Lady Camellia

I absolutely loved this venue! The decorations, selection of teas, food and service was fabulous! Convienently located in Gorgetown with parking garages nearby, this quaint and adorable venue is perfect for bridal showers, birthday parties and girly get togethers! The food was so delicious and we will be back!!!

This is a lovely unique spot for afternoon tea. The location is small and intimate — excellent macaroons, good service and classic décor

Tea at Lady Camellia is a DC experience that you shouldn’t miss. Perfect for intimate bridal showers, dates with moms or grandmoms, or a girls’ day out.
I attended a tea party with 7 women for pre-​bachelorette party festivities. With 6+ guests is it $ 29 per person (plus tax + tip) and each person gets 1 scone, 1 croissant, 2 tea sandwiches, 3 pastries, and unlimited tea for the table. This may not sounds like a lot of food but it really is. We had to take home about ¼ of the food because we were too full to finish it.
My favorite tea sandwich is definitely apple & brie. They also have egg salad, smoked salmon, cucumber, and a variety of kid-​friendly options. I never thought I liked scones until I tried the fresh scones with jam from Lady Camellia… just decadent. With the tea party option it is «chef’s choice» with what selection of scones, croissants, and pastries they bring you but you do get a little of everything and get to try things you might not normally order.
I really liked that we could essentially try all the different tea flavors with the unlimited tea option we had. We consumed 8 pots of tea altogether! My favorite continues to be the lavender tea.
Do make sure to make reservations ahead of time. We called maybe 2 weeks prior to our visit for our 7 person party.

Cute décor, verrry girly. Small amount of seating. Any girl who used to have pretend tea parties will enjoy having tea and sandwiches or baked goodies at this place. Very relaxing with classical music playing in the background. You won’t feel out of place if you’re not wearing your Sunday best. Light food, don’t come hungry.

Such a treat. The food was great and the service was very friendly. Really enjoyed and will definitely return.

It was breathtaking. The décor was lovely, the ambiance was calm and serene, and I’ve never felt more like a lady than I did when sipping my tea!
At 2pm and having had no lunch, I was starving, so I opted for the entrée option in addition to high tea. The beef bourguignon was absolutely delicious, one of the top 10 restaurant meals I’ve ever had.
I’ve lived in DC for 22 years, can’t believe it took me this long to discover it!

I love love loooove afternoon tea! I had my first (real) afternoon tea experience at Harrod’s in London back in 2012. From that experience is how I judge all afternoon tea experiences. And since, I’ve been making the rounds to all the tea spots in the area and, right now, Lady Camellia is my favorite.
The place is pretty small… There’s room for — at most — 20ish guests per seating. I made reservations ahead of time (about a week) for 3 of us on a Sunday. We each got the Full Tea option, which comes with a pot of tea, 2 scones or croissants, 2 tea sandwiches and 4 pastries. Though the menu is «fixed», I love that you have the option of customizing what you get! :D The flatware and china are just right for the experience — so cute!
I am slightly obsessed with scones. Actually, call me a scone snob. The scones I’ve had from Lady Camellia are just perfect. Not overly dry or crumbly, and with just enough firmness. And with the clotted cream?! SO. GOOD. The rest of the desserts were pretty good, too… just not completely memorable. Since I had opted for 2 scones, I did not get any croissants. But my friend devoured hers and said it was really good.
I had so much fun. Though afternoon tea isn’t just a «with the girls» thing, I feel like at Lady Camellia it is… it’s so dainty and pretty inside.

So you know when pink throws up everywhere? That’s Lady Camellia in a nutshell.
The biscuits were AH-​MAZING, soooooo good. They were slightly moist and with the clotted cream, it made it such a wonderful experience.
The tea sandwiches were small which was bad for us because we didn’t eat breakfast before coming here.
The one thing that really lacked for a tea house was the tea selection. It was very small and wasn’t innovative at all. I expected more tea choices and variety.
Alas — if you like pink… check this place out.

