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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Afternoon Tea - how can anyone eat it all?

483 replies

wasntlikethisinthegoodolddays · 05/06/2024 12:43

I've been looking at things to do next weekend. Looked on Wowcher, Groupon etc. A regular offer is Afternoon Tea for two. Whilst it looks lovely, they regularly feature about 6 sandwich corners each, a few savoury items and FOUR cakes each. I love my food, and I like cake, but there's no way I could eat all of that in one sitting. Can anyone eat four cakes in a row? Are we meant to take a doggy bag?

OP posts:
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Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 05/06/2024 19:06

I’ve only ever had one, in Liverpool. As I was the only gf person I got one all to myself. The cakes and sandwiches and scones were tiny but there were loads of them. I can eat for England but I felt sick (and I took a box back)

HangingOver · 05/06/2024 19:06

But enjoy your thread full of phrases like "hoover up", "polish off" and "couldn't possibly manage". It's been at least an hour since we had one.

All of these phrases make me want to kill people

TorroFerney · 05/06/2024 19:07

KreedKafer · 05/06/2024 14:16

It's not hard to understand that some people might not want to eat it all. That's fine.

It's more that the OP thinks it must be completely impossible that anyone would be able to and is clearly keen to judge those of us who can.

It's fine not to have a massive appetite, lots if people don't - and like you say, some people prefer to graze rather than eat big meals in one sitting. I don't think anyone has a problem with that.

When people talk about 'competitive undereating threads' they mean the ones where people feel the need to be incredibly performative about it, express shock (as the OP did) that others can eat more than them, and use negative terms about eating like 'stuffing', 'scoffing', 'gobbling' etc.

There was a thread recently where someone said that they had some apple slices and hummus for their breakfast every day and that this was a 'nutritious, filling meal' that kept them going until the evening and that they couldn't possibly manage to eat lunch, even though they did 15,000 steps and a Pilates class every day. They were keen to suggest that this meant they had a much healthier attitude to food than people who could manage to eat more than a side salad if they went out for lunch with a friend. That is a great example of Mumsnet competitive undereating.

I have some experience of being around people with eating disorders, and honestly, a lot of the food threads on Mumsnet are full of people who are in denial about their disordered eating, and the language they use around food and the details they feel the need to include are pretty much exactly the same as the sort of language that you hear from people with anorexia and orthorexia. I'm not saying this is the case with the OP at all! But there are certainly people on Mumsnet who are using food threads, consciously or unconsciously, as an outlet for an obsessive/disordered attitude to food intake.

Agree. I mean Op you must know that people eat it? Otherwise bloody Wowcher wouldn't be offering it!

TeaGinandFags · 05/06/2024 19:08

Take me.

I'll polish off what you leave 😎

(Edited for greediness)

bryceQ · 05/06/2024 19:08

The posh ones always give you a fancy box to take home.

Bignanna · 05/06/2024 19:12

Not only sandwiches scones and cakes. Little savouries, pastries etc should be served as well.

pearlfritillary · 05/06/2024 19:14

Goodness - I ADORE Afternoon Tea. Haven't been for one in years. It's my b'day in a couple of days so thank you for the memory jog!

(Decent tea is a must)

Choochoo21 · 05/06/2024 19:14

I’ve never had or seen an afternoon tea which actually fills you up/can’t eat the rest.

They’re usually absolutely tiny and you get less than 1 sandwich when put together and less than one slice of normal sized cake when the bits are put together.

You’ll find the photo is much more generous.

Have a look on trip advisor as they usually have photos of the actual servings.

maw1681 · 05/06/2024 19:15

The cakes are usually tiny and whenever I've done it I've just had breakfast and no lunch, and you can eat slowly over a couple of hours

SlebBB · 05/06/2024 19:16

Afternoon tea is the most overrated non sense anyway!

WhatWouldYouDoEh · 05/06/2024 19:18

Whoswhoof · 05/06/2024 16:16

SOUND THE KLAXON 📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

anybody who eats more than 500 calories a day, take cover! The competitive under eaters have emerged!

😂

LoobyDoop2 · 05/06/2024 19:19

I’ve gone off afternoon tea completely. It’s too much cake and not enough actual food, so you come away feeling both a bit sick and not satisfied.

