Thé Adoré Review

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February in New York City is about two things: escaping the bitter cold of a Northeastern Winter and embracing the sweet warmth of Valentines Day. NYC’s Japanese-run, French-styled tearoom Thé Adoré is ideal for both. As an oasis of calm in the hustle and bustle of Union Square, it offers sustenance and succor for the sidewalk-weary pedestrian. As a tearoom that was born out of Japan’s love affair with France, it offers an understated Japanese simplicity and provincial French charm that can bring a smile (and an exceptional cup of Mariage Freres tea) to the lips of the most hardened, been-there-done-that New Yorker.

Thé Adoré is a culinary treat that’s a dollop of location, drop of Zen, and a dash of content je ne sais quoi. However, in addition to a cool cross-street, an oversized window with a stunning view of sunlight filtering through tree branches, and rustic wooden surfaces accented with quaint touches like worn enameled pots hung from wooden pegs, they serve up fantastic drinks and dishes. With a menu of more than 30 teas, three tisanes, breakfast, lunch, desserts, a variety of coffee drinks, juices (sparkling and fresh-squeezed), and mineral waters, you can tell that Thé Adoré aims to please. The looks on the faces of the casually cool clientele (mostly hipster-ish intellectuals on morning-after breakfasts and creative types on informal business lunches) will tell you they succeed in this endeavor.

The tea menu is enough to make any tea lover’s heart skip a beat. It is impressive in that it is both wide and deep in focus. It includes 11 decadent aromatized teas, which are a noted French specialty. (The sweetest of the aromatized teas, a black tea with hibiscus and mallow blossoms, is rather appropriately named ’Eros.’) There are five (yes, really, five) variations on the classic Earl Grey, the simple fact of which begs for a tasting session. (If you’d rather just sample the best, go for the Imperial Earl Grey.) The menu nods to the tearoom’s Japanese lineage with the inclusion of Soba-Cha, Sencha, Genmaicha, and Houjicha. Chinese teas (served in Yi Xing pots) include a light and a dark Oolong, an Imperial Keemun, a fragrant green Jasmine, and a Lapsang Souchong. India is somewhat overlooked with only two teas each from Darjeeling and Assam, but Thé Adoré compensates with the inclusion of five Ceylon teas, which are often under-represented in tea menus despite their enormous range of flavors.

You can read the remainder of this article on TeaMuse.