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.

@LuckySantangelo35 I'm not talking about a"sesh", I'm agreeing with a PP that a 12 pm lunch feels early for a Saturday

You've never even HEARD of a 3pm lunch? Even though in restaurants and pubs, everywhere, the lunch menu runs until 4 or after, and the dinner menu starts at 5?

You must not pay much attention if you've never noticed. 3pm Sunday lunch could not be any more normal.

If you suggested 12.30 for lunch on a Sunday to anyone I know, they'd piss themselves laughing.

I never have more than two meals a day. No breakfast, lunch between 12 and 1, dinner between 6 and 8 p.m. My husband likes to have yoghurt in the morning, justbcoffee for me thank you. If we have a late week-end lunch I'll maybe have a croissant or a cup of soup around 11 a.m. After a big lunch we don't have a hot meal in the evening, maybe some bread and cheese or (again) some soup.

Not everyone has to eat every few hours. Some people are fine with two, or even just one meal per day, without snacking. We’re all different.

You don't ruin your dinner with a late lunch because you don't have dinner if you are going out for Sunday lunch. You have tea which might be some sarnies and cakes, cheese and crackers or any other assortment of nibbles. How do you not know this?

You’re absolutely right OP, but not everyone can have the 12/1pm table at the pub, there is just a limit to how many people can be seated at once. Often 3pm is the only table left if you haven’t booked weeks in advance.

For some people yes, others get up at the same time, and eat breakfast at the same time, whatever the day is. No way would I be wanting to go out for lunch at 3 pm - and in fact some places stop serving lunch at 2 pm where I live.

3pm weekend lunches are my fave!! Lazy morning followed by massive 3pm lunch and wine and ending falling asleep on the sofa watching a film eating crisps......its the dream!!!!

I’m with you OP! But I don’t often sleep past 7am with young kids, so by 3pm I’d be ravenous! If I had slept in until 10am though (as I used to when young and free!) it would be a different matter…

For some people yes, others get up at the same time, and eat breakfast at the same time, whatever the day is. No way would I be wanting to go out for lunch at 3 pm

🥱

It’s Sunday, wake up later, have breakfast/brunch later, have lunch later cos it’s a big one that will do you for dinner too.

Family lunches that involve children should never be 3pm. Adults can maybe manage though. It used to bother me. I remember my in-laws the first time I stayed over. Sunday morning we got up and they were making bacon butties for breakfast, which I declined as it was 10am ish and I could smell the roast in for dinner. I then regretted my bowl of cereal and was ready for lunch around 1pm but it wasn’t served until 3:30!! Lesson learned and I realised that’s why they had bacon butties for a late breakfast. But I hadn’t been warned.

My children do seemed to be conditioned to eat lunch at 12pm on the dot!! At home and school - until school changed to different lunch times for different year groups and my autistic daughter wasn’t happy!! When she’s had a late break time at 11am with a snack, she doesn’t want an 11:30 lunch 🤦‍♀️. Messing around with lunch times is a pain!!

We usually eat dinner at 5pm as kids are always hungry and by the time we get in from school and have to sometimes get back out for hobbies 5pm works well. When people invite us for lunch at 3pm they still expect to them have an evening meal at a reasonable time!!

@celticprincess What 6 hour roast dinner could you smell cooking at 10am that wasn't ready until 3.30??!

Are you me? That’s exactly my perfect Sunday. All these people getting up at the crack of dawn busy busy busy…what’s that all about? It’s meant to be a day of rest!

No wonder so many people have disordered eating when they are conditioned to eat to a timetable rather than when they feel hungry.

And I think you're setting your children up for failure in later life if they're only able to eat between prescribed hours!

Perfect - coffee and then a late breakfast and then a big lunch followed by a snack in the evening

I think the meat has been out on first thing to cook and rest and then the veg prepped and left ready to cook later. Possibly saving oven space for Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes etc.

Surely you have brunch then cheese and crackers for tea 🤷🏻‍♀️

Drinks in the garden at 1:30, luncheon at 2. Isn’t that how it works?

Actually I think it's the opposite, it's because set mealtimes have been replaced by the eat whenever your hungry mentality, snacking far too much in between meals and food being so readily available & advertised all the time.

Care homes, hospitals, schools, colleges, package holidays etc all have timed set mealtimes. I think the op is rather ridged that the occasional late lunch would cause so much inconvenience but a smaller & later breakfast or some fruit or soup at "12pm lunch" is not going to impact too much.

I prefer set mealtimes as I want my kids to have some structure, if we are out or have an occasion then we deal with it, mostly though we have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the usual set times.

Care homes, hospitals, schools, colleges, package holidays etc all have timed set mealtimes.

Yes, and are some of the grimmest, most regimented places to spend your time! Who wants to live your life like you're living in a care home?!

The point is not that structure is necessarily bad, it's that some people on here can't break out from the structure! You can have a regular mealtime and still be able to cope with something as mundane as eating at 3pm.

I think you I need to loosen up (or don’t go if you find the time so tricky).

Just have a small sandwich at 12ish to put you on. Or have a big late breakfast.

Weekend lunches tend to be a bit later. It’s no big deal. I love a late lunch as then you don’t need to cook a big dinner.

@MasterBeth I agree! I also think that too much structure or disorganisation is bad either way.

I absolutely loved my hospital stay (bar being unwell of course), also loved the care home I worked for, it taught me to eat regularly and regulate my very erratic binge eating 😁

My mealtimes are roughly;

Breakfast - 8am
Lunch 2.30pm
Dinner - 8.30pm

I couldn't eat lunch as early as midday as an adult 🙈

Care homes, hospitals, schools, colleges, package holidays etc all have timed set mealtimes

colleges and package holidays don't belong on that list. As for the others, I'm not 90, or seriously ill, or 6, so why do I need to be told when to eat?

The thing is, I totally get why some people like routine and eat at certain times and/or eat early....but why don't those people understand that other people don't?