United Polaris Lounge, SFO

Update Review, May 2024

I haven't taken the time to sit and eat at the Polaris dining room in many years (usually because the waits are ~1 hour when I visit in the evening), but I finally did this recent visit, my first mid-day visit perhaps ever.  I skipped the buffet entirely.

I was quoted a 30 minute wait to be seated at 11:10am, and it took closer to 40 minutes.  You are not allowed to place your order prior to being seated.  I ordered everything at once: two small plates, one dessert.  It was ready within 10 minutes.

Overall, this was one of the better meals I've had in a Polaris lounge.  The crab cake was good, the dessert stunning (looking, sadly, didn't taste as good as it looked).  It made me glad I decided to actually sit for a meal, rather than lounge hop between the buffets as I normally do.

Dining Room Menu.

There have been many visits where the Polaris dining room menu didn't really appeal, but this was not one of them.  I adored the sound of the breakfast menu (ube pancakes!) but even the lunch/dinner menu had some highlights, including several fresh spring dishes featuring asparagus, and even crab cakes.

Spring Goat Cheese Salad (dressing on the side).

"Asparagus, Red Radish, Green Peas, Grilled Leeks, Baby Gem Lettuce, Goat Cheese, Lemon Mint  Dressing."

I loved the sound of this salad.  I like everything in it, well, besides the goat cheese.  I meant to ask to have that left off, but I forgot, which didn't turn out to be a problem.  Although this was listed as the "goat cheese salad", as you can see, very little goat cheese was actually involved.  Just two tiny bits that were easily pushed aside.  If you ordered this for its namesake ingredient, I am sure you would sad.  But for me, that was a win.  I did ask to have the dressing on the side.

The salad was fine.  Some fresh enough baby gem lettuce pieces, a few slices of radish, a sprinkle of peas, and two pieces of asparagus.  I wanted more asparagus, more peas!  And where were the grilled leeks?  I had no leeks.  I snuck out to the buffet salad bar to add more greens, carrot, and tomato to really round it out into a real salad offering.  I wasn't into the dressing, but I expected that, given my dislike of vinaigrettes.

So, yay for getting some asparagus and peas I guess, but the buffet salad bar really would have sufficed.  Low ***.

Crab Cake.

"Pico de gallo, remoulade sauce."

The crab cake is from the "small plates" section of the menu, and I actually like small portion sizes, but this was a bit funny.  Singular crab cake, and a quite tiny one at that.

That said, it was actually pretty good.  Shredded crab, some filler, lightly crisp, served appropriately warm.  The flavor was good, the texture was good.  Not lump crab meat, not amazingly crisp, but, it was good.

The pico de gallo I just dumped into my salad, and the "remoulade sauce" was kinda just generic mayo based sauce, but, it was fine, and I used it on the salad too.  Basically, the salad + salad bar additions + pico and remoulade from here, with a tiny crab cake on top, was a pretty nice light meal before having my multi course meal on board, so, it worked.

***+.

Mango Lime Cheesecake.

"Berries, Chantille Cream."

Wow, ok, so this looked great.  United gets major points for the presentation of this.  It looked legit restaurant quality.  

However, it wasn't actually that good.  The cheesecake was smooth and creamy, perhaps a bit too airy, but it didn't taste like cheesecake at all.  No cream cheese flavor whatsoever.  It also didn't really taste like mango nor lime, but it had a bit of a strange aftertaste to it.  So, good texture, but not really good taste, and not really cheesecake.  **.

The chantilly cream on top was good, as was the fresh fruit.  ***.

The base was a very thick compressed cookie style.  Better than a crumbly graham style, very sweet, but not really worth a mention otherwise.  ***.

Overall, **.

I was tempted by the strawberry cream puff too, just for the filling, if nothing else.

Update Review, January 2024

Another not-so-great United flight, another visit to the SFO Polaris Lounge.

Wine Lineup.