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 05/06/2024 19:21

MaryFuckingFerguson · 05/06/2024 19:01

No idea. I’ll admit afternoon tea is lost on me as I don’t care for sandwiches, pastries or cake, but we met some friends for one recently. Setting was lovely. Presentation and all round niceness I couldn’t fault. But who can eat all that? I felt bad as we left SO so much of it. It was £45 a head so it seemed quite wasteful.

It was wasteful. I've never had an afternoon tea anywhere, where you can't ask for a box to take it with you.

I don't understand the "eat all that much". People eat 2 or even 3 course lunches. The amount of food is no more than at a lunch.

Heirian · 05/06/2024 19:21

They're supposed to be small cakes - you know, elegant? Maybe you're looking at a trashy afternoon tea.

JudgeJ · 05/06/2024 19:25

SouthLondonMum22 · 05/06/2024 12:45

The cakes are tiny.

As are the sandwiches, two normal slices of bread would make 8 tiny finger sandwiches, the cakes are on the same scale.

Franticbutterfly · 05/06/2024 19:27

I could've eaten double what I had at the Ritz. Totally tiny!

Londonscallingme · 05/06/2024 19:30

Do me a favour, I’d be more worried about leaving hungry. The individual items are always tiny - I personally always make sure I don’t go to these things hungry. Also why do people worry about there being ‘too much’ food, just don’t eat it, what’s the drama? My mum (irrationally interested in portion sizes and how much everyone is eating) saw a pain aux raisin arrive at the table next to us (having ordered one herself) and loudly proclaimed ‘oh goodness I hope mine’s not that big!’ 🙄 massive eye roll. Just don’t eat it. Why would anyone worry about having too much food? It’s a non-problem.

SidandAndyssextoy · 05/06/2024 19:31

Not a huge sweet tooth here either although I love endless sandwiches and donate my cakes if needed. But I’m not far off a big birthday and saving up for the Fortnums savoury version.

Afternoon Tea - how can anyone eat it all?
JudgeJ · 05/06/2024 19:33

As a change from Afternoon Tea we had a Beforenoon Tea at the Assembly House Norwich, it was amazing, so much to take home too and we're not in any way performance undereaters!

billybear · 05/06/2024 19:39

some are bigger portions than others, they always have cardboard boxes to take left overs home

HasToStop · 05/06/2024 19:59

I think you're getting a really hard time to be fair OP so I'm going to give you a real answer.

First of all it's all in the prep. About three months before your afternoon tea (earlier if possible) find yourself an insane boot camp thread on MN.

Follow the strict advice for the three months leading up to said date (you know, eat a lot of dust, that sort of thing).

Eat NOTHING for the 48 hours before the gluttonous feast (though you can suck on an ice cube if you're desperate, as long as you spit out the meltings).

On the day, swathe yourself in scarves and a large hat so as not to be recognisable to those with normal appetites.

Attend event. Gorge on afternoon tea but please note that you may find yourself silently weeping as you do so and you may have to pop to the toilet to flagellate yourself occasionally with a celery stick (save the celery - I'll come back to it later).

After ordeal, proceed as fast as your now enormous bulk will allow you to the nearest Catholic Church (note: members of the public may shriek and jump into bushes/oncoming traffic in horror as you thunder past).

Ask priest for absolution. (This may not be granted. He may also vomit. Holy water may evaporate).

Go home and retire, crying and shaking on floor. (Bed will no longer take your weight. Floor may bulge).

In about a month's time, your poor body may finally have processed the rancid sewage from your sweating, living corpse.

At this point you may suck on the celery stick you saved earlier.

SapphireSeptember · 05/06/2024 20:02

I've had afternoon tea twice. I took my mum to Brown's in Oxford for her birthday in 2016 (before she became pre-diabetic 😞) and where she gave me all her sandwiches/rolls because I had a long journey home, 😅 and then in 2019 when my friend took me on a day out to Sandringham and we had afternoon tea there. Think I was the only Brit there, everyone else was American. 😆 Managed to eat everything both times, but I do have a massive appetite. 😋

Klingfilm · 05/06/2024 20:04

I once went to a Hen party afternoon tea at Browns in Mayfair and it was unbelievable, they kept bringing out more of everything then when we were all stuffed they brought in full size cakes. Lots of fancy leftovers boxes were packed up that day!

TheOpalMoose · 05/06/2024 20:05

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request.

mumedu · 05/06/2024 20:11

Are you being controversial? Of course you will finish it off? If not, shove it in your handbag.

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