Once hived off in VIP lounges, airport Champagne bars are now plonked as centrally as possible, giving travellers the fleeting sensation of playing jet-setting ballers, lapping up pricey bubbles on high stools, while the plebs mooch around duty free.

It feels patently obscene to even contemplate spending close to £1,000 on 125g grams of “Heritage” caviar, spooned into a shoe polish box, yet these kind of places do have some vicarious appeal – if your wallet can manage a taste.

It’s a seductive way to start a holiday, with a fizzy head rush to slush those pre-plane nerves.

And judging by their website, Caviar House & Prunier is doing pretty well out of holiday-goers’ weakness for a bit of luxury before they embark.

With two outposts at Gatwick and five at Heathrow, it also has a presence in Harrods, Selfridges and other worldly spots the rich like to go, such as Switzerland, Paris, Dubai and UAE.

Like most others, Gatwick North Terminal’s branch has a central reservation for the fish, Champers and the like, so diners can turn backs to the chaos going on behind, making for an island of relative quiet and calm.

A drawback of this seating arrangement is the inadvertent eye catching with dead-eyed clientele if they deign to peer up from their emails. And there is also the occasional waft of Michael Kors perfume from the testing station to muddle the senses.

So does the quality justify the excessive cost? Probably not, though it’s an experience worth indulging at least once, provided you can exercise some common sense restraint.

For the sparklers, the own-brand house Champagne from Épernay makes for perfectly serviceable sluicing, and will set you back £53 a bottle.

For the high rollers there’s a Dom Pérignon 2006 for £235 – a predictable mark-up, even if the same bottle can probably be yours for £90 over in duty free.

The food itself it pretty decent and well presented, though not wildly superior to a decent seafood pub.

The oysters are smallish natives, though our server cannot be any more specific about their regional origin. Salty and delicate, they are let down by the shabby unclean shells, dangly seaweed hanging off the back, and you might hope for a little more attention to detail at £18 for half a dozen.

The company makes much of its Norwegian-caught, Swiss-smoked Balik salmon, which trumps on about its Tsarist origins, and has been latterly revived in the idyllic hilly surrounds of Toggenburg in Switzerland. It’s a compelling backstory for the well-heeled clientele, and has symmetry with Caviar House & Prunier’s own Swiss origins.

And it’s a fine bit of smoked salmon – delicately perfumed, a rich hue of pink, and beautifully carved with the craft of a master sushi chef. Of course, it comes with a hefty pricetag, at £46 for a modest plate, or a few slithers as part of the equally delicately-portioned platter. For a tenth of the wholesale price of a 200g side there is always Springs Smoked Salmon, just over the Downs near Henfield, and by many accounts one of the best producers the UK.

The herring was pretty ordinary, no better than an overly sweet-cured jar; while the crayfish, though tending towards the stringy, were hardly better than the ones you get in a baguette with Marie Rose sauce up the elevator at Pret a Manger.

All the above come as part of a platter but if its caviar you crave, all sourced from Prunier's own sturgeon farms in France, then you might need a little more loot. The Prunier “Tradition” is the cheapest but still comes in at £60 for 30g. Thankfully for the purposes of tasting you can get it by the 10g, which makes for a deliciously slathered but eye-wateringly expensive slice of toast, grilled in one of the biggest Dualits ever seen.

From there it was onwards and upwards, the most extravagant being the light pearled Heritage. Prepared according to “Persian traditions”, at £225 per 30g or £820 for 125g, The Gourmand had neither the means nor the brass to sample it. Hey ho.

This place might be tempting for the aspirational gourmet-lush, and a brief stop-off brings an obscene sense of satisfaction. With airport security increasingly stressful this is an enclave of opulence.

But over all you might well be better saving your money for the holiday itself where you’ll no doubt get a lot more fizz for your funds.