Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Galleries First Class Lounge, Terminal 5, Heathrow

Update Review, Lunch & Afternoon Tea

Lunch Buffet

My visit was mid-day, so the buffet was serving lunch, with a selection of both hot and cold items.
Hot Carbs & Veg.
The first section of the hot buffet contained mostly carbs, all of which I skipped.  Buttered new potatoes & chives, herb roasted parmentier potatoes, pea & sugar snaps, spicy tomato pasta, and white rice.
Hot proteins: Madiera chicken, cod & pea fish cakes.
Next came the warm proteins, a chicken madiera stew, and fish cakes.  I skipped the chicken stew, but happily grabbed a fish cake.

The fish cakes weren't good.  The outside wasn't crispy, the fish part was ... quite fishy, and inside was filled with mushy peas.  It was kinda cute in the sense that it was fish and chips in portable form, mushy peas and all, but wow, not good.  The tartar sauce on the side had no real flavor, besides mayo.
Hot Dishes.
The other side of the hot proteins section had two more stew like dishes, chili and mushroom stroganoff, both of which I tried.

The chile con carne was made with ground beef and beans.  It really was not not bad.  I wished I had some sour cream or cheese to mix in though.

The mushroom stroganoff was the highlight of the buffet.  This was actually really good.  Creamy sauce, nice mushrooms.  Quite tasty, although it did randomly have beans in it, which I'd rather it not have.
Salad Bar.
The salad bar had basic mixed greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes, along with peri peri chicken salad and potato salad.

The potato salad had more mayo than I could really fathom.  I've heard of overdressed, but this was bonkers.  More mayo than potatoes.  The potatoes were decently cooked though.
Deli salads, Condiments.
Next we had more deli salads: a beetroot & butternut squash salad, ruby cole slaw, 5 bean salad, and some condiments like salsa, lemon wedges, and shredded cheese.

I love good deli salads, or even, really, generic mediocre ones, but these weren't even that.

The slaw was sooo mayo flavored, I couldn't taste anything else. I like a mayo slaw, but, this was swimming in it (and, it was swimming, it was an oddly thin mayo).

The beetroot salad was ok, the bits of beet fairly flavorful.
More condiments.
Dressing, hot sauce, more garnishes came next.
Tomato Soup with croutons and rolls.
Token pot of soup, tomato was the soup of the day.

Tea Time

Later in the afternoon, the spread turns into afternoon tea, because, England.
Cheeses and cold cuts.
If you just wanted a nibble, there was a small cheese and cold cut station, with coastal cheddar, bleu, or camembert cheese, and ham, along with crackers and apple & cider chutney.
Tea Sandwiches
And of course, assortment of tea sandwiches: salt beef with mustard mayo, Atlantic prawns & watercress, chicken & bacon with rocket, egg mayonnaise & sun-blush tomatoes.  
Scones & Sweets.

To complete your tea time, there was the essential scones and sweets: scones with jam and clotted cream, plus red velvet cake and sticky stem ginger slice.

I skipped the scones, even though I kinda wanted them, since I knew I'd be getting scones on my flight in a few minutes.

But I couldn't resist trying the other desserts, even though the British aren't exactly known for their desserts.

The red velvet cake was ... lackluster.  The cake was dry and flavorless.  But the cream cheese frosting was sweet and quite enjoyable.

The sticky stem ginger slice was less good.  Also dry, fairly boring cake.  The ginger flavor was quite strong  The top was sweet and sticky.

So, I ate the sticky top of one, and all the frosting of another, but still, not very satisfying desserts.
Desserts.
Alongside the tea sandwiches I found a treasure.  More desserts!

I skipped the lemon & amoretti slice since I don't like those things, but tried the chocolate one, labelled chocolate chilli omere. Not really sure what that is, but, rich chocolatety dessert it was.

I took one bite and was blown away.  Woah!  When they said there was chili, there was chili.

Once I recovered from chili shock however, there wasn't much to care about here.  Yes, chocolate mousse top, yes chocolate cake bottom, but it wasn't great.
Snack Mixes.
At the very end, snack mixes.

First was a snack mix with pretzels and a few types of crackers.

Next, assorted dried fruit.

And finally, spiced jumbo corn.  I went for the jumbo corn.  Crunchy, slightly spiced, but not particularly interesting.

BA doesn't win in the snack foods department.

A La Carte

I was fairly happy with the buffet after discovering the stroganoff, but of course, I wanted some of the made to order items, a feature of the First Class lounge.

