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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to like hospital food?

151 replies

JustAnotherUserinParadise · 12/02/2021 08:32

Lighthearted obviously!

I recently had to spend the day in hospital twice due to finding out my baby is breech at 38 weeks, and trying to turn it with an ecv (twice).

I've always heard jokes etc about how terrible hospital food is, but having had both lunch and dinner both times, aibu to really like it?? I mean I know it's not brilliant, but I find something about simple, low-quality stodge quite comforting!
Maybe it's just because it reminds me of school dinners! That was certainly the last time I ate a plain cream cracker with cheddar haha! And having to fish the lumps of fat out of my steak pie... Sigh!

OP posts:

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InglouriousBasterd · 12/02/2021 10:44

I had the best cottage pie of my life in a London hospital admittedly it was my first meal post appendicectomy and I hadn’t eaten for days, but it was amazing.

The nurses used to save some pudding for when DD visited as she loved it so much!

BigFatLiar · 12/02/2021 10:56

@ivfbeenbusy

Have you had the chocolate concrete and pink custard yet??!

We used to have that for pudding at school dinners, excellent!

Enjoyed school dinners

CrotchetyQuaver · 12/02/2021 11:03

Some hospitals have nicer food than others. In some, it's a case of choosing things that they can't really do too much to to make it disgusting!

Bert2020 · 12/02/2021 11:05

@Midwife1997 in August I had omelette with gravy and bonus mashed potato

Coulddowithanap · 12/02/2021 11:09

It depends on the hospital. My partner has been in several different hospitals recenty. One was really good and one was so bad he resorted to cooking his own food. The others were OK (food was edible but not filling)

GreenSlide · 12/02/2021 11:12

When I was in with DS I took pictures of the food to make my sister jealous. Still have them

MarshaBradyo · 12/02/2021 11:13

I liked it last time. Plus private so brought to own room.

I also like airplane food. But for all above I have to choose whether I’m ditching low carb or not.

iklboo · 12/02/2021 11:18

@whathellwasthat - definitely. In hospital after having DS the lady in front of me asked if there was any vegetarian food left. The server looked & said 'no, sorry. I've got halal lamb curry if that will be OK'!

ceecee32 · 12/02/2021 11:20

Oh God, spent most of the last year in hospital on and off. The very thought of hospital food makes me very nearly vomit.
The last time I was in for 10 weeks, rice pudding every night.

SquirtleSquad · 12/02/2021 11:36

I'm going in private for an op next month and I had a look at their menu which is much further away from the nhs stodgy stuff that I was really looking forward to

MadeOfStarStuff · 12/02/2021 11:38

Not really proper hospital food but I once had to go to an assessment unit at a hospital unexpectedly and hadn’t had breakfast (I had a GP appointment early and was planning to get Greggs on my way in to work) and I’ve never been more grateful for a sandwich than I was when someone brought round a trolley full of sandwiches (individually packaged).

I do love school dinner type food though. And tbh love any food I don’t have to cook and do dishes for!

bruffin · 12/02/2021 11:40

I spent nearly 2 months in hospital when ds was born and got quite fond of hospital food in the end.

Sleepyquest · 12/02/2021 11:44

I stayed in hospital about 5 nights when DD was born and I was pretty impressed!! Was dreading it and ended up looking forward to dinner time

TroysMammy · 12/02/2021 11:47

When my Dad was an inpatient a couple of years ago he couldn't stop talking about how lovely the food was especially the desserts. My DM isn't a bad cook at all but she is an ex school cook and is not adventurous when it comes to meals.

CharlotteRose90 · 12/02/2021 11:48

Oh god no. I’ve been in hospital on and off for
5 years and the food is absolutely disgusting. I wouldn’t even feed it to my dog. And the breakfast 🤢. Toast that’s been burnt and is like sandpaper and a cup of tea that hasn’t been brewed. No chance. Thank god my hospital has a subway, boots,costa, m&s and WHSmith in the grounds as that’s where all my food came from. In the end my mum last time bought microwaved meals in for me and the nurses heated them up.

