Miller's Bakery — Restaurant in Cliffside Park

Although I lived in the tri-state area all my life, ironically I had never had afternoon tea in NY. I had afternoon/hi-tea in many establishments in Asia, so I expected my experience in NY to be similar. I took the chance to try hi-tea in NY when a friend from out of town came. It was her first time going to tea, so I choose the Russian Tea Room from the reviews I have heard. We made reservations, so we were quickly seated. But reservations were unnecessary as there were about 5 parties of two when we arrived. I expected it to be a bit more crowded since we did go on Columbus Day.

After we were seated, the waiter immediately brought us the menu. We had a quick glance and he explained the two different tea sets they had to offer. We opted for the traditional tea set which came with an assortment of sandwiches, scones, and sweets, and of course a choice of tea. I choose the Formosa Oolong tea, which was quickly brought out after we had placed our order. The teacup was quite different from the traditional ones I've seen. It was a drinking glass places in a metal type of holder. The waiter poured the tea and explained to us that it was Russian tradition to put preserved raspberries in our tea for sweetener. I usually don't take anything with my tea, but decided to give the tradition a try. The tea had a bit of a tart taste with the added raspberries, which was what I expected. It was good to give it a try, but I definitely prefer my tea as is. Our tea set was brought out to us in two rounds. First, the sandwiches were brought with caviar on the top and a mix of sandwiches on the other two trays. The smoked salmon and shrimp salad sandwich were the best, and the others I could pass on. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't serve cucumber sandwiches as that was a favourite of mine during my college days. The second set came out with the sweets. There were chocolates on the top, cupcakes in the middle, and scones on the bottom. We were stuffed from the sandwiches and could only munch on the scones. The waiter noticed that we couldn't have anymore, and kindly offered to pack our sweets to go, which was a bit unexpected. I've never taken the food leftover from tea, and I'm quite surprised that the Russian Tea Room graciously asked.

Overall, the experience was good. The décor was nice- the red seats definitely jumped out at you, but it could appear a little tacky. The paintings added to the atmosphere and the place was quiet enough to have a nice conversation. The servers were quite attentive and polite, but their tea service could improve. From my past frequents to the Ritz for tea, the servers were quite attentive as they helped you pour your tea and refill. In this respect, the Russian Tea Room could improve. The food was good, but nothing that blew me away. I would come back. In fact, my friend said she wants us to go back with...

Giving up on them - after years of giving them chances

I've supported this local bakery for years - including with three (expensive!) custom cake orders. Only one of them was right. Another was inedible (I was literally throwing out plates and plates of icing left untouched on the plates as people ate the sponge from between them but found the icing terrible - this, after paying hundreds of dollars for the damn cake!). Another was supposed to have a rainbow drawn on it (ala my little pony) for which I gave them a sketch. In their world a "rainbow" runs from top to bottom, not in an arch - I will never understand that design genius! It was absurd looking. The staff gets ruder and less competent by the day. They blame you if they mess up the order (Girl behind counter" "well why didn't you tell us you wanted it to be chocolate on the outside?" Answer" 'Cause I said I wanted chocolate frosting! If that doesn't cover it YOU should have asked ME what color the outside should be!" - and so on, a very unpleasant conversation). In fairness if you complain to management, they try to make it right - but I don't want to complain - I want the cakes to be right! By the way, the breads are absolutely mediocre - no better than what you get at a supermarket. I've long stopped buying the bread there - and now I will finally stop buying anything there. Enough is enough - the "small local bakery" thing is just not worth the price and...

I highly recommend miller's bakery! It has been a staple in Cliffside park for years. Although I have always bought desserts from here , I have most recently been a fan of their sugar free cookies ! I have recently been diagnosed with gestational diabetes so I have been watching my blood sugar , and as a pregnant women I have been craving sweets ! One day my husband bought home the sugar free cookies from miller's as a surprise for me , I nervously ate a few ( had bad luck with sugar free cookies from the grocery store before) and waited an hour to check my glucose levels . My levels were not only in range but were still surprisingly low after eating ! ( in the 90s). As a diabetic these cookies are like a little special treat that you feel good about . The flour used is derived from a wheat/whole grain , so it doesn't spike sugars , and in the middle there is a little slither of chocolate ( which still doesn't spike my sugars). I can literally eat like 5 at a time and be totally fine ( I recommend tasting 1 first and then checking sugars , just to make sure it won't effect yours). Also when I reached out to miller's via Instagram messages to see if they can provide me with what they use in the cookies ( because I was just so shocked that it wasn't spiking my sugars) they gladly provided me the info! I thought that was nice. So thank you miller's for having treats for everyone ! Even us...