Beardmore - Glasgow Airport UPDATED

It is a universal truth that Airports, in general, are soulless places that suck the life from you as you wait for hours to queue and then sit for hours in a small seat pretending to be asleep so you don't have to talk to the person next to you*. But do airports also have to take each and every opportunity to drive a greedy wedge between you and your cash? Whatever happened to Duty-Free? You used to be able to trust that your holiday really did start once you got through security.

Unfortunately, these days I can see through this devastating lie. Travelling out of London usually hides a certain high price point because, well, it might be international but it is still London. However I was subjected to a perfect example of bad corporate ethos when I visited Glasgow Airport this week.

In Glasgow airport you have several choices of eatery. Cafe's abound alongside Frankie and Bennies and a Wetherspoons, all of which may well have been better than Beardmore which we chose because of it's alleged 'local' connections. If local means 'stick another couple of quid on for the privilege' in Scotland, then it certainly lived up to its reputation. two pints of (poor) Beardmore ale for £11 anyone? Let me put that another way, that's over FIVE POUNDS A PINT in a city that has the worst drinking problem in the UK. I can only draw two conclusions: either Glasgow is filled with millionaire tramps, or Beardmore is ripping the piss something chronic.

The food didn't fare much better:

This was my 'homemade' lamb burger. Homemade? Really? Perfectly bland with a massive slice from a gigantic mutant tomato which had to be removed for fear of washing away the whole burger and giving me a third arm. I could at least taste the lamb, onion and a bit of coriander, but it was just too chewy, too sweet and too expensive. The brioche bun continued in the same theme and I was forced to find solace in the chips. Thankfully, Beardmore didn't fail me with the deep fried part of the meal but if you get bad chips in Glasgow then you know something is really wrong. These were crispy and fluffy made with their jackets still on. Were they pre-frozen? Probably, but in situations like this you are thankful for small mercies. Next time I'll stick with the national chains... which is a real shame.

Looking through the photos on my phone I found the below:

Now, while I appreciate that giving people access to a knife just before boarding a plane is an action that must be risk assessed in the current day and age. However, I would hope that the powers that be recognise that a person needs more functionality in their cutlery than the combination of a chopstick and spork.


Beardmore Bar and Restaurant


*Or is that just me?