Afternoon Tea - how can anyone eat it all?

Like any other meal in a restaurant, no one holds a gun to your head until you clean your plate. Presumably it’s no different to any other meal out. You might not choose it if it’s the sort of food you don’t like much. You might go anyway if it’s someone else’s occasion and you want to join them. You can eat a little bit or all of it. So long as you don’t sit there making comments about what everyone else is eating, it doesn’t matter. (Although I totally agree that no one should be commenting if you don’t eat much either.)

I’ve been for afternoon teas where I can eat it all and others where I need to get a box to take home the remainder.
Some are very generous, some you basically get a sandwich, a scone and 2 tiny cakes .

Even if they were normal sized portions (and they usually aren't) having a treat like this once or even twice a year really isn't going to cause a problem!

You're attitude is as if people were indulging in this regularly - but they aren't (the costs would be out of reach for most people).

It's like Christmas Dinner - a massive blowout but not more than once a year! The way you're going on its like someone is having the full works Xmas do every month!

I'm 67. I've NEVER had one of these teas. I'm not keen on cake. I don't have a sweet tooth - but I do have a sense of proportion. Maybe get one for yourself.

OOOh, that looks so lovely! And that photo, for me, represents some of what an afternoon tea is . . . . daintily prepared tea-time treats, beautifully presented, old-fashioned tea cups etc. It's not just the food (although I do love it) . . . it's the whole experience of the setting, how the table is laid, how the food is presented, having a nice time with the people you're sharing it with and taking your time over it in a relaxed way

I have been eyeing up afternoon tea here for when we're on holiday soon, you have to scroll down to see the pic.

https://boathotel.co.uk/dine/

5 little finger sandwiches which are probably the equivalent of 2 slices of bread and fillings. A normal sized scone, a small little fruit tart thing, three little cakes which you can clearly see by the size of the glass next to them are tiny. There may be a second scone lurking behind the jam, hard to see.

That is not a huge amount of food by anyone's standards.

Stodge. Yes, that's the word I was looking for. I didn't want to say carby/sugary because I'm no way a stereotypical MN carb fearing protein evangelist but yes, it just seems like a lot of stodge that weirdly, is also quite unsatisfying.

I've never been tempted by afternoon tea as it seems very stodgy.

But it's not just 3 or 4 tiny cakes. It's that and one or two normal sized scones with jam and cream. And sandwiches. It's not so much the amount of food, but the type. I'm not used to eating food just of that type all together, it's a bit samey after a while so would prefer more variety.

I'd prefer a couple of sandwiches, something like quiche, a mini pork pie or maybe some cheese, a small scone with jam and cream, one little cake and some crisps.

Plus a lot more tea than what you get. If the tea is unlimited, they need to say, otherwise it's awkward to say 'I'd like some more tea but only if it's free, because this is already a lot of money for what it is thank you'.

Aw you’re obviously a cute itty bitty little thing! Gosh - don’t overload your tiny little tummy - leave that to us heifers who can hoover up those VAST amounts of food. Soooo cute!🙄

Childish.

If you say so!

You're the authority.

I went to one just this week and they boxed up the cakes l couldn't manage.

Now THAT!!!! was funny. 🤣

For me, the afternoon tea isn't just about the food although I do love my tea-time treats. It's meeting up with friends, sitting in a place with a pretty view (hopefully) and having a long catch-up session. Eating a few sandwiches, a scone, sharing some cake and drinking a couple of nice cups of Earl Grey are part of the experience. I think afternoon tea usually takes between 90 minutes to 2 hours and should be a relaxing, congenial time.

Some of the posters make afternoon tea sound similar to those 'all you can eat buffets' and that people are stuffing themselves with as much food as possible. I've never found that to be so. For me it's a way of celebrating a birthday with friends, something to look forward to and enjoy.

I went to an afternoon tea recently ( was a prize) and the cakes were normal size.

What about 3 or 4 tiny cakes? This is what people are eating during a cream tea.
I don't understand why you keep saying 3 or 4 cakes is too much when each one is one or two mouthfuls. Can you explain?

Leaving aside how problematic and steeped in 1970s bad science and marketing objectives that Eatwell guide is, 'cake' is not a unit of measurement. Some 'cakes' weigh a over a kilo and contain enough calories for a week. Some 'cakes' weigh 50 grams. Sandwiches ditto.

This whole thread is making me feel a bit sad that a wheat allergy means I can't just rock up to a regular hotel and have one of their teas, but maybe if I took a sharp knife and some concentration to one or two of the splendid things sold at the gluten-free bakery in town I could produce a g-f tea in the garden for some pals later in the summer.

No I am not miserable and neither do I have an eating disorder. I love food and eat well. I’m not thin or overweight.I’ll have a piece of cake occasionally but 3 or 4 cakes in one sitting is excessive no matter how you put it.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-guidelines-and-food-labels/the-eatwell-guide/

that's nice dear.
Good thing no one died and made you food police, eh?

if you choose to eat like that, good for you. although I wonder how restrictive your eating is and could you be at risk of orthorexia?

the rest of us will be tucking into our afternoon teas with plenty of sandwiches, cakes, quiches, scones and pots of tea maybe even wit sugar! I reccommend lucknam Park, café royal or the ritz if you wish to come over to our side.

ps absolutely no one clinically trained would agree with you, so perhaps reflect on that going forward.

The finger sandwiches per person would be two rounds at a push. The cakes a more like bite size, I have no problem eating it. Even my mum who eats like a bird for the most part can make a good dent in it because it's in front of her.

Well when the alternative is being as miserable as you..

Go and educate yourself on a balanced diet before spouting sanctimonious rubbish. It may come as a big shock to you that it is possible to be perfectly healthy and also indulge from time to time as well.

Oh dear! People should just eat dust?

Now I'm googling places I can get afternoon tea... There's a hotel just up the road that does them! 😋

Fucking hilarious if the alternative is being you