Le Salon

I went to my second fancypants high tea over the weekend and it was great fun. I would definitely recommend reservations. My 2 adventures in tea parties were really different. But Carmen was awesome both times.
1^st time was a random Sunday in June and my group and one other were the only ones there. It was relaxing and a great way to catch up and chat with my friends. The 2^nd time was this past Sunday and it was a special Mad Hatter’s tea. The place was packed! And there were tons of kids… who were mostly well behaved.
I was tad bit disappointed that they didn’t carry the Mad Hatter theme into the food. The only special items were eat me/​drink me notes on the sugar and creamer. Plus an actor who played the Hatter, but when my Mom quoted the book to him, he was confused. Oh well. He was mostly there for the kids.
For your prix fixe menu/​price, you get a cocktail, a pot of tea (beaucoup selections), and three courses: seasonal tea sandwiches, scones and desserts (tea cakes, chocolate covered strawberries, etc). The menu was the same in both June and August, but it is supposed to change seasonally. They do offer a number of themed teas throughout the year, some are more child oriented (Princess) and others are definitely for adults (Prohibition).
I definitely want to go back in the fall.

We made reservations for 3 but only 2 of us could come, I know this is rude but the manager threatened to make us pay for all, since they make the food by the amount of reservations. We agreed to do so but felt like she was angry with us because one in our party was unable to make it. Sorry, but I’m sure it happens all the time and can be accommodated for, especially for just one person.
And by food, they mean bite-​size sandwiches and scones, not giant steaks or rare seafood. So we were a bit put off by the treatment we received initially. The other servers were very nice but with a 20% tip already built in to the overpriced affair, were in no hurry to the point of irritation. Even though we were at a relaxing tea and not in a rush, 20 minutes for the check and another 20 to have it returned is a little much.
The nicest thing is the ambiance, however, the tea service is held in the hotel lobby. It’s beautiful but kind of odd. Needless to say, we won’t be back and will not be recommending it to anyone. Unless you want to pay a lot and be treated poorly.

One of the best afternoon teas we have ever had. Started with a belini and continued with tea, sandwiches, scones and sweets. Our Grand daughter would have loved it.
This was one of the best teas we have ever had and we have been to the Ritz and Savoy in London.
Highly Recommended!
While Dressy is recommended, casual is OK!

I had my bridal shower here during my bachelorette weekend in NOLA so this place will always have a special place in my heart.
Due to our taxi being late to pick us up and not informing us, (unbeknownst to me) we were late for our reservation by a good 45 minutes. My sister was frantically on the phone trying to call Le Salon telling them of our delay because she knew their afternoon tea service would end soon. They were very accommodating and said since the food was already made, it’s fine.
What was truly amazing was when we arrived, our scones and baked goods were still WARM! They had kept things at the right temperature for us (cold sandwiches were cold) instead of just leaving it out until we came. I appreciated their attention to detail.
We did not feel rushed at all when we were there and the servers were very good about being there for us and not intruding.
We all started with a cocktail each. I chose the Peach Tea Cooler. I loved it.
The different spreads were lovely and delicious. My favorite was the lemon curd. I have a sweet tooth so I took great joy sampling the different chocolates and desserts.
100% recommend it :)

Tea has always been a special occasion for me, but on Christmas Eve, it goes to another level! My honey and I have been trying to attend this high tea for years, but is has been fully booked until now.
The décor is astounding, a traditional mix of antiques with comfortable sofas, and arm chairs festooned with pillows; the holiday decorations transport us to another era of finery. The tables are set with an older Lenox strawberry design plates, which charm on white cotton embroidered placemats, and matching starched napkins. The harpist led a beautiful musical touch.
So much to love at this fine hotel service, including an impressive twenty-​six types of teas to choose from. As a tea aficionado, one major fault I find, is the server removes the tea pot from the table so you cannot control how the tea steeps. With a delicate tea like Jasmine Blossom, it ruins the bouquet and becomes bitter after steeping too long. I had to request a new pot, which was granted. Also, tea is served after the welcome cocktail, and finger sandwiches are placed. I have never seen any food served before the tea pot.
The cocktail assortment includes wine, sparkling wine, milk punch and a delicious spiced sparkling poinsettia, with a touch of cranberry.
The tea sandwiches arrived within moments of the cocktails. They were plated artfully, and finely flavored and mostly typical, of cucumber, turkey, truffled egg, salmon, and lobster, except the curry chicken salad which the chef forgot the curry. In such a tiny morsel, I expected a exotic touch, but it was lacking. There were plenty to satisfy on this cold afternoon.
The scones were an unusual combination of two including gingerbread, and cranberry orange. accompanied by raspberry jelly, lemon curd, heavy whipped cream and my favorite, Devonshire double crème. The desserts were small miniatures of rather bland cake or tart, except for the sublime Norman Love chocolate confections. Dipped strawberries of both white and dark were the final delectable.
Online, the price stated $ 37 per person, but instead, we were charged $ 47. You cannot have the service without the choice of cocktails, which includes non-​alcoholic versions.
Overall, on a holiday, the service was excellent, attentive, and friendly, like being welcomed into a lovely experience of a winter wonderland of tea grandeur, without the snowy weather.

