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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Afternoon Tea is over hyped?

130 replies

brasty · 15/03/2017 23:44

I can enjoy an Afternoon Tea, but I think it is over hyped. It is after all sandwiches, cakes and scones.These can taste lovely, but is boring compared to a beautifully made meal.
AIBU?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Smitff · 16/03/2017 01:23

PigletJohn !!

I never had you down as an afternoon tea type. This has put a whole new sheen on your practical home advice.

SparkleSunshine201 · 16/03/2017 01:29

Afternoon tea is the best!

The Ritz will always be unbeatable.

PyongyangKipperbang · 16/03/2017 01:31

I love a nice tea at a place near me. It is run by recovering addicts and the profits go to support the centre that is treating them and others. It's fabulous, freshly made sandwiches, huge scones with loads of cream and a massive slice of cake (I always take mine away with me as I cant eat it all!) and a lovely pot of quality tea. Its a little treat I give myself a couple of times a year.

However, I do not consider afternoon tea an event even if it was with champagne, and certainly not one worth paying £40 odd a head for, so in that respect I do think that it is over hyped. Its a fashion like so much else and I think that it will soon pass.

avamiah · 16/03/2017 01:43

PyongyangKipperbang,
I have to disagree.
Afternoon Tea is a "British Institution", here in London. I live in London and cannot even get a table and have to go on a waiting list because afternoon tea is so famous and popular with all the tourists.

5BlueHydrangea · 16/03/2017 01:47

Overhyped and overpriced! Really can't see why people pay £15-40 each for mini sandwiches and cakes. Am I really missing something??

PyongyangKipperbang · 16/03/2017 01:51

Tourism is a totally different thing though, it creates demand where there otherwise wouldnt be any. Like a cream tea in Cornwall or Devon (cream or jam first?! :o ) for example.

The vast majority of people do not live in London and so the idea of needing book a table weeks in advance for sandwiches and cake is not an issue and so is not so much of an event. Outside of London and yooneek weddings, it is becoming passé.

GeekyWombat · 16/03/2017 02:28

I love afternoon tea but for me it's all about the quality of the savoury bits - too many places treat them as a boring formality before you get to the cake but you need the balance between sweet and savoury.

The best afternoon tea I ever had they'd done home made, warm, mini pork pies and quiches. Total game changer. Seriously.

PyongyangKipperbang · 16/03/2017 02:43

Totally agree Geeky

The place I go to has really wonderful sandwiches. I love a good sarnie me, and most are just, as you say, something to be got through before the cake. I hate the assumption that everyone loves cake, I dont!

I eat the sandwices which come with a fresh green salad, wishing there were more, and then the scone which is not too sweet. I take the cake home and often end up giving it to the kids as I really have to be in the mood for it. The fresh pie and quiche sounds divine, but I cant complain for £7.50 that mine costs!

It has just occured to me that perhaps I could ask for extra sandwiches instead of cake, why did I not think of that before?!

sparkli · 16/03/2017 06:42

I think it does depend on where you go. I don't see the appeal of afternoon tea in a local cafe, but somewhere special is lovely. Recently had afternoon tea at Gleneagles Hotel and it was amazing. Hot bites as well as sandwiches and mini creme brulee to die for!

merrymouse · 16/03/2017 06:53

Its overhyped if you only think of afternoon tea as a meal you have in a hotel or restaurant.

If it's just a sit down with a nice cup of tea and some home made cake, I think it's a meal that punches above it's weight.

ivykaty44 · 16/03/2017 06:54

Fortunately & mason afternoon tea is wonderful, they refill the plates as many times as you require and offer over 100 different teas to choose from along with a selection of desserts on a trolley. If you don't manage to finish the food they wrap it up in beautiful boxes with ribbons for you to take home.

Op yabu

SinglePringle · 16/03/2017 06:58

Massively overhyped.

But then I don't eat bread and don't like cake so I'm probably not their target audience!

I'd rather go for tapas any day of the week.

Isthismummy · 16/03/2017 07:06

Yabu op. Afternoon tea is one of my favourite treats. I adore the tiny cakes, the endless sandwiches and the chance to relax in fancy surroundings.

You have to go to the right place though. We current favourites are The Landmark and The Chesterfield Mayfair Hotels in London. I enclose a picture of The Landmarks cakes from my trip there last Sunday for drooling purposesSmile

To think Afternoon Tea is over hyped?
Isthismummy · 16/03/2017 07:07

They weren't all mine btw. I was there with my BF and a friend!

Batteriesallgone · 16/03/2017 07:14

I don't go for the food. I go for the fact everyone there has taken a few hours out of their afternoon to sit and enjoy the company of each other, without getting distracted by menus, hot food, the formality of a big fancy laid table. Love afternoon tea.

Oblomov17 · 16/03/2017 07:14

Years ago, I took my mum to the Runnymede hotel in Staines. It was awful. Shame because the week before I'd been taken by work there for their buffet lunch, which was beyond delicious. I wished I'd taken my mum to that.

The sandwiches were dry and boring. The cakes weren't that great. The tea was ok, but we felt like it was all too much bother and the service generally poor. And I nigh on told them. Most disappointing.

gunsandbanjos · 16/03/2017 07:23

A good afternoon tea is amazing, a poor one rubbish, same as any meal really.

I had a great one at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh, warm just cooked shortbread, delicious scones and tiny cakes.

I bought my mum a voucher for one at the balmoral for her birthday and she said it was fabulous.

Mamadothehump · 16/03/2017 07:26

Doesn't interest me at all! I'd choose a pub lunch and a glass bottle of dry white over afternoon tea any day of the week!!

user1471545174 · 16/03/2017 07:26

I love a good, quiet traditional one with little sandwiches, scones and cream. Hard to find though. Don't like the champagne, pink cupcakes and screeching variety that prevails now.

Eastpoint · 16/03/2017 07:28

Afternoon tea at the Goring Hotel & Claridges is really good. I was less impressed with the Savoy. Dd2 asked if we could have tea at one of the cafe concerto branches & that wasn't very good (but much cheaper than at the Goring).

FagAshMIL · 16/03/2017 07:28

You clearly haven't been to The Connaught!

PolkaHeart · 16/03/2017 07:36

I love afternoon tea!

Been to a few, but my least favourite was the Hilton, Park Lane - over hyped and the restaurant was filthy. Off to The Berkeley next week, can't wait.

Sketch and the sunset tea at The Shard are next on the list Cake

bertsdinner · 16/03/2017 07:43

I like it if I'm out and about, its a nice alternative to a lunch.
Some are poor value for money, tiny sandwiches, dry cake, etc. But some are really good, my favourite is a cafe in Barnard Castle, you get loads and the cakes are lovely.

meganorks · 16/03/2017 07:48

I think I prefer a cream tea to an afternoon tea. More scones and clotted cream and less sandwiches (I'm in it for the cakes)

Theworldisfullofidiots · 16/03/2017 07:51

Depends what the sandwiches and cakes and canapés are. I'm not over keen because generally too much sweetness. I catered one fir a friend and made lavender meringues with strawberry cream, chocolate and raspberry dipped madeleines, orange drizzle cake....kale and goat's cheese pesto canapés etc...so it doesn't have to be boring.
Tbf I've had some terrible evening meals...

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