$18 cakes. I repeat a slice of cake is now $18. That's for all the cakes. I've been here on and off over the years. This is ridiculous. That's the price of a lunch. Imma just head back to Lady M. Or Patisserie Fout. Cakes are good, and fresh, but not that good. read more

I was a bit skeptical given the mid reviews, but I had a really nice lunch here and would come back! I ordered the prix fixe menu which I thought was a great deal given the amount of food you get. There's not many places that I know of for good omurice, and this place doesn't necessarily present it the traditional way where you can slice the top and have the runny egg spill out, but it still tasted delicious (I got the chicken and mushroom one). I tried my friend's seafood pasta and that was also good! I also looooved the cakes (I tried the strawberry mille crepe cake and the strawberry cheesecake, and the latter was incredible delicious because of the cream). I didn't really have any issues with the service; they were responsive and the food came out pretty quickly. We also didn't have any issues getting seated without a reservation. There's a lot of tables and bar seating available. The bathrooms also have Japanese toilets which was a nice surprise! read more

HARBS SoHo - Strawberry cheesecake in the back and strawberry mille crepe cake in the front - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Cute cafe with lots of seating and good options! Service is quick and nice! Menu is cute with a selection of teas, cakes, dishes. It's just a bit pricier but for the location in SoHo it's not ridiculous. Orange tart and strawberry cake were delicious with fresh fruits fillings. Would come again! read more

See all

Harbs is always bustling with energy and quite popular, but it's been consistently terrible the times I've come. There's lots of seats inside. The service is terrible and the food is extremely overpriced for what it is, even after accounting for it being in soho. I was quite frustrated when I went to the hostess to be added to the waitlist. Was told she can't help me and to go to someone else, which I did and I was next to be seated. 3 minutes after, the original hostess helped the person that arrived after me to get a table and seated them immediately even though they had the same number of guests! Why tell me you're not the person to help with a table but then seat guess that arrived after? That's incredibly rude. 20 minutes later, they call my name and then realize they wrote the wrong party size amount...then 10 minutes after that another employee calls me to walk me to my table. Then another employee immediately stops me to not follow her colleague. The first one insists that I follow her to sit. Then the second stops me again. Make up your mind! Please communicate with each other! It's so unprofessional, confusing, and frustrating. Please also tell me why it took 20 minutes for them to bring me a slice of cake. Literally a slice. And then forget my tea altogether. Now to the food...$18-$20 for a small slice of the strawberry shortcake is ridiculously expensive even by manhattan standards and isn't that good. I've been to much better ambiance restaurants with better desserts for a more reasonable price also in expensive parts of downtown. This place was a terrible experience. read more

HARBS SoHo - $18 slice of strawberry shortcake. Very meh - which adds insult to injury on the already ridiculously overpriced slice (even for soho) - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Really great cakes. I've come to this location multiple times and everything we've had has been lovely. Really pretty presentation, really high quality ingredients, not too sweet, and the cakes themselves feel really elevated. The white peach cheesecake, for example had a more mousse-like texture than a traditional cheesecake and it worked really well with the sweet peach. The teas they offer also work really well with the desserts. However, for $15+ a slice and a 1 item per person minimum, I would hope that the service would be far better. While service is super polite, they do forget about you. Ordering, getting the check, etc. took a few minutes of looking around for a waitress/waiter. read more

HARBS SoHo - Mango mousse White peach cheesecake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

My favorite cake shop in NYC. We love to come here for lunch since it opens because they have a great lunch set menu. The food and cake is so delicious. Always have friendly waitress and servers with great smiles and service. Clean and neat dining area makes you feel like in Japan. read more

See all

We had a not good experience recently. The wait after ordering was long, we saw the cakes coming out but they were all for other tables. When ours finally came, they were wrapped in foil, which was very strange and I didn't see that with other tables' orders. We were puzzled and still opened the foil and ate the cake anyway, but the presentation was bad. Now that I think about it, I think they made the order to-go instead of for dine in, and when they realized it, they just took out the cake slices and served with the foil on a plate. That's so lazy, they could have served us fresh slices since we're dining in. read more

