The Russian Tea Room

The ambience is superb, excellent service, delicious food and amazing atmosphere.

Wanted to have a iconic New York experience... sadly this place seems well past its best before date. Stopped in for afternoon tea and the disappointments were numerous. The room is fun, a very old school vibe, which was my favorite part. After that it was all downhill. One of the joys of afternoon tea is delicately prepared sandwiches carefully cut and arranged on an elegant tiered serving dish. There was nothing delicate about the sandwiches. The presentation was sandwiches randomly placed on a three layer metal tray. The curry chicken was good, the rest was mediocre. For this price I was expected magical. The reality was at a quarter of the price it would have been overpriced. Run don't walk away from this experience. Definitely the lowlight of my trip to New York.

The food was not worth the extreme price tag. Service was great though.

We walked in without reservation and were seated right away. Green tea was pretty good, smoked salmon was also delicious with great portions. Service was good and polite.

I always wanted to visit. High te and servings were generous, and the ambiance was worth the price. 98 years and going. I love that it is right next door to Carnegie Hall.

Don't be fooled by the low rating — this place is absolutely lovely. Well worth the visit for lovers of afternoon tea on vacation.

We stopped in for tea and a pastry after a Carnegie Hall concert. The tea was pedestrian and the pastries were poor—my honey cake was stale and gummy. The service was indifferent. Grossly overpriced.

One of my favorite tea rooms in the city! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

On March 5th, 2024, I ordered sea bass at the Russian Tea Room for my entree. On the menu it came with broccoli and crusted capers. At numerous restaurants I’ve ordered sea bass and have never been dissatisfied. At the Russian Tea Room, the portion was about one-third of what I was expecting. The broccoli was about a mouth-full (three tiny pieces). Normally I would have rejected the meal because it was totally inadequate but I was someone’s guest and did not feel comfortable going through the rejection process since the host’s dinner was delivered at the same time. The entree was the size of a small appetizer. After eating it, I was famished. When I arrived at my home, I ate anything and everything that didn’t involve cooking a meal at a very late hour. I was starving!! My diet that evening wasn’t my usual nutritious meal. When I first entered the Russian Tea Room, I wondered why such a beautiful restaurant was almost empty and remained so the entire evening. A significant improvement in the meal portion, at least for the sea bass, might make a big difference in the number of patrons. Although everyone providing service is deserving of five stars, I needed, and my host paid for an entree; not an appetizer. Online this restaurant received a 3.9 rating out of 5.0. My overall rating is 3.0 out of 5.0. I now understand why the rating was only average. I won’t be returning to the Russian Tea Room for dinner any time soon, but if you haven’t been to the restaurant, you might want to stop by for a drink or dessert. It’s a very interesting ambience.

Vibes! Gorgeous atmosphere. I came for afternoon tea and decided to opt for more caviar. I think I only liked one of the caviars of the 4 offered. I also thought some of the sandwiches were a bit too heavy on blue cheese. The sweets offered were very good, scones just warm out of the oven. Overall, worth a visit!