When I went through hotel quarantine in Australia in December, I really lucked out. Not only was I staying in a five star hotel, but my room also had a balcony, which made a world of difference.
Hotel quarantine is a reality in many countries, thanks to the pandemic. In Australia, you need to complete 14 days of quarantine, not including the day you arrive or depart. That means the food you’re given by the establishment where you’re staying is quite important.
My Meals – Day Six, Seven and Eight
A variety of dietary considerations are taken into account, which made for many lines on the menus. In my case, I took the standard offering each day.
-
- The menu on day six.
-
- Spinach and Fetta Omelette, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms and kale. Plus a blueberry muffin, fruit and juice.
-
- Tabbouleh salad and a chicken, sundried tomato, lettuce, carrot and cheese wrap.
-
- A delicious beef tenderloin with Paris mash (I’m a fan!).
-
- The menu on day seven.
-
- Delicious Bircher muesli and orange and almond bread.
-
- Quiche Lorraine which I always like.
-
- Thai green chicken curry and a summer trifle for dessert. So good!
-
- The menu on day eight.
-
- “Breakfast Pie”, which is still a mystery.
-
- A fabulous Ahi poke bowl, which was a taste sensation!
-
- Italian lamb kofta and a tasty ginger bread and caramel slice for dessert.
They do try to cover all the food groups, with fruit, salads, and various drinks. Since I eat virtually anything, I usually devoured the lot.
Day Nine (Christmas Day!), Ten and Eleven
Spending Christmas in a quarantine hotel wasn’t originally the plan. In the couple of weeks before I was due to fly to Adelaide, they had some local Covid outbreaks in the area. The state government, in their stupid wisdom, cancelled all inbound international flights. That meant my flight was pushed back a couple of times and Christmas in quarantine it ended up being.
-
- The menu on Christmas Day.
-
- A bacon, egg and cheese muffin with a hash brown and a mince pie. It arrived cold, but that was no big deal.
-
- Christmas lunch! A prawn cocktail starter, turkey and ham with all the trimmings and a pavlova. On this day we also received a Christmas cracker and a piccolo bottle of rosé wine. Each room had plates, but I only used them twice – less cleaning to not have to do a plate three times a day.
-
- The menu on day ten.
-
- Porridge for breakfast – hooray! I like porridge.
-
- Chicken and vegetable pie for lunch. Anytime the multi-vegetables were present, I knew the meal would be average.
-
- Grilled chicken thighs and potato salad, with Christmas pudding for dessert, which was very nice.
-
- The menu on day eleven.
-
- Vegetable frittata, herb potatoes, chicken chipolata, and basil tomatoes. Also a Danish, chocolate milk and fruit.
-
- Caesar salad and a Portuguese tart.
-
- A spectacular chicken and prawn nasi goreng! This was so good, as was the apple crumble for dessert.
Turns out I forgot to take a picture of dinner on Christmas day, which was Tasmanian salmon. I remember being so pleased it was a light meal after the big lunch.
Day Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen
You will notice in some of the images there is a little bag with “pod” written on it. Pod stands for “protein on demand” and are roasted chickpeas in various flavours. I really hated them (but still ate them!) as they were incredibly dry for a snack. Why did I still eat them? Waste not want not. I can’t bear to throw away food when so many people around the world have none.
-
- The menu on day twelve.
-
- Scrambled eggs, pork sausage, spinach and tomato.
-
- Chilli herb Basa fillet – never had a Basa before. It was fine.
-
- Chicken, mushroom and vegetable risotto.
-
- The menu on day thirteen.
-
- Yay for a ham and cheese croissant! It was nice to not have another cooked breakfast.
-
- Also happy days for a sandwich, the only one we ever had. It had chicken, lettuce, cheese, carrot, sundried tomatos and mayonnaise, and it was so good!
-
- Lamb and potato massaman curry.
-
- The menu on day fourteen, the final day!
-
- Omelette, potato nuggets, lamb sausage, mushroom and kale. Plus a pear, juice and danish.
-
- Cajun basted John Dory fillet.
-
- The hotel gave us a surprise half bottle of red wine and Nobby’s nuts (who have the memorable tagline, “Nibble Nobby’s Nuts!”) to celebrate my imminent release.
-
- After lunch, reception randomly called and asked if I’d like a coffee and a cookie. I said yes and here it is!
-
- Chicken ballotine (meh!) and another of those tasty ginger bread and caramel slices.
While I received a menu for the following day, and I believe breakfast was available, I was out of the hotel by 8am and off to the airport for my Qantas flight home to Sydney.
Overall Thoughts
You might be wondering where the meals are for days one through five. I published an article about them while still in quarantine, so you can find them here.
When it comes to hotel quarantine food around the world, it seems there is the good, the bad and the ugly. In this case, it was good all round, which I certainly appreciated. The Pullman Hotel in Adelaide certainly did their very best at all times, which I really appreciated.
Have you stayed in mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival in Australia or another country? What was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Did you have to pay for your quarantine stay? My wife and her brother were ‘incarcerated’ in a Travelodge in Sydney back in May last year – no menu choice and pretty basic food but they did record allergies on arrival. Thanks to cousins dropping in food parcels (to include wine) they survived but with smallish rooms this was not an easy experience – but it was free – hooray! (That hotel was removed from the scheme later).
A friend of mine had a similar experience in April last year in Sydney, where he said he was put into a “flea-bag hotel in Chippendale” for the duration. My quarantine fee of AU$3,000 was waived as I booked my flights in February 2020. Anyone who booked prior to the fees coming in on 12 July 2020 are exempt from paying. I would have cancelled my flights if I had to pay for the quarantine, as I don’t have that kind of money spare, quite frankly.