L. and I booked an 11 o’clock appointment at Lady Camellia, excited to try their full tea service. It was difficult to spot right away, as there are no signs advertising the tea room, first thing in the morning. It’s across the street from Doyle, and in a mint colored building. The tea room is quite small and narrow (a la many buildings in Georgetown), and there was a single table for two — the others sat three, four, or more.
We decided to share the full tea, as we found that the other offerings were meager, to say the least. You could choose a pot of tea with two scones or croissants, or a pot with two tea sandwiches, or the full tea which offers scones or croissants, sandwiches, and pastries.
The scones tasted like very good Southern biscuits, I didn’t enjoy the sandwiches, but L. did, and she absolutely hated the pink champagne and mint macarons. She said that they tasted artificial.
Overall, we were disappointed and will not go again. Instead, we’ve decided to try an established tea service in a hotel.

Celebrated hubby’s birthday with tea here. It’s a nice pretty English-​themed tea room. Owner Debby was really nice; I called to make a reservation and told her its my hubby’s birthday and if she could arrange a nice seat for us and upon arrival, we were placed at the round table in the corner by the window. To top up the nice gesture, she served us a mini cupcake with a candle for the birthday boy. When the pastries were served, the aroma was alluring. We had the cream tea and light tea set complete with plain scone/​croissant/​rose tea and pumpkin crème brûlée/​strawberry fruit tartlet/​macaroons/​strawberry white tea.
Everything was perfect; service was impeccable (our server was a really sweet young lady) and we are already looking forward to going back. On my wish list is a chocolate or hazelnut tart though :) Hope they will have it the next time I’m there.

We hosted my sister’s bridal shower here and it was a great choice. They have a wide array of teas. I tried probably six different varieties and enjoyed each one. The strawberry white tea was very nice, if you’re looking to try something less traditional.
We paired our tea with the savory and sweet offerings and I really enjoyed everything. The sandwiches were tasty and cute. Each of the pastries and dessert items were delicious, fresh, and nicely sized. I really enjoyed the crème brûlée and the pecan tartlet.
I loved the floral place settings. Great venue for a gathering of friends.

I’ve never had tea before so maybe I’m just a n00b, but man oh man this place is awesome! The interior is absolutely adorable. I came here with 7 other ladies for a going-​away party for a coworker and having gone in with no expectations (was totally unsure of how formal tea works), I was blown away!
First off, the tea. I would give 5 stars but the tea, as good as each is (the strawberry white is delicious with a tiny bit of sugar), they’re all EXTREMELY light in flavor. I prefer my teas borderline bitter, to where I can literally feel the antioxidants working! Maybe it’s my Asian genes, but I need more strength to my teas.
That aside, the food is delicious. The egg and chicken salad sandwiches were perfect and the pastries were just as good. The tart is amazing and definitely try to snag a macaron before your friends — they’re amazingly chewy and just sweet enough. The scones, even the plain ones, were great and I loved the apple pastry.
I would love to come back here again and recommend it to others who enjoy tea but also want some decent goods to go with it.

Came here w/​2 others on a Sunday afternoon — definitely make a reservation! Space is super limited and it was full the whole time we were there.
Ambience/​décor: BEAUTIFUL! Well-​lit, soft music in the background, pretty mismatched China, comfy furniture and decorations on the wall were perfect for a girly teatime.
Service:
— Super slow. Food took forever to come out, and it seemed like only one person was running the whole place. Hard to flag her down.
— Menu is a bit complicated if you have an odd number of people. We tried to order the ‘tea for 2′ + something else to share b/​tw us 3 since we weren’t that hungry, but they didn’t let us do that. Ended up having to go a la carte for it all
Food:
— The most disappointing thing here was the teas. We tried the Rose black tea, Strawberry white tea, and Apricot Oolong (the first 2 were recommended as most popular by the waitress). They all tasted fairly flavorless… I thought I’d really taste the fruits/​rose but I barely got any hint of it. Expected much better from a so-​called tea room!
— Sandwiches: Egg Salad (ok), Brie & Apple (really good!), Smoked Salmon & crème fraîche (good but not mind blowing)
— Pastries/​scones/​croissants: good variety and all were delicious! They came out warm and with the right textures. Can’t go wrong here.
Overall, cute place with decent food but don’t expect amazing teas. Also wasn’t very filling for what came out to be ~$ 20/​pp. We were considering hosting a bridal shower here (they do private events for a max of 20) but after our experience here our answer was probably no.

