1/26/2013

Afternoon Tea at Palm Court in the Plaza Hotel, NY

We've been trying several afternoon teas and as we're in NY over the New Year's holidays, we booked Palm Court in the Plaza Hotel, which you probably have seen in "Home Alone 2."

It could be the first time I came this close to the hotel ever...
Palm Court is located on the 1st floor and it's a separated space from the lobby.
Seeing a guard stopping visitors to ask if they're staying the hotel, I thought only hotel guests are allowed to go to the lobby or any specialized facility.

The space between the entrance and Palm Court, there're large and beautiful chandeliers.
As you can see, it looks taller than people and definitely can touch the tree on the right side.

In front of the Palm Court's windows, there's a tall Christmas/holiday tree with snowflake-shaped spinning ornaments around it (and blocked with red ropes and golden poles).
There're some displays and they all seemed expensive.
After getting into the Palm Court, there're more chandeliers again.
The ceiling was gorgeous.
According to some reviews, the ceiling color would change into red/orange in the evening but we didn't find any difference and I wonder if they still do that.

By the reception, there's a quite big sweets house.
On the wall, there're a lot of Hershey's chocolate.


Our table.
Afternoon tea menu.
On the first page, there's a story about Palm Court.
The Plaza opened in 1907 and since then, it's been an international icon of splendor and luxury.
Over 100 years, they've hosted a lot of celebrities.
The authentic Palm Court has been restored to its original grandeur with a 6.5 millions dollar renovation.
And in the end, it says, "Welcome to The Plaza Hotel, where dreams become memories."
It sounds like Disneyland.

My fiance decided to get Eloise Tea set, which is meant for kids but adults can also get with extra 20 bucks and chose pink lemonade.
I got Chocolate Tea, which pretty much everything would be chocolate.
As I've never heard anything like this, I had to get this one.
Soon after, jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream were served.
We saw this small jar of strawberry jam at Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, too.
And drinks were served; pink lemonade and tea.
I don't remember what kind of tea I ordered but it's one of the unique one like the Plaza's special blend.
My Chocolate Tea.
It came with chocolate fondu and on the bottom plate, there're pineapples, pretzels, marshmallows, bananas, strawberries, and cakes.
The waiter lit the fire and a pot of chocolate stayed warm till the end.

Top plate has fancy and colorful chocolate confectioneries.

And like other places, scones were set in the middle plate.
A lot of chocolate and it was more than I expected.

Eloise Tea
From the bottom, there're grilled cheese, PB&J, and 2 other sandwiches with strawberries.
Really colorful and everyone's favorites were there.
Second plate had 4 scones unlikely mine (2 scones) and each flavor had 2 scones here.
Top plate had two huge chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate mousse, etc.
Eloise Tea was also having a lot of sweets and foods.
We first thought it's for kids, it would have less but they might add some extra pieces for adults.

That day, we had late lunch but still there're enough time to walk around and recover some appetite.

Everything was sophisticated, even the PB&J sammies were so tasty and all the sandwiches were cut into same shape and same height.
All the confectioneries looked delicate, high-class, and all tasted really good.
Scones were nicely baked and had shiny golden brown top and the lemon curd was something new to try.

However, this afternoon tea was something we couldn't imagine...
These tea sets were obviously way too much for us. 
If we hadn't eaten anything that day, we might have been able to enjoy them more.
It was that much food on high tea set.
I actually didn't wanna eat or see any chocolate and said this line for the first time ever in my life.

We saw a family of 4 sitting next table and they ordered all the 4 different afternoon tea sets.
Little two girls pretty much left everything as there're more than plenty of foods on the plates.
I felt bad for the parents but also the servants and patissiers/chefs as they have to see a big amount of leftovers.

I got sick afterwards as I ate way too much...
To enjoy this afternoon tea, I high suggest you starve yourself and don't eat beforehand besides making reservation is a must.

Palm Court (The Plaza Hotel)
768 5th Ave
(between Grand Army Plz & West 58th St) 
New YorkNY 10019

Open:
6:30AM - 10:30AM for breakfast
11:30AM - 2:00PM for lunch
2:00PM - 5:00PM for afternoon tea

Dress code: business casual

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