Alice's Tea Cup in New York City - I've Gone MAD for Alice!

For American tea lovers, good tea shops are hard to come by. It is nearly impossible to find a place that sells anything other than the most basic of green, black, earl grey and chamomile teas, and even harder to find a place that specializes in the tea that it makes - that takes pride in the product and really makes it the main attraction. I thought I would never find a good place to treat myself to every once in a while; with Starbucks cropping up on every street corner in New York City, I feared that I would spend the rest of my days sipping their mediocre chai and their bitter green teas. I was, however, very wrong. On the east side of NYC not too far from Central Park, I discovered Alice's Tea Cup - an amazing little breakfast, lunch and brunch restaurant famous for its huge selection of worldly teas.

A few months ago I met my best friend in the city for a girl's day out. We wandered all over the East side, enjoying the beautiful weather and meandering through central park. As we were passing by several little shops, something caught my eye - a name, rather: Alice. This name triggered excitement in me; I had always been a huge fan of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and after reading another popular fiction series with a character by the same name, I even christened my car as Alice. We stopped walking and saw, to my excitement, that this little shop was called "Alice's Tea Cup." It appeared to be a very small, quaint place from the outside, one that did not try to draw customers in with fancy signs or decorations. Our interests were peaked, and so we descended the stairs from the sidewalk and went inside - the rest was history.

Alice's Tea Cup Chapter 1 is located on the east side of New York City just a few blocks from the famous Central Park, but there are two other locations (chapters 2 and 3) both on the west side of New York city. As a passionate lover of teas from every corner of the world, I found myself in heaven in this adorable little shop/restaurant. For any adult happily embracing their inner child, this is the perfect place.

From the Outside

It may be quite easy to miss this wonderful little place unless one is looking for it. It is tucked away on 72^nd street in a below street-level shop (meaning you must walk down stairs in order to get to it). Someone may say that such a thing would be bad for business; however, this shop has quite a large core of regular returning customers as well as curious passersby that keep the place flourishing. The only indicators that the store exists are the small purple awning over the door with "Alice's Tea Cup" scrawled in fantastic pinklettering, and elegant tangles of small white string-lights coiled around the banister and around the entrance. Like most places along the sidewalk in this city, there is a sign out front but it is far from ostentatious which many of the other restaurants' signs tend to be. It is a simple blackboard, drawn and written upon with colored chalks in a whimsical style that matches the creative, dream-like "down the rabbit hole" theme of the store.

From the Inside

The décor of this place is directly out of a child's dream; you enter the place and immediately feel the years washing off of you. It has been designed and decorated by an incredibly talented team that worked hard to bring Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland to life. From the playful lemon-and-raspberry colors on the walls, to the warm, dim and elegant lighting to the style of the furniture, everything pulls together to make the restaurant patrons feel as if they are sitting at the table of the Mad Hatter himself!

While the tucked-away element of the shop may mean that a huge number of people do not know about it, it's lack of extreme popularity can be a very good thing for the patrons of the store; as it is a very small space to begin with, too many customers at once time would quickly overcrowd the place. Now, this can be both good and bad: If you go in by yourself or with one other person as I did, you can get in very quickly and easily and be seated comfortably without having other guests seated in your immediate personal space. However, if you are coming in with a large group of less than six people, they will have some trouble squeezing you in - literally. Reservations are an option, but only for parties of six or more. If you've got a party of five or less, you may have to wait quite a while until space has cleared for you.

So, What Can I Expect?

What can be expected from a trip to Alice's Tea Cup is to be in a classy and yet fun environment that both adults and yet, even children can enjoy. You are brought to a large wooden table set with beautiful china saucers and teacups. In addition to this, you are given the standard fork, spoon and knife that can be found in any restaurant. The napkins, I soon realized though, are not the most wonderful thing to clean up anything other than liquid. They are quite paper-like, literally, and when I got melted chocolate all over myself from a scone that I had been eating, I found that these "napkins" pushed it around my skin more than they wiped it off. But this is a pretty minor problem and did not bother me or my friend much.

You can also expect to be presented with the most extensive list of teas in the tri-state area. In fact, there is an entire tea menu separate from the food menu. The menu is separated into the following: black, green, white, red, tisane and herbal and decaffeinated teas. Under each of those categories is a lengthy list of varieties, including the rare rooibos teas from Africa.

The food menu, though, is not for someone looking for a big hearty meal of steak-and-potatoes, or a traditional Italian hero or tuna sandwich. The restaurant is only open from 8am to 8pm and offers breakfast, brunch (on weekends), and lunch. On the lunch menu are items that one would recognize; soups, salads, scones and sweet desserts. However, the restaurant puts their own original spins on ordinary sandwiches; for example, with "Alice's BLT" in lieu of mayonnaise, they give you blue-cheese dressing. Some may not like the sandwiches they offer, but I was thoroughly impressed. I ordered the BLT and loved it, and was surprised and pleased with the different taste that the blue-cheese brought to the sandwich; my friend ordered a chicken and watercress sandwich and that, too, was delicious. These are great for people who enjoy trying new things, but for people who wish to stick to the traditional this may not be the best place to eat. Another interesting fact, though, is that any sandwich on the menu can be turned into a salad and vice versa. This allows you to take a healthier option by eliminating the bread and condiments from a sandwich, but get the same flavors in your salad.

The best thing on the menu though, and perhaps what Alice's Tea Cup is famous for (after their tea, of course), is their scones. These scones are baked at the restaurant rather than delivered from a bakery, but you would never know the difference - they are absolutely mouthwateringly delicious, and did I mention how big they are? They could be a meal all by themselves! Several different flavors are offered, but in my opinion the three best flavors are their pumpkin, banana, and fruit-and-chocolate scones. Eat these with a cup of tea and you've got the start of a beautiful afternoon!

That's far from it, though. Alice's Tea Cup will provide beautiful fantastical cakes for any occasion, made to order exactly as you like. Whether it is for a wedding, a birthday party or nothing at all, Alice's creates gorgeous cakes exactly as you order them. While these cakes run a little expensively, they make a wonderful centerpiece for an occasion to remember. And, on the topic of birthdays, the restaurant offers the option of hosting your child and a couple of their friends for a children's party. However, children under 5 or 6 years-old should be monitored carefully in this place whether a part of a party or not - the place settings are beautiful, fragile china cups and saucers, and the tea pots are ceramic. Even though Alice in Wonderland is a children's story, the restaurant is geared more towards a slightly older and more refined crowed. If your child has a tendency to drop or spill things, I would suggest waiting until they are a bit older to bring them to Alice's Tea Cup. If you absolutely must bring them, but wish to not take the risk of your child breaking a piece of china, simply ask your waiter or waitress if they will supply you with a plastic alternative.

All in all, this is absolutely the most wonderful little spot I have ever been. I go back for tea once every week or so and every time I find more things about it that I love. With the only negatives in my mind being the cramped space and the napkins, I give Alice's Tea Cup, Chapter 1 two thumbs and two rabbit ears up!