Tea & Sympathy

I have never encountered the kind of attitude and smugness anywhere else in the world as I did at Tea & Symphony. I had a 12:00 o'clock lunch meeting and arrived early at 11:30. A blonde woman with an accent asked me how many people, I said two. She told me she couldn't seat me until my friend arrived. The restaurant was EMPTY except for one table that was taken. I was told I could wait outside on the bench. It was 35 degrees outside. I said I would sit and order while I waited. She said No. She said that if I sat down and ordered, when my friend came, she wouldn't be able to sit with me. I said I wanted tea and would sit and order tea and once my friend came, I would pay my bill and she could "re-seat" me with my friend. She made it clear they do not "do" re-seating at Tea & Symphony. I said this all didn't make sense, she said it made perfect sense. I asked her to explain the sense of it to me and she said that they fill up fast and don't want someone sitting and taking up space. I pointed out they were EMPTY. She replied, "We just opened. We fill up fast." I said I would sit and drink tea, and once she had a customer waiting for a table, I would pay and get up. She said no. She also added I could NOT sit and order tea; if I wanted to sit, I had to order food. She told me to come back when my friend arrived, and I made it clear I would NEVER come back. With anyone. I urge you all to do the same. There are thousands of restaurants in the city, we should not encourage and support establishments that treat us like shit and purposefully and deliberately make no attempt to try and accommodate. I call for a boycott! more

This is a great little teahouse. Give it a try. :) more

I love this tea house's wide array of flavors. Their snacks and deserts are unique yummers! I come here at least once a week and always order something different. They've got over 100 teas so I'll never get bored, with the same ol'. But somehow I keep ordering my 2 favorite every month, cold buccaneers and hot gen mai matcha (sp?). Their green tea muffins are delish! more

I love this quaint little tea place (and I mean little!). There is often a wait (outside) for this small, authentically English tea / restaurant. They have English food, as well as a good country style tea with sandwiches and cakes. It's not the tea you get at the Ritz, which is more of an event, but a good old fashioned home style tea. I love it. more

Tea & Sympathy is a wonderful little authentic British tea house in the Village. I went with my husband and we shared the "tea for two." You get a multi-tiered serving dish filled with beautiful little finger sandwiches, scones, cakes, pastries - the works! Some are savory and others are sweet. At first you may think that it doesn't look like a lot of food, but you will definitely be full by the time you finish. You each get personal pots of delicious tea in your choice of flavors. Plan on spending a relaxed afternoon chatting and soaking in the charming, homey atmosphere. The service is friendly and excellent. This is a great place to take someone to celebrate birthday, or something like that. Also check out the tea shop next door for teas and goodies to take home. Open Mon - Fri from 11.30am - 10.30pm and Sat - Sun from 9.30am - 10.30pm Website: http://www.teaandsympathynewyork.com/home.php more

I love Tea & Sympathy, but like so many places, it's hard to get a table at peak hours -- here, tea time and late brunch. They have a wide variety of teas (both with caffeine and herbal) and excellent scones with clotted cream. The full tea is about $30 per person and includes tea, scones, sweets and finger sandwiches (just tea and scones with cream and jam is $8.50). You will never, ever finish all of it, but they are happy to pack up the left overs for you. They also have menu items not related to tea time. I'm partial to the bangers and mash, and to the "absolutely fabulous" salad. Many of the dishes though won't interest anyone who isn't either British or a Serious Anglophile. They even to a roast dinner on Sunday nights. What you really must check out is the Tea & Sympathy shop next door -- stocked full of British candies and sodas. it's a prime source for everything from Cadburry's to Kinder Eggs and Lemon Sherbies to Lilt. Also, be sure to read and adhere to the rules posted on the door of the restaurant. They mean it. more

Tea & Sympathy is an adorable, quaint little corner of England in the West Village. One of my favorite dishes to splurge on when I'm there is the afternoon tea -- an assortment of finger sandwiches, scones and cakes, all accompanied by a pot of steaming hot tea. It may not be the healthiest choice but it is beyond delicious. Speaking of tea, while there feel free to buy some of Tea and Sympathy's own assortment of teas in order to enjoy the experience in the comfort of your own home. And if you have a little extra cash, pick up one of their adorable teapots -- one of these days I plan to buy the Alice in Wonderland inspired one for myself. more

Food is always good here, nice homey English food. Plus I love the list of behavioral guidelines listed on the menu. The best thing about this place, though is to live it up and go for afternoon tea. Go ahead, take the afternoon off, drink some tea, eat some little sandwiches, and some delicious scones. more