Listening to the rainy while nibbling on a traditional English high tea in Brooklyn.
Our experience
High tea is not a NYC forte — after quite a number of high tea experiences in NYC, we have yet to come across a venue that offers the lavish dessert spreads seen in Asia and Australia, or the cultivated creativity of desserts seen in London. Simpler tea rooms on the other hand, are more strongly consistent in NYC. For a simple English cottage-style afternoon tea, we have previously visited Alice Tea’s Cup which had the most plump scones in the city but utterly dismal service, Tea & Sympathy which was better for its a la carte pudding cakes than its actual afternoon tea, and Lady Mendl’s afternoon tea in a New York brownstone. Another cottage-style afternoon tea may be found at Brooklyn High Low, a little shopfront that is a stone’s throw from Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
Afternoon tea at Brooklyn High Low is offered in three different ways. You can order a simple cream tea (i.e. scones and tea sandwiches), an afternoon tea with plain black tea and a limited selection of tea sandwiches, or a more full afternoon tea experience where there is a wider selection of bites and you can choose from a menu of over 35 teas. This extensive tea list is also sent to you for consideration a day or two before your reservation. We selected the full high tea, which was priced at $65pp (+ tip/tax). The afternoon tea arrived in a three-tiered tower. Compared to the most recent afternoon teas that we have had in recent months (see e.g., here and here), Brooklyn High Low’s tea sandwiches were very well executed. They were soft, pillowy, and not dry. The scones were not quite British in style, but we were nonetheless thankful that they were not the usual stone-hard nuggets that we have seen in high teas elsewhere in NYC. They were served with little pots of jam, cream and our favourite, lemon curd! 🙂 The epilogue tier of desserts was by contrast, underwhelming, featuring just three bites of a chocolate-covered strawberry, a small macaron, and a verrine of chocolate mousse embellished with a swirl of whipped cream.
Our verdict
Don’t visit Brooklyn High Low expecting culinary creativity in its afternoon tea. Brooklyn High Low is instead somewhere to visit for when you are craving a little more space and quiet than the typical Manhattan spot, and where you can drink some tea and nibble at some sandwiches and scones in a cosy venue. It’s no more and no less than that. But perhaps what distinguishes it from the similar very simple afternooon teas at Tea & Sympathy and Alice’s Tea Cup is that Brooklyn High Low’s service staff are many degrees friendlier and more organized. Just be mindful of the strictly-enforced 1.5 hours seating time limit. 😦
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Brooklyn High Low, 611 Vanderbilt Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. (There is a second location at 69 7th Avenue, Park Slope).
- ☑ Budget: $$-$$$ ($65 pp + tax/tip)
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: High Tea.
- ☑ Must-eat: The scones.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: Listening to the rain while nibbling on an English high tea in Brooklyn.
Dessert Correspondents 