«it’s not just tea and nibbles, it’s an experience.» True words from the Lady Camellia site!
Isn’t it fun to find a little one-​of-​a-​kind spot tucked away and feel as though its your own special discovery? I never imagined that a place as cute, unique, and special as Lady Camellia would exist in DC, let alone among the chaos of the Georgetown area. Little did I know that a turn off M St. onto a side street would lead me to a beautiful Victorian tea room, replete with all of the touches of a proper tea. If it weren’t for Hannah H., I never would have known. Thanks, Hannah — and Joy B., Adrienne M., and Adrienne’s lovely mama!
First rule of Lady Camellia is to make a reservation. The interior space is tiny and cozy at best, but as long as you have a reservation for your tea and are prompt, you’ll be made to feel comfortable, welcome, and never rushed throughout the proper tea service. I would not recommend this place to families bringing along small children who require strollers or room to run around. It’s best to come here with a party of 2 to 5 people, so that you can be comfortably accommodated at one of their tables.
As far as the tea service is concerned, you’ll choose from what «level» of tea/​treats you’d like, from frugal to extravagant, but I definitely recommend going for the «Full Tea» for $ 27. The least expensive option is the «Cream Tea» for $ 12, but you definitely might be left drooling with curiosity over the decadence of the Full Tea! With the Full Tea, I was treated to a pot of the tea of my choice (I chose an Apple Cinnamon-​type tea — YUM), as well as the full cadre of their fresh, in-​house baked goods, served in a true tea tower that one would find in London at a proper tea.
As far as the tea, of course it was good. They definitely don’t mess that up here, and their menu provides detailed descriptions of the flavor profiles for each tea. In terms of food, I was pleasantly surprised, as I was expecting neither the quantity nor the quantity. However, I greatly enjoyed a cranberry white chocolate scone, a chocolate croissant, a cucumber mini sandwich, a brie & apple mini sandwich, and an assortment of 4 of their house-​made macarons (they’re the folks behind the lauded Macaron Bee establishment).
Lady Camellia is a perfect place to spend a proper-​yet-​relaxing mid-​morning or afternoon with your lady friends, or to schedule for a baby shower or bridal shower. The ambiance is oozing with Victorian adorability, and you will love the service, the tea, the food, and the décor.

Lady Camellia is owned by Debby and Han, the sister company of Macaron Bee (which had its own brick-​and-​mortar in the past, but you can still get their macarons from Lady Camellia’s). They offer different levels of afternoon tea, as well as the space for private events and catering services. Some of my favorite ladies and I came here to have a nice little afternoon, all trying out their ‘Full Tea’ option. This came with 1 pot of tea of your choice (Darjeeling First Flush, English Breakfast, Vanilla Black Tea, Lavender Black Tea, Assam, Earl Grey, Rose Black Tea, Meyer Lemon Black Tea, Tropical Sencha, Apricot Oolong, Strawberry White Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, Lapsong Souchong, or Moroccan Mint Green Tea), 2 scones or 2 croissants (or, you can do 1 of each), 4 pastries (the daily selection varies, as it includes teacakes, macarons, and tarts), and 2 sandwiches of your choice (cucumber, egg salad, brie & apple, or smoked salmon & crème fraîche). I tried the Rose tea (which was more of a black tea consistency, but it had a nice subtle rose-​y flavor to it); smoked salmon & crème fraîche sandwiches (comes in a rectangular bite-​sized portion, this had a slightly strong mustard spread on it (which I didn’t particularly cared for, but still pretty okay); apple & brie (nice generous slices of soft brie cheese and fresh slices of apples); a cranberry white chocolate scone (that had a nice biscuit-​like texture, which was actually not dry, but moist, and great with the whipped butter); an apple croissant (mini, and it looked like a little strudel; this was tasty as it had nice little diced apples within); a pink champagne macaroon (slightly chewy, this actually was pretty unique in taste and it really tasted like a pink champagne!); a blueberry tart (with cream); a strawberry tart (with cream); and, a mini glass of passion fruit panna cotta (tangy and creamy, this came cold and it was pretty delicious). I also tried the egg salad, which was creamy and had nice little chunks of soft-​boiled eggs. Everything tasted really fresh, and you can smell the pastries baking in the area. The place was more on the smaller end (about 5 tables or so, seating 2s, 4s, or a party of 6 (we had the larger table by the window with a window bay U-​shaped bench, padded with small cushions), but very quaint and intimate; I loved the pink and white wallpaper, the frames, the chandelier, the soft music, and just the overall cute vibe of the place. Our server, Izzy, was really nice and very patient with us, which I really appreciated (even though there was a slight confusion with our initial orders for our group); however, everything worked out at the end, thank goodness! Our tap water was filled often as well, and while the bites did take some time, everything came out fresh and warm. While I assumed this would be more of a ‘snack’ situation, the bites really did fill me up: D Make reservations via email or over the phone, and they also call you to confirm the day before. I definitely will come back here again, as it was really a pleasant experience. Limited residential parking can be found along Prospect, but there is also a garage parking nearby.
+‘High Tea’
+tea sandwiches
+cranberry white chocolate scone
+apple croissant
+passion fruit panna cotta
+daily selection varies on pastries
+friendly & patient service (ask for Izzy!)

