Lea's Tea Room

• Cuisine(s): French
  Hours: Sun 10am-8pm, Mon-Sat 10am-9pm
  Price: $$
• Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
  Attire: Casual
  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Wheelchair Accessible
• Serving: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
  Reservations: Not Accepted
  Parking: Garage, Lot Available

Description

The location is a Miami mall (albeit a snazzy one), not the Champs Élysées. But your taste buds'll tell you you're in Paris when you take a shopping break at Lea's. The French pastries -- a Paris Brest (a toasted almond-covered circle of pte à choux, filled with pastry cream and praline), for instance, or maybe a Religieuse(a large cream puff "body" topped by a small cream puff "head" that, draped in coffee or chocolate icing, resembles a nun) -- really are that delectably authentic. There's terrific nondessert food, too: for breakfast oeufs cocotte, eggs poached in a ramekin with cream; for lunch or dinner sandwiches, meal-size salads including an authentic salade niçoise, and a few more substantial daily specials. Meals come with excellent bread, an assortment featuring slices of baguette, cranberry peasant bread, and an equally crunchy-crusted nut bread. But don't skip the sweets.