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

It's not great value, but gender has nothing to do with it

There’s a lesson - afternoon tea can turn you into a lesbian! lol 😂. yes, I am joking. No I am not homophobic - in case anyone is about to write a shocked and indignant reply 🤣

Dh had a money off voucher for one in a hotel in central London ( not anywhere that posh , but it seemed a nice hotel ) many years ago now.
He put a photo on Facebook of the food on those fancy tea plates and I had comments such as ' you really going to eat all that !' Made me feel a complete pig ( it was for three people as well )
The tea was nice in big old teapots, but the cakes were so so. We didn't pay full price so that helped. Probably a lot more money these days.

Thanks. I was being a bit thick there! 😂

Bollocks. I'm a man and I love afternoon teas!

Yes, they're expensive, but so is everything that's 'bigged-up' - like those extortionate pots of ice cream at the theatre.

I love them, and try to go every month or two with my wife. It's a nice day out where you are made to feel fancy and get cakes. Win-win!

I think Ninja means she was daft enough to pay for the tea but only ate the sarnies, because she doesn't like cakes. So by her reckoning it was a massively expensive cuppa and small sandwiches.😂
Instead of just going to the do, but having something other than afternoon tea.

https://gluttonstettenhall.co.uk/menus/#jp-carousel-5892, this is Afternoon tea for place I mentioned price obviously gone up since I last went might even have been more when u went but worth every penny nonetheless

It's £22.50 at the tearooms near me looking onto award winning gardens - always too much to eat! Considering that's a sandwich selection, savoury selection, 2 scones and 3 mini cakes per person I'm not sure how you can say it's overpriced. A smoked salmon sandwich is £5 these days at Tesco on its own!

You could say going to a pub for a pint is a rip off.
You can buy the same beer and drink it in your own home for a fraction of the cost.
You can even replicate the environment by throwing the beer on your carpet, smearing food into your chair, and turning your tv up to ear blasting volume playing football adverts.
There you go, job done.
So why aren’t we criticising men who do this?
Why is it ok to sneer at what women (what this thread is about) do but not men?
I cannot stand going to places like the above and more and more pubs seam to be unable to function without tvs on every wall. Not for me. I’ll stick to afternoon tea or nice cafes and pubs without tvs.

I work in a very busy M&S cafe. We do afternoon tea for £10 a head, it’s great value and really popular with all age groups but I don’t recall ever serving it to any men.
We often get Mums with pre-teen daughters getting afternoon tea as a treat for special occasions and celebrations and it’s lovely to see 🥰

Where I used to work it is £30 a head. They would have to get an extra chef in to do all the cakes, mini cheesecakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches (mainly salmon, egg and onion and sweet chilli chicken) and other stuff that we would never normally sell.

Then there would also be an extra waitress. To serve the teas and mini cups of soup and It did require a bit of setting up as well. I found it was mainly older people just wanting an afternoon out or American tourists.

Bugger me, is Cod still here/back? Stirry old fish. Anyway, this thread has made me do a sexy nose snort (actually not that sexy, I snotted a bit) in manner of naughty lady enjoying a cheeky Prosecco alongside an overpriced raspberry macaron and a minute egg and cress finger sandwich.

I know plenty of men who go for afternoon tea

Someone mentioned The Dome. Afternoon tea there is £32. Every time I've been there I've never needed another meal that day. Total for 2 £64.

It made me think about comparing this with other places that sell sandwiches, tea and cake. To get the same quantity of food you'd need 2 Pret a Manger standard salmon or crayfish or egg sandwich per person. They're around £5 each to sit in so 4x £5 - £20. There's no equivalent of the savoury so throw in another sandwich that's £25.

Pret doesn't do scones but their pastel de natas are about the size of a scone. They're around £3.50 sit in and as you usually get a sweet and savoury scone you'd need 4 of them so £14.

To get the cake element you'd need say 4 of their wrapped in plastic cake slices to cut up and share They're around £3 or so so £12.

Then a tea say £3/4 for a tea bag dunked in a mug. Another £6. And no free refills.

Total for 2 to collect yourself and sit at Formica table £57.

100%

I'm not teetotal either, but I don't get the love for adding prosecco to afternoon tea. Give me a freshly made pot of tea any day of the week.

Teapots full of gin ... mmm.

I hate it, don't like sandwiches or cake, but my DH loves it. It is a total rip off.

Indeed I have had a couple of afternoon teas for around the same price in the North West
I really enjoyed them very tasty and nicely laid out
I'm 50 now so perhaps of an age where they are a treat🤣

What about this. £110 each which includes champagne, and also a fast track to view from floor 72. It's usually £28 just to see The View from The Shard. I'd pay it for the experience.
https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/product/view-shard-champagne-afternoon-tea-two-ting-shangri-la

I took my daughter and my little granddaughters for afternoon tea at a local hotel with a lovely tea room, for DD's birthday. They did a classic afternoon tea, a warm savouries one and a kiddies one (presented just as beautifully as the adults one). The staff were lovely, the littlies beautifully behaved and amazed by their tiered plates, and before we knew it we'd been there chatting and enjoying the setting and the food for two hours! I think because it was such a calm and gentle environment you can really get to talk properly and relax. Nothing like a pub lunch or a restaurant with their busy atmospheres

The teas were £20 and £25, the kids ones £8. Seriously, where can you eat in posh surroundings for £20 that's better value?

https://teaatannas.co.uk/menu/

Lol I love the idea of a girls get together in a greasy spoon, great idea 🤣 The best afternoon tea I ever had was about 15 a head in a place near Wolverhampton, its about 6 or so years since I went and only time I drank tea, it was awesome and fact that they gave you honey glazed mini sausages to start was even better.
I do get your point though op some places are extortionate for a few little sarnies I do want to go to Betty's tea room in Harrogate though but that's 30 ( well 29.95)
It does seem to be mainly women that do afternoon tea but it always seemed to be thinking of Edwardian or victorian.times

I get confused why some men want to spend so much money drinking pint after pint of lager in the pub. Sometimes watching over hyped, millionaires kick a ball around a field, who are too busy helping their orange girlfriends use them for a talentless celeb career, than winning anything for the national team.
They're just Ping their money up a wall, and at least there isn't so much tax on an afternoon tea to help the Tory expenses funds.

I have never went for one . I refuse to pay £50 for £5 worth of food lol

Not sure where you're going to think it costs £4/head! Those little cakes would sell for a couple quid at least any a bakery. Scones another £4/each with the jam and cream. £5-7 for the sandwiches. Then there's the ambiance, the waitstaff etc etc. I agree some charge ALOT but I'm not giving it up!