# Airport food - or prices?!



## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Photo of *sad* Scottish sandwich goes viral.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/07/03/photo-of-sad-scottish-sandwich-goes-viral.html



> "This is what a £3.20 bacon and egg roll from Edinburgh airport looks like.” *"It’s so bad it’s funny*.” ...


... I couldn't agree more! :biggrin:


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> Photo of *sad* Scottish sandwich goes viral.
> 
> http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/07/03/photo-of-sad-scottish-sandwich-goes-viral.html
> 
> ... I couldn't agree more! :biggrin:


it's Scotland and it's airport food, which is bad enough..maybe they should have asked for a Haggis sandwich?
At least they didn't ask for camenbert and crackers. The Scots are known to be "tight wads" and this sandwich confirms that.

of course in Europe, it's hard to find a decent meal with portions like we are used to in NA..even the burgers are smaller.

I remember travelling to Venice in the mid 90s and stopping at an outside restaurant-cafe for lunch.
The waiter approached us and told us it would cost us 5000 lira (table charge) to sit at the table + the cost of the food with taxes, and he was hoping for
a substantial tip as well.

I ordered a spaghetti dish... (figuring hey this Italy, so pasta should be really cheap..right?...no!
He came back with a small plate with about 25 strands of boiled spaghetti and about a tablespoon of marinara sauce in the middle. 

It was an appetizer for me. I asked for some bottled water, and he came back with a bottle that was already opened before hand and poured it
into my glass..tap water... no doubt. That was also 5000 lira. 

That quick lunch cost me about 25,000 lira (about $25 cdn) when he came back with the bill with his gratuity already included.

So much for the Italians, who have forgotten that Canadian soldiers helped to liberate them!


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Airport food has gotten very expensive. I now tend to buy snacks & food on the flights. Air Canada tends to have some decent options that I think are good value for the money (vs what you can buy at the airport).

I can't believe I find myself saying that food purchased on the flight is now a better deal. Depends on the length of the flight though, as availability is limited on shorter flights -- in which case you'd better buy a snack at the airport.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

I like the onboard meals. Also, when you buy one you get a meal every leg so if you're doing a cross continent flight GO FOR IT.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

carverman said:


> it's Scotland and it's airport food, which is bad enough..maybe they should have asked for a Haggis sandwich?
> At least they didn't ask for camenbert and crackers. The Scots are known to be "tight wads" and this sandwich confirms that.


 ... I don't think it's a case of the Scots being tightwad on their food but that of the Edinburgh's airport food outlet called EAT - rather ironic there's not much to eat on that sandwich...I mean just looking at that sad thing will give anyone a laugh ... and the descript in the article is perfect.



> “It’s so bad it’s funny.”
> 
> That’s how a traveller — with his sense of humour intact — *described the bacon-and-egg sandwich he says he was served at Edinburgh Airport shop EAT*.
> 
> ...


 ... ROFL ...




> of course in Europe, it's hard to find a decent meal with portions like we are used to in NA..even the burgers are smaller.


 ... rule #1 for travelling foodies, always eat local. Burgers and fries are not local in European countries!



> I remember travelling to Venice in the mid 90s and stopping at an outside restaurant-cafe for lunch.
> The waiter approached us and told us it would cost us 5000 lira (table charge) to sit at the table + the cost of the food with taxes, and he was hoping for
> a substantial tip as well.
> 
> ...


 ... did you actually count the sphagetti strands? :biggrin: 

But then I'm not surprised at all by the small servings and high prices... also, the fact they charge you for everything...including supposedly compliementary breadsticks! Ka-ching$$$

Dining out in Venice or Rome is very lucrative for restauranteurs, not diners and even less so for tourists. 

I gather you didn't parlare in italiano al cameriere so you were a well-picked-out-tourist for the establishment. Actually I would have felt pretty rich carrying 25,000 liras ... :biggrin:


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

james4beach said:


> Airport food has gotten very expensive. I now tend to buy snacks & food on the flights. Air Canada tends to have some decent options that I think are good value for the money (vs what you can buy at the airport).
> 
> I can't believe I find myself saying that *food purchased on the flight is now a better deal*.


 ... snacks such as nuts are not good value for the money ... however, there has been improvement in the sandwich department.



> Depends on the length of the flight though, as availability is limited on shorter flights -- in which case you'd better buy a snack at the airport.


 ... I think the quality of airport food depends very much on which airport it is - Toronto Pearson International is quite decent. Of course if you're a frequent traveller, a better bet is joining their Maple Lounge - simply makes the travelling experience much more convenient and pleasant.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> ... I don't think it's a case of the Scots being tightwad on their food but that of the Edinburgh's airport food outlet called EAT - rather ironic there's not much to eat on that sandwich...I mean just looking at that sad thing will give anyone a laugh ... and the descript in the article is perfect.


EAT..let me guess.."Edinburgh Airport Table scraps"..."we are Scottish, we dinna waste food, we get it for free.... from other restaurants.
Our eggs are collected from birds nests, and the ham scraps from plate scrapings Buns are aged for your enjoyment..bon appetit an eat hardy me tourists:biggrin:

However, if you decide on a breakfast in the airport food kiosk after security checks, you can expect just about anything. This was a family run restaurant apparently,
and they didn't have any fresh eggs or bacon/ham that morning..so they probably compromised scrounging. The egg was from a Scottish chicken that wasn't being
fed properly but "farm fresh'..and the bacon..well...who knows how long that was in their fridge.

They should have gone to the real restaurant there..
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/.../Menus/The+Gathering+Restaurant+Breakfast.pdf

or even this one..
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/edinburghairport/files/2015/04/20150430_turnhouse_front.pdf

So ya get what ya pay for...BTW..they are the 2014 MIDAS award winners..so that explains it all. (In Mythology, King Midas was a stingy hoarder. )
-------------------------VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV----------------------


> EAT. create, make and serve fresh food to go. As *2014 MIDAS Award Winners,* EAT. take pride in the range of soup, hot pots, salads, sandwiches and drinks, they serve fresh every day. Whether you’re looking to start your day off with a morning coffee, *stop for a filling lunch, or get a bit peckish for afternoon tea,* EAT. have classics and treats to suit any time of the day. Hungry? Let’s EAT.



On Carver's only trip to Venice
--------------------------


> ... did you actually count the sphagetti strands? :biggrin:
> 
> But then I'm not surprised at all by the small servings and high prices... also, the fact they charge you for everything...including supposedly complimentary breadsticks! Ka-ching$$$
> Dining out in Venice or Rome is very lucrative for restaurateurs, not diners and even less so for tourists.
> ...


No, I didn't count each strand, but the plate was HUGE for some reason, and in the middle was *some* spaghetti and a small dollop of sauce.
Prices are very inflated in Italy..you have to bring lots of money...I think at the time it was about 1000 Italian lira or more to the American dollar. 

If you brought Cdn travellers checks with you, you also got ripped off at the local currency changers as well as the restaurants. Some better restaurant places would take traveller's checks, but others wouldn't, because they didn't know the exchange rate each day, so you had to ask first...or give them VISA/AMEX, which I didn't like doing as I was concerned about being scammed with extra charges. The hotels did take credit cards.

I only stayed there for a day or so..saw the canals, St, MarK's square and caught the midnight train out of there to Switzerland.
Venice..... You can have it!


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