Alice's Tea Cup — Restaurant in New York

Went to the upper west side location on 10/15/17 at 5pm. Visit started great with hostess offering our two girls (who were celebrating birthdays) fairy dust and wings. We thought going at 5pm would have it past high tea time but there was only one table and we felt lucky to get a table right away.

Then we got a horrible waiter. He had long hair (braids?) that was pulled into a high bun on his head. We waited and waited and waited for him to take our order. There was no consideration that there was a 3 yr old child with us. Tea came out first, children’s hot chocolate had to be asked after. Items for young children who are less patient than adults should be brought out first! So that parents can help them before their food is brought out!

Waiter forgot to have blue cheese excluded from the BLT which was fine for adults but not ok for kids. So a few of the pieces were already eaten when we realized and asked to have it corrected. Waiter LIFTED the leftover sandwich off our platter with his FINGERS. Instead of graciously offering a new sandwich or even half a new sandwich without the blue cheese, he acted miffed that we had eaten some of the sandwich bf asking. Hey, if my kids ate blue cheese, would not have asked for sandwich without blue cheese!

This waiter was awful. When we asked if correct scones had been brought out, he said he didn’t remember, he visibly rolled his eyes as he walked away and unbelievably complained within steps of our table to a coworker but then was all smiles when bringing the bill. SMH.

The restaurant was too loud, they need soundproofing in the small back red room. The table next to us was also visibly peeved at poor service by same waiter.

I regret leaving an 18% tip. I usually give 20 but in this case, I should have left the 5-10-15% or nothing as his poor service deserved.

This waiter needs retraining badly.

Forgot to add that when we realized about the blue cheese, we WAITED and waited for him to come to table. When he did not, we asked another staff person to ask him to come then proceeded to watch him leisurely gab with a group of young adults at another table and take his sweet ol’ time coming over....

We went to here as we were staying in Upper West and there were largely good reviews for the place. We were celebrating a birthday too. I don’t know what happened that day (29 March) but I’d rather have eaten my own vomit than the disgusting ‘scones’ we were served up. I had what purported to be a strawberry and Nutella scone. It was microwaved to within an inch of its - and my - life, presumably to mask the fact it’d been sitting there for days, maybe weeks. It smelt, as the birthday girl commented, like ‘dead, wet dog’. Needless to say it didn’t taste any better than it smelt. We pushed it aside, hoping and assuming that the buttermilk scone would be so much better. I’ve no idea how, but it was even worse. Again, microwaved to death, it was like eating a mouthful of salt. Stinky, stale salt. Ugh. To call it a disappointment would be a gross understatement. What makes it even worse is the fact that the afternoon cost more than $50. And while it’s great that the staff get paid the going rate and therefore there’s no need to tip (although obviously we are actually paying the tip by paying more for the food), it sadly also means that when you want to complain that your scones taste like ‘dead, wet dog’, there’s no waiting staff to be seen. By the time we paid the check we were so desperate to get out that it wasn’t worth the hassle of complaining. Enough birthday time had been wasted here. So, in short, we will never, ever go here again. I never leave bad reviews, I just learn from experience. This was so awful it needed a review too, especially when it means I’ve wasted 50 bucks. Shame on this place. Oh and don’t expect ‘clotted cream’, as the menu states. It’s cheap squirty cream, and not enough to make a vile scone taste mediocre.

*We've never eaten ‘dead, wet dog’ but have no doubt it would taste better than...

Really excellent afternoon tea!!! We did the 2 hour unlimited Jabberwocky tea service for $72pp. You start out with a pot of tea, three warm scones with butter, preserves, and clotted cream. You get 2 varieties of finger sandwiches, which are cut into thirds, and the dessert plate. Servings are generous and filling. Staff is attentive, kind, and efficient and work as a team to help all of the tables. Our server was Bailey and she was excellent! Try to get a reservation, but if you cannot get a booking, show up early, like when they open at 11am and you may have luck as we did. Also, remember there is a second location not far from the original on E. 64th.

For scones, we tried the chocolate chip butterscotch (my favorite), the ham and cheese, which was like a savory biscuit, the mango raspberry (Mom's fave), and the pumpkin with caramel glaze (very pretty, tasted like soft gingerbread cookies). For tea my mom ordered the Black Fruits, but she did not like it and they kindly switched her out with the Chocolate Chai, which she absolutely loved. I had the 44th FLOTUS, and like Mrs. Obama, does not disappoint. I found it to be a very thoughtful and flavorful blend worthy of her name! For sandwiches, we tried the curry chicken (yum), ham and gruyere (yum), egg salad (wow), the blt (nom) and the classic salmon (yum). All good. Egg salad was my favorite. Curry chicken was my Mom's favorite. Needless to say, we had no room for dessert which included 3 macarons (chocolate, vanilla bean, and strawberry), chocolate mousse with whipped cream, a chocolate chip cookie, oatmeal raisin? and their famous mocha cake. We had a lovely time, food was delicious, superior service, we both highly recommend and look forward...