When I’m hungry at an airport, there’s only one thing I want to eat

2 weeks ago 8

September 24, 2025 — 5:00am

I always wonder about the airport Louis Vuitton stores. And the Prada stores, the Gucci, the Tiffany, the Balenciaga, the Hermes and so on.

What is the point of them? These places are always beautiful, they’re always luxurious, they’re always perfectly lit and oozing class.

Are people really going to splurge on a $20,000 handbag on their way to a flight?

They’re also empty every time I walk past because who can actually afford to shop there? And who would do so at an airport? Who would impulse-buy a $20,000 handbag?

Sydney Airport’s international terminal, in particular, is stacked with shops that 99.9 per cent of travellers will just never set foot in, let alone make a purchase. Vast swathes of the departure lounge’s limited real estate are dedicated to luxury stores that are entirely out of reach for all but the very richest traveller.

These shops are essentially big, expensive billboards. They’re premium spaces for premium brands to show that they belong in the rarefied echelons of international air travel (never mind that half the traffic out of Sydney is budget airline flights to Bali).

These shops are essentially giant billboards.

Sydney isn’t the only airport that does this, it’s just the one that first springs to mind. Almost every major airport around the world proudly boasts of its luxury fashion outlets, as if anyone really cares.

I don’t want Prada, Louis Vuitton and Hermes when I go to an airport. I want Uniqlo, Myer or DJs and, I don’t know, a series of affordable local boutiques? Shops selling things that are actually accessible and useful?

This comes to mind because I was also recently thinking about airport food, and how little interest I have in fancy restaurants in airport departure lounges. The likes of Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver don’t excite me anywhere near as much as Ronald McDonald.

I have to admit that for someone who regularly writes about food for a living, I have very basic desires when it comes to airport cuisine. These are international waters and trashy junk food just doesn’t count, in either calories or cred. I’m convinced of it.

Down with the clown … McDonald’s at Sydney Airport.

So when I pass through an airport, unless it’s Singapore’s Changi or Tokyo’s Haneda, where I know I can get affordable, legitimately delicious local cuisine (fast), I’m probably going to opt for a dirty burger. I’m looking for Macca’s. I’m indulging in something quick and nasty.

I’m none too excited, therefore, to see a growing trend around the world of airports opting for big-name restaurants in a style similar to the Louis Vuittons or the Balenciagas of the world of fashion.

Hamad International, in Doha, is a good example. It’s a great airport, one of the finest in the world, and its food offerings have been rapidly expanding over the past few years.

Part of that expansion has been the inclusion of luxury and big-name restaurants, the likes of the Emporio Armani Ristorante, Harrods Tea Room, Fendi Caffe, plus two Gordon Ramsay joints: Gordon Ramsay Burger, and Street Pizza.

A few months ago I decided to give Street Pizza a go, to see what it was like. I ended up paying about $60 for a margherita and a glass of pinot noir, and it was bog-average at best. A reasonable pizza. Nothing to write home about.

Gordon Ramsay’s Street Pizza at Hamad International Airport in Doha.

Next time I passed through Doha, I went down to the basement-level, no-frills food court near the C, D and E gates to visit Flavors of India for a masala dosa served on a plastic plate, with chai tea, all for less than $20. Needless to say, Gordon could learn a thing or two from the dosa-maker (who, sadly, is out of business, as Flavors of India seems to have been subsumed by a burger joint since I last visited).

Same at Singapore Changi. I was transiting through T1 there recently, where there’s a Harry’s restaurant and a Crystal Jade xiao long bao joint. Both fancy and, I’m sure, lovely. There’s also SG Hawker, a series of 10 hawker stands selling the likes of fish ball noodles for $5 a bowl.

You can guess where I went.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I just don’t really want a fancy, sit-down restaurant when I’m visiting an airport. I’m usually on my own, I have limited time to spend, limited money I want to part with, and I have no interest in a formal dining experience. I want it quick and cheap. Fast food is fine.

Sydney Airport, meanwhile, has just unveiled the new food offerings coming to T3, the Qantas domestic terminal. Those outlets will include Icebergs, Loulou, Luke Mangan’s Bistro & Bar, and Tres Tacos, a Mexican joint by Frank Camorra (who’s Spanish but I guess knows about Mexican food too?), with openings through the rest of this year.

That’s cool and all, but at 7am on a Tuesday when I’ve got about 15 minutes before my flight boards, what I really want is a bacon and egg muffin and a hash brown cooked by my favourite celebrity clown chef, and at the new T3 that still won’t be possible.

Might as well go window-shop at Prada.

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Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.