I haven't actually tried the wine in the Polaris lounge in many years.  I generally just wait until I am on board, but, I had a considerable amount of time this visit, so I decided to give it a go.  Plus, these seemed to be slightly higher quality than what is available on board.

Iconoclast Cabernet Sauvignon.

I randomly picked the cab.

This was as boring and inoffensive as it gets.  Not really any complexity to it, but, no acid nor tanin neither.  A very drinkable, boring, table wine.  I was hoping for something better than the on board wines, but this one at least seemed pretty banal.  Low ***.

Seafood Adobo.

The particular "seafood" wasn't labelled, but it seemed to be some kind of white fish (rock cod?) and shrimp.  I searched around looking for more, but, it was just those.

I tried both types of seafood.  The white fish was as expected, not particularly moist or flaky or interesting, but at least not mushy or fishy.  **+.

The shrimp though ... wow.  I can honestly say this is the worst shrimp I've ever had in my entire life.  It looked fairly normal, but, once I cut into it ... it literally disintegrated!  It was like sawdust.  So far past just mush.  It was wild, and truly unlike anything I've ever  experienced.  I have no idea how they pulled this off, but, wow, United.  This was impressive shrimp shaped sawdust. 0 stars.

Hainan Chicken with rice, garlic chile oil, scallion oil.

The other hot dish was Hainan chicken, with rice and condiments on the side.  I was relatively impressed with the garlic chile oil and scallion sauce.  Both were useful to jazz up other things.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar base was pretty limp and wimpy.  The pre-made one was even worse, drowned in dressing and super soggy. **.

Salad Bar.

The marinated mushrooms were decent, as was the cubes of butternut squash.  ***.

Sandwiches: roast turkey, veggie wrap.

Roasted turkey on sourdough:

I was bored, so I tried it.  Well, not the turkey.  But I did kinda like the cranberry mayo and soggy bread filling.  ***.

Charcuterie.

I didn't have the meats, but I do like some of the crackers.  Always a nice assortment, far fancier ones than the UA Club. ***.

Pound Cake / Donuts.

Even though I like donuts, I learned my lesson in the past and skipped these.

"Mini Egg Pie"

I was amused by the name of the "mini egg pies", as, well, weren't they just tarts?  They had a persimmon compote on top.

The tart shells were pretty blah, no real flavor to them.  Throwaway crust.  The filling didn't necessarily taste like an Asian egg tart, and it wasn't as well set as I expected.  It was more of an eggy custard.  Not particularly good.

Overall, on theme with just pretty blah desserts in the Polaris lounge, even when they sound like they might be ok.  **.

Chocolate Mousse.

The puddings at the Polaris lounge have never been good.  And I avoid caffeine at night.  But ... I was bored!  

The mousse was actually very light and fluffy.  But not much chocolate flavor.  Soil on top was ok.  Low ***.

Update Review, November 2023

It had been a few months since I last visited the SFO Polaris lounge.  For the most part, the experience was unchanged - the main dining area and bar was insanely crowded, the sit down dining room had a wait > 1 hour for a table, and the back room and downstairs were peaceful and fairly empty.

The food lineup actually looked much better than previous visits, in terms of being fairly fresh and frequently replenished, and being things that I actually kinda wanted.  Sadly, the quality was low, and everything tasted remarkably ... well, basic.

Snack Jars.

When I arrived, I made a beeline for the back "secret" area, where I knew they kept jars of snacks and candy.  The lineup changes frequently, but always includes savory things and sweets, and generally is reasonable quality.

The lineup this visit was gummy bears, apricots, wasabi peas, and chocolate covered animal crackers.  I was sad to see no decadent drizzled popcorn this time.

The gummy bears were average, I didn't try the apricots.  Wasabi peas were decent, nice level of coating on them, good crunch, not stale.  The chocolate covered animal crackers were fine I guess, but I'm never that excited for animal crackers.  I would have greatly preferred the chocolate drizzled caramel corn they had my last visit, or even chocolate covered pretzels.  ***+ all around.

More snacks.

