October 15th 2024.
Let's talk about Omar Shafiq, a man with a unique love for hospital canteen food. While visiting a relative at a hospital in 2022, Omar discovered the deliciousness of NHS cafe meals. Since then, he has spent a whopping £10,000 indulging in over 700 meals at various British hospitals. He claims that the food's "price" and "quality" cannot be beaten by high street restaurants, and his fondness for it even satisfies his nostalgia for 90s school dinners.
Omar, who owns a shop in Bolton, is not shy about his love for NHS food. He has traveled to hospitals in London and Glasgow, over 200 miles away from his home, just to sample their canteen offerings. And he believes that eating at these cafeterias, where meals cost between £5 and £10, is the best way to support the health service.
"If you asked me, 'Would you rather go to Nando's or the hospital to eat?' I'd go to the hospital," Omar said. "In my opinion, the quality of the food is far better and the service is far better. You know what you are getting, and it's much better value for money. I would much rather eat in a hospital than go to a restaurant."
Omar also sees his frequent visits to hospital canteens as a way 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," he said. "Our treatments are free, but we can spend money in other places to help fund the NHS and help them with their bottom line."
When asked about his favorite hospital meal, Omar couldn't pick just one. He loves jacket potatoes with cheese and beans as well as the classic chips with cheese and beans. And his love for this food is not just about the taste, but also the memories it brings back. "For us guys growing up in the 90s, our school dinners were predominantly fish and chips, chips and beans, chips and gravy – chips are our national dish in the UK," he explained. "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."
Despite his regular appearances at hospitals, Omar's love for NHS food has not gone unnoticed. Doctors and nurses have taken notice of his frequent visits, and one video he shared on social media of his chips and beans has received over 80,000 likes and nearly 900,000 views. But this hasn't deterred Omar, who is willing to change his clothes between multiple visits in a day just to go unnoticed.
"I've given the game away a bit now, all the doctors and nurses have started to look at me," he admitted. "I used to sometimes go twice in one day, and then have to go home in between and get changed so they wouldn't recognize me. But I think I've grassed myself up now."
Despite the occasional need for disguise, Omar is proud of his love for NHS food. "It's not a problem for me," he said. "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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