I recently visited Lady Camellia this last weekend with my sister. Once we arrived it was just like what we had thought it would be based off the Unilocal reviews and pictures. It’s a tiny cute hole in the wall that is somewhat hard to find due to the lack of signage. The indoor décor makes the most of their tiny space and it certainly feels like a little enclave of calmness in an otherwise very busy part of town.
I was very impressed by the mismatched yet somehow matching service that the table was already set with. And the chairs were both adorable and super comfortable. When we arrived the place was totally packed (which means all of like 15 people, including us) and everyone looked very happy to be there.
The service was okay, which I think is a function of having only one waitress for the entire place. She was very nice and helpful with questions about the menu, but it was very hard to get her attention and she didn’t check back that often. I think she could use some help (and it was Saturday, she definitely should have had some help). But I guess it doesn’t matter too much since each reservation allows you to have the table for two hours and I’m not kidding when I say that you need all of that time.
As far as the tea goes, it was very good, but I would have liked more of a selection. I think there are only 6 or 8 of them, but I’m used to high tea places having 20+. And withing the amount that they had there wasn’t a large amount of variety – especially if you want decaf. Though I complain, I did like mine and so did my sister – so, take this complaint with a grain of salt.
The food was something of a good mixed bag. The pastries and scones were amazing. The panna cotta and plain scones are definitely both winners and I highly recommend them. A small point taken off because they didn’t have lemon curd on the tray – which is crazy. The sandwiches however, while tasty, could use some work. We ordered three of them: salmon, cucumber and brie. The salmon was really just whole slices layered between bread – it would have been much more appealing if it had been minced and mixed with the crème fraîche instead. The cucumber sandwich was cut up into so many tiny pieces that they fell out all over the place – and the crème fraîche was too thin. The brie and apple sandwich had too little brie and so it was just overwhelmingly mild. All three sandwiches tasted good, they just could have been way, way better with just some small changes.
All in all, I probably would come here again if I was in the area. Though I think if I were coming back to DC I’d want to try the other high tea options in the city – just in case. And though that’s my opinion, I do seriously reccomend this place for a very traditional high tea experiance.

