Afternoon Tea or High Tea?

[Sunshineismyfavourite]

A hotel I visit sometimes is currently advertising a 'High Tea' for Mother's Day. The menu is sandwiches, quiche, scones and cakes. But that's not 'High Tea' is it? That is an 'Afternoon Tea'. A high tea where I come from is a late afternoon meal like a 'proper' dinner - meat, veg, potatoes etc. of some description.

The hotel do brand themselves as being a bit top tier. It irritates me that they are calling it a 'High Tea' as if they are being too posh to do an afternoon tea or something. And don't get me started on the whole 'cream tea' debacle!

YANBU - it's afternoon tea - they are unreasonable to call it a high tea.
YABU - it's a high tea/who cares what they are calling it!

My experience too.
We used to go out to a local hotel as a treat for a high tea in the 70s.

Nothing pretementions or wanky about it.

Yes this, I used to work in a restaurant that sold this.

Your granny knew that High Tea was shorthand for the casual early meal PP have described, traditionally eaten at the dining - or kitchen - table, the high table. Afternoon Tea was often served in the sitting room or drawing room at a low table.

I have been served lovely high teas at homes in rural Yorkshire

Yep. Semi-regularly in the 80's/90's when visiting my granny, but seeing them advertised again locally more recently.

We're in North-East Scotland, I think they are more common up here.

I take it you meant pretentious or swanky, or were you trying to get subject matter for the viscous thread?

That's how I remember High Tea too. I am slightly younger so it was something I experienced in the late 1980s/early 1990s, often in the function room of the local hotel with my Granny at the weekend. It was always served around 5pm, so later than an afternoon tea and closer to a traditional dinner/tea time.

High tea also got taken by the British to the Indian subcontinent ( Pakistan and Sri Lanka and not just India) during the Raj. A lot of hotels and restaurants still serve high tea between 3 and 6 with hot savoury buffet items plus more sweet things than you can shake a stick at. When going on visits to family, I always hope people will invite me to high tea in a restaurant as opposed to dinner with rice and curry.

Interesting that High Tea made its way to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Even if it has the twist of being done buffet style, although others on here have also suggested their version was buffet style.

And now I want a big cream cake. This is not good for the diet.

I was referring to a PP who said High Tea was pretentious and wanky but autocorrect chose to make up a word

But the shop isn't open, and even if it were, I couldn't be arsed to go and get it.

High tea is the working class "evening" family meal.

As opposed to supper, which is what posher folk have informally of an evening, or dinner which is more formal full evening meal.

Yes, to me ‘high tea’ is hot - and served with a pot of tea and bread and butter. I always think of scampi and chips in a seaside hotel.

I remember going to a hotel with my mum and my nephew who would have been maybe only 3 maybe 4 for high tea. This would be approx 30 years ago. It was a hot meal not as substantial as dinner and served with tea bread and butter.
My ds was home from abroad and I have no idea why she wasn't there as well.
A lot of hotels would have advertised that they served high tea. Actually afternoon tea wasn't as prolific as it was today at least not where we are. Or would really be only seen in good hotels and certainly nor in cafes like today.

This!