The iconic Waldorf Astoria reopened for business in September 2025. It had been closed for several years while the entire building was given a complete makeover. The afternoon tea at the Waldorf Astoria is a bit unusual in that it’s not served in the infamous Peacock Lounge. However, if you are the flagship of all Waldorf Astorias, I think you can get away with it.

Late on Sunday morning I head for the Roosevelt Island Tramway station on East 60th Street. It’s a gorgeous day, so a walk in the shady park should be nice.

Location

The Waldorf Astoria is located between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The main entrance to the hotel is on Park Avenue. As you come up the stairs, the Peacock Alley Lounge is straight ahead. However, in an unexpected break with a longstanding Waldorf tradition, the afternoon tea in New York is served at the Yoshoku lounge, to the left of the entrance.

We’re seated in the corner on a plush, wide sofa. In keeping with the lounge’s Japanese theme, there is a bonsaiesque table decoration that features in the set up for the afternoon tea, as we’re about to find out.

The Staff & Service

The service at Yoshoku is very polished. We’re assigned a young lady of middle eastern descent, if I had to guess, and she’s excellent. Her manners are impeccable, she’s obviously very knowledgeable about the afternoon tea and the tea selection on offer. At the same time, she’s personable and friendly.

Our jackets are taken off us, and then we’re ushered to our table. The lounge is rather quiet when we get there. Later on, more patrons arrive, but not many. While we wait for the afternoon tea to get underway, we watch several young wedding couples parade through the grand foyer while their official wedding photographer barks posing instructions at them in hushed but determined voices.

Our waitress take our order and returns a short while later with two small porcelain boxes with lightly scented cold towels.

Afternoon Tea at Yoshoku, The Waldorf Astoria New York

The tea selection at Yoshoku is limited to a carefully curated collection of Japanese teas, mostly white and green. In addition, there is the option to add a caviar course to the meal ahead of the afternoon tea. So that’s what we do.

The caviar service is nicely presented on a bed of ice. It is served with potato chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) and warm nori taiyaki. For accompanyments there’s a yuzu miso tofu cream, ume shoyu (plum) jelly, pickled ginger, and shallot purée.

Once we’re done with the caviar service, the afternoon tea begins with our waitress bringing out the tea. I’ve decided to try the Kumamoto Blend Wakoucha, which is based on a mild black tea. It’s an excellent cup of tea steeped to perfection. I didn’t think the North Americans had it in them to produce such a nice cup of tea!

All the items of this afternoon tea – savouries, scones and sweets are brought out together to create a truly magnificent spread. Starting in the twelve o’clock position and moving clockwise, the sandwiches are egg and truffle mayonnaise, pastrami, a smoked trout and crispy nori roll, a crudités roll, and and variation of coronation chicken brioche. The savouries are great and rather unusual. Once we’re done, our waitress comes to inquire if we’d like the sandwiches replenished. We both decline and decide to move on to the scones.

There are two scones per person, of which one is with azuki bean and the other is with yuzu. I like how they’re arranged on the plate in a checkered pattern. The scones are served with proper clotted cream, strawberry jam and a yuzu and lime curd that is extraordinary.

The sweets are placed on the bonsai display on the table. At the top we have a jasmine and peach cream. One layer down we have a miso dulce choux and a buttery pistachio and raspberry biscuit. And at the bottom is the cherry blossom entremet with a subtle hint of rosewater. This one has a very delicate flavour. And to finish things (and me) off, a blueberry sudachi verrine.

From the Waldorf Astoria we head for Broadway. We have tickets to see the matinée of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Winter Garden theatre. I greatly enjoy the play. It’s a haunting production that truly comes to life with the impressive, quiet talent of its cast. By the time the narrative spirals towards its inevitable ending, I think there isn’t a dry eye in the theatre, which also speaks volumes of the mastery of Arthur Miller’s writing.

Conclusion

The days in a city like New York are just packed. It boggles the mind just how much there is to see and do in this vibrant city.

The afternoon tea at the Waldorf Astoria really is something else and definitely ranks, I would say, in my personal top five. This was one of those rare instances when several things came together to create a flawless experience. The Japanese themed afternoon tea was as excellent as it was unusual. The tea was steeped to perfection and the waitress in charge of our table was quite simply remarkable.