There are some big brands on the Too Good To Go app that you wouldn’t expect to spot in Aberdeen, one being Holiday Inn Express.
Why is that? Well, as far as I’m aware you only have the opportunity to tuck into the city centre hotel’s grub if you’re staying the night.
I was instantly intrigued after seeing it on my app. I only live one street down from the establishment, based on Chapel Street, so there is little to no point in me lodging there, to put it bluntly.
Essentially, their mystery bags open up the door to sampling the food on offer. It would have been rude not to secure one at some point, and so I did.
What I got my hands on…
According to the Holiday Inn Express’ website, all guests enjoy an inclusive ‘Express Start’ buffet breakfast with selected hot items, which is available each morning in the hotel’s Great Room.
My bag’s pick-up time was between 10am and 11.30am.
I put two and two together and presumed it would be an assortment of breakfast items within the bag. I was correct.
There was a container, what appeared to be a sandwich, and plenty of preserves to go around. Although ‘plenty’ may be an understatement.
All of the following were individual portions. There was:
- 2x Nutella chocolate spread
- 2x sunflower spread
- 2x butter
- 1x apricot jam
- 1x raspberry jam
- 1x blackcurrant jam
- 1x strawberry jam
- 1x marmalade
- 1x Marmite
- 1x honey
The varied selection means that regardless of the individual picking up a mystery bag, they’re bound to enjoy at least one of the options. I thought this was a nice touch.
Hiding inside the container was a decent helping of baked beans, scrambled eggs, two sausages, and two rashers of bacon.
It had to be reheated slightly. Considering the items had likely been sitting in the buffet area for some time, this made them a tad bland.
And what I originally thought was a sandwich was in fact two slices of plain bread. Now all of the condiments made sense.
The bread, again, lacked flavour. It would have been superb if the hotel used produce from a local bakery. It enhances a meal so much more.
The bag cost just £3.30 and would have fully satisfied a hungry individual, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the general prices of the items could not be found due to the inclusive breakfast deal.
Was it worth it?
The fact that the Too Good To Go app allowed me to sample some scran from Aberdeen’s Holiday Inn Express without staying for the night was great.
Was the food of the highest quality? It wasn’t, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it was value for money – simply down to the amount on offer.
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