They didn't make it easy though.  There were literally 2 menus present in the entire dining area.  If I didn't know I could order a la carte,  I would have never noticed these, and there was no other signage implying you could order other things.  Certainly no one ever asked if you wanted to order something.  I had to track someone down and essentially demand to order.
A La Carte Menu.
The menu was fairly simple:
  • Soup of the day. 
  • Greek Salad.
  • Kiln roasted salmon sandwich. 
  • BA Burger. 
  • Red Thai Chicken curry. 
  • Macaroni Cheese
I find it interesting that soup is on the a la carte menu, rather than in the buffet.  That seems like such an easy buffet item.

The salmon looked good as I saw it going by.  And the burger looked epic, but Emil had warned me not to get it.  I trusted him, but the chips that came with it, thick wedges, were irresistible.  I could order just a side, right?  He didn't tell me not to get the chips ...
Macaroni Cheese.
"Chifferini pasta with a rich Red leicester, British Cheddar and English mustard sauce."

I opted for the mac and cheese.  Sorry, "Macaroni Cheese".  I laughed when I stuck my fork in.  It was, well, exactly like it looked.  80% cheese sauce.  Where was the mac?

The mac was large noodles, decently cooked, but really, there was more cheese sauce than mac here.  But that didn't matter.  That cheese sauce was incredible.

It was thick, it was creamy, it was cheesy.

And to seal the deal, on top was a bunch more cheese.  Some shredded, some flaked.  So. Much. Cheese.

It was heavy.  It was creamy.  It was so comforting.  It was ... well, delicious.

I devoured it. My companion was planning to share with me, but he went to take a shower and the food arrived while he was gone.  He didn't stand a chance.  Uh, oops?  Sorry not sorry?

Sure, at this point I felt horrible.  Huge breakfast on the plane.  Buffet grazing.  Ridiculous mac and cheese.  I was full of oil, butter, mayo, cream, and cheese.  And I was really jetlagged.  But wow this was good.
Side of Chips.
Even though I didn't order the burger, I couldn't resist the chips.  I should have.  They looked great, thick, thick steak fries, but, sadly, they just weren't good.  I guess they are baked rather than fried, although they were plenty oily.  They just ... weren't good.  Served with a little pot of Heinz ketchup.  Guess I should have listened to Emil after al ...
Greek Salad.
"Yellow cherry tomatoes, baby plum tomatoes, cucumber, olives, mint and creamy feta cheese finished with a Greek dressing".

My companion opted for the Greek salad, a safe, simple choice.

Drinks

Drinks are all self serve, which I appreciated.
Soft drinks.
The soft drinks were not cold, you had to add ice if you wished for a cold drink.
Champagne, White Wine.
Luckily the white wine and champagne were appropriately chilled.
Champagne Bar.
There was another chilled wine bar, this one with champagne only.  The champagne bar was deserted, but it looked like at other times of day it could be a happening place, it seemed like it was designed to be a focal point.
Bar.
Red wine and basic spirits.
Gin and Tonic Bar!
A bit random, but there was also a gin and tonic bar, with 4-5 types of decent quality gin, and both regular and light tonic.

Update Review, September 2015 Visit

After a quick flight from Paris, I arrived at Heathrow airport for a 3 hour layover before I boarded flight 287 to San Francisco.  

Three hours may sound like a long time, but given that we had to go through border control and back through regular security before we could even begin our airport stay, the start of the 3 hours quickly passed.  Also, we were going to be flying on the A380, which only departs out of the far away C gates of Terminal 5.  Getting to our gate, plus boarding time, would cut out a significant chunk of the later part of the layover.  So for actual time in the lounges, we were looking at 1.5 hours at most.  That isn’t much time when you have an agenda as I did.  Yes, I had just been there two weeks prior, but this time, it was earlier in the day, so the offerings were different.  I wanted to see the differences!

We arrived at 10:40am, which meant that we could catch the end of breakfast service (the switchover is at noon).  Last time, I was only able to experience lunch and afternoon tea.  And of course, I was eying some of the lunch items. Oh, and of course I was really hoping to get a spa treatment this time, as they were fully booked last time.

My first order of business was clearly to try to book a spa treatment.  I was met with success, a 12:40 appointment was available.  I needed to leave for my flight at 1pm, exactly when the treatment would end.  Excellent.

Massage lined up, I headed to the Galleries First (and later, the Galleries Business class) lounges, to see if the breakfast offerings were still the same as they were several years ago when I visited (short version: yes, they were). 

