An Elegant Brunch at The Little Hen
As many things do, it started with a tip-off from a friend. A new restaurant had opened six months ago in Soho, very close to Washington Square Park. This place, named the Little Hen, offered afternoon tea along with brunch and lunch.
Having a personal penchant for an afternoon tea, complete with scones and clotted cream (read how picky I am here), I was immediately interested. I managed to secure an online reservation for a date two weeks in the future for brunch. Pro tip: you really need a reservation if you want to go on a weekend!
The Venue
Located on the corner of Bleecker and Thompson Streets, the restaurant is small(ish) and comfortable, complete with a clean and relatively spacious restroom. The decor is incredibly elegant, obviously aiming for an English tearoom vibe. Large vases of pink and white cut flowers greet guests at the front and cute, floral themed china plates adorn the tables. A clean and also elegant restroom is past the bar in the back.
We sat in the one of the booths, feeling more contained and private…perfect for our wiggly toddler!
The Drinks
We all enjoyed tea and coffee drinks. One of us went for a standard English Breakfast, but the rest of us tried lattes. My friend tried a chai latte, which, as expected, was on the sweeter side. I had an amazing dirty lavender latte—which means, in this case, that it has espresso in it rather than just tea (definitely stir it before drinking though!) My husband had a rose tea latte, which admittedly tasted just like rose-flavored milk. So good, but maybe not as expected?
The Food
I would generally give the food 4/5 stars. There were five of us, so we were able to try quite a variety of plates in one sitting! We ordered scones for the table, rose petal pancakes, bourbon battered French toast, Eggs Benedict, Churrasco Divorced Eggs, and the Churrasco.
Of all the plates, I would most highly recommend the rose petal pancakes. They were gorgeous, and tasted just as good as they looked! Pink rose petals sprinkle the tops of rich rose-flavored pancakes. The rose-infused maple syrup provided is a little weird, but is great if you like that combination. I actually preferred eating the pancakes without the syrup…they were just the right sweetness with a little powdered sugar on top!
Since you know I’m picky about my scones, I’d say the scones and jam were fine. However, the clotted cream was most definitely not clotted cream. So unless you’re into butter or whipping cream, don’t go there for scones.
Basically, I’d go back for the rose petals pancakes and a dirty lavender latte! And I have to say the service was top-notch. I was nervous going in with my toddler, but they were great about it and even handed him a pink rose afterward—which he proudly carried all the way to Washington Square Park!