Beyondfedupnow · 12/02/2021 11:49

Love hospital food, probably because portions are so tiny you are famished at meal times.
Nothing tastes as good as jam toast and sweet tea after giving birth.

brunetteonthebus · 12/02/2021 12:02

After my first (3 day) birth the food was shocking. I remember after all that time with barely anything to eat I was so excited at the prospect of tomato soup and a bread roll for lunch it sounded amazing. It arrived and it was a stale rock hard roll and a watery CUP A SOUP. I could've cried. One night I was also supposed to be getting a chicken curry: I got the curry and it was ok but instead of being served with rice it was served with soggy roast potatoes

Luckily our hospital has an M&S Food in it so I sent DH down for supplies every day (as I was in for a week after). Cost us a fortune but I was well fed! Pastries fruit and coffee for breakfast, or pate and rolls. Lovely sandwiches, salads etc for lunch then cold pasta or rice pots or pre cooked chicken/salmon/cheeses and salads.

Second time, same hospital just two years later and the food was completely different and yummy! I remember having a huge plate of tomato and basil pasta with garlic bread and it was delicious. Proper stodgy but really nice. I only got my coffees and hot chocolates from M&S that time!

BogRollBOGOF · 12/02/2021 12:06

My hospital food was OK for a cardiac patient with the appetite of a bird, but not conducive to recovering from a 40 hour labour, EMCS, getting organ function back to normal and trying to establish a milk supply.

The main meal was lunch time. OK, but half of a sensible portion. A grim sandwich at tea time then nothing to sustain you from 5pm to 8am through constantly waking and trying to get milk into a reluctant new baby.

Second time I ended up loaded with dried fruits and nuts and just treated meals as a light snack.
That was following the false alarm where I'd gone into labour ward with sudden regular contractions, then they insisted on keeping me in. I was refused lunch in case the contractions came back as they were fading off. Ended up on antenatal ward. I had to ask for food that evening as there seemed to be no reason to be nil-by-mouth at that point. I ended up with a barely edible cheese sandwich, and just had a handful of cheese for dinner and the only food that day since breakfast at home, to keep me (and 8lb of baby) going through a long painful sleepless night as I couldn't support my SPD ridden body.

Inadequate food really does not promote good health and healing.

HemanOrSheRa · 12/02/2021 12:15

Ooh yes. After DS was born and I'd eaten a huge pile of delicious toast, I arrived on the maternity ward in time for Sunday roast - it was amazing! Roast pork, apple sauce, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots and gravy. Went down a treat!

Marmite27 · 12/02/2021 12:17

I was in for two weeks when I had DC2. I managed. But I like airplane food and school dinners

SnarkyBag · 12/02/2021 12:23

Frankly anything cooked by someone else and brought to me on a trolley in bed is welcome. I always quite liked the roast potatoes and the omelettes. I’d always order crackers and cheese rather than a dessert as a back up plan in case the main was horrible.

x2boys · 12/02/2021 12:26

Hospital food can be very hit and miss ,I was a nurse for years and some of the food was lovely ,the canteen used to sell the same stuff they cooked for patients ,the off menu stuff was often better ie , veggie burger,s chicken burgers , omelette,s etc also many patients used to order the halal menu because apparently the curries were much nicer than the standard menu .

TheLaughingGenome · 12/02/2021 12:27

@SnarkyBag

I feel like that. A disappointing hospital meal is disheartening.

By which I mean, one piece of stale bread and jam (no butter) after childbirth or an operation, with no alternative options or additions available, and relatives having been sent home. It's rather comtemptuous, really.

Marmite27 · 12/02/2021 12:27

I got into the habit of a jacket potato with tuna Mayo, salad and coleslaw at lunchtime, unless there was a mince beef pie and beans on. Tuna Mayo jackets take me right back!

We’d get a ‘wrapped’ pudding at lunch, so flapjack, muffin etc which I used to save for DC1 when she visited in a bid to get some of the hot pudding, but that never worked.

I remember one night was fish and chips and apple crumble with custard, she arrived with DH just as it was served and had the lot. The lovely catering lady brought me a second tray after she realised, but there was no more crumble. She tried to convince DC1 to have an ice cream, to no avail!

cobblers123 · 12/02/2021 12:27

I was in hospital overnight four times last year and although I didn't eat a proper meal, I stuck to sandwiches, the ice cream was really lovely, clotted cream vanilla.

I was thrilled one mealtime when I was given two tubs as I didn't feel up to eating anything else.

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