Review of Quarantine UK - A Managed Quarantine Experience in 2021
Things you may find useful to know before you go into hotel quarantine in the UK based on my stay in a Quarantine Hotel in London
UK Hotel Quarantine Food Diary: Day 1 Expectations
London Hotel Quarantine London Food Blog: Day 1 Wednesday Menu
Breakfast
Even as I had ordered it I was concerned about the idea of a hot breakfast being delivered to rooms on a bulk basis. When it arrived it was exactly as I would expect it to be. English breakfast consisted of your typical hot buffet style breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, pork sausage, two rather oily potato hash browns (not very English LOL) and a small serving of beans in a little tub.
Now I would not say no a good hot English breakfast, but this wasn’t it. The scrambled egg was slightly above the standard typical airline scrambled eggs, but the bacon and sausage was not. The tub of beans was a nice touch to stop the hash browns from getting soggy. It was edible, but not something I wanted to eat for the next 10 mornings.
Thankfully all breakfasts were served with a carton of fresh orange juice and side dishes of fruit salad, yogurt, and a pastry which turned out to be a pre-packed croissant with butter and jam, you can keep the butter and jam, that croissant was so fresh it was delicious on its own.
Lunch
The quarantine food continued to be underwhelming at lunch. What was once a Lamb Kofta Salad on flat bread had been thrown sideways into a delivery bag, shaken and stirred like a martini until now it resembled a tossed salad with 3 dry looking pieces of sausage.
The spice from the lamb has been shaken all over the salad so there is no escaping the spice flavour, and the lamb was frankly chewy. Knowing that I had to eat I ate one piece of the lamb and the flat bread which was hidden under the salad. Actually the bread was the saving grace of this meal, even though there was nothing to really go on it except for rubbery lamb the bread was fresh and I ate it dry. I find it a bit sad that the flat bread was the highlight of the Lamb Kofta Salad.
I did try to re-arrange it into some semblance of a meal before taking the photo, and think I did a pretty good job.
As you can see from the photo there was also soup which was lentil and lime (I only know this because I checked the menu later, couldn’t taste even a hint of lime), a disappointing bread roll, some fresh fruit and a bag of crisps (for any South Africans reading this, that would be chips to you) and a fizzy drink.
Dinner
Dinnertime brought around a complete change in my thoughts on hotel quarantine food. Cajun spiced salmon, gratin potatoes and buttered beans was the menu, and it looked and smelt delicious.
I was very pleased to find that the salmon tasted just as good as it looked. Beautifully cooked, falling apart and the full flavour of the fish was coming through with every bite. I was less impressed with the beans which were a little bit tough. The potato gratin was a vast improvement on the “smash” from yesterday evening and I ate every bite, although for my taste it was still far too heavily salted and a little too rich.
Still tonight's dinner was well presented and I enjoyed eating it including the dessert of Raspberry Tart.
So the hotel quarantine food has taken a turn for the better, will it continue? UK Quarantine Food Diary Day 2
To find out more about what is included in your UK hotel quarantine and how it all works read my full review of managed hotel quarantine here.
If you just want a quick summary of how the food works in UK qaurantine and what it is like then read my Overview of UK Quarantine Food here.
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