Afternoon tea is a rip off largely aimed at ripping women off

So if I could do afternoon teas without a building or staff I could make a killing? Brilliant business idea, I'm in a seaside town with lots of visitors. I suppose I'd have to buy tables/chairs/cups/plates etc so that's a bit of a downer.

Well that's just wrong. Apart from the teapot, soup would never be served at afternoon tea. High tea, maybe.

And while I'm on the subject, it annoys me that some people (Americans usually) call it High Tea when they mean Afternoon Tea.

They are not the same thing at all. Different food, different setting, different time of day.

I could eat piles of butties and other savoury foods but would only eat one tiny cake and there is always piles of cakes.

If there's one thing I have learned, it's that whatever any one person enjoys, there's going to be at least one other person who thinks it's stupid and/or a rip-off

afternoon tea is like most of the eating out - overpriced

That's amazing.

Wrong poster, sorry!

I've had 2 Afternoon Teas
One at Beas of Bloomingdales ( much raved about reviews but really not good and IIRC £19/head about 8 years ago)

One on a cruise so didn't cost us extra , choice of small sandwhiches , scone , cake , but everything was piled on your plate as they are serving many tables so no tiered cake stand. They do several rounds so you can have what you want .

I was reading about JavaWhiskers -they do Afternoon Tea. But my DD says I make the Best Chocolate Brownies and if I wanted to have cats' hair in my tea just stay at home with our own cats

This place and those cakes look bloody amazing. Almost worth making a trip up north to go there! Just wow!

A lot of places do that now. The one we go to does a children's one as well. The children love it.

You can order from noon which is a better time for us. Children get hangry 😂

A few years ago I watched a group of women in a country house hotel having afternoon tea at the end of January. It looked like Granny, Daughters and granddaughters. They looked like they were having a lovely time and it was nice to get together post Christmas.
I don't have a lot of close female relatives and those I have live far apart from each other. But I would have loved to sit and eat ridiculous food with a cosy group.
Is it a rip off if you enjoy it?

My partner is diabetic so an afternoon tea is something we can't do together.

Gosh that looks amazing

I'm with you there. I don't like afternoon tea as I don't like cake. If there was a savoury option with sandwiches, a cheese scone and a bowl of chips I'd be all over it 🤣

I say YABU and I don't even like afternoon tea. You completely discount the major costs which is venue, overheads and staffing. The food itself won't actually be cheap if you get a good quality one. The cakes should be freshly prepared on site at a decent hotel.

It's like complaining a fancy restaurant (another thing I don't like) is a rip off due to cost of ingredients.

I don't like afternoon tea because it's too late for lunch, too early for dinner, not that bothered about sandwiches, tea and cake as a treat meal. The only exception is a home made afternoon tea when a friend cooks scones and makes some sandwiches (cheese or ham or tuna acceptable, I can't abide cucumber sandwiches and ideal some smoked salmon is good).

Oh no that's so sad. We went for a Hen Party for my niece around 2016 and it was such a lovely day, tea and walk around the parks.

Family live close but we are about 160 miles away.

There's a tea room in Conwy we visit. I prefer the savoury one because I don't have a sweet tooth. It's a stunning building, the loos are lovely. I just checked the prices. £17.95 for afternoon tea. The prosecco one for two is £57.

I guess in cities the business overheads would be higher. My friend takes her granny out for afternoon tea regularly, she prefers it to a conventional menu.

This is the best place I have ever been to for afternoon tea. The £40 includes wreath making, and the most expensive non activity afternoon tea is £29.

The place is quirky and brilliant and the food is excellent and (too) plentiful.

We went there for my parents’ 60th and stayed the night. It was lovely!

I’ve only been twice, but each time they offered unlimited sandwiches! I don’t think it’s a bad deal at all. I’m not sure why this is a gendered issue though, as both times I’ve been with men and women and all equally enjoyed it.

I bloody love afternoon tea

@Babyroobs the Bridgerton afternoon tea was very good. Make sure you have the gin based cocktail too.

It’s £75 at the Ritz! Just looked as this thread reminded me of the last time (which was lovely) and I thought maybe I’d treat my BFF and I… not booked after all.

I have never done an all-woman afternoon tea. We have always done afternoon tea for special family occasions.

We live in London so have done the big hotel ones eg Claridges, the Ritz, the Dorchester, the Savoy etc as well as the smaller ‘trendier’ places eg the Sanderson, the Dean St townhouse (my fave), the Charlotte st hotel etc. I love it! The only one that was disappointing was Fortnums.

We don’t drink alcohol and my parents don’t like late meals. So afternoon tea feels like a way to celebrate special occasions in a way that includes all. We don’t spend on alcohol so are happy (and lucky) to spend money on teas instead.

And I love the food. Given a choice, my final meal on earth would be scones and tea.

Ah yes, in order to make some sort of feminist point, roll out the snobbery and stereotyping. Brilliant.

Some people like afternoon tea. It doesn't make them fluffy headed morons of the vagina variety. People like all sorts of things that cost money, and other people think it's a waste. So what 🤷🏻‍♀️