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.

3pm is a set time.

@TheBigWangTheory
The judgement and condemnation of others seem to be pretty strong on the anything goes side of the argument. For example:

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

If someone asked me out to eat a 3pm I'd have to treat it as an extra meal and eat two meals around it. Probably a normal size lunch and then a small snack-type dinner.

Why?

@SpongeBob2022

why? Could you not just have a snack at lunch and snack in evening rather than having an extra meal in addition to your three others?

I’m not getting out of bed until at least 10 on the weekend, so breakfast would be at about 11, lunch at 2:30/3, dinner at 7:30/8.

During the week I’d eat lunch at about 1. I absolutely live for the slower pace of a weekend day!

There’s so much angst about food on Mumsnet! The idea that you might feel a bit peckish for an hour is akin to torture and the arguments that go on over “correct” times to eat slays me. If you’re cooking/inviting, eat when you want. If you’re the guest, eat when the hosts want (or turn down the invitation politely). In a social situation, there are usually drinks and crisps to be had (and, serious medical conditions nothwithstanding, nobody actually comes to any harm from missing a meal now and then!). If you’re going to lunch at 3 and you’re starving at 12, then can’t you just have a small snack to keep you going?

I have small children and 3pm is the best time to eat lunch out, for us.

Feed kids lunch at 11.30/12, nap after lunch until 2/2.30, go to pub. If I was hungry I'd have a little bit of the kids' lunch. I wouldn't expect the children to eat much at the pub, they could just have a couple of roast potatoes or whatever by way of an afternoon snack.

The alternative would be trying to book to eat lunch before naptime, but the earliest you can normally eat is 12pm and with eating and travelling and faff you'd end up getting the children into the car for 1pm, they'd fall asleep in the car and have a rubbish nap. If you booked later than 12 but before 3 you'd be encroaching on naptime.

I guess everyone's routines are different but 3pm would work best in ours.

I've only had lunch at 3pm in my hungover student days.

Never heard of these 3pm 'British' lunches.

Or rushing out of church because the service went on a bit and the meat would be burning.

It's not 'typically British' (I assume the OP is not British) but most of us can be flexible. I am guessing this is the only time they could get a table at the restaurant for a large group. I'm fairly conditioned by a lifetime of teaching in primary school to be hungry at 12 but if I know I'm having a late lunch I'll have a snack and I won't need any dinner in the evening. It's not a big deal.

I was on a guided walking tour in Granada once and a small group of French women had the whole itinerary changed so they could have their lunch when they wanted it. The guide complied but was clearly furious. I'm not necessarily saying French people are all rigid - that would be as bad as saying all British people have lunch at 3pm - and they also complained about their feet hurting for most of the walk when they would have been told on booking to wear suitable shoes.

You'd have a normal lunch at say 12, a full meal at 3pm, AND a small dinner? Wow. That's a crazy amout of food.
I'd have a very small breakfast then lunch at 3pm. That would be it.
Each to their own though

I'm not British, and 3pm is a perfectly usual time for Sunday lunch.

You'd have to work hard to have never even heard of people having lunch at that time.

Wouldn't suit me, just because it's a weekend doesn't mean that I get out of bed three hours later. I'd balk at a 2pm suggestion for lunch, and 3pm would be declined - Im ready for afternoon tea by then!

That’s all very well, but if you are meeting in a pub for a Sunday lunch you are very often neither the host nor the guest. In which case, a bit of negotiation seems reasonable.

What is the actual problem here? You would be hungry by 3pm? Then why not eat a small snack at 12 or 1? How is this difficult?

Can’t believe people would refuse the invite just because the timings didn’t suit their inflexibile eating patterns. What fun you sound.

’Sorry I can’t come to lunch at 3 because I normally eat at 12 and I’d be too hungry’. Err ok.

Sure, occasionally. We're pretty flexible depending on what else is planned that day. But making plans for lunch at 3 (assuming there's nothing else going on that would necessitate eating then) seems like an odd thing to do.

Well, yeah, if I'm going out for brunch late morning I'm not going to be ready for lunch at noon! In that case I would usually skip lunch and have dinner on the early side.

I'd struggle with lunch that late especially if the table is booked for then so might not eat till at least 3.30. I get hungry at the same times each day whether weekdays or weekends eg around. 9am, 1pm & 7pm

What is preventing you all from having a snack at 12/1?

This thread is baffling and I’m prone to getting hangry.

You’d miss out on a nice meal with friends because the timing doesn’t quite work…

3pm for lunch is perfect on a weekend. That way you've got the whole morning to go for a long run or bike ride; take the kids out to their activities or whatever; and then get showered and changed and head out.
I have young children and yes they would need a snack earlier, but then they won't want much tea later on if they have a big lunch at 3ish.

People being so rigid about meal times just seems very buttoned-up, old fashioned, and weirdly British. When you go abroad you see kids eating with their families at much more sociable times. None of this "tea is at 5pm" nonsense.

I’m still getting through my coffee requirements at midday, before I can think about food! 3pm would be perfect for me (although I’d be a bit sad that I’m missing a dinner!)

Obviously everything just moves on.

Eat a later breakfast, banana later in the day, pub lunch 3pm and then sandwich at 8pm. You dont have breakfast at 8am AND lunch AND 3pm food AND 6pm food. Or a bigger brunch like pancakes will see you til 3pm.

Better a social occasion at 3 than not at all. Have a snack at your usual lunchtime (say fruit as an example).