Skip to main content

Fancy Tea? Maybe Not at The Carlyle.

A dirty little secret? Manhattan Mama loves going to tea. Okay, so not that dirty of a secret.

When I lived in London, I went to many MANY tea spots. In San Francisco, ditto. In New York I've been to a few -- it's hard to find other women these days who think blowing about $40 on scones and tea is worth it. And truthfully, given the economy today, it's not really.

But oh how I love it. So a week ago, The Rabbit and a couple of her friends, were treated to tea at The Carlyle by Auntie for the hotel's Madeline Tea. Held in Bemelmans Bar, the atmosphere is glorious. The room is painted with murals by Ludwig Bemelman, the author and illustrator of the beloved Madeline books. There's a live pianist, children are ENCOURAGED to sing and dance, and they have their own pint-size tea buffet -- real tea too.

Problem is, not great on the tea situation. The kids are given chicken fingers, mac & cheese, french fries, cupcakes and jelly beans. No scones. No tea sandwiches. Yes, I understand -- 5-year-old don't jump for joy at chicken salad on white bread. But, I've made plenty of teas for my girl -- and peanut butter and jelly, cheese -- all slice up nicely in quarter size sandwiches. And kids LOVE scones. (who doesn't love clotted cream?)

I even ordered my own tea -- scones arrived. Mama can do better.

Anyone out there love tea too? Would be thrilled to get some suggestions....

Comments

Sugarmama said…
Big fan of tea over here, though that definitely puts me in the minority among my coffee-swilling friends. I love a latte if I'm out, but first thing in the morning I have a nice big mug of assam. Our (one and only!) local gourmet market sells very good loose teas and is staffed by very knowledgeable tea drinkers to boot.
Anonymous said…
I love tea - especially a good cream tea! Like you said, who can resist clotted cream. However, it can be hard to find in Florida. If you're ever on vacation in the land of The Mouse the tea at the Grand Floridian is almost as good as Bonnet tea house in Felixstowe in Suffolk. Hard to beat that one.
Manhattan Mama said…
Love the suggestion zplus! Thank you! Always adore a new tea place to try. Will note both The Floridian and Bonnet. :)

Popular posts from this blog

The Grim Reaper

Firstborn is obsessed with death. It started with the odd comment, such as; "Mummy, what happens when you die?" OK, I thought, I was expecting this at some point, what a cute little curious brain she has. So I trotted out all the cosy Heaven stuff and left out all the things that could worry her, such as worms and bones and holes in the ground. This went down pretty well, although somehow Firstborn made the jump from my view of Heaven (filled with love, joy, always warm, never rains, has a huge discount designer shoe outlet and I never have to pay my Visa bill) to her own view of Heaven; a wonderous place where small girls don't have to eat their vegetables before they're allowed pudding, and where Barbie dolls grow on trees. Anyway, I digress. Last week Firstborn started shouting "Kill! Kill!" in a bloodthirsty tone while bashing her hithero-beloved teddy against the wall. This was topped by her purposely flushing her favourite My Little Pony down the loo. ...

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

A friend recently emailed me to say that her big memory of her stay with us last year is that she had a great birthday, one of the few where she didn't 'act like a spoiled grumpy princess'. She tried to give me all the credit but as I explained to her, it was all down to having a fellow female organising the birthday fun rather than leaving it to her partner. Her email got me thinking about birthdays and how very different men and women are in their attitudes to celebrating special occasions. It also had me thinking about my birthday two years ago when I threw a major tantrum in the Carrefour car-park after being told that we were off to do the weekly shop, kids in tow, which was simply the final straw at the end of a very uninspiring day. In contrast, my birthday last year was rather lovely (a morning on my own in a spa with no mobile coverage, pure selfish bliss). This year - in a few short months, eek! - I'll be hitting the grand old age of 38. This will be my las...