See all

Very cute spot for lunch/brunch in SoHo. My parents were recently at the Tokyo Ikebukuro location and told me how the lines there were out the door, and that their meal was pretty good, so I thought I'd give this one a try! Definitely no lines here, but service was excellent. One challenge for me though was the lack of a high-chair, so my little one sat in her stroller for half my meal, and on my lap for the other. If I had brought my own baby chair, they did have room on the benches for it. Lunch specials were decently priced, but it could be improved in terms of clarity. I was under the impression that it only included pastas or sandwiches (plus a basic drink and dessert), but the table next to me got an omurice with their lunch special! Anyhow, I think the cakes are the star of the show, and a thin half-slice comes with the lunch special. It's a rotating menu of 3(ish?) cake options to choose from, despite more cake flavors being on display in front. I'm not judging the restaurant for this, just wanted to point it out! I had a mushroom pasta, but was super close to trying their lemon pasta or a sandwich! My food was tasty, and this is a very quaint spot to share a meal with friends, but not the best for solo dining with an infant. read more

Nice ambiance and good service, though the food was pretty average. Great spot for the vibe more than the meal. read more

See all

Upon entering, it felt like I was transported and on vacation, almost like I was at a nice hotel. I was greeted and seated. The staff was very attentive, promptly noticing when I was ready to order and refilling the water in my tea before I noticed it needed a refill. There was plenty of space and seating, and the conversation level wasn't too loud. As a party of one, it was a nice, quiet place to destress and relax on a weekday night. The Marron Cake, while on the pricier side, was very much worth the price. The cake was spongey and light. The flavor was also a more uncommon flavor to come across. read more

See all

Very cute and relaxed Japanese-French bakery. The cakes are airy and light, and the flavors are good. The strawberry cake is a good balance of cream and fruit, and the lemon yogurt cake is exactly that (lemon-y and yogurt-y) in a great way. The savory foods are also good; highly recommend the mentaiko pasta (creamy, briny). read more

I'm sorry, I had high expectations and I was not happy with the slice of cake I had here. Def overpriced and over-rated. Nice inside ambiance though read more

It just gets more and more expensive everytime I come here. One slice is cake is 18?? US dollars? Please this is not worth it. The place is bright and spatial, u can try it here once a while but it prob will break ur wallet if u come here all the time haha read more

See all

I've been going to Harbs since it first opened over a decade ago, mostly at its now-closed Chelsea location. The original fruit cake is always delicious and pairs perfectly with their tea. I recently tried their lunch entrees, and the pasta was actually better than I expected from a place known mostly for cakes. Harbs is a great spot to get a casual lunch that includes an entree, a slice of cake, and tea. Just a heads-up: the cake that comes with the lunch combo is very small and limited to just a few options. It's definitely worth ordering an extra slice to fully enjoy it. read more

This Japanese chain has 1 location in the USA and luckily it is here in soho, NYC. Eating here is a unique experience compared to your typical cafe/bar/bistro in this area. It's very much Japanese in detail but the food is Italian/Italian-American. The ambiance is very light and airy. It's a great place to relax and regenerate. The music is light and classical. It's quiet, great for conversations and day dreaming. The food is delicious. The pastas were fresh and not overwhelming. They came with light side salads that were delectable and fluffy white bread with butter spreads. They have a lovely tea selection which you can pick and choose from to match with your meal. Finally, their cakes are airy, light, jiggly and fresh. Price is reasonable - filling lunch for 2 with tea, cake, coffee ~ 100$. read more

See all

Nice interior and clean establishment. Service could use some work, though the hostess person behind counter was very courteous and helpful. We ordered the Mango mousse cake and Matcha red beans cream cake. Both were delicious and light, wish they used less of the regular whipped cream and put in more matcha cream or cake though. Also, we got the iced yuzu green tea and hot hojicha caramel tea, but the yuzu green tea had no yuzu flavor but the hojicha had a surprising noticeable caramel aroma and taste to it. Highkey want to eat the matcha red beans cream cake for my birthday every year, but it is so expensive, even more than Lady M's large matcha crepe cake. read more

HARBS SoHo - Mango mousse and Matcha cream cakes - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

