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Shopping / F & B

Published: 17/03/2008 - Filed under: Archive » 2008 » April 2008 » Guide to T5 »

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Guide to T5: Shopping / F & B

SHOPPING

BAA is often accused of confusing airports with shopping malls, and T5 is no exception. There are 112 shops including the first Tiffany and Co in a European airport and Paul Smith’s Globe, offering travel-related products and one-off pieces from around the world.
Other luxury outlets include Bulgari, Gucci, Christian Dior, Cigar House, Harrods (upper departures with an all-white new look), Kurt Geiger, Links of London, Mappin and Webb, Mont Blanc, Mulberry, Prada, Reiss, Smythson and Thomas Pink (where you can drink pink water and watch the latest FTSE news), and World Duty Free.

At the functional end of the scale, the usual retailers are also represented, they include Boots, Dixons and WHSmith (with new self-service tills). 

FOOD AND DRINK

There are 23 different restaurants and bars including sandwich “boutique” Apostrophe, sushi-specialist Itsu, which offers a takeaway service for in-flight eating, and Soho patisserie Amato, where cakes can be baked on-request ready for your return.

There’s also noodle chain Wagamama (offering exclusive T5 breakfasts such as coconut cream porridge), Carluccio’s (before security), Caviar House and Prunier Seafood Bar, The 5 Tuns Pub and Kitchen, and V-Bar.

But what everyone is talking about is Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, which is rumoured to have cost the celebrity chef £2 million. The 180-seat restaurant, situated airside with views of the runway, will have a menu based on that of the Michelin-starred chef’s Boxwood Café in Knightsbridge, offering dishes such as butternut squash risotto with Parmesan and amaretti and treacle-cured bacon and maple syrup, and a full range of wines by the bottle or the glass.

Although it will be full service and you should book ahead, as the name suggests Plane Food has been adapted for the airport, so passengers in a rush can choose from a time-guarantee menu. Alternatively, afternoon tea or cocktails are available at the bar.

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