Mariage Freres, in Paris, I have been to the Marias and Left Bank branches, is I think the ultimate tea house... Babington's Tea House in Rome, near the Spanish Steps, is quite an institution, very different, but worth visiting... New York has a suprisingly (or not) big number of tea houses. My favorites at the moment are Wild Lily and the tea service in the Kai restaurant located above the wonderful (and pricey) Ito En tea store. A great resource is The New York Book of Tea (3rd edition) by Bo Niles (Universe, New-York, 2003 Here is my review of tea houses in New York visited in 2004-5: 1. Tea & Sympathy, 108 Greenwich Ave., Between Seventh and Eighth Ave., (212) 807 8329: This place operates as an English restaurant and tea room. It's great for some classic English dishes. I had excellent Sheperd's Pie, and in another visit excellent Lamb and Cranberry Pie. One can take tea with/after a meal, or come for a full afternoon tea. I found the first option preferable, since the food was very good, but the tea was just OK. The selection of teas is reasonable, but does not include garden specified teas etc. We had a nice Earl Grey, but on the Darjleeing front etc. the teas were not more than OK. Also in the full tea service the sandwiches, scones etc. are not much more than OK. So I'd rather come here for lunch or dinner and have some nice tea but not expect exceptional teas. 2.Wild Lily Tea Room, 511A West 22nd St., Between 10th and 11th Ave., (212) 691 2258: This is a wondeful charming tea house with an Asian emphasis. The minimalist decor is beautiful. The selection of teas is excellent and includes garden and flush specified Darjleeing, house blends, tisanes, and a superb selection of Oolong teas and Japanese Green Teas. The different teas are served in different teaware according to the style of the tea in question. Since we stayed very close to the place we happily visited it a few times. It is here where I finally had my first Gyokuro. Quite an experience! (I have a detailed tasting note of the Gyokuro Yame Precious Dew if anyone is interested...). We also had excellent Oriental Beauty Oolong. There is a tea service with both traditional English and Asian touches. We didn't have it but on one visit had excellent lunch, wonderful food, very precise. They do great scones, and also serve excellent iced teas: the iced matcha and iced Keemun lychee teas were both amazing. This is the kind of place you wish would exist within walking distance of your permanent home. A rare place in how serious they are about tea. You can visit their website and buy tea online. http://www.wildlilytearoom.com/ 3. Tamarind Tearoom, 41-43 East 22nd St., Between Madison and Park Ave, (212) 674-7400 - this is connected to the nearby Tamarind restaurant. It has a nice selection and I had very good Pearls of Jasmine tea here. 4. Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th St. at Madison Ave., (212) 744-4300: Here you can take Champagne Tea which starts with a very enjoyable Moet & Chandon Brut. The selection of teas is especially strong in the Chinese tea front, and we had an excellent Pu Ehr. The sandwiches, scones and pastries of the full tea service are all excellent. A very enjoyable hotel tea. 5. Green Tea Cafe, 45 Mott St., between Bayard and Pell St., (212) 693-2888: In Chinatown, at least in the summer, ice and bubble tea are very popular. Many young people come to this place. Iced green tea with lychee was very enjoyable. 6. Tea and Tea, 51 Mott St., between Bayard and Pell St., (212) 766-9889 (there are other branches) - mostly a take-out place for bubble tea. The Froth Green Bubble tea was refreshing and excellent and fitting for a hot afternoon in Chinatown. 7. Ten Rea's Tea Time - 79 Mott St., between Canal and Bayard St., (212) 732-7178: Ten Ren Tea and Ginseng Company is a serious tea store. The teas in the next door tea house are from the store and thus excellent. But since they serve them in paper cups they spoil he enjoyment. Seems like here, as on the rest of Mott street, most of the interest is now in the iced and bubble teas... 8. The Palm Court at the Plaza, 768 Fifth Ave., between 58-59 Streets., (212) 759-3000: a classic hotel tea, very old world atmosphere, scones are excellent, sandwiches and pastry also nice. Tea selection is OK, no great teas but we had a nice Darjleeing. (No garden specification etc.). The place is now closed I guess and hopefully re open when the Plaza's controversial rennovations finish. 9. Teany, 90 Rivington St., between Orchard and Ludlow, (212) 475-9190: This is the coolest tea house in New-York. Not the best but the coolest, in the Lower East Side. Owned by the musician Moby. It's a veggie restaurant and tea house. A broad selection of teas. We had a Darjleeing second flush which was quite good, and also a very enjoyable iced jasmine oolong. 10. Tea Box at Takashimaya, 693 Fifth Ave., between 54-55th Sts., (212) 350-0100: Within a Japanese department Store, this tea house has a nice selection especially of Japanese teas of very high quality. The full "East-West Tea" comes with all sorts of snacks and pastries which are nice. 11. Kai at Ito En, 822 Madison Ave., between 68-69th Sts., (212) 988-7111: Ito En is an excellent Japanese tea store. Kai, its very own restaurant offers tea service in the afternoon. Highest quality teas and Japanese pastries. Here I had a superb Uji Gyokuro tea, and the "Chef's selection of tea deserts" which is exquisite. It was sadly recently changed from Japanese traditional sweets to Japanese influenced French sweets but those are still wonderful. Ito En also makes wonderful bottled iced teas avaliable in some stores in NY. http://www.itoen.com 12. T Salon, 11 East 20th St. (Broadway-Fifth), 212-358-0506: Broad selections of teas, I had some excellent white tea here. Service is sometimes professional enough about the tea and sometimes not. Not as sophisticated as Ito En or Wild Lily but nice for tea in the Union Square Area. A rather funky place. 13. Tea Spot, 127 Macdougal St. (at West 3rd), 212-832-7769: whatever people say, there is something nice about seeing people sitting in a cafe and taking their work (or their net surfing?) seriously. The laptop/wireless scene meets the tea scene, in this NYU area tea place. Wide selection of teas. Green tea brewed in too warm a temprature, but still is enjoyable. Once again, not the refinment of special traditional tea ware for different teas, not enough care in these details, but still a nice place. If you need to work, (or surf this forum) and have good tea - it's a great option. 14. Lady Mendel's Tea Salon at the Inn at Iriving Place, 56 Irving Place (at 16th Street), 212-533-4466: This small and very expensive boutique hotel, which opened in 1994, does not have a sign at the door, only a very small sign directing to Lady Mendel's. The interior of the Tea Salon looks like a very old English hotel tea room, something you may find in London or even South Africa. Somehow it feels out of place in this downtown area of Manhattan. Still, it does deliver the experience of the fancy hotel tea, now that the Plaza is under rennovation work. The quality and selection of the tea is OK but not amazing, the Darjeeling are flush but not garden specified, and the server had no information about their source. The full tea service includes the traditional sandwiches-scones-pastry trio, with the addition of salad at the begining. The candies ginger on the table is addictive. The scones are not as fresh from the oven as they should be. At the high price of 30 USD to which 20% gratuity was added, this is not a place I would return to. But worth visiting once... 15. Alice's Tea Cup, , 102 West 73rd St (Columbus-Amsterdam), 212-799-3006: In the tea wasteland of Israel I'd be happy for such a place. In New-York this is another of a few tea houses which has a broad selection of teas. A good choice in the Upper West Side, but somewhat the place failed to excite me.