The Sleeping Cat — Restaurant in New York

I went here tonight for a cup of tea. I saw loose tea. Excellent! I’m certainly willing to pay $4 for a well-made cup from loose tea leaves. However, green tea such as White Monkey should be steeped in water between 175 and 180°F, nowhere near boiling. When I heard the steam blast and asked the server if he was using boiling water, he said yes. I was thirsty, so I shrugged and accepted it.

First, never fill up a cup to the very brim. It’s just awkward.

Second, as I expected, unfortunately, not only was it way too hot to drink, but it tasted like water. All the fragile aromatics were burned away at a 212°. Thinking that the boiled water would overpower the tea as I’ve described, I asked the server to drain to the tea after about a minute instead of a three minutes he was used to doing. I don’t think the short infusion time explains the result. An easy way to bring the water temperature down from boiling is to decant it once or twice in a cup. Moreover, I recommend weighing the tea leaves instead of using a teaspoon.

Even for black tea, water off the boil is best, not at a rolling boil.

That’s all. All the pastries...

The Sleeping Cat is a bakery that recently opened. The menu offerings are simple compared to some big money invested store. But from what I can tell and tasted these are bakers that put in the work. I just tried their Gingerbread with what I believe is a cream cheese sauce. At first glance the cheapskate in me was ready to rage until I took a bite. It’s like homemade gingerbread and the cream cheese sauce omg so good. Admittedly I was weary of the sauce because I was expecting it to be thicker like a heavy cream but it is sooooo good. I will also add their drip coffee is tasty as well and compliments the gingerbread and sauce. Now this comes with a premium to mid premium price tag but heck if you’re drinking at Spacepucks you shouldn’t balk...

This is a nice shop—cute location with ample seating (indoor/outdoor), books, games, and delicious pastries with generous portions. The person who took my order was friendly and welcoming. It seems like a great place to get work done or to meet with friends in a cafe setting after hours.

Everyone seemed really comfortable there, for better or for worse: One staff member was speaking pretty loudly about a gnarly chin injury, which started making me lose my appetite. One customer was really enjoying the cozy atmosphere and took off her shoes to curl up on the furniture. I noticed a scent, which also upset my appetite.

These were temporary, circumstantial things, so I’d say the place is still...