Wetherspoon Express

In general i’m a fan of Wetherspoons but considering this particular one is posing as an Irish bar at the Emerald Gate in Heathrow I found it a litle disappointing that nothing on the drinks menu seemed to be very Irish at all!
Airport prices, but comfortable chairs and a relaxed atmosphere as most people are quite close to their gate by the time they get here.

A decent place to grab a cup of coffee if you’re stranded at heathrow terminal 1 waiting for an aer lingus flight.
After several hours in the terminal, I broke down and had a sandwich. The «festive panini». Basically a thanksgiving sandwich with turkey, cheddar, and cranberry sauce. I didn’t have time to have it grilled, so I took it cold. It was good enough since it was the only option and less than € 5

It is a café at an airport and removed from the rest of the food in terminal 1. I think that gives them the right to be mediocre at high street prices. Need I say anymore? If I am desperate I will stop here for a sandwich before boarding the flight back home ;-)

after a hellacious series of mid-​air cancelled flights, broken aircraft, and frantic rebookings, we finally landed at heathrow. we had 3 hours before we needed to catch our next flight out and at that point i felt ready to eat a cow. we asked a hostess at the information booth where the best english breakfast was to be had in our terminal and wetherspoon was the response.
i was giddy when we reached it– it had a full bar with guiness, fosters, and two other local lagers on tap. it was about midnight in the states so i wanted something heavy, almost dinner like. i asked for a guiness (the sign said ice cold!) but after it was poured i noticed it was half head. i couldn’t believe the bartender hadn’t noticed it, and asked her if the keg was maybe running low. well it was, so i settled for something else.
we ordered 2 english breakfasts (god save the queen!) and waited eagerly for them to bring it tableside. when it arrived i was surprised at how gross it looked. the eggs were poached, the 2 sausages were cumberlands with dry crackly skin, there were two triangular hashed browns that were soggy on the bottom and cold on the inside, one half tomato, tomato sauce beans and bacon. the beans, tomato, and bacon were alright– quality you’d expect from a restaurant in an airport. everything else was a major disappointment. the sausage was so dry i didn’t even bother eating the second one. the eggs were the worst though– who poaches eggs on an english breakfast?
the old saying is «any port in a storm», but i’m not so sure i’d head back here my next time around.

Ah Heathrow, Terminal 1, how I truly hate thee.
No less than 3 times in the last 2 months I have spent 6 hour delays wandering around aimlessly, each time coming through that last security check a bit too early and thus getting caught in that tiny little departure area where a few couches and the Wetherspoon Express represent the only links to civilisation.
I’m not ungrateful, the VERY friendly staff there have kept me fed and watered with big warm friendly smiles but there is only so many paninis and wraps you can have before you crave something different.
They have a full bar there which is tremendous for a long wait. if you are not driving on the other end!
So, as an eatery, 1 star, as a bar 3, but for the staff and ‘any port in a storm’ a healthy 4 stars!