Tea & Sympathy
“throw in the sherpherd's pie, clotted cream, the toffee dessert thingy, and i could even put up with a pack of meathead frat boys.”
“Also, make sure to check out their store next door for teapots, trinkets, and delicious chocolate.”
“There is a gigantic selection of amazing teas and the treacle pudding for dessert is delectable.”
Tea & Sympathy
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Food: Very Good
Service: Excellent
Ambience: Very Good
I have been wanting to stop by here for a few months now. I wanted to try the whole English tea experience to remind me of my time growing up.
Walked in one late afternoon because it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner so I figured tea time it is :).
It was a near perfect experience we had scones with cream and jam and the curried chicken salad sandwich and off course a pot of tea.
Everything was very good the scones were outstanding, the sandwich was a very pleasant twist on a classic. Overall we had a delightful experience. Will I be back? For sure..
A local gem. With an unfortunate business model. Let me explain.
I absolutely love their scones and tea for $12.50. But every time I come here I am aware of how little money they make off of me, and how eager they are to rush me out of there. Having worked in the food industry I totally get it-a constant flow of customers means more revenue. For this reason I make sure to come during off-peak times, usually when there is just one other guest in the restaurant.
So once upon a time I used to come every week during their empty hours to get my tea and scones and read. (Despite them eyeing me to leave after 15 minutes and repeatedly trying to clear my plate before it was cleaned off. Think pac man)
One day I brought my friend with me. I always raved to her of this place, naturally she was excited to try it but had already had dinner. Everything she wanted was about $10, just below the $12.50 per person limit. I explained this to the server (who I recognized from my weekly visits) and asked her if she could make an exception for us, and that we would be collectively spending $22.50, not including tip.
She told us she is sorry but each person had to spend $12.50 in order to stay. The store was actually EMPTY. Not one other person in it. The server didn't budge. We left. My friend was flabbergasted.
They lost the only business for that hour. But they lost a regular customer that night too. I was so dismayed by their lack of care and hospitality.
So in conclusion, I just love this place. But like other reviewers, I too have become fed up with their need to make money over being kind and hospitable.
I've only been here once so far with some friends a while back. I've heard a lot of great things about it, so I was excited to try it out.
It's quite pricey, but the offerings are wonderful! The food is great and very authentic to British cuisine. This is probably the best place to get proper high tea in the city, but it's also a bit of a pain to get seated her. This place always has a wait (I know because every time I've tried to come back since the first time I went it's been packed), and the owner doesn't accept reservations nor does she have a waiting list. Now, I don't mind the "no reservations" policy, plenty of other tea houses have that policy as well, but the no waitlist thing is a bit absurd. It's just a bunch of people clustered around together with no one knowing how long the wait will be, and you have to hope no one cuts in front of you.
Between this and the cramped spacing inside, it's a place I really stopped trying to go back to, which is a shame because the food and tea are great. So overall, I think if you want to experience a proper tea this place is an absolute MUST. At least once. I'd like to go back at some point, but it's not somewhere I want to stand on line waiting with a crowd for an unknown block of time.
A well known establishment, this cozy little place is perfect for tea time. It's only got a few tables, so you'll likely encounter a wait or be a little cramped in this small space. Try to go during less trafficked times of the day to avoid it, if you're so inclined.
In any case, it quintessentially British! Knick-knacks decorate the walls, and you can see several unique tea pots and tea sets everywhere. Some of which are used, and some which just appear to be decoration.
I recommend the scones. The scones, oh the scones! A pot of tea, scones, clotted cream, jam, and definitely the treacle pudding.
Bangers and mash, the English classic is also served here, and the savory holds up well to the sweet. Worth a try!
I really wanted to like this place and there were some things that I did enjoy, but overall I felt the experience was overpriced, fussy and mediocre. The restaurant is super small and they don't take reservations so we had to wait to be seated. They quoted 20 minutes, but we were seated in under 10 minutes so I was happy about that. I loved the ambiance of the place and the displays of British-themed knick knacks, portraits of the Royal family, the tea pots and tea cups. It seemed like the place was authentically British, down to the British staff.