They also had gummy peach rings and watermelon, both coated in sugar.  Both had a good chew, weren't dried out or hard.  Regular candy store quality.  ***+.  

Chips & Salsa.

This area also had a fairly sad looking chips & salsa station, more limited than even the regular United Club version.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

And some token chocolate chip cookies.

Shrimp & Cod Ciopinno

I made my way out to the main hot bar next, and was pleasantly surprised to see a seafood option.  A very SF option, ciopinno.   Now, I don't really care for tomato based seafood dishes, but, I like shrimp and cod, so I gave it a try.

The shrimp were a good size, fairly juicy, properly cleaned.  The fish was very firm and dried out.  But I really didn't care for the extremely basic tomato based sauce, it truly tasted like it came from a can. **+.

"Chicken Pie".

"Mushroom, leek, potato, parsley."

Even though I don't care for chicken, I was very excited to see the fresh pot pie brought out.  Even if I didn't want the chicken, I surely wanted the pastry, the cream sauce, and the other things inside.

But ... this was really not good.  The pastry top was soft and soggy.  The chicken was dark meat, fatty, and scrawny.  The menu mentioned the mushroom, which was minimal, and mentioned leek that I never found.  The bits of potato were tiny cubes, and there was also peas that weren't listed.  Not sure about the listed parsley either, seems like probably they were supposed to sprinkle that on top as a garnish?  As for the cream sauce I was hoping for, alas, it was thin, greasy, and watery.

Sadly, nothing about this was decent.  *.

Roasted Fall Squash.

"Cinnamon, honey, pepitas."

I also was fairly drawn in by the roasted fall squash.  It was a fresh batch too, and looked quite vibrant, a variety of winter squashes.  But ... it was lukewarm, too soft, and just not very good.  I didn't taste the honey or cinnamon listed, but I didn't mind that fact.  The pepitas added some crunch at least.  **.

Farro Mushroom Pilaf.

I did not try the farro pilaf.

Ramen Station.

Nor the ramen station.

Salad bar.

The salad bar was fine, with mixed greens or spinach for a base, and a variety of toppings, including more pepitas.

Salad bar.

I tried the premade salad too, which was a kale ceasar with pretty out of season poor quality tomatoes. It was nicely dressed though, crisp, and otherwise good.  The squash here was equally not very good, like the hot version.  I did like the mushrooms.

Overall, you could make a decent salad, and I enjoyed the kale ceasar with added mushrooms.  ***.

Sandwiches.

I did not try either of the sandwiches, hoisin ginger chicken or vegetarian roasted zucchini.

Olives, Pickles, Charcuterie.

The cheese platter was never refilled, and just had some dried fruit left behind on it.  No fresh fruit, which I was hoping for, because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat the fruit on the flight, and hoped to snag some here.  They usually at least have grapes.

I did have a pickle spear, it was generic and fine.  I skipped the pepperoni and salami meats.  I did really like the savory crackers, they have a nice seasoning and salt level.  There was also graham crackers, which seemed a bit odd.

Desserts.

And finally, the desserts, something I always try, even though they are generally never any good.  

Apple Oatmeal Crisp:

Ok, so, this looked mildly promising.  It had whipped cream after all, right?  It actually was reasonably ok.  Small cubes of slightly too soft apples, raisins, light spicing.  Some kinda mushy oatmeal crisp topping.  Overall, not offensive, although it was very sweet.  The whipped cream was good. ***.

Donuts:

I'd seen the donuts on previous visits, but never tried them.  Two varieties, both cake style, one with white icing, one with chocolate.  I didn't try last time, but this time, I grabbed one to have alongside my breakfast, as I knew my United flight breakfast would let me down.

I really, really did not like it.  Yes, it was kinda a cake style donut, but, well, it just didn't taste like a donut?  I don't think they were fried.  Certainly not fresh.  The white glaze was just cloying sweet.  Did not like. *.