Breakfast

Now, I didn’t need breakfast, at all.  I already had 4+ breakfasts that day (yes, for real: my day started at 7am at the Sheraton at CDG where I had a huge breakfast buffet at the restaurant, then I explored the American Airline’s Admiral’s Club lounge offerings at CDG around 8:30am, followed by the Cathay Pacific lounge’s choices at 9am.  My flight from Paris at 10am also included a light meal.  Was I remotely hungry?  No.  But … I was curious.

I first checked out the made-to-order breakfast menu.  I knew that I really shouldn’t order a full breakfast, so I didn’t, but it was hard to resist.  A sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit sounded great!  And all around me were folks devouring eggs benedict.  I love hollandaise so much ...

But I stuck to the buffet, where I could take smaller portions, just to nibble and of course, to get details to provide to you, my dear readers.
Cereal.
The simplest option was cereal: Kellogg’s cornflakes, branflakes, muesli, and tropical crunch granola.  I tried a little granola, and it was ok, but not awesome.  I liked the banana chips in it, and the cluster sizes, but there wasn’t much flavor to it.  The chocolate hazelnut granola I had that morning at the Sheraton was much better.
Hot Porridge.
For hot cereal, there was a porridge, just like I had several years ago when I visited.  

It looked gross, gloopy, with a film on top.  It looked this way last time too, and I still loved it then, so I tried it again this time.  It was … fine, not bad really, but not remarkable, and certainly not memorable as it was before.  The only mix-ins available were raisins, cinnamon, sugar, and golden syrup.  Sadness, this one will have to go down in the memory banks as once great, but alas, no longer.

Interestingly, they also have a porridge on the made-to-order menu, I assume it is different in some way?  Next time I'll try that.
First Class Lounge: Cold Baked Goods.
I moved on to the main buffet, which started with baked goods.  Croissants, Pain au Chocolat, and Pain aux Raisins.  All served cold.  Slim pickings at this point.  

I love my baked goods, but I had already had a croissant in each lounge in CDG and at the hotel previously, so I did skip the croissants. The huge raisin swirls however looked fairly good, so I couldn’t resist.

They were … mediocre at best.  Sorta flaky exterior, but the dough itself was not very fresh tasting and greasy.  There was some custard and soft raisins inside.
Hot Breakfast.
Next came the hot foods, which was quite the lineup.  There was:
  • Two types of toast
  • Pork sausage, bacon, black pudding
  • Roast tomatoes, roast mushrooms, hash browns
  • Baked beans and scrambled eggs
The scrambled eggs I initially thought were actually polenta, the consistency was that strange.

I tried the potato cake, and it was actually decent, very crispy, formed from individual chunks of potato mashed together into a cake.  It would have been great with some maple syrup!
Yogurt and Fruit.
Next came yogurt and fruit.  I didn’t try the Greek yogurt, but the berry yogurt was unremarkable.  Fruits were grapefruit or orange segments, and two different fruit salads.  I stayed away from all of this due to my watermelon allergy.  No berries nor premium fruit.
Jams.
The end of the bar had a few different jams, marmalade, and honey, plus rolls.  Ketchup and HP sauce were also available.

Lunch

When I returned to the lounge after checking out the business class lounge too, it was 11:45am, and the buffet was being swapped out.  It was nearly identical to the buffet from my prior visit
Hot Foods Buffet.
The hot lineup was pork sausage (leftover from breakfast?),  madeira chicken, steamed white rice, primavera penne pasta, peas and sugar snaps, herb roasted potatoes, sautéed new potatoes & chives, mushroom and white bean stroganoff, and chili con carne.  There were no fish cakes this time around, although the tartar sauce and lemons were there, so presumably they replaced the breakfast sausages with the fish cakes at some point.

This time, I decided to try the "Primavera Penne Pasta".  It was fine, just penne with a few veggies and a light cream sauce.  Not very interesting.

I also had more of the mushroom and bean stroganoff since I’d liked it before.  The mushrooms and flavor were again decent, but it wasn’t really that good.
Salad Bar.
The salad bar was also basically the same, basic greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, slices of cornish beef bresola, and (very overdressed) coleslaw and potato salad, beet salad, and bean salad.  There was a leek and cheddar quiche this time too.  Since I’d tried all these before, and they were crazy overdressed last time, I didn’t bother this time.
Spiced Root Vegetable Soup
The soup of the day was Spiced Root Vegetable Soup.  I didn’t try it.  Croutons and bread alongside.
Sandwiches, Desserts.
There were four types of sandwiches: Atlantic Prawns & Watercress, Chicken Caesar with Rocket, Salt Beef with Mustard Mayonnaise, Free-range Egg Mayonnaise & Sun-dried Tomato with Spinach, and two desserts, exactly the same as before: Chocolate Chili Omere and Lemon & Amoretti Slice.  Side note, what is an Omere?