The food tasted very delicious and the service was quick with kind employees. However, for the price, I would maybe try this once but not again. read more

Came in for lunch on a wed seated immediately Dress code: casual, came in shorts and a t Food 4.5/5: had the lunch special which included an omelette sandwich, house salad, iced black tea and fruit Mille feuille. Toast for the sandwich was soggy by the time it got to me but otherwise everything was quite tasty Ambiance 4/5: clean, cute cafe, well lit, but nothing that wowed Service 4.5/5: orders were memorized. Service was friendly and quick with water refills, food took a while to come out but otherwise no issues. Value 4.5/5: fairly good value for their lunch special, especially in NYC Overall 4.5/5: overall a good experience, would come again if I'm in the area. Parking: lol...nyc read more

See all

The $30 set meal with salad, main dish and cake with tea was a good deal! I love this place, they have fresh fruit cakes and the interiors are clean and bright. The bathrooms have piano music with a bidet as if you're transported to Japan. The staff are friendly and the omurice was very soft and delicious. read more

Food Cleanliness Service + Tea! All 5 Stars! I was disappointed when Harbs Chelsea closed. Forgot they had the Soho location till walking by yesterday. Beautiful bright cafe with Amazing Interesting selection of Premium Cakes Pies + bad on me - never sat down to look @ their Chelsea menu. Awesome small foods menu. I love looking at what food is coming to other diners tables + while I knew hubby + I were just in for a cake + a little caffeine still had to look. It looked really good! I ordered this lovely Orange mint Darjeeling tea (my Fave lighter black tea- never had fruited before. Amaxing!) they'll make all their teas iced if you look - hot day so Iced it was! Hubby had an Iced latte - we shared a slice of Chocolate dusted cream pie w (real) Rum undertones... really really good but liked the tea better! A Japanese Tea /Dessert/Food Cafe. My description anyway. Good they're still in NYC read more

See all

I'd been to HARBS in Japan but this was my first time in NYC. One of my friends loves this place, so we came here for lunch today. The cafe is quite spacious with high ceilings and I really liked the atmosphere. There was still plenty of seating when we arrived at 12:30pm, but within an hour or so, it was quite full. We ordered the Lunch Special, which is available from 11am - 3pm. They have a pasta set ($28+) and sandwich set ($25+), both of which come with: - Side salad - Lunch slice of today's cake - Cup of coffee or English breakfast tea (*free refills) We ordered 2 pasta sets and decided to share 2 different pastas: - Pescatora - Lemon & Parmigiano Overall, the food was good. The side salad could've used a little less dressing, but it was nice to have some greens. Both pastas were quite tasty and there was so much of it that we could've easily shared amongst 3 people. For today's cake, we had the option of one of the following: - Fresh Fruit Mille Crepes - Chocolate Cake - Pear Mille-Feuille I tried the Pear Mille-Feuille, which had delicious cream and sliced pears inside. The cream-puff style crust was a little too heavy for me, though, after all of the pasta. I'll try the Fresh Fruit Mille Crepe next time. In terms of service, they were very attentive when we first arrived probably because it was less busy. I didn't realize (and my friend forgot) that the tea / coffee would be served at the start of the meal, instead of with the dessert. So by the time we were having dessert, we needed to order refills even though we hadn't finished our drinks, because they were no longer warm. By then, restaurant was full and it took a while for us to get our drinks. I'd recommend asking them to bring the drinks with dessert, unless you want coffee/tea with your meal. My friend and I had a lovely meal and I look forward to coming back again for lunch or tea time. read more

See all

This place is such a cool treat! Inside is very clean, literally and figuratively! Clean lines, clean atmosphere, and the staff look like surgeons! You could probably eat off the floor. Staff is very efficient and friendly. We arrived late in the evening prior to close, and they were still professional enough to continue seating people rather than shooing them away. There was only one choice in desserts left, and you can tell how good this place is because everyone stayed even when greeted with that fact, ordering the last and only choice along from a great selection of teas! I recommended you arrived earlier when you can sample from a wider array of their desserts! read more

