Afternoon High Tea

Looking for a place that serves %26#39;Afternoon High Tea%26#39; in NYC. I know The London serves it, but I was just wondering if anyone had other suggestions.

Thanks so much!

Afternoon High Tea

High tea is a fairly dull and far from elegant meal eaten in the evening by working class Britons. It is called ';tea'; because in classic working-class fashion, ';dinner'; was at midday, and it is called ';high'; because it is eaten off a regular dinner table, instead of a tea table. It commonly consists of such things as cold roast mutton. I seriously doubt that you are looking for ';high tea';. The midafternoon repast that consists of things such as cucumber sandwiches and petit fours is not ';high tea';, but simply ';tea';, or ';afternoon tea.';

Afternoon tea is served at a number of hotels, including the Pierre and the New York Palace.

Afternoon High Tea

Yes, Afternoon Tea is exactly what I%26#39;m looking for.

Thanks so much.

What sort of place do you want? There are smaller more casual places like these

鈥bout.com/od/restaurants/tp/tearooms.htm

and then there are the grander ones in midtown hotels like the Plaza, the St. Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Pierre etc. Takashimaya, the Japanese dept. store also has a tea room in their basement that many people like.

Hi nywhiz:

I%26#39;m looking for a nice place that will serve sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and jam along with the tea.

Thanks for your help!

Bobbo - the Plaza and the Ritz-Carlton (Central Park South not Battery Park) both have very high tea served in great settings. The Plaza is a bit more of a feminine setting and has a higher proportion of women for afternoon tea whereas the Ritz-Carlton is more clubby and male but has a mixed clientele and is our favourite.

Essex House Hotel (also on Central park South) serves afternoon tea too but I haven%26#39;t tried it.

Lady Mendel%26#39;s Tea Salon at the hotel in Irving Place (between Union Square and Gramercy Park) is apparently good too. We were headed there on our last trip in October but, after a big lunch at Eleven Madison Park, decided that there wasn%26#39;t going to be enough room for scones, sandwiches etc as well later in the afternoon.

A couple of things - it%26#39;s not a cheap afternoon, particularly if you have a glass or several of champagne too and, whatever you do, don%26#39;t just turn up expecting to order afternoon tea. Most places have particular seating times and you must book in advance.

Also, you can probably ignore what GreenWhiteBlue said. Quite a few places in NYC refer to it as high tea (but afternoon tea will cover it when you%26#39;re making a booking).

My family went to the Plaza for tea this Christmas and while it was great to see the old waiters and the harpist was in fine form, I wasn%26#39;t impressed with the stale sandwiches and insipid desserts. I%26#39;d stick with Lady Mendl%26#39;s or the Pierre.

One can ignore what I said, but it doesn%26#39;t make me wrong, nor does it make anyone who misuses the term ';high tea'; any less ignorant.

Here, here, GWB. I am an afternoon tea nut and people mistakenly using the term %26#39;high tea%26#39; is one of my pet hates. You can call it a %26#39;cream tea%26#39; or a %26#39;royal tea%26#39; if you must, but never high tea.

Completely beside the point though..

*****One can ignore what I said, but it doesn%26#39;t make me wrong, nor does it make anyone who misuses the term ';high tea'; any less ignorant.*****

You are absolutely correct in your definition. I own/run a small tea room in the English tradition. I do think the term ';high tea'; is in such general usage in America that there will just have to be a new term, ';American High Tea.'; :):):)

I also agree with the comment that you will get the best selection if you pre-book and even specify preferences when it comes to tea, scones and sandwich types, particularly if you don%26#39;t like smoked salmon or are allergic to anything. Don%26#39;t know what the common practices are for tea in NYC, but we serve it in three courses with scones, etc. as the first course. I think it%26#39;s also lots of fun to serve different types of tea with the different courses. When I serve a group, I often try a little tea tasting. Tea has never been better so I hope you find a place to enjoy the tradition. Have fun!

';One can ignore what I said, but it doesn%26#39;t make me wrong, nor does it make anyone who misuses the term ';high tea'; any less ignorant.';

Well, maybe ';uninformed'; would be a nicer way of putting it. :)

But you ARE right, and it%26#39;s one of my pet peeves too - and I%26#39;m not even sure why I care...:)