Afternoon tea difficulty

Having recent catered for ten people, three of whom had food preferences, I can see why they would want to keep to a standard menu, otherwise it could open the floodgates to a million and one very "reasonable requests" for alternatives that just make life very complicated for them.

If I was them, I'd make an exception though and do it because it is just so easy to do - I mean literally it's just putting a bit of grated cheese between two slices of bread.

Should you write a bad review, I'd see how the afternoon tea goes before making any decisions. They might redeem themselves with good service.

I’m vegetarian and love an afternoon tea. Have you told them she is veggie rather than “will only eat cheese sandwiches “? In my experience if you tell them you have this dietary they will do cream cheese and cucumber, houmous and roast veggies, cheese and pickle etc. F however she is saying she will only eat cheese then it isn’t that she is veggies, she is fussy (or both).

Afternoon tea is quite process driven and they make the food in bulk and in advance so anything throwing that off eats into the margin (which isn’t massive) so will be resisted, and one of the points of afternoon tea is you get a selection but you aren’t choosing.

It is going to be massively embarrassing if you bring tupperware and you may be asked to leave.

Afternoon teas are rubbish I can’t believe people still go to them and pay over inflated prices for a few sarnies and some cakes. In this situation you’d be better gathering at one your houses and doing at DIY afternoon tea and then going for a drinks somewhere nice.

I can’t be doing with food places that are inflexible, so I’m with you, OP.

Oh MN, the faux outrage SHE ONLY EATS CHEESE SANDWICHES!!! Never met a fussy eater before, they do exist!

It's a bit miserly of the hotel as it doesn't seem an overly difficult request. Have bread, have cheese....I wouldn't complain but their reluctance to change things would make me concerned I was going to get served up from pre-frozen crap they'd already prepared.

I’m not sure I’ve ever come across an afternoon tea that doesn’t have a vegetarian option!

I’m not sure why you’d choose to go to one that doesn’t cater for veggies when the vast/vast majority do? I’ve had plenty of afternoon teas with my friend who’s a coeliac vegetarian (and I don’t live anywhere especially fancy).

Perhaps it would help if you could clarify the situation? Is it that the hotel doesn’t do a vegetarian option at all so any veggie’s have to pay for the full afternoon tea but leave 3/4 of the sandwiches? Or is it that there is a veggie option but your friend doesn’t like it (eg she doesn’t like egg mayo/coronation chickpea etc). The first is crap service from the hotel, the second I’m afraid I’m with them (afternoon tea is usually bulk prepared with ingredients ordered in appropriately. Yes it’s just one person but what if somebody else decides they only want the ham sandwich or the salmon…).

Either way - it doesn’t seem like this venue is going to work for your friend so why go - especially if you’ve been to places in the past that have been flexible? Why not reward that with ongoing business?

So you don’t just want a cheese sandwich, you want a vegan cheese sandwich?

This would be my assumption

I will eat pretty much anything. Can't bear fussy eaters (as opposed to people with actual allergies). And the sandwiches you've listed are hardly challenging. She can eat the cream cheese one and stop being pathetic.

This sums it up perfectly

Prestige and customer service do t seem to be compatible on this occasion. What ‘ chef’ can’t make a cheese sandwich? Cancel and take your money elsewhere.

Go to Greggs if she wants a cheese sandwich.

There will be another selection of sandwiches for vegetarians, or at least there always has been whenever I’ve had cream tea. Just order her that one.

I think YABU for booking a venue without a veggie menu when one is your group is veggie. It’s very uncommon not to have a vegetarian or vegan option.

Vegan and vegetarianism is also a choice with no more imperative behind it than a dislike of something, just as the OPs friend has. Afternoon tea is a luxury treat, booked in advance. Any decent hotel ought to be able to manage this very simple request.

The problem is that this fussy eater only eats cheese... The next fussy eater only eats jam ... The only after that eats cucumber.

The hotel ends up in a position that they are now making bespoke afternoon teas. The afternoon teas will also be made the same which is the most efficient and cost effective way of producing food.

An adult that won't eat a few different foods is not a reason to request a bespoke menu

Inflexible and completely lacking in customer care not to substitute one round of sandwiches with one that is available on a different menu. What happened to the customer is always right?

I work with hotels, restaurants, catering all the time.
A few cheese sandwiches should be no problem at all.

You’re paying a lot of money. Why should she not get a sandwich, as some others have suggested? Not good enough.

The way you've worded your OP and the request to the venue is unreasonable IMO. It's fine to request a vegetarian option, and odd they don't offer one. You shouldn't have booked this place if they didn't and you have a vegetarian in your group though.

Requesting "only cheese sandwich" does make you sound unreasonable.

I bet they do provide a vegetarian one and the friend just won't eat most of the choices.

She only wants cheese apparently. So no egg, no cucumber, no chickpeas or avocado or anything

Ffs you’re asking for a dietary request and they are refusing as it’s not an allergy or intolerance

how about it’s a phobia 🙃 and how come they get to decide

we live in a world with neurodivergent people everywhere, not the 1970s

which hotel is it so we all know to make our choices wisely

... where are you going?

They don't provide a vegetarian afternoon tea? Seems unlikely...

Hotel is being ridiculous, it’s the easiest adaptation to make!

I find it surprising they don't offer a vegetarian sandwich selection, or enough variety in the sandwiches that a group can swap around, eg if they served cheese and pickle, cream cheese and cucumber, egg mayo, prawn mayo, ham and tomato then there's still 3 sandwiches for a vegetarian and I'm sure some of the meat eaters would be happy to give these up and have prawn and ham instead.

However, I can see it from the hotel's point of view, if they accommodate every last request, instead of them just being able to prep a standard afternoon tea selection, they'd have an endless list of 'no tomato on that one', swap the ham for cheese on this one, etc etc and it will be a lot more work for them. So you'd think that, given that it's fairly inoffensive middle of the road food that most people could just eat it without issues.

Pick a different hotel?