Introduction
After seven years munching our way through NYC, we can officially say that we have visited every single high tea spot there is 😀 …or at least opened as of 2024. In this guide, we list the ones that are worth your time, categorized by budget and style. This list does not include the high teas that we do not recommend. Our absolutely favourite high tea is revealed at the end, so keep scrolling. (If you have no attention span, here’s a pictorial guide). And as with all our NYC dessert guides, we will keep updating so bookmark this page. Pinkies up, peeps and peepettes!
The most expensive nouveau riche high tea in NYC
Dessert destination: Baccarat Hotel, Midtown Manhattan. - Previous high tea review: Read here.
- Budget: $$$$$.
- Best for: If someone is paying for you – i.e. corporate card, expensive date, ultra special occasions, etc.
- Short and sweet story: In a lounge area bedecked with glistening, flamboyantly-coloured Baccarat crystal, high tea is served on Baccarat glass, and accompanied by champagne poured into Baccarat stemware. Short story, this place is ostentatious in every way. It’s a great place for pretending that I don’t need my day job anymore, and that I can blend in with the ultra-wealthy Arab and Russian women that frequent this hotel. 🙂
- Alternative ultra-expensive high tea in NYC: Less flashy, and more understated, another contender for most expensive or opulent high tea in NYC can be found at the Aman Hotel. You will need to find a member or be a hotel guest to partake in it, though.
The best old money high tea in NYC
- Alternative old money high teas in NYC: Two alternatives to the Lowell are the high teas at the Carlyle and the St Regis. The ambience at both of these hotels have a similar sophisticated air, though the Carlyle can be a little rowdy because high tea is taken in the corridor leading to the famed Bemelmans Bar, and the business crowd can sometimes be found en masse at the St Regis. If your budget doesn’t stretch to hotel high teas, Lady Mendl‘s high tea is slightly lower-priced, but with a similar “old money” feel because it is set in a fancifully-decorated brownstone building.
The most famous high tea in NYC
- Dessert destination: Plaza Hotel, Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan.
- Previous high tea review: Read here.
- Budget: $$$$.
- Best for: Ticking it off the must-do list.
- Short and sweet story: Google “best high tea in NYC,” and the Plaza will appear on every guide. But, is it worth it? In our honest opinion, it’s not our favourite high tea in NYC. It’s a tremendous effort to score a reservation (took us almost five years of living in NYC to get a reservation here around Christmas time). The high tea food is elegant but not particularly innovative. The atmosphere is the main disappointment: it tends to be louder-pitched because there are a lot of tourists, and even very young kids. But, like the Windsor in Melbourne, Raffles in Singapore, Ritz Carlton in London, you do have to visit the Plaza for high tea once in your life time.
The most “I am in a movie” high tea in NYC
- Alternative “I am in a movie” high tea in NYC: For two other alternatives to the Russian Tea Room, consider the high tea at Tiffany & Co‘s recently renovated flagship store, to pretend that you are in a nostalgic 1950s Hollywood movie. Another option is the high tea at the Cauldron. During Halloween season especially, it is like stepping into a Harry Potter-esque wonderland. Similar to the Russian Tea Room, visit either for the experience, rather than the food.
The best mid-range hotel high tea in NYC
- Alternative mid-range high tea in NYC: If your budget skews mid-range, Bluebird and Brooklyn High Low are two other solid options. Bluebird is perched above Columbus Circle in the Upper West Side. Ask for window seats, and consider returning for lunch or dinner (the sticky date pudding…omg). Brooklyn High Low is more of a trek, located close to Prospect Park.
The best high tea in a NYC dessert shop
- Alternative dessert shop high tea in NYC: Instead of a chocolate shop, you can also find high tea in a patisserie in the West Village. Check out AnnTremet for its seasonally changing high tea menu. Currently one of the cheapest high teas in the city, it is arguably, also one of the best value because it includes exquisitely crafted mousse cakes that rival the high tea creations found at the more expensive hotel high teas.
The best Asian fusion high tea in NYC
The most evocative Japanese high tea in NYC
Most unique Asian afternoon teas in NYC
- Dessert destination:
- Budget: $$-$$$.
- Best for: Unique afternoon teas infused with Asian flavours and dessert techniques.
- Short and sweet story: Respectively opening just the last year, Duo and Sarisa stand out for offering a very unique take on afternoon tea. Specifically, Duo showcases modern Chinese desserts and rare Chinese teas in a sleek minimalist space, whereas Sarisa serves a high tea infused with Thai flavours and which resemble a field of pretty flowers and a platter of trompe l’oeil fruits. We love both, and look forward to more afternoon tea dessert variations from the many countries that make up Asia.
The best scones in NYC
- Dessert destination:
- Budget: $$.
- Best for: Scones.
- Short and sweet story: Most NYC high tea spots cannot bake a proper English scone. For some reason, the scones are overwhelmingly hard, dry, lumpy, misshapen nuggets. 😦 By contrast, in our mind, a proper scone should be a pillowy puff about half the height of a coffee mug. After eating so many “scones” in NYC, we think that Alice’s Tea Cup and Tea & Sympathy serve two of the better renditions out there. You will have to close one eye to the utterly dismal service at both of these spots, though. 😦
The best Christmas high tea in NYC
- Dessert destination: Lillie’s, Gramercy, Manhattan.
- Previous high tea review: Read here.
- Budget: $$.
- Best for: Over-the-top Christmas decorations.
- Short and sweet story: Rolf’s in the East Village is famous for its Amazonian forest of Christmas lights. But, it doesn’t serve high tea. 😦 So, if you are looking for a place similar to Rolf’s with crazy Christmas decorations and a little bit of high tea, check out Lillie’s. The food is…average, but there’s no faster way to get into the festive season than spending an afternoon in a cavernous space where every inch of the ceiling is covered in lights, tinsel and Santa toys, where every possible variety of Christmas music blares out of giant soundboxes, and where other patrons crash endless pints of beer together to celebrate the end of year.
- Alternatives Christmas high teas in NYC: We have also visited Bluebird, Russian Tea Room, Plaza Hotel, Carlyle Hotel and AnnTremet Patisserie during the Christmas season. While they are not as exuberantly decorated as Lillie’s, these alternative options respectively fall on a wide spectrum of budgets and occasions.
The ultimate best high tea in NYC
