Among Friends

[Venezia]

@ECBG - I'm married to a Brit and lived there for 20 years.

As others have pointed out, what you're referring to is called "afternoon tea".  It isn't something served everyday.  Friends and I would sometimes go to the Ritz Palm Court Restaurant (London) to enjoy afternoon tea as a treat.  We didn't eat dinner afterwards.  (ETA:  In some places, it would also be called a cream tea; although that didn't always include small sandwiches.)

Also, portions for lunch and dinner are very much smaller than what Americans expect.  To my mind, they are more normal.  (Think about the longstanding habit here of diners in restaurants taking food home in doggy bags.)

After years of living in England, I can no longer eat the portions served here; nor do I want to.

I remember having dinner out with friends one night, at a lovely small restaurant, when an American couple came in (no reservation) and insisted on being seated.  Even asking the host to throw out some other diners so they could have a table!

They were eventually seated.  They both ordered duck and, when it came, she simply looked at it, making a face, and pushed it around.  He said in a loud, obnoxious voice "You call that duck!?  We have bigger pigeons in Texas!"

The host was courtesy exemplified and didn't respond.  I kept my mouth shut, as I didn't want this couple to realize I was American, but I apologized to the host for their behavior on our way out and assured him we were not all like that.  Boorish in the extreme.

The food was delicious (by a Paris-trained chef) and portions were normal size.

[qualitygal]

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@kaydee50 wrote:

Tea is usually at 3 or 4 pm.  Many Europeans don't eat "dinner" until 8 pm or later.  Plus as others have stated, portions are much smaller than here in the States.

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I'm so glad to learn this.  I've wondered this before too.A mom on You Tube I watched, did tea and ?biscuits for her boys each afternoon. Must be to hold them over to such a late dinner.  Now that makes sense.  I've even begun tea in the afternoon, have some now as a matter of fact.  But dinner is at 5 here.  Next month, the time changes and I'll need to do an hour adjustment.  Oh no, the dog won't get this again.  LOL

[Tinkrbl44]

They have what we'd call a "snack". 

If it's high-fat from the butter used, I can see why they don't even need to eat until 8 or 9 pm.

Whether you eat "three squares a day" or more smaller snacks, I doubt the total calorie count varies all that much. 

[ECBG]

@Venezia 

Many thanks.  I learned quite a lot.

The couple you saw were jerks.

[Sage04]

Family and friends who come by for Thanksgiving dinner do this the Friday after Thanksgiving. The high tea is for the  ladies only and you have to make a reservation and it's $80.00 per person. The youngest so far is 9 years old.

Only went one year just to see what it was like and never went back. Different sandwiches that an ant can pull around and a lot of different this and that. It's a lot of fun but just not interested. Of course the ladies had to put on their best frock lol. It became a family tradition for a few years now.

[Lucky Charm]

Eating dinner at 8 p.m.  That's awefully late, unless you stay up past midnight.

All Americans are gluttons and overweight. 

And all Brits aren't Twiggy-thin.

[Sooner]

High Tea is a meal normally eaten by the working class, a meal of cheeses and other foods that make a meal.  Served at the "high" or dinner table, usually after work.

Afternoon Tea is a more formal and elaborate tea served at about 4 p.m. It is associated with dainty little sanwiches, scones and sweets, pretty china and cups and fancy dress.

Elevenses is eleven o'clock work break tea served in the morning.

[Venezia]

It's interesting that none of my friends or (British) family refer to a morning tea break as "elevenses".  I think we just associate that with "The Hobbit" - comes right after "second breakfast"!  

And many use "high tea" and "afternoon tea" interchangeably.  Our evening meal was always called "dinner", never high tea.  We generally ate around 6:00 or 7:00.

I'm sure much of the difference depends upon where in the country you live.  Although my DH was originally from the north, we lived in the south while I was there.

[Venezia]

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@ECBG wrote:

@Venezia 

Many thanks.  I learned quite a lot.

The couple you saw were jerks.

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@ECBG - Yes, they were!  They were the type who earn us the moniker "ugly American" in many countries. 

[Allthingsgirly67]

I can’t imagine going to sleep after eating a meal a few hours later. Just think of the indigestion.