The BA Galleries Lounge, Munich

The BA Galleries lounge in Munich is located kinda strangely around a corner at the end of the departures area.  Getting there is a bit confusing, as it involves some corridors that don’t quite look like you are supposed to walk down them, and have the potential for turing the wrong way and winding up outside security.

Once you make it though, it really is a decent lounge.  Quaint, but, with better food than I'm accustomed in a lounge of this smaller size.  And, in particular, good pastries and ice cream, two essential items to make me happy.

The Space

The lounge isn't very large, and at first, I thought this might be a problem as other guests arrived.  However, it wasn't remotely crowded, so, perhaps the size is fine.  One thing to note is that there are no restrooms located inside the lounge, you must exit and go use a regular bathroom out in the hall.

Business Area.

Near the entrance is a business area with a few computers, that no one seemed to use.

Tables with Fruit Bowls.

Seating was available at tables (all with fresh fruit bowls on them!) and some rather aged armchairs.  The chairs, while not the prettiest, were actually pretty comfortable.  There were also plentiful power  outlets throughout the room.

The Drinks

Coffee Lounge.

Off to the side was the "coffee lounge", basically just an automatic coffee machine, some tea, and little cookies.  

The coffee machine had only regular coffee, and, even the instant coffee on the side was caffeinated.  No decaf coffee here, which made me sad.  On the plus side, they actually had a roobios tea and hot chocolate, so Ojan was quite happy.

Cold Drinks, Alcoholic Drinks, Snacks.

On the other side was cold drinks, just water (sparkling and regular), fruit juices, and a standard lineup of bar selections including white wine, red wine, sparkling wine, beer, and basic spirits.

This area also had packaged chips, pretzels, and chocolates.

The Food

Croissants.

On top of the food buffet was a couple croissants.  I assumed they were leftover from breakfast service since we arrived around 11:30am, but, interestingly, they were replenished throughout our time, so, I guess they were not leftovers?

I tried the stuffed one and was rather shocked by how good it was.  The crust was crisp and flaky, and the dough had a nice flavor to it.  I liked the little crunchy bits on top.  I'm not quite sure what the filling was, it seemed to be pineapple perhaps?

I went back for another later since I liked it so much, and this time, it was even warm, clearly fresh out of the oven/heater.  They did a good job of keeping these fresh.

Sandwiches, Cheese, Spreads.

The main continental lunch selection was pre-made sandwiches, which I did not try, plus simple cheeses and other spreads.

Rolls, Crackers, Flatbreads.

The spreads and cheeses went with an interesting assortment of types of crackers/flatbreads.

Salad "Mexican Style".

The only vegetable offering was a "Mexican" salad with beans, corn, peppers, and more.  No standard salad, crudite, etc.  I didn't try it.

Hot Foods: Spicy Chicken Fingers, Potato Wedges, Mini Pizza Margherita.

Hot food offerings were in a buffet: atomic orange looking spicy chicken fingers, potato wedges, and mini cheese pizzas.  BBQ sauce and ketchup were provided on the side.

Ojan tried the hot foods, and said they were all actually pretty tasty, and far better than they looked, and far better than they should be, given the itty bitty buffet.

Langnese Ice Cream Freezer!

And finally ... an ice cream freezer!  Oh, be still my heart!  Since the ice cream freezer disappeared from the Galleries lounge in Heathrow, I had no idea they still offered them in other locations.

It was stocked with little tubs of Langnese (aka, Heartbrand, aka Unilever) ice cream, in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.  Ok, not the most exciting options, but still, ice cream.

I selected vanilla, er, Bourbon-Vanille, ice cream, and was pleasantly surprised.  It was creamy, rich, nicely flavored, and melted perfectly.  It was really quite good ice cream.  I wish I'd taken a photo, but it was swirled into the container with little swirls visible, making it seem less mass produced than it likely was.

Ojan opted for chocolate, and similarly commented on the fact that the ice cream was better than expected.