Chocolate Pudding:

Ok, so years ago I swore off the puddings in the Polaris lounge because they were always so bad, but, I really love pudding, and they didn't have them for several years, so I hoped there would be an improvement.  Well, there wasn't.  The consistency was fine, but, it tasted like generic packaged plastic-y pudding.  At least it had a little whipped cream on top, and a small wafer cookie that was better suited for banana pudding.  This was so remarkably elementary school lunch or hospital cafeteria quality it was surprising really.  **.

When these ran out, they were replaced with pound cake later on.

Update Review, Feb 2023

I recently flew to Sydney, and had nearly 2.5 hours before my flight at SFO (traffic was light, bag drop had no lines, TSA Pre-check was fast, etc).  I was planning to have enough time to actually dine at the sit-down full service dining room within the lounge, and have a less stressful dash to the airport.  This plan worked until I arrived in the lounge.  It was packed, and without a seat anywhere, even in the main buffet area.  And the wait for the dining room was, well, ridiculous.

Dining Room Menu.

The Polaris lounge is always crowded these days.  Everyone seems to know that.  The dining room is woefully understaffed.  Everyone seems to know that too.  But I still tried.  I arrived at 5:20pm and was told it was a 1.5 hour wait to be seated, and they required 45 minutes before boarding time to dine.  I still put my name down, since I was there that ridiculously early, and they texted me about an hour later when a table was ready.

I was still around, with plenty of time, so I went to be seated.  I was seated after a few minutes of waiting for anyone to notice me at the stand.  And then ... I waited.  And waited.  It took nearly 15 minutes before a server acknowledged me.  There seemed to be one server only for the whole dining room.  She came over, took out a notepad, and asked what I'd like.  I ordered the spring roll, and was told ... they were out of it.  It was the only thing I actually wanted, sigh, so I left.

Seared Pork Loin.

The hot buffet had several protein options, the pork loin didn't look that bad actually, but I didn't try it.

Dakjjim Chicken.

Token chicken dish.

Aloo Gobi.

Vegetarian main was aloo gobi.  The aloo gobi seemed to be 95% cauliflower.

Corn Chowder.

I did try the corn chowder, and it wasn't bad.  Cubes of potatoes, other small veg, corn.  Very creamy, reasonably well seasoned.  Sered at a good temperature, actually warm.  Not amazing, but not bad.  ***.

Salad Bar.

Same salad bar bases as previous visits.

Salad Bar.

I did try the roast "winter squash" and it was fine, not particularly interesting.

This area also had two kinds of pre-made sandwiches, that I failed to get a photo of.

Cheese, Dried Fruit, Pickles, Olives.

I liked the herb crackers (not pictured) to go with the cheeses.  I didn't try the cheeses.  These were a touch nicer than the versions in the regular United Club.

The pickle was a fairly boring generic grocery store quality spear (sorry, I grew up in a pickling family, so these things are just ... well, not my thing).

Salami, Pepperoni.

Only sliced hard salami and pepperoni were available for cold cuts.

Pound Cake & Sauces.

The boring pound cake was not interesting to me, but I did appreciate that they had a trio of sauces to jazz it up: caramel, chocolate, or berry compote.

Donuts, Cannoli, Lemon Squares.

The rest of the dessert lineup was donuts, cannoli, and lemon squares.  No cookies nor brownies here, those seem to be just on offer in the United Club instead.

I tried the cannoli.  The shell was soft and not crisp, and it was poorly filled.  The filling was not particularly good.  Not a good cannoli.  **.

SNACKS!

The real excitement for me was ... the snack and candy jars were back!  Way in the back quiet room, jars and jars of goodies.  Dried fruit (apricots, pineapple rings, mango slices), candy (Swedish fish, M&Ms), savory snacks (flavored chickpeas, Gardettos), and ... CHOCOLATE COVERED CARAMEL CORN!

I was pretty thrilled.

The Garnettos mix was pretty average, mostly pretzels (twists and sticks), with a few rye chips and breadstick things.  The lemon pepper chickpeas were nicely crunchy, and something different from nuts, and a nice protein choice. M&Ms were M&Ms.  The Swedish fish were sadly rock hard ... which I could tell as soon as I tried to use the tongs to pick them up.  They were like Jolly Ranchers.

