The highly anticipated "Expo 2025 Osaka" is set to kick off in April for a six-month run, expecting massive crowds and drawing visitors from across the globe, with each nation's exhibits sparking major buzz.
The UK Pavilion's restaurant previously stirred up a storm with its '5,000 yen afternoon tea' that served up paper cups of black tea alongside frozen, mass-produced cakes. Many were left utterly disappointed by the quality. Following media reports, staff from the British Embassy in Japan promised improvements. However, the subsequent adjustments don't seem to have met public expectations.
Film critic Kei Onodera lamented, "The UK Pavilion said they swapped the paper cups for ceramic ones, but what we got were coffee cups. This isn't about cost anymore; it's a firm refusal to do things properly." He further pointed out that for the same price, you could get a far more authentic afternoon tea experience in Japan, questioning, "Why would the UK Pavilion do this?"
The news resonated widely online, sparking a wave of sarcasm. Netizens even shared photos, pointing out that even the teapots had inexplicably become French-designed, which was just hilarious.
One netizen quipped, "Serving British afternoon tea in coffee cups? I salute their bravery." Others revealed that the tea itself was brewed in a French press, and the cups were Nespresso coffee cups, completely ruining the ambiance.
Regarding this "British afternoon tea disaster," one netizen offered a more vivid comparison: "It's like walking into a sushi restaurant advertised as 'traditional Edo-style sushi' and getting California rolls instead. The shock is just too much."
Some even directly challenged, "I want to ask the British: Is this *really* what you call afternoon tea? Or will you go berserk like Italians seeing someone break spaghetti?"
However, some netizens stepped in to offer a counter-perspective, pointing out that average British households rarely use fancy tea sets. Instead, it's common to see mugs and teabags, with tea simply brewed on the fly. "Do you think they have three-tiered afternoon tea every day?" one asked. "Unless you're royalty, who's serving tea in royal porcelain?"
Another netizen criticized the UK Pavilion's misaligned positioning: "Afternoon tea, a symbol of high culture, being sold alongside fish and chips, a staple of common folk, is just weird to begin with. This mash-up is a cultural disaster."
Even so, some supporters tried to explain, "Perhaps they want people to focus on the tea itself, not how fancy the cups are." But clearly, more people found this approach unacceptable.
Ultimately, at an Expo, if the goal is to showcase authentic local culture, this approach might indeed be poorly thought out. It's a national showcase, after all, and disappointing international visitors is a tough look.
via： togetter