Beat the hotel breakfast buffet

Everyone loves a breakfast buffet—but there are right and wrong ways in which to tackle them

 

Many of us sit down to breakfast having not eaten for ten hours or so. As such, our metabolism will be sleepy as sleepy as we are, and could react badly to sudden feasting.

To gently warm up your engine room— and prevent indigestion—sip a cup of green tea upon waking.

 

Another way to get the blood pumping and kick-start your metabolism is with a gym workout. The other benefit? You’ll feel like you’ve earned those pain aux chocolate.

 

How to put this? The more, ahem, room in the tank, the more petrol you can put into it. As such, there’s plenty to be said for some coffee and a loo trip before you head buffet-wards.

 

 

There’s a time and place for skinny jeans and skin-tight, midriff-flaunting t-shirts, but that time and place is decidedly not the breakfast buffet.

Elasticated sweatpants? Baggy sweaters? Now we’re talking.

 

If you’re not keen on the classic option of pilfering a muffin or two for lunch, make your buffet bow nearer 11am than 7am, and convert breakfast into brunch. That way, you won’t need lunch at all.

Don’t arrive too late, though, or they’ll be packing up before you’ve finished.

 

There’s no rule saying you can only linger for a certain time in the buffet hall. So, while you’re forbidden from re-entering for seconds, that option remains if you never leave the room in the first place.

Consider taking down a laptop or another form of entertainment to pass the time. Then split your time into two distinct dining sessions—the first being breakfast, and the second an early lunch. Hello value!

 

Once you’re ready to eat, it’s time to practice restraint. Before diving in gleefully, stroll around the entire buffet to assess what looks tasty, how much you want, and the order in which you’ll have it.

Enquire about hidden options, too: many buffet services also include a menu of orderable hot dishes. Too bad if you’ve already chowed down on those 94 muffins.

 

 

Since most people’s chief buffet-breakfast aim is to consume as much as possible—when in Rome, and all that—indigestion is a constant peril.

Chewing on a slice of lemon can help ward it off, and negates bloating and heartburn. Peppermint teas effect similar miracles.

 

If a long, footsore day of sightseeing awaits, eat lots of strengthening protein—hard-boiled or scrambled eggs are winners—and a banana or two to boost your energy reserves.

Fruit and yoghurt are also good breakfast starting points; their high water content makes them easily processable for a tender morning stomach.

 

Why not go gourmet and DIY a yoghurt parfait if granola’s available?

Other inventive options are waffle sandwiches, ham and cheese-filled croissants—wait, did you accidentally slip that in your lunch bag for later? Along with combining juice flavours.

But you needn’t stop at mixing the orange and mango juice. Throw in some fizzy water, and you’ll be clutching a bonafide virgin spritzer or, courtesy of some sliced berries, a lovely mocktail. Cheers!