Eating at the Airport

Friday Evening Dinner

In my previous post I outlined how we got to Gatwick and settled in to our room in the Premier Inn. Next came one of those decisions which make a holiday, where to eat. Normally life is so rushed that we eat what I planned when I went shopping the previous week, but tonight we had options. 

The options ranged from the Restaurant in the hotel, called Thyme, a restaurant across the road in the North Terminal called Nicholas Culpeper, or one of the restaurants in the South Terminal which included a Weatherspoons and a Giraffe World Kitchen. 

Given it is a Friday, and therefore for me as a catholic a day of abstinence from meat I wanted somewhere which had a variety of flavours, and Giraffe seemed to fit that need.

So it was a short trip on the monorail (it is free) back to South Terminal and a shorter walk to the stairs up to the restaurant. 

This was the first time I had tried a Giraffe restaurant, but I had had good feedback from my sister who eat there when she was travelling to the West Indies earlier this year. The menu is eclectic, with no particular food type dominating. 

We decided to share a Mezze to start, this was falafels, olives, halloumi, feta, tzatziki, hummus and roasted red peppers in spiced tomato sauce with garlic & coriander naan. It was surprisingly tasty with the roasted red peppers in a chilli tomato sauce being our favorite, but the grilled halloumi with paprika was also a lovely taste. In truth it was all lovely and the plate was empty by the time we finished.

Drew then opted for Cheese Burger and Fries, this was a chunky beef patty, with cheese, extra jalapenos (Drew's likes them hot), mixed leaves, tomato and special burger sauce. The bun was sweet like a brioche and the beef, according to Drew was juicy and tasty. The 'special' sauce reminded Drew of a Thousand Island sauce which was a bit unexpected with a burger.

In the absence of meat I opted for a dish called 'San Francisco Super Salad', though even on an abstinence day I needed more than salad, so I had fries with that too. The salad included beetroot, beluga lentils, radishes, carrots, baby spinach, pomegranate seeds, muki beans and a variety of seeds, almonds and pistachios all in a drizzle of lemon olive oil. As odd as it sounds it was really yummy. Every mouthful had a different texture, some crunchy, some soft and sweet, some tangy and savory. I would have been hard pressed to say which was which but the overall impression was very, very good.

We headed back along the monorail, back to the hotel and got to bed, earlier than usual at 9.30pm

Saturday Morning

After a good night's sleep I work at 4.30am and sat and read until our alarm went off at 5.30am. Time for a shower, shave, teethbrushing etc. for each of us and then down to the Premier Inn restaurant for breakfast.

Anyone who has read these blogs before will know we are fans of a breakfast at a Premier Inn. Our last was the last day of last year's holiday. 



The range of the food and the unusualness of having cooked breakfast, something I never do at home, makes it feel very special indeed. Unlike other chains Premier Inn cook real sausages and bacon, none of the cheap 'cash and carry' type product that turn to water when cooked, but really tasty sausage, bacon, black pudding and bubble and squeak. The pictures show my first plate and Drew's second. I went for two plates of savoury, Drew for one of savory one of sweet. We were both very replete at the end of the meal.

We were finished by 7.15am. Time to complete this blog post and head to the check in which is 200 yards away from the hotel.