Afternoon tea

[PerkyOchrePeer]

Ive been invited to an afternoon tea for someone's birthday. The cost is £22.59. All the food gets brought to the table which is sandwiches. Cake, fruit and a drink. Im ot sure it's worth it because you take from the main plate so if you only eat w sandwiches and some cake a d sone fruit, that would not come to £22.50 I think it's a rip off. I would have to consume an awful lot of sandwiches and cakes to get my monies worth. Never been to an afternoon tea before and think it's too expensive

22.50 to spend an afternoon chatting with friends in a pleasant place while drinking tea and eating a variety of food you haven't cooked yourself. Sounds good.

Absolutely. But on the balance of probabilities, @PerkyOchrePeer will be posting here next day, outraged about something someone said or didn’t say to her, or an egg sandwich looked at her funny, and asking if she’s unreasonable to cut them off.

Ooh I love afternoon tea. I’d much rather spend £25 on cakes and scones with tea in a pot than on cocktails or prosecco for a bday celebration. Go and enjoy it.

Yes, best I had was at Brown’s - plenty of sandwiches!

😊 Well, you never know where you are with an egg sandwich...

You’re not just paying for the food you’re paying for the waitressing staff, experience etc. you sounds a right little bundle of joy

How much will the Sunday dinner be?

You’re paying for someone to make the sandwiches, have bought the serveware, rent/heat/light the premises, serve the food as well as the food itself. And a profit on top of all that. Given it’s a buffet style, presumably it’s in a private venue or private area in a venue so economies of scale are limited.

I’d probably end up spending that on a couple of sandwiches, buns and fruit pots from the supermarket so it doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

Why are you saying everyone 'takes from the main plate'?! In an afternoon tea there's usually a stand with three plates that's either aimed at one or two people. One for cakes, one for scones and one for sandwiches. That's kind of the charm of It.

It wouldn't really be an afternoon tea if everyone just picked from one large plate. That sounds more like a buffet?

But if you think you can't afford it then don't go. Nobody is forcing you. It's true they can be overpriced for what you get but sometimes it's lovely. It's not meant to replace dinner.

Agree it’s quite cheap and a birthday experience

Bring a flask of tea, some ham sandwiches wrapped in foil, and a couple of Mr Kiplings. And yell 'I won't be made a fool of!' as you set up your lunch.

That'll show 'em.

Don’t go, then. I doubt you’ll be missed.

God that is cheap. I paid £40 recently and thought it was good value. It wasn't a ton of food but it was good quality and more than we could eat anyway.

How dare you say that

You're paying for the service - someone making it, bringing it to you, taking away your used crockery and washing it up - and the overheads of whatever presumably nice building you're eating it in.

It's a given that eating out will cost more than eating at home - either you choose to pay for the experience or you don't. If you don't think it's value for money - and I get that simple things like cake and sandwiches don't seem as worthwhile to eat out as things that are more complicated to prepare - there's nothing wrong in not going, just say afternoon tea isn't your thing and you'll see your friend another time.

My sister just sent me some ads for afternoon tea. Starting price £55, most expensive was £75. Of course you don’t get your ‘moneys worth’ in food. It’s the ambiance, the setting, the service.
I’ve never gone to a birthday celebration and calculated if I’m getting good value.

Of course what you pay for the food isn’t good value for money but around here you’re paying largely for the upkeep of extremely beautiful listed buildings, stunning ambience, perfectly manicured outside areas etc along with the staffing costs and so on.
£22 is at the very cheap end, I treat my mum to them as she has a small appetite and a ‘proper meal’ would be too much for her, prices start from £55 per person. It’s not ‘value for money’ at all but it’s a really enjoyable couple of hours we spend together just the 2 of us every other month.
You sound like a scrooge. Do everyone else a favour and stay home!

Agreed

Well if you stayed home it would be cheaper again. Usually afternoon tea is in a really nice location with good staff. The cost is not really just about the food it's the setting and the nice plates and cups etc.

In a cafe a pot of tea on its own is about £6. It's a nice thing to do with friends have an afternoon tea. You'll usually get a selection of little sandwiches, ones with cream and jam, selection tin of cakes/sweets treats and the pot of tea. I think £22.50 is very reasonable. You'll sit and chat with your friends in nice surroundings and it's very relaxing and fun.

That sounds amazingly cheap for afternoon tea.

Coffee?? Sacrilege! This is afternoon tea!

Don’t go then, simple

Take a Tupperware box with you. Problem solved!

Me too. I'm not a lover of afternoon tea because there is only so many sandwiches and cake I can eat and I would certainly prefer a proper meal which can often be cheaper than afternoon tea anyway

But....OP it's a birthday treat and you should go. Don't moan about the cost though it is what it is. You never know you might really enjoy the experience and become a fan yourself.
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