Ladurée SoHo Afternoon Tea Review (NYC): What to Expect
Hello Steepers! Today we are traveling to SoHo (short for "South of Houston Street" in Lower Manhattan) to Ladurée!
Ladurée is best known for Parisian-style desserts and being the birthplace of macarons!! Founded in 1862 in Paris, it started as a traditional bakery and grew into a global name associated with French luxury pastries and tea salons.
I visited the SoHo location in New York City to try their afternoon tea, which is only offered from 4:00pm to 5:00pm! A true afternoon tea timing!
A Little Bit of History: Ladurée was founded in 1862 by Louis-Ernest Ladurée in Paris. It began as a traditional bakery but became one of the first tea salons in the city after a redesign by Ladurée’s wife, inspired by the growing popularity of cafés as social spaces for women. In the 20th century, Ladurée became famous for inventing the double-shell macaron, two crisp cookies sandwiched with ganache or cream filling. This became their signature item and helped build their global reputation.
Over the years, Ladurée expanded beyond France, opening luxury tea salons and patisseries in major cities around the world. The brand is known for its elegant interiors, pastel packaging, and high-end French pastries.
The Ladurée SoHo location opened in 2012 and quickly became a popular spot for both locals and tourists. Located on West Broadway, it’s one of the brand’s larger U.S. outposts. The space includes, a retail boutique with their famous macarons and desserts, a tea salon for indoor dining, and a backyard garden area for warmer months.
The SoHo salon keeps the same French-inspired interior design and antique-style furniture. It’s designed to feel like a slice of Paris in the middle of downtown Manhattan. This location offers breakfast, lunch, dessert, and afternoon tea.
The Experience: While most guests prefer to sit in the outdoor garden area, it was closed for a private event during my visit so I sat indoors. Ladurée’s afternoon tea focuses mainly on showcasing their desserts, so it’s not a “full” afternoon tea experience, but more leans toward a tasting with the quantity of food they give. However, it does stick to the traditional three tiers: savory, sweet, and scone, though on a smaller scale. I realize this is a common thing for tea salons that really offer afternoon tea as a means to showcase what they’re known for. In this case it was macarons and parisian pastries. Mariebelle (which is only a few minutes from Laduree) is similar. You can see my full post on them in my NYC Afternoon Teas Part 1 post. Another example is AnnTremet which afternoon teas highlight their mirror-glazed desserts.
For our tea for two, we were offered:
Sweets: Four of their famous Macarons, Four Eugénies (I just learned this word, but Eugénies are small dome-shaped treats with a chocolate shell, cream, or ganache filling, and a sponge cake base), and two full-size pastries. These pastries are one of the specialties at their shop. We got:
Ispahan : A large macaron filled with rose petal cream, fresh raspberries, and lychee.
Dulce de Leche Bar: A rich, buttery pastry with a strong caramel flavor.
Savories: So we were given one Mini Savory Croissant which was filled with smoked salmon and cucumber and four mini savory tartlets. We also got two egg salad finger sandwiches. I normally don’t enjoy egg salad, but these had a slight sweetness that made them taste really nice.
Scones: We only got two baby, plain scones, but let me tell you THEY WERE DELICIOUS. I wish they were full size.
For drinks you can choose from tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and they also offer an additional beverage of either a"brunch-style" cocktail, like a mimosa, bloody mary, and sangria, or a non-alcoholic cocktail. This was a nice inclusion.
The staff wasn’t overly friendly, but they were efficient and attentive, which worked fine for me. Service was prompt, and everything was well presented.
As of Today: According to their website, Ladurée only offers afternoon tea from 4pm to 5pm. I kind of love that they only offer it at the traditional “tea time”, but this can be restrictive to plan around. You can find the full menu and prices on their website.
My Rating: 4/5. This was more of an afternoon tea that offered snack portions and not meant to be a full meal. Most of the afternoon teas I review can replace lunch or dinner, but I wouldn’t put that as a negative to Ladurée. They wanted to showcase their desserts and they were fantastic! Worth a visit.
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