Afternoon tea is a rip off

[Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahh]

Or maybe it's just the ones I've been to?
£25 per head- tea, coffee and water. Sandwiches, sausage rolls and crisps, and cakes with a couple of biscuits.
The scones were from Costco as I used to work somewhere that sold the exact same ones. There was the equivalent of about 2 Sandwiches each, very basic plain fillings too.

I expected so much more for the price, haven't been to many afternoon tea places so maybe this was just a bad one?

They are enjoyable and a really lovely treat .
The proprietors have huge overheads. In reality how much food does anyone need in an afternoon tea .

I did an afternoon tea for my mum's birthday once. I made a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, chocolate cake, lemon cakes and coffee cakes and chocolate refrigerator cake. I'm not kidding you, it took me all day! It's very labour-intensive to make tiny beautifully decorated cakes and finger sandwiches! A good afternoon tea is worth 25 quid if it's done well.

I would say that's expensive for what you had, but if you want a really nice afternoon tea the price is upwards of £40 a person. Depends where you went I suppose. Even the Ivy, which is pretty mainstream, charges £35.

That doesn't sound like a decent afternoon tea at all.

Around here, you get a selection of sandwiches (normally four different fillings), two homemade scones with jam and cream, a selection of mini cakes/tarts, posh sausage rolls and/or a pork pie, plus unlimited tea or coffee. Comes to less than £20 per person.

I'm not into afternoon tea . Whilst not one of the annoying ' teeny tiny ' appetite people and could do with loosing a few stone , I still find them to be too much to eat in one go and although it's no problem to bring stuff home , it doesn't get eaten and is thrown away the next day .
My friends enjoy the ' occasion ' of it , but I can't see that either .

They vary a lot in quality and price. It is fairly labour intensive to make a good one though. Fancy individual cakes take more effort than a big one you slice, lots of different sandwiches are fiddly compared to a burger and chips for instance. Typically they are about £20-25 a head in local cafes and pubs here and i have to ask for a box to take leftovers home

Yep, it’s £50 a head for a decent one round here. But you can have as many rounds of sandwiches as you like.

Last time I had an afternoon tea, admittedly 2 or 3 years ago, it was £16 a head. For that we had about four different types of finger sandwich, scones with jam and cream and four different cakes. All delicious. Definitely no crisps! You could ask for a box to take stuff home if you couldn't manage it all.

Your afternoon tea was a rip-off, OP, but the ones I've had have been nothing like that.

Sometimes I've taken some of it home as it was filling although looked so dainty.

Always sandwiches/savouries, tiny scones and exquisite cakes.

I love tiny portions- daintiness is what afternoon tea is about! It is very filling and I usually have some of it boxed up to take home.
For me the ideal afternoon tea is:
At least 4 sandwich varieties
Mini savouries
Scones, clotted cream and jam
Assorted fancy cakes/fresh cream cakes.
Lovely China and tablecloth
Unlimited tea
£20-24
I recommend the Barn at Upper Stowe, always a lovely treat in lovely surroundings.

To add to my comment above , my local place to have it costs £36 pp , so £25 is quite reasonable.
I've omitted the venue , but here's the menu so you can see it's too much in quantity.

Afternoon Tea from April 2025, £36
Served from 1st April 2025. Childs Tea available £20

Soup and Sandwiches
Pea veloute, chive oil, crispy bacon (veggie version no bacon); Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese sesame brioche slider (veggie version has cucumber not salmon) Salt beef, pickled red onion & watercress on brown (veggie version has egg mayonnaise)
Savoury

Potato dauphine with white truffle & confit egg yolk; Camembert bites with honey mustard dressing, pomegranate & spring onion; Tandoori chicken mini naan, cucmber & mint yoghurt (vegetarian version uses jack fruit not chicken)

Sweet Treats
Strawberry & Pimms fool, caramelised white chocolate; Chocolate torte, macaron, almond brittle; Sticky toffee cupcake, salted caramel frosting, mini toffee apple; Malted Tea bread with salted butter; Plain Scone, Raspberry jam & clotted cream.

I’ve never had one as the ones I’ve seen just have way too much food. One would serve two people easily but asking to share one makes me look tight.
The ones at Sandringham look lovely and are served on a clever card cake stand which doubles as a food carrier. I want one just for that really.

One of the nicest I’ve had was at Cromlix House hotel, Andy Murray’s place in Scotland. Lovely traditional country house hotel. Delicious afternoon tea, I’ve just looked again and the standard one is £47.50 which I think is pretty good for the food you get and the location.
Have also had utterly crap ones elsewhere, I seem to get given vouchers for them ! I never know when I want to eat them, not mid afternoon tea time as I’ll have probably had lunch ! And then what about an evening meal, I’ll be too full after all that 🤣. I tend to have one as a slightly late lunch , I can’t seem to miss meals !

I agree it's way too much food compared to what you would normally eat at that time of day, but you just have it instead of lunch or dinner that day.

£25 per head is reasonable - we tend to go to 4* hotels for afternoon tea - just been to one up in Derbyshire in a hotel it was fabulous ! £35 per head

I think you were unlucky. Price however comes with what people are prepared to pay, and probably some cafes it is the extra bit that keeps them going.

I have always found that the ‘proportions’ are generally wrong, in that there’s not enough savoury stuff for me, and too much cake.

Or maybe it’s just that you feel weirdly, carb-ily full or something. I never find it a pleasant meal, particularly. It doesn’t suit me, somehow.

Tea at the Ritz or Fortnums is better value for money than what you got for £25, with shop bought ingredients. Don't forget you're contributing towards wages of staff, rent and rates etc which are all sky high.

youve almost got to reconcile yourself to the idea that the actual incredients are just a fraction of the total cost and the experience.

its no different to eating out in general. It really isn't good VfM in UK and very often Brakes Brothers pre-made rather than home made. Puts me off eating out!

I have had some lovely afternoon teas where it was clearly freshly made and very good and them some which have been disappointing with mass produced cakes etc. Such a shame.

The last afternoon tea I had was lovely but portions were so tiny that I ordered chips and a starter afterwards. Saying that, I had skipped breakfast I was expecting to feel stuffed! It was only 25 per head though.

Three finger sandwiches, bacon and bre, coronation chicken and a salmon one.

Brownies, caramel eclair (swan shaped) Bakewell tart and a scone of course. Sounds like a lot but the cakes were only 3/4cm each.

I had afternoon tea at a hotel in the New Forest two years ago and it was really lovely. I wasn't paying but I believe it was around £35 per head.

The sandwiches were very nice including smoked salmon, finger style, very nice choice of teas or coffee, the scones, cream and jam also very nice and the cakes were very small mouthful types, three each, very fancy but absolutely delicious.

I've had a couple of cream teas not as expensive but hands down, the hotel one was by far the best. If I'd been paying I would have been very happy with what we had for the price.

I like the set-up. It is not something I do regularly and it more about the group setting, the occasion, the food is basic.

Not arsed for it. It’s a bit chavvy in my opinion. Like kids party food spun for grown ups. A good one costs the same as a meal in a nice restaurant.

Crisps? Sausage rolls? Sounds like a picnic constructed by a lovesick teenager.

Afternoon Tea should be good quality, simple but plentiful.
Sandwiches - no more than three types
Scones - jam and cream
Cake - either just a slice of cake or some petite fours if fancy.

They are very expensive for what you are getting.

But I think they are nice, especially if you are not a big drinker. It’s nice to catch up with people and it not revolving around alcohol and I also love eating little things. So yes it is expensive but it is also nice.😄