Duo Cafe

4.5*I stumbled upon this café as I was looking for a dessert/café place near East Village. Hot tea was definitely appealing when it's only 20 degrees outside, and we were freezing from our lunch. When my friend and I arrived here, we peeked in to make sure there were available tables before we went in. It amused us to see a table propped up a little higher at the windowsill. That might be a cute seat for someone who likes to people watch on a warmer day. Small critique is how their chairs all don't have backings which may not be as comfortable to sit in or hang coats when it's cold. I thought people would sit here for hours at a time, but I feel like people tended to leave in an hour or so. I sat relatively longer probably since I asked for hot water refills. I came here for the tea experience and so getting the remaining flavor out of the tea leaves is part of it. I like how they let you smell the tea leaves before choosing what to order. There's only two sets of it, so I'm curious how to optimize operations if more than two tables arrive at the same time. Also let's ignore airborne diseases. I guess they expect everyone going there to get a tea if they automatically provide the sample leaves. Technically you can just get a dessert. Since my friend and I were full from lunch and mostly wanted to have some tea, we got the tea tasting set plus a pistachio cheesecake. The menus are ambiguous because each sheet's information is presented slightly differently. I appreciate it being handwritten in a cute presentation though. For teas we got: milky oolong, lychee black tea, and herbal Milky oolong was my favorite. It feels like a more gentle oolong that's smoother and less grassy. Lychee black tea tasted better in the refill. I'm thinking whether it's due to water temperature. Different teas brew best at different temperatures and realistically all three teas were given the same temperature water in the beginning. Therefore, I'm suspecting that the lychee black tea didn't brew thoroughly the first time around. Herbal was also better in the refill probably due to the water temperature. When you hear herbal, it's more of a dried fruit tea (not necessarily floral). It definitely wasn't as concentrated as what my mom brews me at home, so it might feel a bit diluted. As someone who drinks strong tea, I wasn't bothered by the concentration here. It's definitely not strong strong here, but each sip tasted fine. Even when things tasted watered down, the water flavor itself was quite smooth, so good filtration action. The small cups made it easy for me to jump around from one tea to another which makes it more fun. It was bothersome when tea leaves would take up space in that tiny cup. Not sure if it's necessary to go the extra mile with tea strainers like the British. Green tea cookie comes with the tea tasting set. My friend didn't like it but I was surprised by it. It's a palm sized chonky cookie. It says there's white chocolate and marshmallow, but it didn't taste too sweet. The matcha flavor was subtle too. The cashew was on the softer side which I think works out with the rest of cookie, but I think it would be better to have them in the same shape (cut in half) instead of a whole nut. They didn't specify but I think they used almond flour here which gave it that crumbly yet soft texture. The dryness actually works out with the teas since the teas can melt the pastries in your mouth while complementing each other with earthy flavors. Pistachio cheesecake was the least exciting part of the experience. I like the pistachio nuts they added on top. The cheesecake itself was smooth and creamy but pistachio flavor was subtle and not interesting. To some extent, the melted texture was a bit too dense and thick. Also I was triggered by the way they call their cheesecakes as basque. No they aren't. They don't have the burnt exterior and heavily sunken center with cracked edges. The guy who helped us was friendly and shared his comments on the teas we tried. The vibes inside were very calming and peaceful. The muted natural colors and décor plus soft background music makes this café a great place for resting the mind or having deeper conversations. The café never felt loud even when all the tables were filled. I would've wanted to sit longer here if I wasn't too full for more refills and had my next activity to get to.

Food: 4/5 | Service: 4/5 | Experience: 4/5This little cafe does not have the most seating, but I was able to walk in and get seated immediately for two on a weekday evening. Restroom is small but clean. Service was a bit slow, but not a particular concern. I went up to pay at the counter, but ordering is at the table.We ordered the tasting menu and upgraded to a cake. We got the milky oolong tea, which was very tasty, and we got unlimited water refills for that. The pistachio basque cheesecake was pretty dense, and it was definitely my favorite. The flavor of pistachio is very strong, and the cheesecake is very smooth. There were shortbread cookies and sweet dried flower / fruits. Overall, good amount of food for two and a good place for relaxing and chatting with company.

Very cute place for some tea and not-too-sweet desserts! A friend and I stopped by during the early evening of a weekday. The cafe was packed but we got lucky with the last seats right by the window. I thought the hand-written menus were a unique touch. We were also offered all of the dried teas to smell before making our tea decision, which was super helpful considering the amount of options there were. We decided to order white peach oolong tea and the black tea basque cheesecake. The cheesecake was on the smaller side considering the price ($14) but was really good. It was a denser cheesecake that balanced well with the cream topping. The tea was also delicious and was served with a traditional tea set. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to drink a lot of tea considering the small size of the set but the staff were good about giving us hot water refills throughout our stay. What I enjoyed most about Duo Cafe is the ambiance. The lighting was soft and warm, and the wooden cafe decor provided a nice escape from the concrete jungle that is the city. This was, however, a pricer experience for what it is so I do not think I will come here often but will likely be back to try their other desserts!

It's a unique experience- you can get pots of Asian teas and snack sets and dessert... it's a bit expensive but the service is rather quick however it's a small spot so it does fill up and there seems to often be a wait on weekends. If you do manage to get a comfy seat it's a great fun catch up spot.

A small tea shop in the east village that's really a hole in the wall. I found it after seeing an Instagram reel, and I loved the experience. It's a small shop so it is very intimate and there aren't that many seats. Menus are hand drawn on the wall and the server is great about explaining the tea and pastry selection. We got a milk tea, caramelized sweet potato, and osmanthus taro basque cheesecake to share between three people. I highly recommend visiting and trying their seasonal desserts and teas.

Very cute date spot in the East Village. When first arriving, the cafe provides samples of dried tea leaves for you to pick out the flavor for the tea service, which is a nice touch. The desserts all looked amazing, and the taro cheesecake seems to be among the favorites.Would definitely revisit to try some of the other dessert items!

They have quite the large variety of loose leaf teas to choose from and let you smell each sample before choosing your flavor. We went with the milky oolong and it was light but creamy and soothing. I absolutely loved their sweet potato basque cheesecake. It has such a rich sweet potato flavor while being perfectly sweet. I'd go back just for that cheesecake. Cute date spot!

Duo cafe was a cozy spot for tea and desserts, great for groups of 2-4. We really liked the sweet potato with ice cream, which had the perfect glaze. The wait can be pretty long, and there isn't much space to wait inside. There's a small table for 2 by the window that was really nice at night. It's worth the wait!

I love enjoying tea properly, and @duocafe.nyc brings Asian tea options (mostly Chinese) as well as delicious East Asian style desserts to the table. This is a new solid place to go to for afternoon tea...or anytime of the day.

Stopped by on a late saturday afternoon with a small 5-10min wait. Tea and dessert really hit the spot on a chilly day. We got the Duo Tasting which comes with 3 small pieces to try, but since they didn't have the sesame one in stock they doubled the matcha one which worked in our favor since we both love matcha. With a free hot water refill, probably poured around 10-12 cups. Service was great and our waiter was good on checking up on us. Slightly overpriced like others have reviewed but its NYC and they only have around 8-10 tables. I wouldn't come with a group larger than 4. Single bathroom was clean and well maintained!