I took my visiting friend here for our first high tea experience and absolutely loved it. We decided to go all out and get the full tea set.
The atmosphere is very cute and cozy. It’s small and we came in on a quiet friday afternoon. The teacups and plate were charming and mismatched and pretty piano music was playing in the background.
We decided on the jasmine green tea, which was more jasmine tasting than green tea tasting but it was still subtle and perfectly complemented all the different sandwiches and pastries.
At first sight, I was slightly disappointed on how tiny all the food was but when we were finished with tea, I was stuffed for a while. The tea really fills you up.
We got the cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches which tasted very fresh. Ham and brie sandwiches were out so I’m excited to try them next time.
We journied to the next tier and sampled the white chocolate cranberry scone and pain au chocolat croissant. I loved pairing each bite of scone with a spread of strawberry jam and cream.
Last but not least we indulged in the pastries. I was bummed that they ran out of vanilla crème brûlée but the server recommended the passionfruit panna cotta and it was soo yummy. I loved the tartness of the jelly on top. Red velvet tea cake was just a tiny cupcake. I would probably substitute that for a macaron or panna cotta next time.
I heard the macarons and Macaron Bee were delicious and saved the best for last.
I’m glad we didn’t pick very rich, creamy flavors because we were getting full. We opted for the raspberry and lemon macarons. They were the best macarons I had in the DC area. Great combo of tart and sweet. I bought 5 macarons to go to share with my family.
Overall, wonderful experience and I recommend going if ya wanna have a sweet girls date.

TL;DR: A pretty cute place for an informal afternoon tea with a simple menu.
This tea room is located one block off M Street. The location is pretty convenient if you are already spending a day in Georgetown and want to take a break from the day long shopping spree. However, it is difficult to actually find the place because the sign on the front of the building is not Lady Camellia but Macaron Bee, the owners other business venture. Might be better to put up a more obvious sign than just a blackboard on the side of the road. The place is very small and I would definitely recommend getting a reservation.
Upon entering, you will see a small area for just buying macarons and leaving. On the side, you will go through a door to enter the actual tea room area. It is really nicely decorated and I especially like the small cozy window area near the front. The furniture, teawares and cutlery also fit the décor and you can tell that the owners made an effort in getting all the details together.
I got to try the sencha, earl grey, and the strawberry white tea. Not that impressed with any of them and the finger sandwiches and scones were not very special. Decent food, but not spectacular. One major point off is the lack of Devonshire cream and jam for the scones.
Overall, the staff was welcoming and attentive. A nice place to relax and enjoy an afternoon.

Kudos to the owners of Lady Camelia for creating a gimmicky tea room straight out of your childhood dreams. While the tea and treats aren’t the best around, the décor and overall experience are certainly memorable enough and make this a fun way to celebrate special occasions (i.e. bridal showers and birthdays) in small groups.
As others have said, this place is TINY and seats about 20 people max, so I highly recommend making a reservation. I came on a Saturday with a large group of 8, and we had to put a $ 60 deposit down via credit card and only had a few time slots to choose from.
The menu was a little confusing to understand — there’s a few different combinations of tea pots and treats, and we also had a prix fixe option available to large groups. Our group decided to pair up and do the full tea options for two people ($ 38 for two people) which included two pots of teas (each pot has about 4 cups of tea, no refills) and a mix of tea sandwiches, scones, macarons, and croissants. It was nice because we got 8 pots of tea for the table and got to try a lot of the different flavors. The food was decent but nothing spectacular. It was surprisingly a lot of food for two people, probably because of all of that carby goodness.
We were here for about 2 hours and had great service throughout our stay. It was a nice change to catch up with others over quiet tea time instead of in a noisy, crowded restaurant.

Everything I dreamed of as a kid when I thought of «real» tea parties. From the moment you enter you feel special, you feel like this is it, you feel butterflies in the tummy, you feel like it’s love at first sight.
The place is true to all pictures– it’s a cozy, intimate with just of hint of romance. The pink cushioned chairs, white table linens and the the mixed patterned china all set the tone for relaxation.
The tea was good BUT the scones — honey that white chocolate and cranberry scone served warm stole the show. I did order cream tea with a scone and a chocolate croissant but I had to order another scone a la carte. That scone was honestly better than any scone I can remember from the afternoons teas when I studied in London. The imported french jam was also a welcomed accompaniment.
The service was excellent. I took my little sister during her summer visit and we never felt rushed. We really could sit, talk and munch as long as we wanted. After touring the capital in the morning it was the perfect treat for the afternoon. I’ll definitely return.