If I was hungry, I might have tried the shrimp sandwich, the filling with mayo and spices looked good.

I didn’t like the chocolate chile omere before, so I tried the Lemon & Amoretti Slice this time, even though I don’t generally like lemon desserts.  I didn’t have other options.  It was … lemony.  The crunchy, but slightly soggy amaretti cookies on top were fine enough.
September Lunch Menu.
Menus were placed on the tables, now with the made-to-order lunch items.  My previous visit, while only two weeks prior, was in August, and now it was September 3rd, so the menu had changed, although only slightly. 

The chicken curry changed from a Red Thai Chicken Curry to a Korean Chicken Curry, and the salmon dish I was hoping to get was replaced with … a falafel wrap.  Doh. The other items remained unchanged (macaroni cheese, BA burger, Greek salad).
Falafel Wrap.
“Tortilla filled with falafel, roasted red peppers, jalapeño hummus, and spinach served with a Greek yogurt dip.”

My companion opted for the falafel wrap.  I picked it up, confused.  Where was the falafel?  It certainly wasn’t falafel balls, rather, just some chickpea mush, which wasn’t clearly distinct from the hummus.  Neither of us tasted any jalapeño.  The Greek yogurt dip was sorta like tzatziki.

The pita was nicely toasted, and the only redeeming element of the wrap.  My companion also didn’t like it.

*+.
Macaroni Cheese.
"Chifferini pasta with a rich Red Leicester, British Cheddar and English mustard sauce."

During my last visit, I adored the mac and cheese, so I was really glad to see it on the menu still.  I think it is considered a lounge staple.

When it arrived, I was surprised.  What was the green stuff on top?  It didn’t have that last time.  And where was all the thick shreds of parmesan cheese that I loved?  But still, it looked the same otherwise, so I dug in.

It was hot and fresh.  It had the same ridiculous ratio of tons of cheese sauce to pasta as before. The pasta was cooked fine.  The sauce mostly tasted the same.  But … it wasn’t nearly as good.  No crispy top, and the extra parmesan really had made a difference.  I never figured out what the green stuff was, no matter how much I tried to isolate and idenfity the flavor.

This was fine, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t anything I’d get again, and wasn’t nearly as good as last time.  Perhaps just because I was so full?

***.
Vanilla Ice Cream.
To close the “meal”, I also ordered ice cream.  Only chocolate or vanilla were available, I oped for vanilla.

You may recall that last time I wanted to get it, but ate way too much other food and decided not to.  And you may recall that several years ago I discovered the ice cream freezer in the business class lounge, and loved that ice cream (and making an affogato from it).  But, that ice cream freezer was removed at some point.

This time, I was determined to get my ice cream.

It was … exactly what I was hoping for.  Creamy, rich, nice vanilla flavor.  It melted well.  Plain old vanilla ice cream is boring of course, and I wanted toppings or a different flavor, but, it was good ice cream.

I ate about half of it plain, and then turned the rest into an affogato.  I was a happy girl at this point.  Happy, and very, very full.  Thus, ready to make a few gin and tonics, and go get a massage.

***+.

Original Review, Dec 2014

On my first visit to Heathrow while en route to Barcelona, I didn't have much time to spend lounge hoping, as my friends were waiting for me to sit down to a (dissapointing) formal lunch in the Concorde room, as you read about two weeks ago.  But I couldn't leave my curiosity unsatisfied, so I did a very quick swing through the other First Class lounge, the Galleries.  The First Class Galleries lounge is located directly next to the Concorde room, on the other side of the spa, so it was easy to pop over there, but I really had only a few minutes to quickly snap some photos and take brief notes.  Sorry, I didn't get a chance to try all the cuisine!

My next visit to Heathrow was longer, and once I realized that the Concorde room, though lovely, didn’t have food offerings I was interested in for breakfast, I decided to check out the Galleries again.  When I breezed through briefly on my previous visit it was daytime, so I had no idea what they’d have for breakfast. 

