My review of the afternoon tea at The Russian Tea Room in New York City. Take a look at the space, the food, and the service.

The Russian Tea Room

The Russian Tea Room is like stepping into a time capsule. The first time I went at The Russian Tea Room was when I was a senior in high school and that was many, many years ago. I’ve been back a couple of more times since then and the restaurant looks exactly the same. (If you scroll down, you’ll see my visit from 2015.)

They renovated and updated over the years but the look is kept the same and I really don’t think they should ever change it since it’s so nicely done. It’s definitely a fun and luxe setting for afternoon tea.

Reservations

They don’t mention anywhere on the site that you need to make reservations for afternoon tea, but I always recommend doing so. But I will say that since reservations aren’t required, The Russian Tea Room is a great place to stop in for a last minute afternoon tea.

Dress Code

There isn’t a dress code so it’s best to default to smart casual. Look put together but be comfortable. Avoid athletic wear like sweatpants.

Afternoon Tea Hours

Afternoon tea is served every day. Monday – Friday, it’s 11:30AM – 4PM and on the weekends, it’s 11AM – 4PM.

Dinner starts at 4PM so I would make the reservation before or at 2PM if you want to avoid the dinner crowd.

How Afternoon Tea Works at The Russian Tea Room

There are many afternoon tea options on their menu, so flip the pages to see which afternoon tea you would like out of the five options.Next, select your tea. Afternoon teas are a set menu, so you don’t pick the food. What they bring out is what you eat, although you can let them know of any food allergies.

The Russian Tea Room does a slightly different tea service in that not all three courses come out at once. Instead, the savories come out first, then the scones with the sweets.

The pricing is for each person and with each order you get a pot of tea and three courses consisting of tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets.

The tea will come out first, then the savories, and later, the scones and sweets.

Afternoon Tea Menu

The Russian Tea Room does 5 different afternoon teas, which is a lot more than other places in NYC.

Afternoon Tea
$145 per person
Afternoon tea with a glass of Champagne, prosecco, or non-alcoholic sparkling wine. You get 10 (!!) savories, scones, and sweets. The savories come with 2 different caviars on blinis.

Royal Afternoon Tea
$160 per person
Same as the regular afternoon tea but with 4 different caviars on blinis.

Vegetarian Afternoon Tea
$145 per person
Same afternoon tea as the regular but all vegetarian tea sandwiches.

Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea
$145 per person
Same afternoon tea as the regular but everything is gluten-free.

Children’s Afternoon Tea
$75 per person
For kids under 12 years old, you get 7 savories, which include a mini BLT, grilled cheese, and peanut butter and jelly on a blini. Drink are geared towards kids with options like hot chocolate and a lot of caffeine-free teas.

The menu and prices may change at any time.

Setting: ★★★★☆

With colorful punches of vibrant greens and reds, The Russian Tea Room is a feast for the eyes. The decor is opulent and decadent.

Since it’s a restaurant, you’ll see a mix of people getting lunch. The seating is well spaced, which I always like. I was seated in one of the roomy side banquettes and it was pretty comfortable.

The restroom downstairs need a complete overhaul though. It’s not nice at all, especially compared to the luxurious dining room upstairs.

Service: ★★★★☆

Service was very good in that they were friendly and polite. The servers wear uniforms, which gives it a nice formal feel. One thing I didn’t love was that you could hear the servers having conversations nearby, which took away from the luxury dining vibe.

Before the tea is served, something sparkly is served. You have a choice of House Champagne, House Prosecco, or non-alcoholic sparkling wine. I got the non-alcoholic sparkling wine.

Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★☆

A very limited selection of just seven loose teas. They serve the tea with a small bowl of sour cherry syrup, which you stir into your tea to sweeten.

Savories: ★★★☆☆

The first course consisting of savories were brought out first on 3-tiered trays. Each person gets their own tray that holds 10 savories. Starting off at the top with a tasting of two caviars on blinis. The savories were tasty but some of the sandwiches were hard to eat in that it was too hard to bite into easily.

Ok, so The Russian Tea Room has one of the more expensive afternoon teas in New York City, and to justify the price, the include Champagne and a TON of food. Like, it’s too much food. No one needs 10 savories at afternoon tea. You’re eating more than 2 full sandwiches.

With this much food, it was hard to enjoy the other courses since I was so full.

Scones: ★★★☆☆

After we finished the savories, the trays were taken away and replaced with another set with scones on the bottom and sweets on top. It also came with butter and jars of preserves. If you want clotted cream, you have to ask for it, which I thought was odd.

Three scones each were a bit much especially since we were already full from the savories. Scones were served warm.

Sweets: ★★☆☆☆

The sweets were on the top 2 tiers and there are 6 in total. They were just ok.

Overall: ★★★☆☆

There’s just way too much food, especially considering afternoon tea is a meal meant to hold you over before dinner after having lunch. I would much prefer it if they lowered the price and provided less food and took off the glass of sparkling.

And yes, they will ask if you want to take anything home so feel free to take any leftovers, since there definitely will be.

LOCATION:
The Russian Tea Room
150 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019

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Afternoon Tea at the Russian Tea Room in 2015

This was my review of the tea service back in 2015 when it was $60 per person. I didn’t love it and gave it 3 stars out of 5. Let’s take a look back.

The restaurant is like a time capsule. It all looks exactly the same as when I first dined there in the 90s. They didn’t have anyone at the door this time though.

The interior has the exact same vibe and it all looks pristine.

The teapot has changed but the tea cups are the same, and they served the tea with a syrup with whole sour cherries to sweeten your drink. They still serve this with your tea.

Eight savories in all came out on a 3-tiered tray. Starting off at the top with a tasting of two caviars on blinis. They were all tasty but the presentation could have used a little more effort. The tray shown above is just for one person, so each person gets their own 3-tiered tray.

After you finish the savories, they brought out another 3-tiered tray with scones on the bottom and sweets on top. I wanted more of a variety and in smaller portions. The cupcakes were just OK (I only had a quarter of one) and the truffles were good but nothing fantastic.