Flying Hippo

Having read the previous reviews I didn’t expect much from the Flying Hippo but the airport was heaving and not surprisingly there were a fair few seats available here. From the outset an unbiased onlooker might assume this is a nice diner in terms of layout, seating and cleanliness. That’s where the compliments end!
Firstly it’s not clear as you enter whether or not you just sit down or wait to be seated. I asked a member of staff who looked at me as though I had offended her so I took my seat. I ordered a bacon stottie for a whopping £5.50! As previously mentioned the bacon was rock hard with each piece stuck to each other (likely warmed up or microwaved) so I smothered it in ketchup to mask the singe! The coffee was bad too but then I am a coffee snob.
I would not recommend this place to anyone due to its expense but more importantly it’s poor quality food. There are better options… the small Upper Crust or the Beer Hole for example.

So gross.
Ordered the «breakfast salad». Congealed and unappetizing, it has a mound of greying meat, cold roasted tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and pale yolked boiled eggs. Just utterly devoid of any tastiness. The eldeflower prosecco drink was fine, a bit overpriced though. Definitely won’t return.

The burger? Adequate.
Pizza? Subpar, even by airport standards.
Had to aska twice for the check. Operations are clearly a mess.

I had hopes for The Flying Hippo, which is newly opened in the recent refurbishments at Newcastle Airport. It’s nice and clean, very neat in layout and has an Eddie Rocketts feel to it.
I had American style pancakes, with maple syrup, bacon and eggs. The food was pretty awful, unfortunately. The scrambled eggs sat in a pool of cloudy water. The bacon was clearly pre-​cooked and kept warm. It was rock hard. And the pancakes tasted like pre-​packaged ones bought in. I ate most of it because I was hungry and had a flight to catch but I wouldn’t order this dish a second time.
The staff were pleasant and efficient. I’ll give it another go another time, just to be fair.