HARBS SoHo - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Harbs is a rather large bakery situated in Soho with plenty of seating. I came hair right after a 4 hour hair salon session. I made it in time for their daily lunch special (11am - 3pm). It comes with any pasta ($28) or sandwich ($25), lunch slice of today's cake, and a cup of coffee or breakfast tea. For the lunch special, I ordered a pescatora pasta which was on the salty side with tomato sauce. It came with a salad which was delicious. There were 3 options for the slice of the day -- cherry cheese souffle, fresh fruit mille crepe, and white peach cheesecake. I chose the fruit mille crepe. It was a half slice and was fairly light. The variety of fruit gave it an interesting mix of sweet and tasty. Service was a bit slow but it had a relaxing ambiance. I would return to try the other cakes. read more

See all

It's expensive but worth it. A slice of cake is $15 and whole cake is about ~$104+. We tried the marron cake (sweet potato and chestnut) and the green tea mousse cake. Both were so moist and delicate; filled with cream. The Hoijicha caramel tea was divine and so was the organic Matcha tea. We do not feel rushed, and the staff was very attentive. read more

HARBS SoHo - Marron cake and green tea mousse - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Harbs is a great place to have teatime in Soho. There's plenty of tables available and lots of space to rest after a busy shopping day. The servers were welcoming and attentive to our needs. I'd recommend getting any of their hot teas (I've had their yuzu sencha and genmai matcha- both of which are amazing and pair great with their cakes) with a slice of cake. The strawberry sponge cake is my favorite. I only took off a star in this review because the prices were definitely on the higher end, even for NYC, and each person has to order their own tea (they won't bring a second cup even though the pot can serve two people). read more

HARBS SoHo - Strawberry sponge cake and yuzu sencha - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Today I love their pear Mille feille- and we had the set menu with refillable drink - tea or coffee. It also came with salad! And also tasty potatoes even if it did not have butter. read more

See all

I absolutely love the cakes here! Every flavor is delicious, and I always look forward to trying something new because it never disappoints. I've been coming to Harbs since college, and the quality has always been consistently amazing. Can't wait to visit NYC again and stop by! read more

See all

The cake was delicious. It was so soft. We ordered the Mango mousse and Strawberry mille-feuille. The wait for the cake and drinks took quite a long I felt. We ate the mango mousse before our tea (fruit tea and Yuzu tea) came. I was a bit disappointed since I wanted to drink tea with the cake. The cakes in the bakery are limited. If it sold out, it's sold out for the day. The time my friend and I went to the bakery, was about 5 p.m. By the time we finished, it was sold out and that was after 6 p.m. I think it is better to visit early in the day so you can try other cakes that are on the menu. Overall, I enjoyed the visit. I would come back and try other cakes. It is quite expensive. Each slice costs $15. It is required that you order at least one item on the menu for each customer if you are dine-in. read more

See all

Service is good food is perfect the servers are really polite and considerate love it read more

HARBS SoHo - Fruit tea - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Harb always good for cakes and tea. Plenty of cake selection. Delicious but can run out of some favorites. May need to wait for tables and service can but a tad slow. Good service. Air condition can be stronger read more

See all

The place is great for afternoon tea. I was only disappointed on the limited choices they had on the day. Nothing had a wow factor. Superb service especially they went an extra mile and helped me charge my cell phone. Love the space and the restroom decor :) read more

HARBS SoHo - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

See all

I've visited the Harbs in Chelsea a few times but this is my first time visiting the Soho location. This location feels bigger, more spacious. I liked how there's an open bar design so you can see the staff making drinks. The service here is definitely slower than the Chelsea location but it also looked busier. I liked how the Chelsea location staff were more attentive and made sure to refill my drinks and water. Here, the staff was also very friendly but few times my water cup would be empty. The staff was nice and if you flag one down, they attend to you quickly! We both ordered the lunch set - we both got the pasta set ($28) which comes with unlimited coffee/ English breakfast tea, slice of today's cake, and your selected pasta. We asked for a iced breakfast tea which was no problem. The lunch set also same with a small salad which we were pleasantly surprised about since it wasn't noted on the menu. We got the seafood pasta and the lemon pasta. Both pastas were okay (it's not mind blowing good pasta but it was decent). The seafood in the pasta didn't feel particularly fresh but the lemon pasta tasted refreshing. For the cakes, there was three choices for today - strawberry mousse, fresh fruit crepe cake, and I think a cream cheese crepe cake? We got the strawberry mousse which was light and delicious and the fresh fruit crepe cake is decent. The lunch special cake slices are significantly smaller - it's like a smaller sliver. Oh, they had the Japanese toilets with the bidet and the seat opens up when you stand in front of it. Overall, I liked the atmosphere. The location is good in Soho and perfect for a break in between shopping. The food is decent but I think I'll stick with the sandwiches. The sandwiches tasted better IMO. Great place to just come eat and chat. We didn't feel rushed at all either which I liked. read more