Tea parties are the best parties ;) That is my motto.
I love tea rooms, and this one has just made a spot as one of my favs! For the price per person, it is expensive. The tea rooms I’ve been to in the San Francisco Bay Area are about $ 30 or less. For this tea room, the online menu lists it as $ 37 per person for the traditional English tea service (already expensive.), but upon my arrival, it was $ 47 listed on the menu. I’m not sure if it’s because Christmas is around the corner and the theme is more Christmas-​like here. Even though I thought the price per person was quite expensive, I think it’s a great opportunity to just experience it/​treat yourself once in awhile.
**Book ONLINE reservations at least one week in advance! SUPER PACKED!
The English tea service includes a glass of sherry, sparkling wine, chardonnay, specialty cocktail or nonalcoholic cocktail. A properly brewed pot of tea.
English tea sandwiches: truffle egg salad, cucumber, smoked salmon, smoked turkey, curry chicken salad, & lobster salad. Black currant and walnut scones
with raspberry preserves, Devonshire cream, lemon curd, & vanilla bean whipped cream. A miniature cake, tartlet, chocolate covered strawberry, & truffle.
**My visit for the Christmas season had different scones — gingerbread & cranberry.
Located on the first floor of the Windsor Court Hotel, when you first enter, it is on the right side. The tea room is not a private room, it is more of an open-​space tea room next to the lobby. Coming here around Christmas time is just gorgeous! The big ‘ol Christmas tree, matching mistletoe-​like designs on teacups and plates, and poinsettia everywhere! With or without the holiday decorations, this room itself is still beautiful.
Service was great, as our waitress was so friendly and attentive. If you are coming with a party of two, you will most likely be seated on the side or in a corner. I highly recommend coming in a party more than two because then you get to sit in a bigger table or on the couches. The interior design here is exquisite; very French-​like. It makes me feel as if I’m one of those higher class people, having tea, haha. They also have a harpist and piano player. When we first arrived at 3 pm, the harpist was playing for awhile, and stopped for about 30 – 60 mins, before playing again. The atmosphere is lovely, with ladies everywhere, chitchatting. Noise level isn’t loud but averagely quiet.
I’ve always wanted to bring my mom to a tea room (cause she’s never been), and she doesn’t visit me in San Francisco often, so I took this as the opportunity to take her on an adventure and let her try something new. She’s not much of a tea drinker, even as an Asian. We ordered one of the special Christmas tea and she loved it! She couldn’t stop raving about how delicious it smelled, and didn’t even want to try the other tea we ordered. Even though the food comes in small bites, it can definitely fill you up (depending how many glass of tea you’ve had). Also, the desserts are super sweet!
As a disclaimer, they automatically add 20% gratuity to your bill. For a party of two, our bill came out to be $ 122, tax and gratuity included. You can also take your food to go if you can’t finish.
Even though it’s pricey, I’d definitely love to come back again! I highly recommend you guys to come here for the holiday season! Also, it’s great for bridal showers, birthdays, date, or just a gift for someone.

Very nice! Food, tea, dessert, service, music is good as well as the ambiance. The scones are delicious. Not perfect but an overall breath of fresh air. Highly recommend attending this tea service at the Windsor Court with friends or family while in NOLA to enjoy a special experience. When I left, I knew that I had just stopped for a couple of hours and let’s say smelled the roses! Very refreshing in this hectic world. Well worth doing.

being the classy ladies we are, we booked tea time at le salon at the windsor court hotel.
you know, we needed a break from mardi gras and bachelorette festivities.
tea time was exactly what we needed.
first: a cocktail (love it!)
then: tea and finger sammiches
and then: more tea and tiny desserts
there were 6 of us, and we were stuffed by the time it was over. we couldn’t even finish the desserts.
everything was pretty yummy. the tea was good, even though i think it was steeped too hot. nothing stood out– good or bad.
live harp performance was pretty cool.
ambiance and décor were lovely.
the pricing wasn’t terrible.
i’d do it again… made us feel like ladies after getting rowdy on bourbon street the night before.

