (a neighborhood in Queens). Since then they have moved to a variety of locations and states. Their most famous item is known as the Mille Crepe Cake, which comes in a variety of flavors!
The Experience: Prince Tea has a “hands off” experience in the sense after you are seated, there is a QR code at your table where you can order and continue to order until you are ready to check out. I found the food delivered very quickly after placing the order and waiters are always available if you need something. The china is very beautiful and one thing I loved is the pot of tea is served on top of an elegant “chafing dish” or candle so it stays warms. Depending on the location you go, there are unlimited refills of tea plus I was offered a to go cup for my final tea when I couldn’t finish it.
Now for the savory and sweet bites. Prince Tea House has one of the most BEAUTIFUL displays. I took my friend for his first afternoon tea experience here and he was so blown away by the presentation. I did notice the presentation is different in Philadelphia vs the Chinatown location in Soho but both were beautiful.
I am obsessed with the scones at Prince Tea House. They have one type of scone, but they are big but thin so they aren’t dense. They actually are crisp around the ages. The savory bites were traditional with a twist and I loved them all. The menu is not set so it likely varies from month to month. There was chicken salad stuffed in a croissant, round cucumber sandwiches, a deviled egg, and a salmon tart and a mini puff pastry the last time I visited. The desserts included a macaron, their famous green tea mille crepe cake (in mini version), and a sweet croissant stuffed with jam and cream.
As of Today: This is the current menu for the Soho location. There afternoon tea for two comes in at $69.95 (so roughly $35 pp).
My Rating: 5/5 teacups. Though you do not get an overly in your face service experience, I LOVE this place. The options for the prices are exceptional. It’s a great place to take people in town and it’s a chill environment. Some afternoon tea experiences can feel a little stuffy, but I love the vibe, the food, and the hands off service of this place.
3) Tea and Sympathy: Tea and Sympathy is a small cafe and tea house, known for their afternoon tea and traditional English dishes. It provides both indoor and outdoor seating in Greenwich village.
A Little Bit of History: The founder of Tea and Sympathy is a London native, Nicky Perry, who arrived in the US in 1981. She established Tea & Sympathy in 1990 and it is still thriving today. They have a shop next door which sells popular British sweets, tea, china, groceries, and more.
The Experience: Okay. The first thing you’ll likely notice about Tea and Sympathy is the tight quarters. They try to maximize capacity by putting very little room between seats. I had a reservation for 2:30pm and it was poppin both indoor and outdoor as they were ending peak times. I was first squeezed in between a party of two and a party of four. This was incredibly awkward seating as I was basically trapped. I couldn’t get out without someone next to me moving their table slightly and holding down their tea cups, and pots, otherwise I would risk knocking it over.
Fortunately, the very friendly host did end up moving me unprompted to a single table in the corner that opened up which was more comfortable.
The afternoon tea display was BEAUTIFUL with huge generous dessert portions. The first thing I noticed was a big cut of the classic victoria sponge cake!
Quick anecdote on Victoria Sponge: Victoria sponge (also known as the victoria sandwich) is a classic British cake and was known as a favorite layer cake of Queen Victoria (hence the name!) It’s regularly served during celebrations and usually filled with strawberry jam, and sometimes whipped cream, topped off with dusted powdered sugar.
It was a real treat to have a classic afternoon tea dessert served with my afternoon tea! The other desserts were more basic, but the portions were LARGE. Most afternoon tea places adopt the petit four style of desserts and serve them mini, but the desserts at Tea and Sympathy were very generous, including a full sized cupcake. I was served two scones, which were served on the dessert layer vs having a separate tier to itself. This is just a comment and not a criticism because I personally don’t mind if I have two or three tiers in an afternoon tea! The savory bites were classic finger sandwiches: cucumber, chicken salad, egg salad, ham and cheese.
As of Today: You can look at the menu here. Tea for one is currently at $50.
My Rating: 3.5/5 teacups. I do like that everything about their afternoon tea was classic and traditional, but the location is too cramped for a truly comfortable experience, especially during peak hours. I would go back just for the victoria sponge cake!
NYC has an abundance of afternoon tea spots, so stay tuned for Part II.
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