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?

I hate afternoon teas with a passion - it’s not so much the quantity of the food but how sickly it all is. I leave feeling that I’ve eaten far too much but no ‘real’ food at the same time. I’d much rather go out for a proper, fulfilling meal than some silly little sandwiches and cakes

Hahahahaha! Politely nibbling away at a tiny little macaron 😂As though we don't normally scoff a full jam doughnut in our faces when we're in the privacy of our own home / office 😂

Same here. I have no issue with the quantity but usually around £25 (near me anyway!) for what is essentially one sandwich cut into fingers, a few tiny cakes and a pot of tea. Absolute con! Get me to the All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet any day 😂

Oh yay! Another “how can people POSSIBLY eat this much?!”

I tell you, it’s a lot easier to finish an afternoon tea if you’ve pulled your head out your arse.

For those who do not need smelling salts at the thought of people eating cake, Claridges is my personal favourite, they’ll happily bring out more sandwiches if you want them, cakes if you want them.

They’ll package up what’s left (if any…obligatory gannet emoji?)
(And inevitably add more)

And they’re fucking delicious

I saw one on insta for a dinosaur afternoon tea which looks ace 😁

I went to a nice hotel for afternoon tea and they put the leftover cakes and scones into a box for us to take away.

I think it's actually really tough to find a genuinely great afternoon tea. it's become a gimmick that many places do and 99% of them are crap. especially ones with great pastries amd scones are hard to find

I can easily scarf down a few sandwiches and small cakes. I will polish them off and even hoover up anything DH does not want.

It’s way too much sweet stuff for me.

I can quite easily manage a whole family sized cake by myself...

Two friends & I always have an afternoon tea for our birthdays . . . it's become a tradition. The tea shop we normally go to allows you to choose one slice of cake so we all choose a different one, cut each slice into three & share

We only get given 4 very tiny sandwiches each but there are always some very nice crisps on the plate

One of my friends takes her scone home for her husband as she doesn't like scones

We really enjoy it ~ it's a nice British thing to do

When I went for afternoon tea with DH, we had a late breakfast and skipped lunch so we'd be hungry for it.

I'd finish that no problem and probably eat what the other person left as well (former fat person now in a size 10).

I have never been full up from an afternoon tea 🐷

spoiler alert!!

they are tiny

Imagine the cakes or so small that you can eat a whole cake in one mouthful.

And I've never had an afternoon tea that isn't finger sandwiches that are politely two bites but could probably be shoved in whole.

That's how.

Generally the better the tea, the smaller the portion size. Our local farm shop does a bit of a rough and ready one - big sandwiches, pork pie, a full size scone and then the two cakes go home for later. Still good, just different.

Most places replenish sandwiches if you want extra too. They do at The Ritz and Landmark when I went there for afternoon tea in the last couple of years.

I have an afternoon tea booked, it was a present from my students-very lovely of them and I appreciate it-taking my Mum as It's for two, but I have never fancied afternoon tea.

I am vegan too and they've gone to the trouble of finding somewhere that does that.

I don't like cake, or scones. Don't have a sweet tooth at all.
I don't like tea.
I can have prosecco instead, but if I do that I can't drive and I want to go out somewhere later that day.
I like some sandwiches, but not many and I have a feeling I'll not like any that are on offer for this...

I've never had a proper afternoon tea - the ones with the tiered plates. They do look a lot so I can understand that in passing you might think it looks too much.

The one in the photo looks like it is for 4 people.
So 1 round of sandwiches - crusts off
2 mini cakes
2 mini savories
1 1/2 scones each

That's quite a large, but not monstrous lunch and I'd say if you arrive hungry and take your time then it would be fine.

The odd time I've had that kind of tea I have had little or no lunch and dinner has been milk and fruit. It all balances out.

Is this one of those competitive undereating threads? I can easily eat it if I'm hungry enough. I'd only need to skip lunch.

A dinner out could be my usual entire calorie intake for the day, or more - how do people manage a full dinner? Quite easily!

Me neither! 😋

Well the “finger sandwich” has that name for a reason… It is about a size of a finger. Maybe cat’s finger even. Tiny.

You sound so full of joy.

Poor students.

Most sandwiches are quite small. This a round of bread, crusts cut off, then cut into 3. You may get 4 fingers, but its barely over two slices of bread. And they are dainty hardly deep filled.

Then the rest of the savouries and cakes/scones are usually mini versions.

If Ive not eaten lunch I can normally finish - otherwise you take them home in a box.

I do agree they are a bit "sweet" heavy for me - Id prefer more savories and fewer cakes, but that seems the style.

I suppose they are akin to having a full English breakfast and then not feeling hungry for AGES. Most of us don't have that sort of breakfast every day, but could easily manage it. Maybe it's the time of day that throws people.

You should try afternoon tea at the colonnades in Edinburgh. So much food! It’s amazing though.