Man travels 200 miles to Glasgow and spends £10k to eat 'favourite' NHS canteen food

Omar Shafiq has devoured over 700 meals from hospital canteens across the UK.

A man travelled almost 200 miles to Glasgow and spent £10,000 to eat his 'favourite' NHS canteen food.

Omar Shafiq has devoured over 700 meals from hospital canteens across the UK after enjoying a meal when he was visiting a sick relative, that he kept going back for more.

Omar, from Manchester, believes the ‘price’ and ‘quality’ of the dishes can't be beaten and said he'd rather eat the food than step in a high street eatery.

The 33-year-old's fondness for the grub in medical centres began in 2022 when he had to visit his dad at his local Royal Bolton Hospital after working late shifts. Whilst there, he discovered a £7 meal of a jacket potato, drink and chocolate bar which was irresistible and brought back his nostalgia for 90s school dinners, reports Glasgow Live.

As well as travelling as far as Glasgow, he pays between £5 and £10 for meals and says it's the ‘best way’ to support the health service.

Omar said: “If you asked me, 'Would you rather go to Nando’s or the hospital to eat?' I’d go to the hospital. In my opinion, the quality of the food is far better and the service is far better.

“You know what you are getting. It’s much better value for money. I would much rather eat in a hospital than go to a restaurant. I think it’s one of the best ways 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.

“Our treatments are free, but we can spend money in other places to help fund the NHS and help them with their bottom line. I have spent around £10,000 in the last two years in hospitals.”

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Omar owns a shop in Bolton and says he has eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner at his local hospital canteen but will also seek out NHS restaurants to dine in while travelling around the country. The best meal he has eaten was at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London calling the meal "epic." He says: "The fish and chips in almost all the hospitals up and down the country is epic. But the one that really stood out to me was the one that I had in London.

"The Great Ormond Street Hospital fish and chips - it’s well worth a visit to the hospital for that food, really. It’s the best in the country. For us guys growing up in the 90s, our school dinners, they were predominantly fish and chips, chips and beans, chips and gravy - chips are our national dish in the UK.

“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. It’s also just a meal that I know I’m very familiar with, and I like to have it. I’m one of those people where I’m set in my ways. If I like something, I’ll keep doing it.”

Omar said his regular appearance at Royal Bolton Hospital's canteen had sparked the curiosity of the doctors and nurses. In fact, one video he shared on social media, showing his chips and beans, has received more than 80,000 likes and has been seen by nearly one million viewers.

Omar admitted that he sometimes changes his clothes to go noticed while visiting the food hall multiple times a day. “I’ve given the game away a bit now, all the doctors and nurses have started to look at me", he says adding: "I used to sometimes go twice in one day, and then have to go home in between and get changed so they wouldn’t recognise me. But I think I’ve grassed myself up now.”

Omar said his two favourite dishes are jacket potato with cheese and beans and chips and he doesn’t mind eating them alongside those who are sick in the Royal Bolton Hospital. He said: “It’s not a problem for me. 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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