Worth Missing Your Flight For? Maybe One Day...

It has been a couple of years since I've been through Heathrow, and longer since I've been through it on my own, without being in the company of one of my colleagues. Often when you travel with a colleague there's a reasonable chance that your companion will have a pass to the Executive Class Lounge. While this has obvious perks, free alcohol, complimentary magazines, and an assortment of light snacks, you'll typically sacrifice a potential local and, if lucky, eclectic food adventure.

Over the years I've been to many international airports; Milan, Chiangi, Beijing, Haneda and Narita, the old and new airports in Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Bombay, Calcutta, KL (I've been there so I have the right to say it), Athens, Chicago, and tons more across Europe, North America and the Far East. Unfortunately it has only been in recent years that I've really developed a passionate epicurean interest. So although I look back fondly on the discovery, when I spent 5 hrs alone in Narita when I was 16, of the brilliant combination of rice snacks and Saporro, I know that I would have failed to take advantage of the food experience that many of these exotic airports would invariably have offered.

Which brings me to a recent trip to the UK and a 4 hour wait in the departure lounge at Heathrow - traveling alone. What a joy! Because I had left the hotel early my first stop was the ubiquitous Starbucks which, although mildly guilty about frequenting such a bastion of American culture while in Europe - I wasn't prepared to forsake for my first coffee of the day. An hour of browsing in book stores and it was time for a pint... or two. The pub in the departure lounge was disappointing. I settled for Guinness because the alternatives were largely of the shopping centre variety.

With a little over an hour until the gate opened it was time to eat. I could have stayed in the pub, but the selection of beer didn't bode well for the menu, so I ventured into the sea of travellers. I was awfully tempted by the some of the sandwiches that I saw people snacking on - made with pencil thin baguettes that I first sampled in a small cafe off Covent Gardens (I think it was Amoto's Patisserie or Paul's), but have yet to find in Canada. There was also a seafood counter where chefs were cracking foot long crab legs, serving them on their own or with a selection of oysters, salmon, herring or other shell fish. But I opted for tried and true. . . sushi - it was my duty; this was a sushi experience that I had read about, seen through a window, but never tried.

Yo Sushi is self-serve dining in which small colour-coded bowls of sushi travel around on a winding metal conveyor, the colours providing the code to their price. With the help of a small booklet listing out the more than 70 selections accompanied by pictures, you make your selections as the bowls pass by. While managing largely without the book I did find it particularly useful in identifying the thin green sauce that adorned three tantalizing pieces of salmon (wasabi and dill), or the deep red tint of some of the salmon sashimi(marinated with beets). I made my selections over the course of twenty mintues.

I started out by grabbing a small green bowl containing a Japanese salad of wakame and cucumber adorned with a light sunomono dressing. A second later I grabbed a grey bowl in which there were 2 pieces each of salmon, tuna and yellowtail sashimi; and a minute later I took an orange bowl that housed 5 pieces of salmon sashimi and then, after a few minutes rest, eye contact and tentative flirting with the good looking American who sat just across from me (another obvious novice), I reached out for another bowl of the salmon-tuna-yellowtail combination. At that point, having exceeded the 15 piece rule (although I had passed, reluctantly on a bowl of edamame), I decided that I was satisfied. I caught the eye of one of the staff to tally up the damage. Adding in the "unlimited" glasses of water for £1 my bill came to £16. While this may seem a little steep, about $40, I have to remember that I was in an airport where I should expect to pay a premium - and it was England, to which the same rule applies - so a double wammy. But even with that I thought it was reasonable.

Yo Sushi was a fun and satisfying way to pass thirty minutes in the airport. The sushi was very good - fresh, with no piece on the conveyor for more than 60 minutes; and while I went with my traditional sashimi, there were also a variety of rolls on the line-up; and had I still been searching for a favorite I could have ordered it specially prepared.

Leaving Yo Sushi I expected my epicurean adventure in Heathrow to be over. But in a line-up a few minutes to buy a book I passed some snacks on display and my eyes were drawn to a bag of Walker's Sensational Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme - how could I resist! So next time you're travelling, don't be afraid to skip breakfast and show up at your flight a little earlier with the idea of a little epicurean odyssey before you head to the gate. It's quite possible that it will be another memorable point in your trip.