Teahouse Review: Tea & Sympathy

If one is inclined to get a crash course on British cuisine, a good place to start is Tea and Sympathy located downtown in New York City. It is a petite restaurant adjoined by a store that sells bulk teas. The café is a bit too crowded and the air a bit too laden with the smell of heavy foods to be called quaint. It's walls are filled with British knick-knacks from floor to ceiling, with quite a few photos of the queen herself.

The first thing you notice about the menu is the establishment's six-point policy that may be summed up as follows: they will not seat you until your entire party had arrived and will kindly ask you to leave once you have been deemed to be done (and you thought the Germans were efficient). In addition, the menu is filled with the usual suspects you'd expect at a British pub: Shepard pie, bangers and mash, sardines on toast and an assortment of puddings.

Of course this would not be a Teahouse Review without a mention of the teas. But first a little story. Years ago I found myself in London for the first time, and having heard of the English's love for tea, decided I could not leave without trying some of their local drink. I purchased a cup of tea that by default came with a splash of milk and a heaping of sugar. Was this tea? I thought it tasted like coffee once they were done with the additives. "What kind of tea is this?" I inquired. The reply was equally simple, "It's the kind we drink here."

That story pretty much sums up the tea experience at Tea & Sympathy. The first cup of jasmine tea was good. Unfortunately, the staff provide no way for you to remove the spent leaves. All subsequent cups ran the gamut of bitter to utterly undrinkable.

The lesson learned is simple. If you want a good, solid English experience, (including British accents on all the wait staff), Tea & Sympathy is the place for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a memorable high tea outing, complete with cucumber sandwiched and raspberry scones, Manhattan offers many other choices. Thankfully, you no longer have to settle for this one.