New York is truly a melting pot of numerous cultures, cuisines and people. One can clearly see this in the restaurant scene of this vibrant city as well. Whatever you crave, this city surely delivers. So if you are craving a quintessential afternoon tea experience that is as British as it can get, New York has an answer for that too. At 108 Greenwich Ave in Manhattan, you will find a cozy little restaurant called Tea & Sympathy. Don't go by its size, this place is always packed with afternoon tea enthusiasts looking to get their fix of this popular British phenomenon. One look at their menu and you will realize that all the British favorites you crave be it afternoon tea, bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, Welsh rarebit, sticky toffee pudding, treacle pudding and more, you will find some truly authentic food here.
We arrived here on a Saturday at noon and the place was packed. They hold the reservations only for fifteen minutes so luckily everyone in our party arrived within that time frame, as only then we were seated. I think due to a slight delay in the arrival of a few in our party, we lost our table in the small yet cozy indoor area and were seated in the outdoor area with just 2 small heaters at the entrance. That did not do any good as it was freezing cold outside despite the area being covered as it was continuously open on the side from where one entered. Hence get there on time and hope to be seated inside during the winter season or carry the thickest jacket and other winter essentials you have as it will be freezing cold in the outside seating.
However, as we were quite hungry, it being lunchtime and all, we got distracted from the cold looking at their superb menu. For a second I was tempted to go for the vegetarian shepherd's pie, but then watching those two-tiered masterpieces come in filled with all sorts of treats, I changed my mind and decided to go for the afternoon tea for 2 with my sister. We were given our choice of tea and were allowed to choose from any one of their extensive list of interesting teas, ranging from apricot to cinnamon, vanilla mint, rose petal, chamomile lavender and more. The tea arrived in these absolutely gorgeous teapots, and each of our teapots was so different, colorful, artistic and intriguing. The piping hot tea made the cold situation better and gave us some temporary relief.
Shortly after that, our tea sets arrived with 2 scrumptious layers of treats. On the top tier was a generous piece of traditional victoria sponge cake, freshly baked scones with clotted cream & jam and a Bakewell tart (shortcrust pastry with jam, frangipane topped with flaked almonds). On the bottom were these picture-perfect finger sandwiches - cream cheese and cucumber, cheese and English pickle, egg salad with watercress and avocado tomato and watercress. We had gone for the vegetarian tea set and these were the delicious assortments we received. To be honest I was not expecting much, after having had English tea before at other places. Because I always felt that something from the assortment provided had let me down taste or quality-wise. However here I had a completely different experience. I started with the sandwiches and with each one I tried I was just amazed at the flavor and attention to detail put into them! I was especially surprised by the cheese and pickle sandwich and kept asking myself what is this amazing thing! I had never had a pickle like that before in a sandwich. It was tart yet a bit sweet and had some spices and chunks of crunchy pickled veggies. Combined with the richness of the cheese, it was a match made in heaven.
Foodie Tip: After dreaming about that sandwich for weeks after my visit, I went and looked up their menu for evidence of what pickle they used. It turned out to be Branston pickle, a popular English household brand. I ordered a bottle for myself and now make my own sandwiches with it whenever I like! it was truly a revelation.
Then I tried the scones. They looked to be a little bulky and less delicate than the scones I had tried before. But all my doubts went away when I put those cream-topped delicacies into my mouth. They tasted buttery, flaky and oh-so-fresh! The sponge cake as well was fluffy and not overly sweet. Every item placed on this exquisite tea set was well thought out. Despite the fact that the restaurant was full, the quality of food and service did not suffer. Everything was absolutely excellent. I have to admit I forgot about the freezing weather as I enjoyed my tea experience. The tea set for 2 was quite filling, both of us couldn't finish it and had to take some stuff home.
Overall the service was excellent and swift, the quality was great, the food was authentic and delicious. Other than the fact that the seating wasn't that great (they could fix that by adding a few heaters in the outdoor seating area) their afternoon tea experience absolutely blew my mind. I did not expect to find such an authentic English afternoon tea experience outside of the UK. But New York surprised me once again!
Thank you for reading ❤️
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