March 2026. Stansted Airport. Essex.
Dave (not that one) from Chicago was mildly astonished at the beer and breakfast trade at my local Spoons the other week. Goodness know what he’d make of the drinking at Stansted Airport at 7am this Monday.
I’ve resisted the lure of a pre-flight pint since 2018, but what else is there to do at Stansted on the rare occasions the security scanners are working and you get through the half mile of duty free with 90 minutes to spare ?
So, admire the way “Spoonies” have skilfully converted the Roman ruins into a delightful runway side bar,
read the informative panels that seemingly have nothing to do with anything,
throw your minimalist luggage on the one spare seat, and wonder which festival beer to order.
All cheaper than your lager favourites, anyway. Carlsberg and Guinness your tourist favourites.
Sadly, the festival ales didn’t show up on the App, and I couldn’t be bothered to queue at the bar for the Fyne Ales, so Abbot (£5.15) it is. A bit rough (NBSS 3), but adequate enough for Mrs RM to finish it while I wasn’t looking.
Yes, a pint artisanally matched with the Freedom Breakfast. As George sang, I don’t want your Freedom; a breakfast without Eggs Benedict (scrapped) is a poor deal. That said, Spoons must be knocking out 1,000 plates of egg and bacon and hash browns an hour, and it’s hot.
But Mrs RM rates the coffee from the shiny new Lavazza machine, less watery apparently, a vast improvement from 2018.
Two hours later we were landing in a city of small glasses.
retiredmartin 
Rich here, a few months ago, I had a pint of a Salt (Shipley I think) juicy pale ale at Leeds Bradford, £9 !!!
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A hot Spoons breakfast- amazing ! Has the eggs Benedict gone from everywhere? My husband’s favourite. The only breakfast drink I have ever had was a Champagne to get over the huge disappointment of a bacon bagel- should have gone to Spoons but we couldn’t be bothered to queue ( Gatwick). Pauline
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Just the airport Spoons I think, Pauline, Eggs Benedict a bit fiddly when you’re expecting hot food in 5 minutes !
The Freedom Breakfast (no sausage) was pretty good, I guess they’re making thousands of them an hour !
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“Small glasses” …. Cologne? (after research) Wherever you are headed, hope it’s a most enjoyable trip 😀
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It was great. Lovely people, top food.
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There used to be a saying that the only days on which it was OK to drink first thing were Cup Final day, Christmas Day and the day you went on your holidays. Cup Final day is a shadow of its former self though.
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I blame United for skipping it in 2000 but the truth is it had lost a lot before then. Cup final used to be the only game on telly.
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