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?

Exactly this.
Afternoon tea is a whole experience. It should be high quality food, beautiful surroundings and service that makes you feel special. The best ones I’ve done are The Corinthia hotel London (expensive but loved every second!) and Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. Have had afternoon tea several times there over the years and it’s always been lovely.

But as per pp said , too many cafes chucking some sandwiches and cake onto a cake stand and flogging it as afternoon tea. These are crap generally.

I don't have a sweet tooth and it's too many carbs . But I love a savoury afternoon tea. So seek out those. Example below

Haven't had one for a while but everywhere I've gone gives you a box for the uneaten. I've never asked for extra sandwiches but I've had an extra pot of tea (awesome camomile full to the brim with flowers and not a teabag in sight)

DD had one recently and brought the extras home for DH and me - gorgeous and I'm contemplating going there.

Many years ago a local casino, Aspers, used to offer an afternoon tea at an amazing price, I think it was something like £12.00 for two people! I assume the idea was that not terribly bright women, lulled into a sense of security, and stuffed stupid with cakes and scones and little sandwiches would wander over into the slot machine area and blow their housekeeping money in half an hour. Didn’t quite work out that way, word spread among us and many friends came and enjoyed the experience, sitting in a well decorated room, proper table cloths, unlimited tea pot fill ups before mooching off to do a little judicious shopping……….

Was good while it lasted though.

I have never had afternoon tea that includes a sausage roll. Afternoon tea should be an experience, not in your local cafe but in some stately home with beautiful grounds in spring or summer. There should be a choice of teas and everything should be home made and fresh. Of course it's overpriced, lots of nice experiences are. My favourite venue so far has been Cliveden.

It was just a bad one! DH and I had afternoon tea for £25 recently and it was fabulous. There was so much to eat we couldn’t manage it all, so the waiter offered to put the remains in a box for us to take home.

The only place I’ve been is Betty’s in York.
It’s £44.95 a head but you pay for the experience!

You're also paying for the name, Betty's!
I've never had an afternoon tea where I've not brought something home or, sacrilege, left something on the cake stand, there's often loads.
Afternoon tea is usually a special occasion in a lovely place, it's not Morrison's cafe, that's why a good one tends to be expensive.

The Ivy do a cream tea which is better value at something like £12. The scones are pretty good. If it’s a celebration they will bring you a complimentary small pastry, if you let them know when you book!

Afternoon tea can morph into High Tea with the usual stuff plus sausage roll, quiche etc. it's really enough for the rest of the day

Just remembered a Rick Stein afternoon tea box that I sent to a friend. She said it was very generously portioned and though advertised for two it served three just fine . The only thing was she wondered why there was no clotted cream included, luckily she had double cream in her fridge. It wasn’t until later as she was dismantling the packaging for the recycling bin that she found the pot, it had been so cleverly integrated into the design of the box that it had been overlooked!

Er, you pay a minimum of £100 in a good London hotel (and they are fabulous, as is the service), so £25 sounds like a bargain!

Oh, and you never have sausage rolls or crisps at a proper afternoon tea!

Had Afternoon Tea with Champagne at The Ritz voucher as a leaving gift from work, £175 for two (includes a tip to staff, I think it's something like £75 each without a voucher).

Proper dressy, in the Palm Lounge, piano player doing classics (Moon River etc) as we ate. Superb glass of proper chilled Champagne, choice of several teas (loose leaf, with tea strainers) both Indian tea and China tea (I had the Lapsang, really good, my companion had a couple of different teas). Beautiful soft bread finger sandwiches and tiny brioche type rolls with different fillings (brought more over as we finished the first plate). One plain scone, one fruit scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Three small desserts, one was a mirror glazed strawberry cream thing which was way too sweet, a tiny tart, something else too. To finish off. A cake trolley came around the room with a choice of an apple & ginger cake, or something else (can't remember). And when we were finished we were all presented with a small sponge cake iced with "Happy Birthday", which we took away in a pretty Ritz box. I will say we felt a bit rushed, they do 5 sittings (11.30, 13.30, 15.30, 17.30, 19.30); the 13.30 books up the quickest months in advance. Felt it was good value though for the experience. We had a great time.

My best friend and I used to love an afternoon tea, used to go once a month around London, there was a hotel in Kensington (not one of the big name ones) that had a beautiful room, great service, didn't feel rushed. Fab experience. More chat than if we were out shopping, better atmosphere than pub or coffee shop. And the opportunity to dress up.

The best ones (not always the priciest) make everything fresh. I've even been to one where the scones were warm from the oven and she brought us more scones from the next batch she was baking. I expect scones, small sandwiches (and they often have more unusual fillings) and a selection of small cakes. Sometimes there will also be savoury items like mini tartlets or sausage rolls but that's really more for high tea. What you were served seems poor

This is amazing!

Crisps and biscuits, lovely as they are, have no place in an afternoon tea. That's a bad one. I don't think sausage rolls belong there either but I'm veggie so maybe that's why. They don't feel right, though.

I do love a good one but I'll only do it in summer and at a place that does it well in the right setting. That does usually mean a posh country hotel or restaurant but not always. I don't do it often and it's as much about the experience as the food. I really like being able to look out over beautiful gardens from a gorgeous setting. It's a occasional treat, I want it to feel nicer than everyday.

News just in: Staff, business rates, rent, power etc all have to be paid for.

I can never understand people who go in a cafe for a cup of tea and complain it doesn't cost 10p as its only a tea bag.

Some people so naieve about the costs businesses face.

£25 is pretty low budget for an afternoon tea, I'd not be expecting a huge amount for that!

I’ve never had sausage rolls and crisps at afternoon tea. Sounds more like a picnic or children’s birthday party.

Much like tapas and bottomless brunch, any establishment can put a chalk board outside and cobble together a plate of basic ingredients with a huge mark up.

Afternoon tea, if done right, can be absolutely superb. I’ve paid upwards of £50 before and definitely think it was value for money given the quality of the ingredients.

You have to do your research first.

Crisps, biscuits and sausage rolls in an afternoon tea?!?! clutches pearls.

The problem with that price point, is most of what you are paying is going towards the cafe rent, overheads, taxes & staff costs and very little on the actual food.

For something like an afternoon tea which requires little skill to make you will get much nicer food making it yourself for the same budget.

Depends where you go. Where was it?
When I have been there has been home made cakes and scones, a variety of sandwiches, mini quiche etc more food than I could eat beautifully served. And it was cheaper than £25 per head.

I agree they look nice and it's a special thing to do but the sandwiches are cut into fingers,so you don't get a full sandwich.

Pasties, sausage rolls and pork pies are a no no for Afternoon Tea. These would be included in High Tea but not Afternoon Tea.

In a decent place they replenish as much as you want.