See all

~ Strawberry Cake ~ I really love this strawberry cake! Strawberry cake is a very classic dessert and very popular in Japan. I tried HARBS many years ago in Tokyo and remembered it to be good. Japanese has never let me down quality control wise for overseas franchise. The sponge is very light, fluffy and moist. The cream is silky smooth, light and airy, and the best thing is it's not sweet at all! There are a lot of fresh strawberries, with every bite you get the sweet strawberries matching perfectly with the cream and sponge. Will I be back? Yes!! Price is a bit steep, $15 for a slice, hence knocking a star off. Nonetheless, this is a perfect strawberry cake for me, and I am too scared to try a similar cake in other bakeries as they could be too sweet & heavy for Asians. I will keep coming back as long as I can afford it. Next time I want to try the matcha! read more

HARBS SoHo - Strawberry cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

A few days ago, I was able to try this branch of Harbs in NYC. The cafe was packed but I didn't have to wait for a long time. I got a pot of iced yuzu sencha and a slice of the fruit mille crepes cake. The iced yuzu sencha was refreshing. Unfortunately, my slice of cake didn't arrive until like 30 minutes later. The cake had slices of fresh strawberries, kiwi, bananas and cantaloupe and custard cream. It was very light and refreshing. Staff was friendly but service was way too slow. If service improves, I would definitely give it a full 5 stars! read more

See all

The reviews are a hit or miss. I haven't been to the other location though from what I understand, this one is less busy and has more space. Keep in mind, I went on a really cold snowy Saturday during lunchtime. Originally we were seated near the back in the center of the restaurant with 2 round tables placed together, not a lot of space for 6 people eating lunch. We asked if we could move to the table vacated by guests who finished and left. The servers accommodate and now we are comfortably situated with a table perfect for 6 people The lunch deal is not bad for the price (Daily 11AM-3PM). Keep in mind, this is a heavy carb meal: - sandwich (2 options + croque monsieur) or pasta dish (4 options) which comes with a salad. - slice of cake (lunch portion, not regular portion which I heard is huge). - coffee or english breakfast tea (free refill upon request) The pasta was a mid-sized portion. Constant refill of our tea or coffee when asked. Servers remembered who offered coffee/tea. There was a bit of confusion since it was dark or medium coffee while ordering but later a different server referred to the coffee name, once that was sorted out it was easy to order the refills. Since everyone ordered a different dessert, we got to try: - fruit tart - pear tart (best one!) - chocolate (second best) - rare cheesecake We stayed there and were able to catch up with each other. Great food, great service, great ambiance, and great company - what more can you ask for! read more

