Mandarin Oriental Lobby Lounge

For our birthdays this year, my mom came to visit us in New York. David was turning 30 and we thought it would be nice to spend some time together before he headed off to San Francisco for the summer (and my mom was able to help him pack a lot of stuff and get ready for his move!) We had a nice afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental, which has breathtaking views of Central Park. My mom wanted to have tea and everyone else actually ended up eating lunch at the restaurant.

I had the chicken salad with cashews, oranges and a fresh citrus vinaigrette:

Ken had the kobe beef sliders with a side of Parmesan crusted fries:

Laura had the wonton soup with noodles and vinegar:

David had the chicken wings with a soy ginger dressing and crudite:

And my mom had the tea service, which came with three trays:

I shared a bit with my mom and my favorite level of food was top level, which had two scones and clotted cream that was sweet and light:

The food isn’t spectacular but the views are very enjoyable and it’s a nice place to rest after a morning of shopping along Fifth Avenue:

The floor above the lobby has a large ballroom that we visited after our afternoon tea/late lunch – they were setting up for a large wedding and it looked like it was going to be a really fun time – lots of bar areas, a band setting up, and beautiful flower arrangements.