To be shocked at the price for an Afternoon Tea?

[Writerwannabe83]

It is my friend's birthday on Saturday and a group of us (about 15) casually agreed a while ago that we'd go out for Afternoon Tea at a local restaurant. I had never been to one before, wasn't too sure what it was all about so I just agreed to it.

Today I received the Menu of this Afternoon Tea we are having and for some finger sandwiches, a cake and a cup of tea it's £20 per person

Maybe I live in a little bubble but that sounds crazy? This restaurant is going to get £300 out of us for supplying some sandwiches and some cakes?

The menu comes across as very pretentious and is written in such a way that by the designer throwing in some posh words and an over exaggerated description of a bit of lettuce it makes people happily hand over £20 for such 'luxury'....

The tea is "loose leaf" apparently - what does that even mean? Am I going to get a cup of tea with foliage floating on the top it?

I can have a ham and mustard sandwich, a cake and a cup of tea at home for a lot less than £20

But anyway - I just needed to vent.

I'm obviously still going to go as it's a good friend's birthday but I think it will be the last time I commit to an Afternoon Tea

It's my own fault really for agreeing to it without actually fully knowing what it was

Maybe I'm just not posh enough for such things

Can people tell me about any Afternoon Teas they have experienced and how U I'm being because actually I'm in for a treat that is well worthy of £20

Actually OP tbh I have come across some places that seem to take the Michael ..e.g. using tray bakes and cut up bits of cake..best to look on tripadvisor or something. I know some people say it's the sense of occasion too but when you could just as well be in an M and S cafe it may not feel so great spending 20 quid

Going for afternoon tea later...may just post a few pics for you afternoon tea lovers! someone asked up thread about children prices..I have never seen a reduced price child one but when it must me and Dd we just offer extra scone and hot drink and I scoff and we share the rest

So basically you were picky, had a bog standard cup of tea and a scone because nice food "isn't your thing", then complained about the food not being up to scratch and leaving hungry? Why didn't you have the sandwiches and the nice tea? You sound like really hard work - your friend went to the trouble to invite you to a lovely outing and you sat there picking at a scone.

I'm always amazed that people think all they should be paying for when they go out to eat is the actual cost of the food. Of course it isn't.

Also amazed that someone doesn't know what loose leaf tea is, but whatever.

why didn't you have the sandwiches and the nice tea?

Because I didn't like the sound of the sandwiches and I just like a normal cup of tea

I have never said the food wasn't up to scratch - I said it didn't do it for me because it wasn't to my taste, two completely different things.

The presentation etc was lovely, it was clear a lot of time had gone into it but it's just not to my taste.

Thankfully mine and my friend's relationship goes a lot deeper than whether I want to eat a cold pork pie or not and our friendship has survived the Afternoon Tea.

Ps) I didn't pick at scones - I ate them

Loose leaf tea is "normal tea". It just doesn't come in a teabag.

Ok then - then I like my tea in a bag 😄.

Tea from a bag is rarely tea leaves, it's basically the leftover dust they never used before.

Using loose leaf in a teapot shouldn't result in leaves in your tea, the tea pot should either have a mesh insert or you use a tea leaf strainer over your cup. If you just pour in in of course you will have leaves in tea if there's no barrier.

the tea pot should either have a mesh insert or you use a tea leaf strainer over your cup.

Some of my friends who had ordered loose leaf tea were using the strainers but rather than the strainer be on a fixed handle, and act like a sieve for example, the strainer was spinning around and there were a few times it appeared to fully tip over and spill the leaves.

Maybe it's a learning curve

In general, about 75% of us liked the meal and the experience but for the rest of us it wasn't something we'd do again. The birthday girl loved it though so that's what really matters

Well, at least you gave it a go although it sounds like it wasn't really up to scratch.

We had a lovely afternoon tea at Raffles Hotel in Singapore some years ago which set the benchmark for me.
When we got married, we had an afternoon tea for our in a small boutique style hotel. There were only 12 of us, so it suited us just fine.

Loose leaf tea is "normal tea". It just doesn't come in a teabag

Yes. It's tea bags which are abnormal. You can get upmarket tea bags which contain proper tea but most tea in tea bags is just floor sweepings compare to real tea.

Good quality loose tea leaves often swell up when in water to such a size that it's perfectly possible to pour it without a strainer and not get leaves in the cup.

It's also the case that good quality loose tea can be used more than once. That's not just me being penny pinching, I've been told that several times by specialist tea sellers.

Should have come to my home made one...it was better than any I've paid for in my own humble opinion....plus we got pissed