I don’t particularly enjoy Heathrow Terminal 5, so thought I’d soften the blow with a trip to Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, on my way to a glorious week in Istanbul.

Unashamedly an airport lounge (it doesn’t try to masquerade as a restaurant that just happens to be in an airport), it serves a menu that I suppose would be called “modern British classic,” if that phrase isn’t too ghastly (which I rather fear it is).

Just because I happened to be on holiday, I didn’t deviate from my usual habits too much, so following my choice of white onion and cider soup, I opted for seabass on puy lentils. I was encouraged to augment this with a side dish of roast potatoes, which seemed a fair enough notion to me.

The service was straightforward, accurate and swift, with a nice sprinkling of friendly banter.

First up was the soup, which was accompanied by fresh, warm bread. Onion and cider is always going to spell sweetness, but it was pretty well judged.

The main course of seabass was also rather good. The fish was nicely cooked, and the dish was light and fresh. The creamed onions severely lacked flavour, though.

The roast potatoes I’d been recommended didn’t go with the dish well at all, to the extent that I spoke with the waitress, to voice my concerns. The rosemary on the potatoes was way too robust against the subtle flavours of the seabass. Plain roasted, buttered boiled or good salty chips would have worked much better.

It’s the same thing that I ran in to in Fishers in the City. If it happens again, I might need to seek some advice as to whether this is some sort of ingrained palette diversity deficiency that I’m suffering from, or whether it really is just kitchens trying too hard.

I didn’t opt for dessert or coffee, so headed off to await my flight.

While Plane Food isn’t an absolute blockbuster, it does provide the traveller with the opportunity to have a really decent restaurant meal in an airport, rather than having to make do with inferior quality for an inflated price. It nicely illustrates the opportunity that the folks at Charles de Gaulle are missing by serving sub-par food-court garbage. Next time you’re off somewhere nice and can’t avoid Terminal 5, there’s every chance that Plane Food will restore your calm and may even put a smile on your face.

Scores
Blythe scores Plane Food
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 14/20

I ate: white onion and cider soup, seabass with puy lentils, side order of roast potatoes

I drank: sparkly water

I wore: skinny tie

Total bill: c.£30