When I presented my boarding pass to enter, I was of course informed that I could use the Concorde room.  I acknowledged this, and said I just wanted to see the lounge.  I was welcomed in, and told I could go back and forth as many times as I wanted.  I was glad to hear that I wasn't being strange for wanting to check out both lounges!

The Galleries First lounge has a lot going for it.  It was more my style than the Concorde room in many ways, allowing me to help myself to things and sample what I wanted, when I wanted.  The selection is large, for both food and drinks.  And if you prefer made-to-order plated options, they do that too.  The lounge is huge, and well laid out into separate sections, so it never felt crowded.  The only real downside is that it doesn’t contain all of the premium food and beverage options from the Concorde room.  If I’d never been in the Concorde room, I would be completely satisfied with this lounge, and it was definitely steps above the Business lounge (more on that next week).
Seating Area.
The Galleries lounge is much larger than the Concorde room, and was largely vacant, on both my visits.  I guess most people flying in First use the Concorde room, and those flying in Business use the Business lounge, so this lounge really is just a catch-all for those with status not flying in First class on that particular day.  The decor and furniture were nice, but didn’t have quite the same relaxing feel as the Concorde room.  That said, it was spacious and just as calm, as there was barely anyone inside.
Bar and bar snacks.
The far end of the room is a bar and snack area.  It was the same at both breakfast and daytime service.  An impressive bar selection, plus two types of Kettle chips and bar snacks to munch on.
Bar Snacks.
The bar snacks were Taiwanese Crackers, "BA Savory Mix", BA Dried Fruit Mix.  I tried all of the snacks, and found them all very standard.  The jars were cute, but rather obnoxious to open and close.
Coffee Bar and cookies.
The coffee bar area was also the same on both visits.  A few magic coffee machines, a large selection of tea, soft drinks, and jars of cookies.  The cookies were hard style, and didn’t look appealing, even to a sweet tooth like me.  I didn’t try any.
Champagne bar.
The champagne bar and wine bar were well stocked at all times of day.  I didn’t look into these areas much however.
Drinks at Breakfast.
The alcoholic selections were quite impressive, but so were the non-alcoholic.  Many choices for soft drinks, juices, and assorted waters.  I saw people constantly grabbing drinks, yet this area magically stayed replenished at all times.
Drinks during day: sandwiches, desserts.
During the day, the bottom tier of the drink station converted to have some pre-made sandwiches and desserts.

The sandwich selection rotates, but on my visit it was chicken and guacamole, poached salmon & rocket, egg mayonaise & sun blistered tomatoes.  I didn't try these.

Desserts were chocolate profiteroles and blackcurrant cheese cake, neither of which I tried.
F Lounge Breakfast Menu.
Since I wasn't planning to actually sit down and spend time in the lounge, I was in the lounge for one reason: to do a little "research".  I was shocked to discover that on the tables were dining menus, with made-to-order items.  There were still buffets, there were also many dishes available to order, just like in the Concorde room, albeit without the formal dining room to go along with it.

The breakfast menu contained a subset of the items available in the Concorde room, nothing extra (darn it!  I was still hoping for pancakes or french toast to show up somewhere!). The menu had a few of the same egg dishes, and none of the premium offerings, like smoked salmon.
F Lounge Daytime Menu.
During the day, the menu was more varied, and the Galleries First lounge had things like mac and cheese that were absent on the Concorde room menu.  On my visit the menu was:
  • Soup of the Day
  • BLT: A warm sandwich of British back bacon, tomato, lettuce and mayo served with lightly-salted kettle chips.
  • Smoked Salmon: A deli plate of Severn and Wye smoked salmon, cream cheese, salad leaves, and grainy bread.
  • BA Burger: Made with Birchstead 21 day aged beef burger, and served in a glazed bun with twice cooked chips. Ask your host if you would like the addition of crispy back bacon or Emmental cheese. 
  • Chicken Ramen: A Japanese-inspired soup with chicken, chillies, water chestnuts and fresh coriander in a warming chicken broth
  • Caesar Salad: Baby gem leaves with Parmigiano-Reggiano, croûtons and a creamy Caesar dressing. Ask you host if you would like the addition of a smoked chicken breast
  • Macaroni Cheese (v): Pasta with a rich Red Leicester, British Cheddar and English mustard sauce glazed with a fresh herb crust.
The soup of the Day, the smoked salmon plate, and the burger were the same as in the Concorde room, but ramen and mac and cheese replaced the fancier main dishes, and caesar replaced the tomato and mozzarella salad.  Honestly, the mac and cheese sounded quite tasty, and if I wasn't planning on a formal meal with my friends over in the Concorde room, I most certainly would have ordered it.
Breakfast Hot Buffet
The lounge had a large hot buffet, with toast, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, grilled British back bacon, Dingley Dell pork sausage, and black pudding.  These items were all available in the Concorde room as an English Breakfast platter, so presumably you could have ordered just a few items individually as well.

