Shopping centre blues

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Posted at 10:54AM, 18 November 2010 by Caroline Hire - Food editor, bbcgoodfood.com

Usually the lowlight of any shopping centre trip is the hasty and often overpriced snack grabbed from one of the big department stores or coffee chains. Or worse still, the food court. Put those two words together and a cold shiver runs down my spine. Please don't make me go there!

Sitting at plastic tables that could do with a wipe, huddles of tired shoppers, beaten by shopping (if not life) push greasy noodles around their plates.

Choice is not always a good thing when the options seem a sadly unloved, disparate and desperate collection of fast food stands. And sitting at plastic tables that could do with a wipe, huddles of tired shoppers, beaten by shopping (if not life) push greasy noodles, pre-made sandwiches or sluggish salads around their plates. You won't find animated and intimate conversation here as you might if you'd actually gone out with the sole intention of eating. The shopping trip lunch is simply a means to an end - the fuel to get you through the shopping ahead, not something to be lingered over...

Or is it? On a recent trip to Bluewater, I feared I was in for another less-than-enjoyable repast and so was thoroughly surprised by the latest addition to their culinary offering. Cadbury Cocoa House is a quirky tea room that serves fresh sandwiches, afternoon tea and ice creams with retro décor and old-fashioned tunes. Emerging after a very fine refueling, I noted that there are in fact a few promising establishments to be found in Europe's third biggest shopping centre. Of course they couldn't forgo the unsavoury food court but old habits die hard.

Young pretender Westfield seems to have upped the ante for good shopping chow with a classy version of the food court and they've called it their 'communal style dining experience' (get them). The Balcony as it's also known has a great selection of mini versions of 'proper' restaurants and if you don't want to have, err...a communal dining experience they also have a good line in restaurants, including Jamie's Italian and Busaba Eathai. Perhaps the days of the dodgy food court are over afterall...

Is eating as much a part of your shopping trip as shopping? Would you go near a food court without a gun pointing to your head/ wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat? Let us know.

Comments

Frantic Flapjack

18 November 2010, 1:45PM
Frantic Flapjack

In my home city of Cardiff, there is a very large shopping centre with the usual chain cafes/restaurants serving the usual gloop but we also have old fashioned shopping arcades housing some lovely little cafes which serve fresh food, some of them on a Welsh theme and also a New York deli style cafe which serves sublime bagels.

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Mary

21 November 2010, 9:19AM
Mary

Eating is always part of my shopping trip! I understand what you are saying .. quality isn't always there & may be it is ... just a means to an end. But! ... may be peoples budgets come in to this too? Not everyone has the money to enjoy quirky tea rooms ... sonds lovely by the way! & if you can afford it ,, well you would wouldn't you .. of course you would!! I tend to stay clear of the 'food courts' & have found some pretty decent pub grub establishments ... and of course, a little alcoholic drink is a bonus! > :0) x

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prune boy

25 November 2010, 3:36PM
prune boy

I'm quite partial to a food court. I get excited when faced with so much choice but more often than not the reality does not live up to what I'd hoped.

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Juliet West

27 November 2010, 2:11PM
Juliet West

If you are shopping at Cheshire Oaks on the Wirral, then check out The Cupcake Compartment - they have delicious handmade puddings, cheesecakes and cupcakes and the luxury hot chocolate is amazing!

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Nicola

29 November 2010, 9:09AM
Nicola

Ech, I hate food courts but made the mistake yesterday to get lunch there. I left very stressed and grumpy! Everything is loud and rushed, the food is blandy and greasy and there was a kid staring right at me as I ate from about 1 foot away! Not an enjoyable eating experience.

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Christine

1 December 2010, 11:29PM
Christine

Living north of London, I normally shop at Brent Cross which is a manageable size for getting around and has a good selection of shops. However, it severely lags behind in its provision of pit stops. The few eateries (none of could be reasonably described as a restaurant) are overcrowded and noisy. Food so so. Have also been to Cadbury Cocoa House at Bluewater and found it a refreshing change from the usual shopping centre offerings. An oasis of style and taste with original decor and good food. Afternoon tea there was a treat.

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Barb

9 December 2010, 3:16PM
Barb

Living in East Kent, our nearest shopping centre is in Ashford. We tend to ignore fast food; shopping centre food suppliers and the like and head into town to either pub grub, nice cafe's or something decadent like an American Diner which has everything you shouldn't eat but can't resist.

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