Alice’s Tea Cup is very reminiscent of childhood tea parties you use to have. Except instead of fruit punch you can have actual tea and real tea cakes. (Did I mention real cake?)
Chapter II is one of there most popular locations in New York City for lovers of pink and nostalgic for childhood fancies. As well as people who want a real tea party without the stiff and stuffy atmosphere.
Lolitas love to venture to Alice’s whenever they have the chance, and the wait staff are more than welcoming to those wearing dresses with maximum poofiness. With a short walk from Central Park and the popular shopping avenues–it’s no wonder that this place has wait times that are anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours.
I had been several times before, but wanted to introduce the other half to the place. Luckily we had our chance on a late Saturday brunch with a short wait of 15 minutes!
He was a bit skeptical at the thought of Afternoon Tea. He presumed tea and cakes would not be a whole meal, fully knowing that afternoon tea was more of a snack time for adults when lunch was at noon and dinner was served at 8 o’clock rather than around 6 o’clock nowadays.
However when the 3-tiered tray (a Mad Hatter’s tea for two) arrived every questionable thought disappeared at the sight of so much food.
Alice’s is very accomodating for vegetarians and with the tiered trays you can to choose what you want as opposed to being presented with something you probably wouldn’t like (and garnished with caviar).
The setup is pretty standard with sandwiches on one tier, tea cakes on another, and light sweets at the very top (since it’s the smallest and one can go overboard when it comes to noshing on too many). And for the amount of food versus the price, it is well worth the wait for a table.
Also the tea is magnificent for it’s extremely long list and wide variety – from classic English blacks to purer greens and whites to herbal and fruity there’s something for everyone. And Alice’s Tea Cup maintains it’s kitschiness with no two cup and saucers are the same at the table. It also helped we both each got and emptied a pot of tea.
The decor helps you feel at home if you’ve never taken tea what with the multicolored butterfly wings and interpretative pictures of Alice Liddell (that’s the name of the real Alice on the wall) along the walls. It’s a place that you can never tire of and always find something new. Being my second time, I noticed the tables were refurbished vintage sewing machines.
There is a limit to Alice’s Tea Cup and that is you will probably take something home, which is not exactly a bad thing. As you can see the bottom tier became a doggy bag of sweets.
Alice’s Tea Cup does take reservations and have private dining areas for parties and “un-birthdays”, but I find it more fun to drop in and see if there’s room at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
