I have always heard of tea rooms, but I never thought much of it. We had heard from friends that they had gone to the Plaza Hotel, across the street from Central Park and had a pleasant experience eating sandwiches and drinking tea. I had looked at reservations before COVID, and it was usually pretty difficult to secure reservations. I did a quick glance and made reservations easily since the city is still slowly, albeit surely, opening up.
Ambiance
When you enter the hotel from the main entrance on 5th Avenue, the Palm Court is actually just an open area with a bunch of tables and a bar in the center. Walking directly straight, you will see the hostess greeting people. The ceilings are very high, and it is quite relaxing sitting here and just being served.
The service is pretty straight forward. They checked on how we’re doing and made several rounds to keep our water filled. The one thing we learned was it is possible to just order an individual tea set, and for each set, you can choose your own tea. So with that being said, we ordered the Manhattan and the Plaza Signature.
Food
We ordered 2 green teas.
My partner ordered the des alizes, which was a fruity green tea with pieces of white peach, kiwi, and watermelon. I thought the tea was very aromatic in smell, but the tea itself was on the blander side.
I ordered the du hammam, which was a fruity blend of green tea, with rose petals, green dates, and berries. The scent of this wasn’t particularly aromatic, but the taste of it was much more bold in the right way than my partner’s.
The Manhattan 3 level set had pastries & sweets at the top, sandwiches & savories below that, and scones at the very bottom.
The sandwiches (left to right on the second level):
- pickled english cucumber, green goddess créme, rye bread
- This tasted pretty crispy and fresh!
- black forest ham, citrus braised pork, baby swiss cheese, white bread
- The braised pork had something in it that completely masked the swiss cheese and the ham. Despite that, it was good.
- beet cured salmon, tarragon créme fraiche, pumpernickel
- I’m usually not a fan of salmon on bread, so I felt this was indifferent.
- egg salad, bacon & date jam, whole wheat bread
- This was pretty good. I think the bacon & date jam definitely masked the egg salad, but it was good.
- coronation chicken salad, sultana & marcona almonds, sourdough bread
- This reminded me of eating chicken salad from delis. I thought the flavors were pretty good though.
The desserts (left to right on the top level):
- lychee & rose macaron, raspberry preserve
- This was fantastic as the flavors were very bold and tasty.
- fresh seasonal fruit tart (blueberry)
- This fruit tart wasn’t too sweet, so it wasn’t as memorable.
- violet & blackcurrent éclair, candied violets
- I’m not sure what was in the middle, but it was like a semi-sweet chocolate-ish filling. It did remind us of a Lady M eclair.
- peppermint patty, chocolate oat shortbread
- This tasted like an upscale, very tasty york peppermint patty.
- yuzu & mascarpone bar cheesecake, citrus grahame cracker
- I thought this was really good since the yuzu was very sharp and complemented well with the mascarpone.
The Plaza Signature 3 level set had a similar setup to the Manhattan above.
The sandwiches (left to right on the second level):
- pickled english cucumber, green goddess créme, rye bread
- This tasted pretty crispy and fresh! (same as Manhattan)
- foie gras torchon, mission figs, foie gras jelly, toasted brioche
- This was very bold in foie gras flavors and delicious if you’re into those flavors.
- beet cured salmon, tarragon créme fraiche, pumpernickel
- I’m usually not a fan of salmon on bread, so I felt this was indifferent. (same as Manhattan)
- lobster medallion, truffle aioli, caviar, toasted brioche
- I thought this was delicious. The lobster is indeed a very condensed piece and had great sweetness to it.
- clothbound aged cheddar, tomato ginger jam, white bread
- This tasted like a sandwich with marinara sauce in between.
The desserts (left to right on the top level):
- lavender infused white chocolate macaron, white chocolate ganache
- The lavender flavors were very prominent and great.
- fresh seasonal fruit tart (blueberry)
- This fruit tart wasn’t too sweet, so it wasn’t as memorable. (same as Manhattan)
- chocolate manjari black forest sablé, dark chocolate cherry custard, vanilla cream
- I really like black forest cherries in general, so this was really good. I could order this by itself.
- strawberry & cream delice, pistachio (flourless) dacquiose cake
- I thought this at first a strawberry shaped marshmallow, but it was just cream. The strawberry flavors could have been more bold, but it was pretty good.
- plaza golden egg, lemon verbena custard, peach red tea jelly
- The bubbles were similar to what you would find at the Asian boba shops. They gave you a small spoon to scoop the bubbles up. At the bottom, situates the custard. This is probably something you would find at a dessert shop like Spot in the East Village. The shell was actually made of white chocolate. I don’t think there were any flavors that were unexpected, but it was all pretty good.
They gave us 2 scones for each tea set for the bottom shelf: 1 regular and 1 with toasted almonds and cranberry. The scones weren’t warm at all, but tasted nothing special.
For the scones, they gave us devonshire cream, yuzu basil curd, and house-made preserves. We really liked the yuzu basil curd because it had a very sharp and sour but pleasant citrus aftertaste. My partner did not enjoy the house made preserves since it had some rosemary after tastes. The preserves definitely were not as sour as the yuzu basil, but it was definitely more sweet.
Final Verdict
This was our first of likely many tea room experiences, and it was pretty good. We left feeling full especially with how much tea we drank. The food itself was not out of this world, but they were satisfactory if you keep your expectations grounded. It’s definitely a little more posh than other tea rooms in the city, so the prices reflect that. This is a great spot to bring friends too if they feel like spoiling themselves.
Yelp Jabs
High tea: Over rated and under par. For the price I’d rather fly back to London for the real thing. If you’re feeling the need though to dress up for and get raped on the price for average service and par food, this is the place. Highly do not recommend.
The price of the Manhattan was $95 and the price of the Plaza Signature was $105. I’m pretty sure a flight back to London would cost more, but regardless, you do get hit with New York City prices since this is also a historical location.
While we love The Plaza Hotel and have had many enjoyable albeit expensive meals at The Palm Court, I must caution against the Plaza Tea. While it is, no doubt, a charming ritual you will be privileged to spend $300+ for two people for perhaps $50 worth of food at best.
You are really paying for the cost of the tea and the experience. Just like all experiences in NYC, there’s an upcharge.