bisonrav

We get a bit fixated on lounges here, and in most cases these are dry-walled boxes with cheap furniture and impractical tables where you're packed in, trying to construct a meal out of garnishes and mysterious wraps with something that is almost but not quite entirely unlike chicken, washed down with whatever happens to be on free pour. Every now and then, a besuited phwanquer will zig zag in front of you on a very important call, earbuds in and gesticulation set to 11.

There must be more to life than this. Even at airports. So I wondered what others have found that's preferable? In terms of food, drink, other facilties?

My starter gambit is Fiskeriet, dotted around Oslo airport. This is a chain of fish restaurants, and they do a magnificent and generous fish soup. You'll sit at a bar or small table working your way through it, and there is excellent people watching available in the terminal. It's a really nice alternative to the lounge, which usually has a thin soup and random salad oddments.

corporate-wage-slave

Note: above soup costs £19.

scottishpoet

which, for Oslo, is a bargain 😜

BerksFlyer

Scandinavia is not somewhere I would venture outside of the lounge for food, no matter how grim the lounge is. To be fair to OSL lounge it has windows, plenty of comfy seating and the salad bar isn’t the worst. Most importantly it’s free!

That said, this is a good idea for a thread. There are some locations with truly grim lounges or no lounge at all and sharing experiences at those locations could be a useful resource. And for anyone who prefers to spend £19 on a bowl of soup in OSL rather than visit the lounge then Friskeriet is quite nice, or at least their restaurant in Youngstorget is.

marcopizzaiuolo

Although food wise is probably one of my favourite lounges served by BA (proper pasta, fresh buffalo Mozzarella on tap, different savoury breads, assorted Neapolitan Pastries etc), Naples has also “Marennà Assaggi”, the quick service outpost of Marennà, the Michelin starred restaurant located (and owned by) at Feudi di San Gregorio Winery, but as I said, I tend to stick to the lounge as the food is great and I usually find enough space for the whole family.

LCY8737

McDonalds at DXB has very nice views and beats the BA lounge, including the Concorde bar. They also provide Chicken McNuggets to take on the flight at much lower prices than Scandinavian soup (not sure if a F boarding pass is required).

ILikePancakes

I'm a massive fan of Wagamama at both Heathrow and Gatwick. I'm never disappointed

JD1905

Wetherspoons ❤️

Not joking either - proper pint and a substantial meal that’ll fill you up.

HogwartsExpress

After living in Norway for twelve years or so, the only advice I can give is that if you’re worried about the cost of stuff you should just not come in the first place.

Nonetheless in this scenario I do still go in the lounge rather than spew cash outside.

salut0

We had a pretty good snack of spinach and cheese borekas from landside La Farina at TLV, rather than the nasty offerings in the Dan Lounge. Does anyone have any airside recommendations for TLV?

TTmex

Scandinavia getting a bit of a hard time, but US airports not far behind where a basic Burger King will set you back 20 bucks.

As for places to eat or drink in airports, I love the food court in Singapore airport. No views but great, good value food and a chance for one last dumpling or whatever floats your boat.

bisonrav

That's by no means anything close to the most expensive bowl of fish soup I've ever had in Norway. That would be this one, in Tromso, but it was miraculous:




Bearing in mind you can get a BA ticket OSL to LHR for £28 some days (or less if you use best price guarantee), and there are cheap options to get there, you can save on the travel to enjoy the soup. I rather feel the need to construct a soup run now. I'd still probably go to the lounge to sit and have some drinks.

I suppose also a good point to throw in the Grain Store at Gatwick S, which for those among us with a Priority Pass, provides a £15 credit. There's a reduced but still extremely adequate breakfast which with a coffee comes to a shade over that, and is an excellent alternative to the buffet style one in GF as you can guarantee hot and non wangy hashbrowns. I'm also a fan of the Nandos breakfast at Gatwick, which is a spicy sausage round onto which you can add a hashbrown and coffee - costs actual money but is a nice start to the day.

JapesUK

It feels as if this thread is going to turn into a rather valuable wiki!

’hot and non wangy hashbrowns’ 😂

ENTP

I passed though DOH a few days ago and was surprised to see one by the C gates end of the shuttle. Would happily go if I didn’t have Al Mourjan access

TTmex

After my last two AM experiences, id take the wagamamas.