The bf and I have developed a little tradition of having afternoon tea when we go out of town. In New Orleans there were several options to choose from but we took the advice of a sorority sister and headed to Windsor Court. Tea at Windsor Court is offered at 11am and 2pm on the weekends. This is a little different but fit it well with our timeline. Tea is served at Le Salon, which is the lobby bar offering a nice ambiance of several mini living room set ups.
There were five other groups enjoying tea during our seating. Because we were a small party we were set up at a side table while the larger groups sat on chairs and couches around a coffee table. Although not as comfortable as sitting at a regular dining table this is more authentic to how afternoon tea is traditionally served.
In the US most people incorrectly call afternoon tea high tea when in fact it is a low tea — meant it is served on low tables in a parlour /​living room. High tea is served at the dinner table and is a hearty meal — this was traditionally enjoyed by the working class while low tea was a tradition of the nobility. Now you know.
When we arrived the table was already set up with everything we would need including creams and jams. Tea at Windsor Court does not come cheap: $ 37 per person plus tax and 20% gratuity. It does however include a cocktail to start with. I got sparkling wine while the bf got the milk punch, which he said was very good.
I immediately zeroed in on the gunpowder pearl tea, it was legitimately very good. On the menu were several «rare» teas for an extra $ 5 a pot — no thank you.
Our tea sandwiches came out after the cocktails. They were good but very small. Honestly I am not a caviar fan, too salty.
Although the presentation was nice I do like the tired tray system other places use. Larger tables had their items served in this manner so it was not a space issue but just the Windsor Court method of presentation. After the sandwiches our tea arrived — I’m undecided if this was on purpose or our tea was delayed. For space and I’m also guessing service tea was not kept on the table. Although I appreciate this thought we actually drink tea and aren’t there for the novelty so not having access to our tea pots was a little annoying. I did however enjoy the rock sugar provided.
After tea came scones, which we enjoyed with the raspberry jam, Devonshire cream and regular cream; neither of us are lemon curd fans but it looked nice and I heard another table inquiring about it so it is for some people.
After a few cups of tea our desserts came out. I’ll admit, I was super disappointed.
It really bothered me that we has to pick between different items. The bf wound up not liking his chocolate piece so I had both. This is the smallest dessert selection I’ve had at tea. And the chocolate covered strawberry was very bland. Very sad.
Overall we had a nice time and were there for an hour and 20 minutes, it was clear though that we were welcome to stay and enjoy more tea. A piano player played at times which was very nice but she took frequent breaks, as in three during our short visit so I can’t really say it added to the experience. At $ 96 for the experience we won’t be back but an glad we tried it once. We continue to hold The Peabody (which costs less than $ 70 for two) as our favorite tea experience. The cocktails were a nice touch but added unnecessarily to the cost and not really anything to the experience. Our waiter did a really good job taking care of all the groups and did engage us in conversation about tea when we mentioned this is something we do frequently so that was very nice. If you happen to be traveling by a Windsor Court and want some elegant fun it’s not a bad idea to give the tea service a go.

So, I am among a rare group of men who actually thoroughly enjoy afternoon tea. Because of my mutual love and appreciation of afternoon tea with my girlfriend, we make sure to grab afternoon tea on every vacation we go on. So when we planned a trip to New Orleans, we decided to come here upon recommendation by one of her peers.
We walked into the hotel and noticed that Le Salon was essentially in the Lobby area on the hotel, which I found to be interesting. The tables were exceptionally low and small, and although the ambiance was cute and quaint, there was not much terribly special about it. To their credit, they had a piano player who was playing music, which was a nice touch. But there were extended periods where she was not playing, so the random choppiness was notable.
This tea establishment is slightly different in that they start you off with an alcoholic beverage, which can be a nice touch, but I find to be unnecessary. It is included in the already high price of tea and the menu doesn’t give the option of taking it out. Upon sitting, we had our alcoholic drink orders taken; the drinks were good.
They then immediately brought out the tea sandwiches. I understand that each tea place is unique in their own right, but there are three things I disliked about this. First of all, the sandwiches came out prior to the tea, so we did not get to enjoy the sandwiches and tea concurrently. Second, it just felt rushed. And lastly, tea is the main attraction in my opinion, and we did not have a chance to enjoy it from start to finish. Also did not like the fact that they were not served on a 3-​tier tray, and were not exactly as plentiful as other tea establishments.
We finally got our tea orders taken once the sandwiches were nearly gone and had our cups poured for us. Here, they do not leave the teapot on the table for you. The added service is nice, but those moments of empty glasses were not pleasant for either of us. The tea itself was good, and the service was quite friendly, which were pluses, but again, the timing and the lack of accessibility were not pleasant.
Then the scones came out. There were four scones, two pairs of different flavors. It came with the customary creams and jams, all of which were good.
Then the desserts came out (again, no 3-​tier display). The thing that was glaring here was that there was only one type of each dessert, so we each only got to try half of the desserts. The desserts were alright, but we’ve had far better elsewhere.
By the end of the experience, we had paid $ 96 for the two of us, tax and tip included. It was a pleasant experience and we had enjoyed ourselves, but was the experience certainly was not worth this high of a price point. And be warned, you can spend extra for «premium teas» (as if this was expensive enough), and be prepared to pay for valet parking for a «discounted» rate of $ 10 (unless you are lucky enough to find street parking like us.
Long story short, there are far better tea establishments for a lower price, and far more things to do in the NOLA area for a better value. Next time I am in New Orleans, I am looking forward to trying afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton; I recommend you look elsewhere too.

