Man spends £10k on eating in UK hospital canteens - claiming food is better than Nando's

A man has spent £10,000 eating in hospital canteens across the country after he fell in love with grub while visiting his sick dad.

Omar Shafiq, 33, has enjoyed over 700 meals at British infirmaries and says he'd "rather eat there than Nando's" as the 'price' and 'quality' is unrivalled by any high street restaurant.

His bizarre diet began in 2022 when he was visiting his dad at his local Royal Bolton Hospital after working late shifts.

He became hooked by the £7 jacket potato meal deal and said the experience prompted happy memories of his school dinners in the 90s.

Omar has since travelled more than 200 miles from his Greater home to sample the food at in London and Glasgow.

Despite spending most of his time and money in hospitals, Omar insists he's had a clean bill of health while eating out in NHS cafes.

And he believes dining at hospitals, where he can bag a meal for £5 to £10, is 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."

He added: "Even though I've visited hospitals for the last two years, it was simply for the love of the food. I've never had to visit the doctors. I've had a clean bill of health."

Omar, a shop owner from Bolton, said he sometimes has all three of his meals a day at the local hospital canteen.

But if he's on the road or traveling, he will also seek out the nearest hospital to get some food.

He claims the best meal of all his NHS stops was a humble fish and chips at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London.

He said: "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."