Foodsnark: the GP Manchester edition
Because GP lunches are work lunches too!
For those random readers who don't actually know who I am, "GP" refers to a large gaming tournament which I attended as a referee/glorified janitor. I was in charge of a team of referees/glorified janitors, which meant it was my job to make sure the team got lunch at their appointed lunch hour.
The event was held near Trafford Centre, a mall so ridiculously kitschy it's hard to believe it wasn't located in the US. Fake marble, fake Greek statues, fake everything. An Asia-themed alley of restaurants leading into an absolutely massive food court. It took us nearly 20 minutes to walk from our event hall to this temple of fast food, but it was worth it.
The first thing I saw was a Five Guys. I immediately decided that this is what I would do for lunch, since I had not tried it before. Most of my team wandered off to eat other things, but Sir Swirlybeard followed me. I ordered a cheeseburger and small fries, and was then told I could have whatever toppings I wanted on it.
Whatever I wanted!
How is possible, so confuse, wow, such burger.
I asked for mayo, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms and mustard. I didn't hear Swirlybeard ordering but I think he got bacon and skipped anything resembling a vegetable. Eat your vegetables, Swirlybeard. You'll thank me later.
We waited for our food and watched the guys in red shirts work. One of them, possibly some kind of manager, was a bit of a showman and some customers even wanted to take his picture. Once we got our food, I discovered that the "small" fries at Five Guys are about ten times the amount of fries I can actually eat, considering that my burger was the size of an infant's skull and contained two beef patties. It was a good burger. Could have used a little more salt, which I could have added myself, I suppose. I didn't come even close to finishing my fries, and it's possible that they actually gave me the "medium" portion by mistake.
Verdict: pretty damn good for a tournament lunch. I'll definitely try Five Guys again if I get a chance.
On Sunday we didn't have time to go all the way to the food court, so me and another judge picked up some sandwiches at an "EAT" shop, after failing to find the M&S food department that someone had told us about. I had a ham, brie and cranberry baguette, which was okay. I also got a piece of carrot cake which was unpleasantly greasy. Still better than many other GP lunches I've had (see for example: any German event where the only options are bread, sausage and MAYBE potato salad if you're lucky).