Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Russian Tea Room

New York City

Best Russian Tea


You feel as though you are entering another world when you pass through the antique revolving door and step inside The Russian Tea Room.  Red leather booths line the walls so every seat faces the center of the room giving the space an open feel and encouraging guests to gaze at the lovely artwork lining the walls.


Our waiter provided us with afternoon tea menus and proceeded to take our tea order.  We selected the Russian Country tea per our waiter's recommendation.  The tea service was unique with a glass tumbler in a metal base with handle from which to drink our tea. The Russian Country tea, a black tea blend of Keemun, Assam, Ceylon and Formosa Oolong teas with a touch of Lapsang Souchong, was served with a small dish of cherries to sweeten the tea.


For our first course, our waiter brought out individual tiers of sandwiches and blinis.  Each guest received their own tier with the following: curried chicken salad with raisins and pecans, shrimp salad with rĂ©moulade, smoked Scottish salmon with chive cream cheese and cucumber, artichoke with red pepper and a sun-dried tomato goat cheese, smoked ham and turkey with truffle croque monsieur, smoked sturgeon with dill and sour cream, roquefort bleu cheese and pear with walnuts, and two American caviars on blinis.

Our favorites included the shrimp salad sandwich and artichoke with red pepper and goat cheese sandwich.


After we had finished our first course, our waiter brought out another set of tiers with an assortment of  scones, cupcakes and chocolates.  Each guest received their own tier for this course as well.

Of note, one of the guests in our party has a gluten allergy and our waiter kindly brought her a rendition of the tea menu sans gluten.  We thought this was a very lovely and thoughtful touch.

The atmosphere and food were equally delightful at The Russian Tea Room and we love The Russian Tea Room matchbooks that we took home as a souvenir.

Price: High

http://www.russiantearoomnyc.com/