Afternoon Tea - how can anyone eat it all?

[wasntlikethisinthegoodolddays]

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?

PHEW! 10/10 top marks. I did wonder if you were serious 😂

Last time we went for Afternoon tea in a posh hotel, I took so much home we dropped it all off at my mother's so her and her partner had a full afternoon tea too. They offered us boxes we hadn't asked.

I am sooooo fascinated by the behaviour on this thread. I would just love to know the dress sizes of everyone commenting. Could we do this going forward?

Jane, size 10

Yes I’m a bit of a grazer usually.
I cannot manage big meals which is a bit annoying as I don’t like to see food wasted .
I do like afternoon tea , I’d eat a normal breakfast like maybe toast , fruit and yoghurt.
Then maybe a small banana and half a sandwich to tide me over till 3ish afternoon tea time .
I would ask for a little takeaway box for any leftover cake and eat a small dinner as I find I cannot skip meals ever .

How on earth would dress size be relevant as the teas are only had rarely (if ever)?

It's the same as asking what do you have for Xmas Dinner and what size are you?

🙄

I don't see the relevance either, not least because my dress size is on the lower end of the scale and I would have zero problems eating a whole afternoon tea plus at least some lunch and a normal dinner because afternoon teas just aren't that big generally! I don't know why anyone is referring to it as a blowout. The sandwiches and cakes are 1-2 mouthfuls each everywhere I've been (mostly London). Four sandwiches and a few cakes of that size is basically a substantial snack.

The only correlation you'll get is e.g. most women (since men don't have a dress size so will be excluded from your study) commenting on a thread about afternoon tea are a size 12.

I don't think that would be terribly interesting.

Certainly not. Indulging in an afternoon tea occasionally to celebrate birthdays does not reflect how I eat the rest of the year.

This is why I look forward to having an afternoon tea as a treat . . . I eat much more sensibly the rest of the time. An occasional treat never hurt anyone . . . .

I've never had afternoon tea. Should I even be here?
I've had many cream teas though.

NO

Yes, please stay

You just need to add a few finger sandwiches and a small selection of tiny cakes to your cream tea, along with a teapot of Earl Grey and you can become a fully fledged member of The Afternoon Tea Appreciation Society 😂

I don't have a dress size. all these afternoon teas means that I have had to resort to buying tents from aldi and wearing those

Often have afternoon tea in London. Sandwiches are almost always fingers, usually 4, each one of no more than two bites. Then there are scones, usually 2. Then there are cakes, usually half a dozen (between 2 people) that are about the size of French Fancies. It’s pleasant enough; the idea that it’s “too much” for anyone if frankly bewildering. Caffe Concerto used to be our favourite but they seem to have hoiked their prices about 50% (I’m not kidding) so we probably won’t visit again soon. Cafe Rouge does a decent tea for 2 which you get for under £30 on a Groupon. (Obviously the big hotels with their £80 a head charges aren’t for the casual tea-taker.) Overall, afternoon tea prices at the lower—affordable—end have shot up in the last two years. What used to be in the low £30s for two is now at least £10 more expensive.

@BMW6 A sense of proportion you say? The irony! 😂

Oh yeah I can 🤣

Hooray it’s another mumsnet thread of competitive undereating. I really hoped we were getting past assigning virtue to small appetites.
Has anyone managed to squeeze in ‘being naughty’ yet?

And a full house !!!!

Just had a real spat my tea out moment at this 🤣👏

‘Tis but a morsel 😂😂😂

I love how our eating culture is coming round to the idea of taking food home. I lived in China for a few months and there it’s absolutely normal to takeaway what you don’t eat - if my perimenopausal memory serves me right, I think it’s called ‘da bao’. If I don’t finish food in a restaurant these days, I always ask to take it home! X

I hate food wastage. So yes, on the one hand, it's good if genuine food wastage can be prevented by people taking leftovers home. (Although most takeaway containers are not environmentally friendly, so there's that to take into consideration.) But what I really dislike about North American culture is the portion sizes being so huge that you expect not to eat more than half your meal. It's so wasteful and leads to a culture of overeating. Just serve normal sized portions, correctly priced, and let people order extra stuff if they want more. In general the countries where it is normal to take boxed leftovers home from every restaurant meal are the same countries where the obesity crisis is worst.

I took my 2 granddaughters for one of those teas and brought a Tupperware box with me on the advice of a friend. When I started putting food into it at the end my 6 year old granddaughter had a complete meltdown (out of character for her) as she was convinced I was stealing food and would be arrested! Its rather put me off those teas.

went last week, we were offered a box for the half a scone and half a chocolate tart left...we declined with thanks!!

Haven’t had one for a while but we would usually have it at lunchtime and take home most of the scones.

Technically you were stealing. In the UK you do not buy the food but the serving of it and the place into which to eat it. If asked, doggy bags can be provided, but it's not a right.
But I would have thought three of you could have eaten an afternoon tea.