Nice place to go.

Tea time! I have only been but once; I did enjoy my time there quite so! I adored seeing women dressed in a variety of colorful hats, and the live piano music fits the atmosphere perfectly. The teas were all quite good with a lump or two of sugar. It was exquisite indeed!
Now the $$$ was a bit high for the amount and types of finger foods you receive, thus the one star off.
Do try it I say!

Friday afternoon is the ideal time to experience tea at the Windsor Court, if you are dining with other adults. There were very few children at the Friday seating, and no large bridal parties, so the atmosphere is quieter and more relaxing than what I have experienced on a weekend.
The service and attention from our servers was outstanding. They were so warm and friendly and seemed to care about making sure we enjoyed our experience.
The selection of fruit tarts, cheesecake, lemon bars, chocolates, and chocolate covered strawberries was very fancy and delicious. A macaron or two would have been nice. The scones were decent.
The finger sandwiches were lacking. They were dry and uninspired, particularly the egg salad and the cucumber variety. The turkey one was very good, it had some sort of spicy cream cheese on it. I didn’t try the pinwheel, the salmon mousse or the caviar one, as I think two of the men with us ate them all. Although it might not be considered a «traditional» part of a tea service, I think the menu would greatly benefit from the addition of some hot canapes, miniature quiche, etc., even if offered for an additional charge.
I enjoyed trying a selection of teas and the setting was comfortable. The harpist played Beatles tunes, which always makes the mood better.
It is a little pricier than the tea at Ritz-​Carlton, and also the Ritz offers FREE valet parking (Windsor Court discounts their valet parking down to $ 5 if you have tea there), but I think Windsor Court has a slight advantage due to the sincere service.

Classic Tea service was excellent!
Delicious tea sandwiches, scones (Walnut & Strawberry) with devonshire, lemon curd, raspberry preserves and whipped cream. Desserts were very good too. Great tea service for little girls on a special occasion. My husband and I came here to celebrate an anniversary and it was perfect! There was live flute music as well. It was about $ 75 total for 2 (including gratuity). I would recommend for ladies, friends and for any special occasion. Loved the TEA, too =)

My husband planned our anniversary trip to New Orleans. Part of his planning included afternoon tea since he knows that I love to go. When we arrived at the hotel, my first opinion was that it looked like the Omni in Chicago. It was tastefully decorated but not anything worth noting except for a lovely painting in the lobby.
As soon we sat down for tea, we were given a menu. It was some menu! Each tea was explained in great detail. I was quite impressed with the selection. Our waiter greeted us and went over the teas including the specials in even greater detail.
My husband ordered the Royal service, which included additional sandwiches and a glass of sparking wine. It was not very good. I didn’t finish it, not because it wasn’t very good, but because I had a bug die in it. Ahh yes, a bug. One does not expect bugs during tea but our experience included two. When I brought it up to the waiter, he apologized. He offered to get me a new glass and he could even put it in a to go container. I know this is NOLA, but I am not taking a glass to go from afternoon tea.
My other critique was the service. There were two large parties going on, a shower and a graduation party of 15+ people in each group. Unfortunately, these large groups caused our service to be very slow. Since they do not keep a teapot on the table, the staff has to refill your cup. I had to ask twice to get a refill. Additionally, it took a really long time for our sandwiches to come out. When they did come out, they were delicious.
Overall, it was a mediocre experience. I would suggest skipping the Windsor Court. I’m giving them 3 stars because I hope that both the bugs and the bad service are not consistently part of their service.