Hospital Food Has Gotten Much Better

Published on Monday, April 19, 2010, by Deborah Lewis / Edit Post

The days when hospital food equals bland, inedible mush or that old standby Jell-O may be behind us. OK, bland is still part of the equation. But a recent stay in a Northern California hospital had us eating a tofu stir-fry for dinner, and feeling overwhelmed at the plethora of menu choices. The breakfast menu alone was astonishing in its length and variety: It even included jook!

Of course this isn't haute cuisine we're talking about—the rice in our stir-fry was gummy, and at breakfast our scrambled eggs tasted like they might've started out as a powder—but it's certainly a heartening start. Though it almost seems a shame to put that much effort into improving the fare: Most stays in a hospital involve circumstances that pretty much guarantee a lack of appetite, so a lot of food probably goes to waste (we left several items untouched, and it had nothing to do with the kitchen's skill level). But frankly, any effort to make a hospital stay more comfortable is laudable.

Image: Earl Otsuka

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  • ChowMC, you have a vendetta going there.
    I've been eating lunch in a hospital cafeteria for damn near 40 years, and the uality of the food waxes and wanes with health care in general. Sometimes it'sgood, often it isn't. A lot of the time the patient has renal failure, diabetes, heart problems, etc., that cause them to need a special diet. Thats where things tend to go to hell. Your food may not...+READ

    ChowMC, you have a vendetta going there.
    I've been eating lunch in a hospital cafeteria for damn near 40 years, and the uality of the food waxes and wanes with health care in general. Sometimes it'sgood, often it isn't. A lot of the time the patient has renal failure, diabetes, heart problems, etc., that cause them to need a special diet. Thats where things tend to go to hell. Your food may not contain any sodium, which is going to suck by definition. Or sugar, which, if you're a junk food junkie, is going to be horrible also.
    But the hospital isn't going to mollycoddle you by giving you stuff that you shouldn't be eating. That would be irresponsible. Unfortunately, the food may not be good enough to stand up to no salt or sugar or whatever it is that you can't eat. Nobody's promising you gourmet delghts. If you get them consider yourself lucky.
    Our cafeteria used to be pretty damn good, but it isn't any more. I get so sick of the food and its repitition I can''t stand it. But I'm talking nearly 40 years, so maybe I just don't have much sympathy for those who feel cheated having to eat hospital food for a few days here and there.-COLLAPSE

  • This thread from 2006 might be of interest.
    http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/324510

  • I disagree! I just got out of a unfortunate 12 day stay at Duke, the food was horrid! All cliches,... bland and plenty o jello. "Hospital Food Has Gotten Much Better" is BS and so is hospital food.
    I vowed whenever ANYONE i know is in the hospital, I will gift them with a bottle of Tabasco, to help choke the slop down.