I was here at this fancy Japanese dessert shop perhaps a few weeks ago and I had a bad experience. I have been to another location in Chelsea a couple times though just for takeout but as I was planning on walking for a lot longer and the packaging didn't really hold up last time at the other spot, I decided to sit down. It took a while to be served and eventually I got some water and a slice of the pear mille-feuille not really wanting any food there which appeared to annoy the person a little bit (yes I don't want your overpriced food as you are a dessert shop. Go figure.) Said dessert was described as a cream puff style crust layered with mixed cream and sliced pears. For a place that is serving a slice of cake that is around $14 including tax and a bit more so after tip, the desert was served in a subpar way. Some of the cream had leaked as it had not been transferred properly from the case to the plate which is understandable. However, it was also still served with the tinfoil and compared to many of the other people sitting there, I felt like I was being treated like a cheapskate as I just wanted dessert. There were other people there who also got the same cake and they lacked the tin foil. The cake itself was tasty with a flaky crust with a good lightly sugary crust. The pear flavor could have been a bit stronger but Japanese desserts don't tend to be that sweet so I didn't really mind as I didn't expect it to be too fruity. I gave a smaller tip than I usually would and nothing was said as I left. I usually wouldn't judge a place this much on service but when the desserts are this expensive, I expect to be served like other people eating there. The cake not being transferred is a perfectly normal human error especially for a cream filled cake like this one and I can easily give this a pass. The tin foil still being on the plate however just really wasn't nice and spoke to how I was being treated even compared to a table literally just a few feet away from me. The pear dessert probably gets around 3 stars or so (definitely worse than the mixed fruit mille crepe and especially the banana cream) but still tasty but the service drags it down immensely. 1 for the slow terrible service. read more

HARBS SoHo - Pear mille-feuille served on a plate with some spilled cream and tin foil. Tasty light cake but the presentation was not nice. - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Such a cute little spot with lovely pastries, tea, and coffee assortments. It has a seating area, of which you will receive table service. Pastries/cakes are made fresh daily and they sell quickly! A little pricey for the cakes--but worth a try. I'd give it 4.5 stars Minus 1/2 star due to the price ($16 for a slice of cake). read more

HARBS SoHo - Matcha cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Among the Asian bakeries I've been to, this is definitely one of them. It's pretty cute and clean inside with ample seating. That being said, do NOT eat in here. Take your stuff to go if you want cake. It gets busy, so expect a 20-30 minute wait to be seated. This much is fine, but you're rapidly forgotten about after being seated. The time between being seated and having our order taken was another 20 mins, and then the time between that and us getting our cake was almost an hour. As much as I like Japanese cakes, and as much as I feel for the thin staffing, waiting for a total of 2 hours to have someone cut a $15 slice of already-made cake, put it on a plate, and walk it 50 feet to you is *ridiculous.* Especially if you have to keep reminding staff that you exist. The cakes themselves were good. Fluffy, light, moist, with rich frosting and toppings. I had the marron cake, which was pleasantly sweet, earthy, nutty, and with just a bit of rum flavoring. Lots of chunks of moist chestnut throughout. My friends enjoyed theirs too; my second favorite was the chocolate puff. If I were to come back, I'd try buying a slice to go, putting my name down for the cafe seating, ordering coffee when seated, and eating my *already sliced and boxed* cake in less than two hours. But I won't come back. read more

HARBS SoHo - Marron cake Strawberry cake on the left - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Came here 02/17/2024. This cafe is without a sliver of a doubt the worst service I have ever experienced in my life. It took us an hour to get seated which is understandable at busy times. We weren't greeted by a server until about 15 minutes after we were seated, then we ordered two slices of cake and a coffee. That's it. It took 1 and a half hours for us to get two slices of cake and a coffee. We flagged down our waitress 4 times and each time she said it would be out right away. They definitely aren't making the cakes fresh, they just take them out of the display case and cut them. We never got offered water, had to ask for it, and it never came. I asked for the manager because I thought it was unreasonable. A young skinny Asian person with a mask came out and refused to offer us ANYTHING or remove anything. It was so unreal. Reading the reviews, this seems like a common trend. Avoid at all costs. read more

I was honestly pleasantly surprised at how spacious this restaurant is. I arrived at 6pm and the kitchen closes at 6pm sharp so it's cake and tea time from then until they close at 8pm. I got a peach cheesecake slice which was absolutely delicious - I shared it with my friend and maybe we should have gotten more food but we were kind of trying to figure out if we could consume all of it to begin with. Overall the ambiance is excellent and I would hang out here to read a book and feel classy by eating some cheesecake. The cheesecake itself is light and airy which is refreshing considering the absurdly dense and rich chunks that are typical NYC cheesecake. I definitely consider it to be some of the best cheesecake I've had and will have to come back for the other food. I read from other reviews that it can get pretty crowded during the day, but 6pm on a Thursday had lots of seating so it'd be a great spot to check out if you're a craver of sweets and tea at dusk. read more