British "lunch" times at the weekend - why so late?

[Howdoyoulikeyoureggsinthemorning]

Riddle me this, MN. (I'm British myself btw).

Been invited to yet another pub "lunch" with the family. What time have they booked? 3pm!!!!

I just don't understand this tradition.

At school, lunch is usually 12ish, if not 1ish.

At work, lunch is usually 12ish, if not 1ish.

For this reason, most of us have been pretty conditioned to get hungry around the same time of day.

So whenever I'm invited to one of these super late lunches, I end up either:

• Making a pre-lunch for myself anyway because I'm too damn hungry to wait (which often leads to overeating that day...)
• Waiting until I'm so weak that I barely feel like socializing by the time I'm in company (morning ruined) and just counting the seconds till food is in front of me...

Oh, and these late lunches always ruin my appetite for dinner as well!

What gives?

YABU: Weekend lunches are not, nor should they be, like weekday lunches.

YANBU: You're correct and the standard for all pub lunches/roasts/buffets should be brought forward a couple of hours.

I also think the whole point of having a Sunday dinner is that it’s one big meal for the day rather than a separate lunch and a separate dinner.

Have a fry up for breakfast to keep you going so you can skip midday meal, and then eat enough and drink enough wine at 3pm so there’s no need for an evening meal.

We'd usually have a relaxing breakfast on Sunday so wouldn't be in a panic for lunch. It's the one day of the week where we don't have to be anywhere or do things at a certain time. Myself and DH make pots of coffee or tea and relax with something recorded from during the week or whatever and the DC can all watch their tablets and relax. Then we will head out to walk the dog or to the park and depending on what we are eating we might have meat in the slow cooker and lunch at 3 or 4 . If it's a big deal give the younger children something to eat earlier

Compared to normal lunch, Sunday lunch tends to be a massive meal. If we have a big lunch at the weekend I don't want any dinner, or will just have a snack so would be quite happy to eat at 3pm or later.

I get it would be a problem with young kids who are used to a routine but for most of us that's not the case.

If there is no alternative then it boils down to one thing really though:

in the end which do you value more, seeing your family or having your meal schedule slightly disrupted for one day of the week?

It’s honestly not the end of the world. No need to wait until you are weak with hunger? Just be a bit flexible and eat a banana or make yourself a tiny sandwich at lunch time and have a mug of soup before you go to bed.

Just to add, I can see that it would be a problem with small dc though!

I agree! As an adult you can just quietly put up with it, but I remember this being a real pain when my children were toddler/pre-schooler age.

Have a 'brunch' mid-morning that will keep you going till 3pm.

Most pubs serve food all day - 3pm might have been the earliest slot they could get if it's a popular pub.

For us it would be because we have stuff going on weekend mornings, and unless you want teen ds coming to lunch straight from sport, we can't be anywhere before 3.30. But a late breakfast and no dinner works for me perfectly.

Agree 100% DPs family always book the table for 3:00pm. For me, it's not quite lunch, not quite dinner, I always joke that they've made up a new meal time. Dinch. Lanner. Whatever it is, it's not for me.

What she said 😊

Most people eat breakfast later at the weekend. Even if we're up early for sports reasons we'd often eat breakfast afterwards so breakfast can be as late as 10am. Nobody is hungry for lunch at 12 or 1.

In our family we ate at about 3pm on a Sunday but we called it Sunday Dinner, not Sunday lunch, so it was early, not late! (we come from a part of the country that calls the evening meal "dinner" and the midday meal "lunch")

The idea is that you get up later at the weekend, have a substantial breakfast at about 10 am then your 3pm meal is a big one that does you the rest of the day with maybe only a small sandwich (often of leftovers) late evening.

We eat ours at 1ish (DS has a sports club which finishes at 12:45). Maybe that’s why the pub is always empty when we arrive! I assumed it was a post-covid thing of customers not returning yet

Even pre-kids we never ate later than 2. We might skip breakfast if we are up late, or just eat a croissant on the way out of the house, but lunch is fixed.

I love a late lunch on Sundays. We tend to have a roast around 3 and then maybe a sandwich with leftovers for supper.

It works well for us tbh. Sundays we have breakfast more like 9am, instead for 7am weekdays.

If we are invited to friends for 3pm Sunday, we just give 2 year old a sandwich or something at 12, then hope he will nap on drive over. He’ll then eat something again anyway at 3pm, or might nap still and eat desert later on. Win win.

We wouldn’t tend to have large dinner again. Late breakfast, Sunday lunch at 3pm, then just some cheese on toast or fruit or something in the evening

I assume so most can have a lie in, a leisurely breakfast, then a Sunday lunch and a light supper. I would barely have had breakfast by noon most Sundays - there is too much rushing about during the week to not appreciate a chilled Sunday.

I'm the same eat early morning and midday.
I'd eat at midday anyway and then just have soup or salad at the pub.

Sunday lunch roads are usually about 2 or 3 pm aren’t they? Tbh I wouldn’t feel like a roast any earlier than that.

But I also agree it’s nice to get up later on a Sunday, have a leisurely breakfast and later lunch. Then a light tea/ supper in the evening.

The very early years when your children are up at the crack of Dawn seven days per week is actually v short in terms of your lifespan, even though it feels like forever at the time.

Yanbu I'd want to book for about 1 otherwise I start getting hangry

You shouldn't go to bed 'stuffed'. It's not good for you.

I like it. Means brunch, late lunch, then something like cereal for tea.

It’s typically an upper middle class thing to eat lunch late on a Sunday. The sort of knobs who also eat “Kitchen supper”.

Oh I like a late weekend lunch/early dinner. Therefore YABU

Pre-children a lunch at 3 pm would've been fine. But if you get up at 7.30ish (and weekends are no different) then it would essentially be a very early dinner. So a bit annoying as the kids would not really be hungry at 3.30 when food arrives but starving by the time we got home.

I'm onto mid afternoon snack by 3pm 😂
But then again I don't eat a traditional 'sunday lunch'. I hate roast dinners. If I was going out for a meal at 3 I suppose I would manage but it's not a time I would choose personally. Half way through the afternoon is just a bit of a pain.