The Michael W Travels family recently got back from an awesome little trip to Ireland.

While Dublin is usually a quick flight from NYC, we flew on connecting flights each way. A small inconvenience is worth it to save on the cost of a flight, if you ask me…

During our travels we got to visit a Priority Pass lounge in three airports. Two of the lounges were solid offering food, snacks, drinks and a place to relax.

The other Priority Pass lounge was quite different and possibly the most interesting one that I’ve ever visited.

In early February it was announced that a restaurant was being added as a Priority Pass lounge at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW). It just so happened that we’d be flying home through Gatwick so I made it a priority to visit this new lounge.

Here is how it works when you visit the Grain Store with your Priority Pass.

When you show your membership card, the staff let us know that we would receive a £15 credit (around $18.75 US) for the card holder. They asked that the card be given when paying our bill. My Priority Pass membership includes guests so we were allowed a credit of £45. If I really wanted/ needed I could’ve also received a credit for Theo.

The Grain Store Cafe & Bar is located in LGW’s South Terminal. It’s “the first off-shoot of the multi award-winning Grain Store restaurant in London… Celebrated Chef Bruno Loubet has developed a completely new menu, designed specifically with Gatwick’s passengers in mind,” according to gatwickairport.com.

The restaurant has a nice look and the menu offers many healthy options.

A few things caught my attention, so I asked the waiter what he recommended. He mentioned how he loved the burgers. Being that I’m a huge burger fan, I decided to order the Lamb Burger. (From what I recall fries were not included so I ordered a side.)

The burger comes topped with tomato and yogurt mint aioli which I left on the side. (I don’t eat yogurt but Kim said it was really good).

There was also some cucumber on top which I passed off to Lucas.

I cut the burger in half to get a better view of what was going on inside. It appeared that the burger was cooked to a bit over medium.

I took a bite and was instantly impressed. Lamb burgers are distinctly different than beef and it doesn’t appeal to everyone. I have to say that this was a really good burger. The meat was cooked well and relatively juicy. There was no cheese on the burger and it wasn’t needed. The meat had tons of flavor. I also really enjoyed the bun which was a soft, brioche style.

Kim and Lucas both took a taste of my burger and also really enjoyed.

Overall, for £11, this burger was worth the price.

Kim was tired of pub food and tends to eat quite a bit healthier than I do.

Kim ordered a salad called ” A bowl of superfood” which cost £12.

The salad includes quinoa, lentils, avocado, baby spinach, apple, pumpkin seeds and crumbled feta. Salads aren’t my thing but Kim said she loved the salad and it’s something she’d like to make to eat at home!

The Grain Store offers a reasonably priced Children’s Menu with meals costing £5- 6.50.

I figured that Lucas would want his favorite meal, macaroni and cheese but he was in the mood for eggs.

Lucas ordered scrambled eggs with toast. He loved what he thought were cheesy eggs. The eggs were actually loaded with butter- they did taste good but this couldn’t have been a healthy dish! Regardless, Lucas ate his meal and was quite happy with it. Considering he didn’t eat his food on the flight home, this was really important!

We also ordered a couple of desserts which were also tasty. Our total bill came to just under £40 ($50US).

Overall thoughts on the new Priority Pass Lounge, the Grain Store.

I have to say that while I do enjoy visiting lounges, I could get used to receiving credits for airport restaurants. It was nice to sit down to a really good meal rather than grab some okay/decent light snacks and sandwiches in lounges.

The only negative is that if you want to order loads of drinks or load up on snacks, a £15 credit will only go so far.

For those of you visiting LGW, there’s another Priority Pass Lounge option, the No1 Lounge. We planned to check out the No1 too, but we ran out of time relaxing at the Grain Store.

Do you have a favorite Priority Pass lounge? If so, let us know what and where it is.