One of the most fun dining experiences out there, in my opinion, is afternoon tea. My mother loves afternoon tea, and so do my husband and I. When my mother and my niece came for a visit in late summer/early fall of 2022, I made sure to take them to a few afternoon tea spots. We went to Bluebird London (permanently closed), and Prince Tea House. The last afternoon tea spot called Cacao Bar was inside the chocolate boutique shop, MarieBelle in SoHo.

I’ve had their chocolates in the past, all very pretty and tasty. And, I was aware of their Cacao Bar, and that fact that they serve afternoon tea. But, I never tried it…until now. We made a reservation for four, and off we went! The inside was a nice size, not too large, but enough tables and chairs to meet their demand.

They had a refrigerated showcase with different kinds of desserts in there. At Cacao Bar by Mariebelle, you don’t have to have the afternoon tea. You can have tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and whatever the desserts they have for the day. The staff welcomed us with a complimentary iced chocolate shot, which was really great! Who doesn’t like a little shot of rich, velvety, delicious chocolate?

Afternoon Tea at MarieBelle ($70/person) comes with the traditional 3-tier serving tray with scones and finger sandwiches, plus their desserts on their own little serving tray. The Afternoon Tea also comes with a Seasonal Soup, which was a warm pea soup with roasted nuts on this day. It came in an adorable little teacup looking thing, with a spoon with teapot design on top. I wanted to take that whole set home with me… The soup was really good, earthy with natural sweetness from the pea, rich and almost creamy.

I purchased a set deal before hand, so we got a little extra on top of the regular Afternoon Tea. It included Mimosa, which is normally $22, to our fancy Afternoon Tea. The Mimosa came in a large glass, which makes sense with that price point. It was very nice, very orange-y, sweet and refreshing. We were all happy with that.

Then, here comes the main event! The 3-tier-tray was pretty big, and we received two of them for the four of us. We knew we are going to be stuffed at the end… Everything looked really good, nicely crafted and plated with care.

The top tier had Traditional Scones with Jam & Devonshire Clotted Cream. It had raspberry jam and orange marmalade. The selection of scones were nice too. Some with fruits, some with nuts, and most of them had sugar on top. They were good size, and the jams and cream were perfect with them.

The second tier had two kinds of finger sandwiches. Salmon & Dill Cream Cheese, and Endive Salad with Blue Cheese & Walnuts. We got three of each, so we had to decide which one of us get which extra ones. The salmon was fresh and meaty, the dill cream cheese was tasty. The endive one was interesting. I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen one like this at Afternoon Tea. It was refreshing with acidic flavor from vinegar.

The third tier had three kinds of finger sandwiches. Ham with Gruyere Cheese, Roasted Spicy Hummus with Cucumber, and Butternut Squash with Balsamic Vinaigrette. Again, we got three of each sandwich. The Ham and Cheese one was the biggest one, nicely toasted with melty cheese. The hummus didn’t have that much of strong flavor, as the potion of hummus was small. The crunchy fresh cucumbers made it refreshing. The butternut squash one was interesting, comforting flavor and the roasted nuts on the top was a nice touch, giving extra texture to the creamy squash.

Then, it was time for dessert! We received two smaller tiered serving trays, with four kinds of desserts on them. On top, it had two of their Ganache Chocolate squares with yoga/meditation design on it. The flavor was White Chocolate Green Tea Matcha. Next to them were Lemon Macarons and Passion Fruit Macaron. On the bottom tier, it had Raspberry Tart, and Mousse made with Mango, Passion Fruits, and Almond Flour.

They were all small sized desserts, which was a good thing as we were getting full after the first 3-tier of savory items. I’ve had the ganache from MarieBelle before, and they were always very good. This one was a big hit, as we all love white chocolate, and matcha. A match made in heaven! The other ones were nice too. They were all tasty, I liked how it was more of a “tasting” of different desserts with the small sizes. I think I liked the mousse the best, it was creamy with the strong flavor of passion fruit, very tart and sharp, against the sweetness of mango, perfectly balanced.

With the desserts, we got to ask for a drink of our choice (included in Afternoon Tea). We would usually go for some kind of tea, but since we were at a chocolate shop, most of us went with hot chocolate. This is another extra item that was included in the deal I purchased.

I ordered White Hot Chocolate, made with Tahitian vanilla, and shaving of white chocolate on top. It was so rich and velvety, great for white chocolate lover. My mother and my hubby went with Milk Hot Chocolate, with shaved milk chocolate on top. It was really good too, so rich and very chocolate-y. Perfect cup of hot chocolate!

My niece wanted to try one of their tea selections, and went with Guava Herbal Tea. It came with a plate full of candied ginger, which was awesome. My niece really enjoyed that!

They have one gender neutral bathroom in the back. The bathroom was a typical NYC size, nothing fancy but clean and well lit, well maintained.

We had a really nice Afternoon Tea at Cacao Bar by MarieBelle. It was a bit different from a normal/ordinary afternoon tea, as it was inside a chocolate shop. The staff was great, very attentive and took a very good care of us. I wish if I remembered his name so I could’ve given him a shoutout… The hot chocolate at the end was a perfect sweet ending to your Afternoon Tea!

Cacao Bar by MarieBelle – 484 Broome St, New York, NY 10013