When we were first seated, there was a little confusion about which seat I should sit in. The waitress made a big deal about me being seated in a particular seat, which I was already planning to sit in. It turns out, the waitress was actually speaking to my friend, but she didn't make it clear and when I asked her to repeat herself, she spoke to me as if I was stupid. Not cool at all.
I decided to try the Afternoon Tea for One which cost $36 and consisted of finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, cakes and a pot of tea. It was stated that this cannot be shared between 2 people, even though it was definitely enough for 2 people.
For my tea, I chose Coco Loco, which was a lovely blend of chocolate, vanilla and rooibos. The tea was wonderful… Creamy, delicate and perfect with some milk. There was a lot of tea so that was really nice. Also, the tea came with a cute little strainer.
Then came my two-tiered afternoon tea service. There were 10 small pieces of sandwich: Egg salad, tuna salad and chicken salad. The sandwiches tasted okay but not particularly flavorful or anything to write home about. I think it would have been nice to have several different options of sandwiches to choose from.
The strawberry shortcake was decent. The cake part was moist and not too sweet, though the thin layer of strawberries and cream wasn't enough. And the cupcake was not very good. I thought it was chocolate cake, but it turned out to be what tasted like carrot cake and the frosting tasted really plain, even though it looked good.
I did like the scones, which were perfectly flaky, slightly crumbly, nice and warm. They were especially delicious with the clotted cream and raspberry jam… How can you go wrong with that combination?
After our lunch, we had a bit of an issue paying the bill because they would only take ALL cash or ALL credit card and couldn't split it between cash and card, but they can split the bill between 2-3 cards. We finally figured out how to pay the bill and I ended up paying $46 with tax and tip, which is a lot especially for a meal that I was not completely satisfied with.
One visit was enough for me… I definitely will not be coming back, especially since there are so many better tea houses in NYC.
It was a generally mild February weekend in New York when my husband and I were in town but the evenings were still chilly. We had about 40 minutes to kill after to dinner before a show we were going to at the Village Vanguard. We tossed out the idea of going somewhere for a cocktail but then my husband said, "you know, hot tea sounds really good right now." I agreed and plugged in tea into the ol' Yelp app and up jumped Tea & Sympathy, a short .2 miles from where we had been.
We went down there and were happy to see that they had some seating available so we had the very lovely lady running the joint that night grab us a table. The space is very small and not exactly shiny and new but it has so much character and feels so cozy. It was the perfect spot for us to stop.
While they do serve food we decided to have some tea and dessert. I went for the sticky toffee pudding and a special tea of the day (orange spice) while my husband went for the ginger cake with chamomile. The teas were served in these delightful fun teapots (mine was adorned with paintings of, I think, Queen Elizabeth the 1st while my husbands was of traditional British town-homes lined up) and the desserts came smothered in warm custard. With the custard neither dessert was particularly photogenic but man were they exactly what we needed. Warm, sweet, perfectly paired with the teas. By husband's, with the ginger, had a nice spice that was perfect with his chamomile and my spiced tea went well with the milder toffee.
The whole time we were there we remarked how great the experience was. From the awesome lady helping us out to the cozy spot, to the warm teas and treats. We had a limited amount of time in New York but I remarked that I'd like to come back there sometime for their full tea service. Husband agreed. So hopefully we'll be by again on our next visit out there. I just love a full tea service!
Nice, small place with a lot of attitude! Pure British style tea in nice old tea cups and kettles. Quite pricey though for 'tea time' for one ($33). The 'tea time' comes with tea and a bunch of sandwiches, cake and cupcakes. It's a nice experience overall …. definitely worth a try.
Tea time and brunch . Two things I can do all day and everyday . Why I have not been to This place is flabbergasting . I came here to do tea time with a friend and to get that real authentic British experience . I've lived in London and have family there so my tea time expectations are sometimes high . This place is quaint and small but the tea is amazing ! I had a black tea which was a mix of earl grey and English breakfast which was genius ! The actual sandwiches and scones with my oh so favorite clotted cream was no nonsense . The sandwiches were thick and filling . My friend had the black currant tea which was so crisp and delicious . They have Ribena Black currant which we both had iced !! Talk about throwback to my London days .
The owner nicely placed a store right next door where you can shop for all your Favorite goodies . I left with a bag of the black currant tea . I can't even ! I'm going back to eat Sunday roast ! Thank you T&S for bringing London to the village !