A man who fell in love with hospital canteen food while visiting a relative has spent £10,000 eating in different NHS cafes around the UK.
Omar Shafiq, 33, has devoured over 700 meals at British infirmaries and says the ‘price’ and ‘quality’ of the dishes cannot be beaten by high street restaurants.
His fondness for the grub in medical centres began in 2022 when he had to visit his dad at his local Royal Bolton Hospital after working late shifts.
But he found the £7 meal of a jacket potato, drink and chocolate bar irresistible – and said the canteen also satisfied his nostalgia for 90s school dinners.
Omar has since sampled NHS food at hospitals in London and Glasgow, which are both more than 200 miles from his home in Greater Manchester.
And he says eating at the cafeterias – where he pays between £5 and £10 for meals – is the ‘best way’ to support the health service.
Omar said: ‘If you asked me, “Would you rather go to Nando’s or the hospital to eat?” I’d go to the hospital.
‘In my opinion, the quality of the food is far better and the service is far better.
‘You know what you are getting. It’s much better value for money. I would much rather eat in a hospital than go to a restaurant.
‘I think it’s one of the best ways to support the NHS. The money I spend will go back to the NHS, and we should all come together to make the place look busy.
‘Our treatments are free, but we can spend money in other places to help fund the NHS and help them with their bottom line.
‘I have spent around £10,000 in the last two years in hospitals.’
Omar, who owns a shop in Bolton, said he can sometimes eat his breakfast, lunch and dinner at his local hospital canteen.
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But he will also seek out NHS restaurants to dine in while travelling around the country.
And he said the best meal he has eaten was at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London.
He said: ‘The fish and chips in almost all the hospitals up and down the country is epic. But the one that really stood out to me was the one that I had in London.
‘The Great Ormond Street Hospital fish and chips – it’s well worth a visit to the hospital for that food, really. It’s the best in the country.
‘For us guys growing up in the 90s, our school dinners, they were predominantly fish and chips, chips and beans, chips and gravy – chips are our national dish in the UK.
‘So it triggers and brings out those old memories of your youth and the good old days when you were in school. That is kind of what does it for me.
‘It’s also just a meal that I know I’m very familiar with, and I like to have it. I’m one of those people where I’m set in my ways. If I like something, I’ll keep doing it.’
Omar said his regular appearance at Royal Bolton Hospital’s canteen had sparked the curiosity of the doctors and nurses.
And one video that he shared on social media, showing his chips and beans, has received more than 80,000 likes and has been seen by nearly 900,000 viewers.
So Omar admitted that he sometimes changes his clothes to go noticed while visiting the food hall multiple times a day.
He went on: ‘I’ve given the game away a bit now, all the doctors and nurses have started to look at me.
‘I used to sometimes go twice in one day, and then have to go home in between and get changed so they wouldn’t recognise me. But I think I’ve grassed myself up now.’
Omar said his two favourite dishes are jacket potato, with cheese and beans and chips, with cheese and beans.
And he doesn’t mind digging into them in the Royal Bolton Hospital among those recovering from sickness and injury.
He said: ‘It’s not a problem for me. I’ve lost my own family in that hospital. I was born there myself.
‘Good and bad comes from a hospital. People are sick, and then they go in there to get fixed, so to speak. It doesn’t always have to be a sad place, it’s more to get better.
‘So it’s a place of hope, and our doctors do a fantastic job.
‘I’m glad they are getting served up the best food, and I’m happy to be sat in a room full of doctors, eating my dinner.’
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