High Tea at Bergdorf Goodman, New York

 

 

 

Decadence is attending two high teas in the span of a week, and having both of them on Fifth Avenue. My sister treated me to one as an early birthday present, which was lovely of her, and what a treat that was!

 

For those who may not be familiar with the layout of Bergdorf, I highly suggest a visit when you head to New York next, if only to experience how the other half lives. The pure opulence of the department store will blow you away, and it includes a Chanel display at the ground level, which we had to walk through in order to get to the escalators, and everything in the store carried an expensive sheen.

 

Thankfully, their high tea experience was mercifully affordable, and less costly than the average experience in Australia. When we arrived at their in house restaurant located on the top floor, it was crazy busy, but my sister had the foresight to book way in advance, and we were shown to our seats quickly. Where we were sat, I could just see Cartier out of the window. What a hard life!

 

Our glasses of Moët materialised shortly after we were sat, and was followed by the food about 15 to 20 minutes later.

 

 

I went with my usual Chamomile and a side of honey, which they remembered to bring. I love the little jars of honey - they are just adorable! Here, the Chamomile was definitely loose leaf, placed in a strainer within the teapot itself.

 

I also loved the teacups with the Bergdorf symbol!

 

 

 

They had quite a variety of sandwiches, including a deceptive little tart that we thought was prosciutto and avocado, that turned out to be pesto, prosciutto and bocconcini - not my favourite of the lot! Perhaps an unfair comparison to pit them against the ones at Palm Court, but I also thought that the sandwiches could have been made a little more presentable.

 

 

They had fruit scones, no plain ones, that came with three different spreads - honey, apricot and strawberry - as well as clotted cream. We then ended the feast with some tasty little sweets, including two small cubes of cake covered in white chocolate. the most interesting items on the top tier,

The one thing I did notice was the lack of music, which my sister explained was likely due to the common practice of holding business lunches at Bergdorf, and while that may be fine and good, it did take a little away from the ambience. They did, however, make every effort to create a dignified and still cosy space to dine in, with birds adorning the walls and soft lighting.

 

While it was an excellent experience, I did get the vibe that Bergdorf was more a place for relaxation between shopping, and Palm Court definitely struck me as the type of place where you'd get gussied up specifically to go have tea.

 

Overall, I thought this experience was:

 

8/10