A frustrating episode at CDG last night which I'll just have to put down to experience. After spending a very enjoyable weekend in Paris, we flew out of CDG Terminal 2E last night. As our flight was quite late in the evening, we though we'd arrive at the terminal in good time to visit a restaurant for dinner. I was assuming that - like all the other French airports I've visited - there would be a proper restaurant with waiter service somewhere in the terminal. I even checked with airport information desk in the terminal and was wrongly informed there was a full-service restaurant after security.

Unfortunately for us, ALL that's there is a basic food-court type place that serves over-priced junk food on paper plates (reheated in a microwave, anyone?), which you have to balance on your tray while dragging your roller suitcase along with you. As a frequent flyer this sort of situation is a real pet hate of mine and I would have thought that Paris - of all places - would have better options than this.

Which French airports have you been in with proper restaurants? Certainly not CDG, which has the worst dining options for an airport this side of FRA. Better dining options are the one area where American airports plainly beat European airports.

In general, I will echo your frustration and warn folks not to show up at CDG with an empty stomach.

Well, I was in Toulouse airport last week and had a perfectly reasonable dinner in the restaurant there. I also remember a couple of years ago visiting a nice table-service restaurant at CDG Terminal 1, but T2E & F fall far short of what's needed for hungry travellers.

I rarely eat in any airport, I'd rather fast than eat in an airport.

I couldn't agree more. The first time I came thru CDG I had a 4 hour layover so I thought I would have a good lunch there. Instead I had a stale, overpriced microwaved croque monsieur. (sp?) YUK.

An airport -- anywhere in the world -- is one of the last places I would want to eat.

<i>An airport -- anywhere in the world -- is one of the last places I would want to eat.</i>

Oh, I don't know. I can think of plenty of airports that have decent options. Certainly, SIN has a lot of pretty good options. ICN and HKG are alright, too. I've also had perfectly acceptable food at LHR. Ditto for ATL, especially Paschal's and One Flew South. DTW has a decent Japanese place and a few other good options. I've had an okay breakfast at JFK.

Nope, CDG is just especially bad, even by the standards of airports. FRA is worse, if that is possible to imagine.

I had a pretty good $14.00 cheeseburger in Chicago's Ohare.

Unfortunately, it occurred in 1981. It was a good cheeseburger, but a burger in 1981 for $14.00 was staggering.

Since then, I limit myself to the $7.50 beer at the bar.

"I'd rather fast than eat in an airport."

Who cares? The question isn't about you: it's about why CDG's so unusually contemptuous of its customers (answer: what else do you expect from the French government?)

I've had outstanding Cantonese at the old Kai Tak. Decent pho at Hanoi, reasonable fish and chips and curry at LHR T1 (though nothing like as good as the curries a few yards from Southall station, just 7 mins from most terminals, or the Chowpatty-style snacks in the LHR Air India lounge), and good pub grub at T2. Spectacularly comforting meatloaf, gravy & mash at O'Hare, and as close to edible a version of American "Italian" at SFO as it's possible for such digusting junk to get. Not to mention glorious bisteccca alla fiorentina over a wood fire on the periphery of Bologna airport.

CDG's almost unique in the sheer awfulness of the muck they serve: even British railway stations serve better.

And anyone dismissing the ability of professionally-run airports to serve decent food has allowed the World's Worst Airport Company (official: it takes genius for Aeroports de Paris to be worse than BAA, but boy do they manage it) to corrupt their taste buds.

Wow, you people must be gluttons for punishment (or maybe just plain gluttons) if you are such experts on airport food. I presume that your expertise on the bad places is not based on one random meal but means that you have returned to eat badly again and again.

I have had some good meals at Changi at the employee food centre, never in the actual passenger terminals.

Although I adore France, I never count on ANYTHING at CDG (except some more surly "customer service").

<i>Wow, you people must be gluttons for punishment (or maybe just plain gluttons) if you are such experts on airport food.</i>

Some of us just travel more than others. I average 100k+ miles each year. With that much time in the airport, you will find yourself eating in them, especially when the alternative is eating the in-flight meal.

With all the great restaurants in Paris why would anyone pass on that to eat at the airport? CDG is no better or no worse than any other airport.

Larry J

Actually I had a great sunday lunch at St Malo airport (i guess its called Dinan) only a few weeks ago so the French can manage it. Maybe the issue is whether the customer (OMG did I really write that) is air side or not.

LarryJ - yes with the benefit of hindsight we would have been better off eating prior to going to the airport. My point is just this: that in a country where high standards of food are demanded, it is surprising that the CDG dining facilities are not much better.

I don't travel through CDG very often thankfully, but as I make upwards of 30 flights a year I know for a fact there are many airports where it's completely possible to get a good meal prior to getting on the plane (LHR T5, AMS, SFO, SEA, SIN all spring to mind). The ability to do this is more important than ever these days with many airlines not serving proper meals in economy and with people on increasingly tight schedules which often mean a meal at the airport is the only viable option. What I experienced at CDG was truly worse than a motorway service station in the UK.

LarryJ, some of them eat at the airport because they arrive 4 hours ahead of time "just to be on the safe side."

Actually, I eat the in-flight meal because I am not a superior human being, just a normal passenger.

Although it is outside the secure zone there is a Sheraton hotel with restaurant and lounge at CDG.

<i>CDG is no better or no worse than any other airport.</i>

CDG is objectively worse than many, many other airports. Certainly, it is among the worst of the major transit hubs, with only FRA being worse, in my experience.

<i>Actually, I eat the in-flight meal because I am not a superior human being, just a normal passenger.</i>

Yes, I would say that taking care of yourself is the mark of a superior person.

I sometimes eat at the airport because I don't want to rely on the in-flight meal for quality or quantity. Other times, I do it because I have a layover that coincides with a meal time. I've also been known to hit a delay that leaves me with extra time. Or, I might be flying on a flight that doesn't feature meal service. Heck, sometimes I even eat at the airport, because, well, I'm hungry.

There are any number of reasons to want to grab a bite to eat at the airport. Few, if any of them rise to even the level of 'snobbery' of not liking what airlines try to pass off as food.

I find Terminal 2E frustrating in related ways. After you go through security, there is a lot of opportunity to buy very expensive merchandise in upscale mall-type stores that never have any customers in them, but there are very few places to get the kinds of things travelers really can use. This includes refreshments both to eat in the terminal and to bring on the plane, book stores, drug stores, and the type of general conveniences that used to be common in airports before they tried to become shopping malls.

As for why anyone would eat at an airport, it is certainly not because most people have much choice in the matter. Many people have long layovers between flights, and many people get to the airport early enough to make sure they have time to get to their gates.

If anyone has been through CDG previously I cannot imagine why they expected a good restaurant for dinner.