Sanfords

English Breakfast
Date of visit: 28th August 2026
Score: 1/3
Not EBS compliant

Please remind me to get a BA Gold card again. I had one for two years and a silver card for two before that. When I used to arrive at Heathrow or Gatwick, I would head to the lounge and be greeted with a glass of champers. Then there was usually some nice food to have for breakfast or dinner. Since 2015, I’ve travelled less and those lounge days are gone.

I don’t enjoy the airport experience and Luton airport particularly is the pits, giving Stansted a run for its money. Despite fast track and priority parking, I nearly had to burn my clothes when I arrived at my destination. There was one section of the airport that smelt of wee. There were both women and men queuing for the toilets, because there aren’t enough facilities. Perhaps that explains the smell.

Which leads me to finding a breakfast. I was on my way to Rome for a short break via Luton airport. I could have gone to the priority lounge but I didn’t book and they were too busy. I chose Sanfords for breakfast. I was greeted by the hostess. “Room for 1?” I said. “I will send you upstairs where you can order at the bar or on the table with a barcode”, she said. “How awful”, I replied.

There were several kids playing and running around. And there was a group of lads being quite loud at a table. But it’s a family and stag party kind of airport.

Ordering with the bar code wasn’t too difficult and there was little in the way of intrusive questions (e.g. do you want e-mail promotions, can we have your blood group, etc). I found myself with a Classic Breakfast of streaky bacon, sausage, beans, tomato, a mushroom, toast, mini hash browns and scrambled eggs. You can have fried eggs if you want. It cost £15.

The bacon and sausage were nice, as were the toast and hash browns. Unfortunately the eggs were cold and the serving of beans was minuscule. The tomato was barely shown the heat and wasn’t cooked enough.

When I finished my breakfast, I realised that my drinks hadn’t arrived. I asked one of the staff, who looked a bit confused by the question. Anything between 5 and 10 minutes later, he came back with my espresso and milkshake. But by then my breakfast was well and truly finished. Of course, when you order at the table using the bar code, the service charge is added before the service…

To summarise: service not great, parts of the food were cold and my drinks didn’t arrive until well after I’d finished breakfast. I’m afraid it’s a 1/3. £15 is a reasonable price at an airport and if the food had been hot, it could easily have been a 2.

One positive takeaway. I discovered Wilson Hartles Fine Connoisseurs Breakfast Sauce, an upmarket HP sauce. It was on the table and it’s very nice indeed. It’s produced by Dean Wilson-Hartles, the Director of Food and Drink at The Restaurant Group (TRG) Concessions. Unfortunately, you will only find it in their restaurants, one of which is Sanfords.

Next time, I will pre-book the lounge.

Sanfords
Address: London Luton Airport.
Web: trgconcessions.co.uk/brand/sanfords/
Hours: 0400-2100 daily