Tea & Sympathy

Last weekend, GK came to the city for a very timely visit.  This month marks seven years since we met and became fast friends while studying abroad in England, so we decided to find some Englishness in New York and celebrate.  As soon as GK arrived from Boston, we headed to Greenwich Village for brunch at Tea & Sympathy.

The interior of the restaurant is very small, but cozy, and it feels as if you are sharing a meal with friends in your English grandmother's cottage.  Teapots and British memorabilia dot the walls.

Delectable-looking sweets await on the counter, and the Queen herself even makes an appearance on the back of the menu.

It was a very chilly day so we of course had to start off with steaming pots of tea.  GK went for the Earl Grey and I chose the English Breakfast.  We were in the mood for the classics.

 

The tea comes out in beautiful, mismatched china, which only adds to the charm and whimsy of the place.

We were famished and both decided to order the Full Monty:  a true English breakfast of softly scrambled eggs with Irish back bacon, sausage, a grilled tomato, and toast.
All of it was rather good, but I have to say that the best thing about the meal was the toast.  I know that it sounds silly, but trust me, this toast was incredible.  I got the seven grain variety, and it was huge, very clearly homemade, and full of delicious flavor.  I could have quite happily drunk tea and eaten it, smothered in butter, all day long.

 Just look at it:

After gushing to each other over the bread (much to the amusement of people sitting near us, I'm sure) and finishing our plates, GK and I decided that, being the dainty ladies that we are, we couldn't possibly eat another bite.

Ha.  Come now, you know us better than that.  Taking advantage of the fact that we were in an authentic English restaurant, we agreed that we couldn't leave without getting some real English scones with jam and clotted cream.

 

It saddens me that Americans really don't know how to do scones (I'm looking at you, Starbucks).  This is how they're supposed to be:  biscuity and savory, rather than covered in sugar and cakelike.  

We were also tempted by all the deliciousness listed on the dessert board, so we also ordered a piece of Sticky Toffee Pudding to share.  It arrived in a pool of custard and piping hot.

This was the stuff that happiness is made of.  The comforting, molasses-y flavor wrapped you up like a warm hug, and I daresay that it was better than any version that I had had while in England.  English cooking gets a lot of flack but there are certain gems that they do like no other, and Sticky Toffee Pudding is one of them.

Between spoonfuls of the pudding, GK and I practiced our sexy tea-drinking and scone-eating faces, so that we'll be prepared if we ever bump into Prince Harry and are forced to have tea with him.

We might need more practice.

After the dessert, we had finally had quite enough, so we wandered next door to Tea & Sympathy's shop, which sells a variety of British food, tea, and accoutrements.

It was tough, but we resisted the urge to buy everything on the shelves and left, feeling like we needed some exercise.  Since it was so cold, though, we wanted an indoor activity.  So, thinking that the Met is always a good idea, we took ourselves uptown to the museum.  But I'll have to tell you about that next time.

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