I love Afternoon Tea of all sorts, a fancy one, a boozy one, themed one, unique one…you name it, and I will be there! Before everywhere shut down due to pandemic, we got to travel to England, and we went to a handful or amazing afternoon tea places, such as Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea at Sanderson, Brigit’s Bakery Afternoon Tea Bus Tour, and Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration. It was all fun and tasty! There are plenty of great spots in the NYC, like Janam Tea, BG Restaurant, and many more. There was this one spot that has been on my radar, called Prince Tea House. From the first time I heard of them with only one or two locations, they have grown significantly. Now, they have 12 locations! We visited the one in East Village for afternoon tea delight during the summer! They had an outdoor seating that was pretty big. It was a bit hot that day, so we decided to ask for a seat in the inside.
The inside was clean, modern, and yet cozy. I liked the wavy light going through the ceiling, made me think of the warm rays from the Sun. The décor was kept simple, with different variations of blues, with shiny and elegant light fixtures.
The use of warm colored wood and exposed brick walls against the deep blue made it feel very calm and serene. It was a Friday afternoon, so it was not too busy. They had another room in the back to the left, near the bathroom. You might think of afternoon tea as a couple or group thing, but you can do that all on your own too. They have two small tables in the middle, where a patron can come here and have her/his afternoon tea by him/herself, taking the time to do self-care and self-love. As we waited for our table, I saw the corner spot by the entrance, shown in the photo here, quiet and peaceful. I really like that spot, and and with our luck, we actually got that table!
A very friendly staff took us to our table at the corner nook. We ordered Afternoon Tea for Two ($55), and she asked us what kind of tea we wanted. They had loads of tea options, from black tea, white tea, herbal tea, etc. They also had milk tea and fruit tea. I asked if there was any restriction of what kind of tea we can select for their Afternoon Tea, and she said we can choose whatever we wanted! So, I went with Prince Passion Fruit Tea, and my hubby went with Earl Grey Milk Tea. The tea are premade, and brought in the adorable teapots. The most amazing thing about the tea was that they came with a white stand that held tea light inside, to keep the teapot hot. How awesome is this?
The Prince Passion Fruit Tea is made with Apple, Passion Fruit, Peach, Mango, and Orange. It tasted like a hot fruit juice! VERY sweet, which was a bit of surprise. I wonder if we could’ve request the sweetness level? The server didn’t ask how sweet we wanted our tea, so I am not sure… This tea reminded me of having a hot apple cider on a nice cool day. Although it was sweeter than I prefer, but it had a strong fruity flavor, so was still pretty nice. Earl Grey Milk Tea was sweet too, but not crazy sweet. It had a really nice Earl Grey flavor, I really enjoyed this one! The tea comes with unlimited refill, which is amazing, but the pot holds quite a bit of tea, so you might not need any refill. But, if you do, make sure to ask for it before your pot is emptied, since the tea are made to order.
Their afternoon tea seems to be made to order, as it takes a while for each of them to come out of their kitchen. Be sure to visit when you have plenty of time to relax here over tea and treats. Once our Afternoon Tea for Two arrived at our table, we were just so happy to see all the delights! The bottom tier had all the Finger Sandwiches…
The second tier had Scones, and the top tier had Assorted Desserts.
We started off with the savory tier, the finger sandwiches. The first one was Pastrami with Swiss Cheese. It had warm cheese melted over the pastrami, so good! Sauce on it was tasty too. Off to a nice start!
The second one was Crabmeat with Garlic Aioli. It had a wedge slice of lemon on top, which provided the fresh and refreshing flavor, but not sliced thin enough to actually eat it with ease. And this was REAL crabmeat, which was great.
Next up was Smoked Salmon with Avocado. It was pretty nice, fresh and tasty, with just the right amount of salty flavor. The Avocado was creamy, and I liked the thinly sliced radish on the top, giving that added flavor and texture.
Then, we moved onto the Cucumber with Tzatziki. The staff actually told us it is cream cheese when she was explaining each items, so I am not sure if it was tzatziki or cream cheese… I don’t think I have seen a cucumber finger sandwich like this before, with two slices of cucumbers sitting atop an equally thin, and very small piece of bread… It would’ve been easier to eat if the slices were cut up a bit, but that’s just me. It was fresh and crispy, but didn’t have any kind of flavor, nothing really special…
So, I was not impressed with their cucumber sandwich, but they did surprise me with their Deviled Egg. It had Wasabi Furikake on top, which I’ve never seen anywhere. How creative! It might not look fancy nor pretty, but it sure tasted fun.
We then moved onto the second tier, with the Scones. The staff told us that the jam is peach jam. One of the scones was kind of flat, didn’t have much of rise. It kind of fell apart when we tried to slice it. Lol. The peach jam was a bit too sweet, but had a nice flavor. Missed having clotted cream with jam for the scone…
Last but not least, the desserts! The first one we tried was Raspberry Mousse. One had a chocolate crumbs on top, and another one had kind of graham cracker crumbs on top. It was a nice little creamy cup of mousse.
Green Tea Mille Crêpes Cake was the star of the dessert tier. This mini cake is not only cute, but packed with real matcha flavor. Nice combination and balance of the bitterness from matcha, and sweetness of the cream. We really liked this one a lot!
The last desserts we tried were the Macarons. They were Lemon and Raspberry. The lemon one had a nice tartness to it, which balanced out the sweetness a bit. They were both nice and moist, but, very sweet, a bit too sweet for me.
Before visiting the Prince Tea House, we saw their other Mille Crêpes Cakes, and they all looked great. My hubby really wanted to try the Ube (or Purple Yam) Mille Crêpes Cake, so we ordered a slice to share. I was comfortably full already, but I can not say no to a tasty dessert… It was very creamy and velvety, with really nice ube flavor. Loved it! This cake went great with milk tea.
Their bathroom is in the back to the left, only one bathroom but large and clean. The blue tile and greenery made it look extra nice.
We had a really nice afternoon tea experience here. The inside was very cute and elegant, and staff was friendly and polite. Our server, Michelle, took a great care of us, and we also got to meet their assistant manager, Katy, who was also very lovely. Again, I believe everything is made to order, so it takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it. The price is very affordable and the amount is just right! Will fill you up nicely, without being stuffed. We will be sure to return for more!
Prince Tea House @ East Village – 204 East 10th St., New York, NY 10003