HobbesOxon wrote:
> Wow, I just read that Moby's joint charged you $40 for a hopeless
> afternoon tea. I can only say that:
>
> 1. I would have done the same in your position, to try it out and see
> what all the fuss was about.
>
> 2. I would have drawn the conclusion that he's fleecing his customers,
> trading only on his name. There's simply no excuse for shoddy cakes,
> bad tea, inelegant surroundings.
>
> I should also point out that the difference between a pop-star's cafe
> and the Ritz is like comparing supermarket's own brand of teabags to
> your favourite Oriental looseleaf. Moby has absolutely no business in
> charging anything near a London hotel, excepting a clear desire to make
> money out of the gullible.
>
> (Where I would define gullible to be people who go there more than
> once!)
>
>
> Toodlepip,
>
> Hobbes

Oh, no, I'd classify it as gullible. Don't be afraid to call a spade a
spade, you won't hurt my feelings. I knew full well what I was getting
into, except for the fact that I really had thought they would be
serious about the tea... proper brewing temps, amount of tea, etc.
Heck, even just being able to order my pot of Pi Lo Chun by name
instead of getting a blank stare until I said "#29" would have been
nice. I knew it was all downhill from there. The lady next to me having
the $18 Tea and English Heinz baked beans on toast seemed to think it
was a wonderful time for two pieces of toast and two tablespoons of
baked beans... ugh.

While the Ritz is certainly a high-class affair, it is still all out of
whack with the real point of it all. There are quite a few high-brow
places to pay big bucks for an English tea, just like the place near my
house... they have a great place and the food is very good... but
honestly $100 (or even just $64) for a cucumber sandwich, a scone, and
some Earl Grey is a bad deal no matter how you slice it in my eyes. The
whole point is a nice informal tea, to make it formal and expensive
just for the sake of doing so is lame IMO.

- Dominic