Food & Beverage 2021

[Matt.GC]

I’ve had better burgers at a car boot sale than at Burger Kitchen. The lack of quality is quite frustrating when you don’t want a sit down meal. Sometimes you just want a takeaway to sit on a rock for 15 minutes to stop the belly rumbles.

To be fair, I've never had a bad burger at a car boot sale. I'm doing one tomorrow and a delicious burger from the burger van is the bit I'm looking forward to the most!

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[MellowPasta]

They missed a trick not sticking a burger van beside each of the retro squad. Who needs aroma prime when you could have the scent of onions frying away to add to the ride experience.

 

[Matt.GC]

Manufactured on site food (like in pub's and restaurants) and non food (clothing and merchandise like in your local clothes shop or B&Q) is where the money is made, all incredibly high margin. It's just hard to get a business model that does it right.

There is little money in booze, fags, fuel, pre packed dried food and 3rd party concessions (selling someone else's product/brand on their behalf). Fast food is an intermediary, it's partly prepared and processed which means it's bought at a higher cost and sold at a lower cost but can scale up easily if you get enough volume. Fast food is the easy option, easy to prepare, easy to buy, easy to serve and simple all round. Merlin in general have managed to get the volume from it by offering little alternatives.

Proper sit down dining (doesn't even have to be posh) can be highly lucrative, in fact more lucrative, if the proposition is right. That would require quality venues, a good menu created by knowledgeable chefs, some skill and talent in the preparation (along with decent, rigid processes), the right service, a solid supply chain with good buyers and genuine ingenuity.

Basically, X marks the £££ spot if you put in the effort. So cheap burgers and chips from a vomit coloured CCL Burger Kitchen to be scoffed down whilst waiting in the Thirteen queue on a 10-4 day it is folks! Minimum effort, safe, medium returns.

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[Thameslink Rail]

On the subject of Alton Towers food, this turned up in my recommended section:

I haven't yet had the time to go through all of it but it will be interesting to see his opinions on all the options available (and the prices)

Edit: got round to watching it, they seem to be far more positive about food options at Towers than we are. The MAP discount got mentioned a few times as annoyingly some outlets don't do it. I'm surprised they recommend Cbeebies lunch box but I guess that is probably the best healthy option.

 

[AstroDan]

I am delighted Shawn is doing this, as hopefully it will draw attention to the average nature of food across the UK theme park estate. That said, I don't know how much Shawn is into food... if all you care about are nuggets and hot dogs, then Alton Towers is adequate.

 

[GothMonsieur]

I am delighted Shawn is doing this, as hopefully it will draw attention to the average nature of food across the UK theme park estate. That said, I don't know how much Shawn is into food... if all you care about are nuggets and hot dogs, then Alton Towers is adequate.

I'd say he's the biggest dry hot dog and chicken tenders enthusiast in the country, the man knows what he's talking about.

 

[GaryH]

Apparently £8.95 for a hotdog, chips and drink is good value…. Maybe it is in a theme park I don’t know but to me it’s expensive. And £7 for a burger from the vans on the lawns…. Not a chance

 

[MellowPasta]

Sorry, slightly off topic but it’s quite amusing seeing the facial expressions from guests who are in shot of the vlog. Pure confusion.

 

[Jonathan]

Apparently £8.95 for a hotdog, chips and drink is good value…. Maybe it is in a theme park I don’t know but to me it’s expensive. And £7 for a burger from the vans on the lawns…. Not a chance

I like burgers from burger vans. Yes, the meat's potentially of questionable origin, but I'm usually a bit (or, for Fireworks, read VERY) drunk when I have one, so I don't really care.

 

[Matt.GC]

Burger van burgers are awesome. They taste nice and fill a hole. I couldn't care less if they're made from cow eye balls.

Burger Kitchen chips and burgers aren't too bad actually. But the fried chicken is Frozen Asda Smart Price chucked in a deep fat fryer at best. The Pizzas are OK also, but hardly gormet. RCR and Woodcutters food isn't too bad but decent pub grub at best, not that I've had much experience of either due to 4pm time constraints. It's usually a Magnum scoffed down whilst walking down a queue line for me, sadly.

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[Jonathan]

I also have a weird fondness for microwave burgers (so long as the bun's toasted separately). I'm clearly not normal in that respect. It's somewhat bizarre that the last food I had on park which I properly enjoyed was a burger van burger. At least it's not a Rollover hot dog...

 

[Matt.GC]

I also have a weird fondness for microwave burgers (so long as the bun's toasted separately). I'm clearly not normal in that respect. It's somewhat bizarre that the last food I had on park which I properly enjoyed was a burger van burger. At least it's not a Rollover hot dog...

I've never tried a microwave burger. I just don't have the guts to do it, even though my son eats tonnes of them.

But that said I do have a habit of eating cold minced beef in gravy from a can. I really am a strange disgusting creature.

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[Stevie]

I'll defend a Rustler until my dying days.

Just not at a Theme Park

 

[DistortAMG]

Apparently £8.95 for a hotdog, chips and drink is good value…. Maybe it is in a theme park I don’t know but to me it’s expensive. And £7 for a burger from the vans on the lawns…. Not a chance

When you consider the cost price for a rollover hot dog a few years ago (including bun) was les than 50 pence. I would say the price is pretty high. But even if you forget the cost price for a moment, you are not getting much substance at all for that price.

 

[GaryH]

When you consider the cost price for a rollover hot dog a few years ago (including bun) was les than 50 pence. I would say the price is pretty high. But even if you forget the cost price for a moment, you are not getting much substance at all for that price.

Quite, it’s a cheap bread roll with a hot dog sausage. No onions. The chips are cheap potato fries in a deep fryer and the drink is the usual on tap fizzy water with syrup. At the most I would pay £5 for all that.

Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to pay extra for decent quality food but not £9 for this!

 

[Mikw]

On the subject of Alton Towers food, this turned up in my recommended section:

I haven't yet had the time to go through all of it but it will be interesting to see his opinions on all the options available (and the prices)

Edit: got round to watching it, they seem to be far more positive about food options at Towers than we are. The MAP discount got mentioned a few times as annoyingly some outlets don't do it. I'm surprised they recommend Cbeebies lunch box but I guess that is probably the best healthy option.

Top tip im that vlog, the Coke mixing machines do free chilled water, i never knew that.

Also the cheesy garlic bread is the same size as a pizza, but less than half the price.

These thing are worth knowing.

 

[s_g_k]

I’m trying to book the rollercoaster restaurant for dinner when we go for a 2 night break mid week end of June but it’s saying that pretty much all lunch and dinner sittings in June and July are already fully booked. I’ve never eaten there before, is it truly that popular or does this sound like a glitch in the booking system?

 

[AstroDan]

New menu at Flambos for 2021. Total step change in offering - looks delicious.

 

[AT86]

That sure is a step up from recent times. Excellent news.

 

[Matt N]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Flambo’s was a buffet restaurant? At least, it was when we used to stay in Splash Landings when I was a small child?