To Have a Mini Afternoon Tea Rant

[AfternoonTeaTotty]

Disclaimer: complete first world problem, that goes without saying. Not at all important in the big scheme of things.

I was gifted an afternoon tea voucher for myself and DH by a very lovely and amazing friend who knows I love going out for afternoon tea. She's a wonderful soul and so thoughtful so would never say anything at all to her because I truly appreciate her. We went and had a lovely time because it was just special to sit and enjoy a quiet moment of calm and relaxation. But...

Has anyone else noticed how much places are taking the p@!? when it comes to afternoon tea now? Used to be lovely scones, nice slices of cake, decent sandwiches, lovely pot of tea and maybe a glass of bubbles if it's a special occasion. Yesterday it was tiny, tiny sandwiches with odd fillings, tiny strange combination micro cakes which were just weird and tea that I'm sure was Tesco red label tea bags. A glass of prosecco that tasted like a £5.99 bottle special. Scones were good to be fair. But if we had paid for it, it would have been £40 each for this experience, so £90 for two of us 😮

There was a table next to us, a group of ladies who didn't look very impressed with the food but were trying not to say anything. Their bill would have easily been £400-500.

I completely get that places are struggling with the cost of everything but surely it would easier and cheaper to do an old style afternoon tea. With slices of cake and straightforward sandwich fillings? Less time and less fiddly.

Has social media killed this off now because everything has to be Instagram worthy instead of tasty? Since when did they charge so much for so little?

Plus it didn't help that the guy tried to charge me for the meal when we left despite knowing we were there on a gift voucher. Tried to charge me £50 saying he'd give me a discount. That was until I gave him the hard stare and reminded him it had already been paid for. He tried to insist but saw he wouldn't get anywhere so caved. Cheeky F@#!?#

That's fine because as this thread opines , you probably aren't getting £40 worth...

Sadly, since I had my gallbladder out , I can no longer enjoy lovely, comforting stodge

I just stuff it all in

If I know the Angel, they’d sort you out! Tea waiter would mix a suitable blend or go out for one. It’s a lovely place.

Get the vegan option. Make them kale and effort.

In what world is afternoon tea not tea and cake? Surely tea and cake are (two of) the core components of afternoon tea? And in it's original form it definitely was intended as an extra meal between lunch and dinner, although I agree that most people these days probably would have it instead of a large lunch or evening meal rather than as well as. I think the point the PP was making with that comment wasn't that people who enjoy afternoon tea are greedy pigs, more that even if you include some other items in your tea alongside the cake e.g. sandwiches or pastries, they don't tend to be hugely filling things and often come in mini versions so you need to eat more individual items and/or more volume more cake to feel satisfied and as though you've got your £40s worth of food. The generosity / large quantities of the afternoon tea is usually given as one of its major selling points and justification of the price as well. Maybe stuffing yourself wasn't the finest choice of words but I see what the PP meant and I don't think she was meaning to be horrible about the tea-lovers...

I'm down that way sometimes so might seek them out!

Not our experience, we went to a place in Lindley, Huddersfield that did a christmas themed afternoon tea last week and it was amazing, the sandwiches were stuffed full with plenty of fillings and they were lovely themed ones. https://www.ericsrestaurant.co.uk/christmas/reindeer-afternoon-tea13dec

This is very pertinent to me as I spent most of yesterday searching for somewhere special to take my mum for afternoon tea for her 80th. A nearby hotel with spa were wanting £140 EACH for afternoon tea + 2 hours use of spa (small pool and sauna plus option for treatments at extra cost). Bloody ridiculous for a very average slightly drab 4* hotel .

Started then looking into London hotels you’re easily looking at £90+ just for the tea plus of course travel so it’s a £250 afternoon for a few sarnies and a cuppa. And if your birthday happens to fall between Xmas and NYE you can forget it. Really disappointing as we’ve done afternoon tea for many a big birthday and this is the first year I just can’t see the justification. For similar money I’ve booked a 7 course tasting menu at a Michelin starred restaurant half hour drive away.

A local casino hit on a brilliant idea to get people in through their door. They offered an afternoon tea for about £15.00 for two. I think they thought that we would be so wowed by the tea and high on sugar that we would wander through into the casino and spend big. Did we heck as like! Word spread , many of us went several times, it was a very generous spread and they topped up the tea pot (😀) . It was good, while it lasted. Then I suppose someone in management added up the figures……..

We are in Scotland where prices are much more reasonable than down south. I can assure you this is accurate description, she has done them for a long time and is always busy, she put her price up from £20 to £25 last year and must be doing fine with it!

I love afternoon tea and I have eaten it at most of the bigger places in London. But I’m increasingly finding eating out being an overpriced and underwhelming experience as I feel the quality of food and service has gone down in general.

It is so disappointing to have a rubbish afternoon tea. Looking at you, Charlotte Street Hotel last year, with your freezing cold sandwiches and Twinings teabags.

That's the Duchess of Bedford, the Orange Pekoe mix.

You know exactly what I mean. It’s not just tea and a cake. As you say right at this star5 of this rather argument-for-the-see-of-it post, tea and cake are but two elements, ergo even by your own definition it isn’t ‘tea and cake’.

edit: and yes, she was meaning to be unpleasant about afternoon tea eaters ‘stuffing themselves’ instead just having one cup of tea and a small fancy cake.

Was lucky to have a voucher for afternoon tea at the Ritz and was aware how expensive it is, but the experience and the food was amazing. I was tipped off that if you’re slow to move from the sandwiches to the scones you’ll be offered more sandwiches. And we were. Didn’t feel ripped off at all, and the sandwiches were fresh and at room temperature.

Can also recommend Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire for a great location and lovely locally sourced food.

But it is too easy to charge a lot of money for a poor afternoon tea. OP, you need to name and shame in a review, so potential customers are well informed.

I miss fishpaste sandwiches.

That sounds more like high tea although still very nice.

Where is that?

I went to one in Somerset this summer - all homemade cakes, scones and sandwiches. Delicious and reasonably priced. Sadly, she wasn’t going to carry on after Christmas.

I was going to say that about the sandwiches - there are rules aren't there about what is in them. Hotel near me - Northcote - used to do a great one, really made you feel special and would give you extra sandwiches if requested. The service was impeccable. But that's a Michelin starred restaurant. They stopped doing it though sadly.

I am form Duchess of Bedfordland and that's way more fragrant than PG Tips. Nice though.

The enshittification of life continues apace.

I still buy sardine and tomato paste as a treat!

I've noticed some of the quality/quantity has declined whilst eating out at a lot of places over the last year or two, sadly it seems to be that they are trying to keep costs down in the face of rising inflation and rising food prices, but if you are going somewhere nice you expect it to be nice, don't you?

Because it's instead of lunch and dinner.

It's tiny little sandwiches which all combined make a round, maybe. They are all dainty and delicious, plus pretty little pastries or savoury bits, and miniature cakes. It's quite a lot of individual items but they are all small and ridiculously pretty.

I have to say, I know it's not afternoon tea, but DH and me went to a Nando's for the first time in about 6/7 years last week and were very impressed that the quality and quantity were as good as we remember, which stood out for me! as I say, so many venues seem to be scrimping nowadays!

Quality has definitely declined. I had a meal out with friends recently at Bill’s. Not great. The food I was served the following week on a long haul flight with Emirates was much better and a much more enjoyable meal.