Of the hot items, the only thing I wanted to try was the hash browns. I love good hash browns.

As you'd expect from a buffet, they were completely unremarkable, about the same as any I’d buy frozen and bake at home.  Clearly not pan fried or crispy, although they were oily.  I always love my hash browns with maple syrup on them, but because they had no pancake/waffle/french toast items, they didn’t offer any syrup.  I settled for ketchup.

The hot buffet seemed very skippable, although the business lounge has no hot food offerings, so this is a step up for the First Class lounge.
Breakfast Pastries.
On one end of the hot buffet was an array of pastries: croissants, chocolate croissants, cranberry twirls, raisin swirls, and brioche.  Finally!  This is what I was really missing in the Concorde room.

But ... they were not warm.  They didn’t look good.  (Interestingly, I’d later discover that the business class lounge had some of these same items, but there, they are kept under a heat lamp.  Why would business class get warm pastries, and not First?  It made no sense).  Of course, business had a smaller selection of pastries, but, in both cases, none looked very good, and even baked goods loving me didn't try any.  The brioche roll was the same one I ordered in the Concorde room.
Lunch Hot Buffet.
At lunch, the hot buffet was loaded with options.

Front row:
  • Mustard
  • Warm jus
  • Dingley Deli pork sausages with candied red onion
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Parmentier potatoes
  • Cabbage, leeks and peas
  • Steak and ale pies
Back Row:
  • Pasta dish ... don't know what it was.
  • Thai green chicken curry
  • Another curry
  • Vegetable rice
Since we were having a formal meal in the Concorde room, I didn't try any of this, but it didn't look particularly good.  If dining in the First lounge, I'd certainly recommend ordering a made to order dish.
Breakfast: Porridge, crackers, jams, meats, cheese.
At breakfast, along the wall opposite the hot buffet was a selection of cheeses, sliced meats, crackers, and jams.  Some of the cheeses actually looked quite good, and, if it was later in the day, or if I was in the mood for cheese, these would have been a nice option.  Business class did not have these items, nor did the menu for the Concorde room.

Next to the cheese and meat was porridge.  I found the placement of this a bit odd, but it looked hot and fresh, and had a few items available to mix in (raisins, cinnamon, honey).  The business lounge also had this offering, which you'll hear about next week.
Lunch: Soup, Meats, Cheese.
During the day, the setup of this station was nearly identical, with the same deli meats and cheeses, but the porridge subbed out for soup.
Breakfast: Cereal, Fresh Fruit.
On the other end of the meat/cheese area at breakfast was 4 types of cereal, and some whole fruit.  I tried some of the granola, and actually quite liked it, it was crunchy, a tad sweet, and loaded with dried fruit.

It was interesting to later see that business lounge had only two types of cereal offered.  It makes sense that the business lounge has reduced offerings, and leaving out the hot food and meats and cheeses made sense, but cereal and pastries?  Those can’t be premium items.
Daytime: Scones, Cakes.
During the day, the fresh fruit remains, but the cereals are replaced with a dessert station featuring sliced cakes, scones, and jam.  I wish I'd had time to try those, although of course, BA served me plenty of scones on all my assorted flights, like the afternoon tea service on my Club Europe flight from Healthrow to Barcelona.
Breakfast: Fruit and yogurt bar.
The final section at breakfast was yogurt and fruit: one plain yogurt, one fruit yogurt, and a couple of types of sliced fruit to mix in.  In fear of melons, I skipped all of this, because the label just said “fruit salad”, and I had no idea if there was melon included, and I am deathly allergic.
Daytime: Salad Bar.
During the day, the fruit and yogurt was replaced with a salad bar.  It contained:
  • Poached salmon
  • Grilled chicken
  • A bunch of composed salads: coleslaw, five bean salad, beetroot and carrot and pumpkin seed salad, Morroccan bulgar wheat and chickpea salad, and pasta salad
  • Basic salad ingredients: mixed lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes
  • And ... lemon wedges?
I only tried the coleslaw.  It was creamy,  with a bit of tang from horseradish.  Not bad.

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