And then, the popcorn!  If you've read my blog on a Friday ever, you know how much I love popcorn of all kinds.  I was beyond thrilled to see this.  It was not particularly amazing, but it was still sweet caramel corn with chocolate drizzle, and that made me a happy girl.

Overall, nothing actually high quality or amazing, but this assortment did make me pretty happy.  ***.

Scone.

Two kinds of scones (cinnamon, blueberry) were also randomly in the area with the snacks.

I tried a cinnamon scone.  It was fine.  A sorta soft style, but good amount of cinnamon and kinda crumbly, did not taste stale.  Probably much better warm, and/or with whipped cream. ***.

Update Reviews - 2022

In May 2022, I cruised through the Polaris lounge for the first time post-pandemic, while en route to Munich, and although I was glad to see it open again, it was a big let down.  Gone were the candy jars, the snack mixes, and really anything I wanted from the dining room menu.  The space was still nice, but, otherwise, it offered me nothing (hmm, does this sum up United Polaris entirely?).

I thought the lineup would be the same just a few months later in August, but much was different - the buffet had entirely new hot dishes, the dining room menu had a few updates, and at least one snack mix came back.  I didn't find anything to actually be good though, and definitely don't recommend planning on this to be a tasty meal (eat at home, or on your flight, or out in the terminal, and you'll be happier).

Salad Bar Bases.

I planned to eat a salad in the lounge, but the greens were very wilted and sad.  

Salad Bar Veggies.

The veggies to add to salads looked more interesting than average, but, the shredded carrots were dried out, the tomatoes were mealy, and the roast mushrooms, a nice mix of assorted wild mushrooms, didn't really have any flavor.

Salad, sadly, **.

Sandwiches.

I didn't try a pre-made sandwich, but they did look slightly more premium than those found in the United Club.

Cheese / Crackers / Charcuterie.

The cheese/charcuterie/fruit/crackers station is also a touch nicer than in the United Club, with slices of each instead of little cubes, but nothing was particularly high quality.

I tried the grapes, they were refreshing, and I appreciated having them.  The strawberries were extremely sour and under ripe.  The pickle spears were generic and fine.

This section also had 4 kinds of crackers, wasabi peas, and Chex mix.

Snacks!

I made my own custom snack mix with wasabi peas and the Chex mix.  Both were fairly average quality, but, I love snack mixes, so I appreciated that these were back (earlier in post-Covid reopening they did away with all the snacks).  I still wish the snack jars would come back though, with honey mustard pretzels, and tons of candy!

***.

Desserts: Chocolate Olive Oil Cake / Pound Cake with Berries.

On the dessert front, the awful little pudding pots are gone, but, in their place is just pound cakes.  I didn't try either.  I'll give them a point for the berry sauce drizzled on the pound cake, although really I wished there was some on the side I could use with other things.

Lobster Corn Bisque.

From the hot buffet, the bisque actually called out to me.  I've had some pretty decent clam chowder in airline lounges, and somehow, I hoped the lobster bisque would be decent.

I should have known better.

This was very thick, rich, but not particularly tasty.  No seasoning.  Not really sure where the corn was, and I didn't really taste seafood either.

Basically ... thick and rich, but no real flavor to it.  **.

Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin.

I didn't try the pork.

Asian chicken stew - lemongrass, turmeric, coconut.

But did take a sample of the chicken stew.

The flavor of this wasn't bad, basically a Thai curry, but, I don't like chicken, so I only took the sauce. **+.

Cavatappi Pasta.

I tried a bite of pasta.  It had a cream sauce, artichoke, peas.

It was not particularly flavorful.  The previous tubes with garlic sauce were better. **.

Rice / Green Beans.

The green beans were labelled as bok choy.  The rice looked dried out.  I avoid both.

Dining Room Menu.

The dining room menu finally changed!  

Since the Polaris lounge re-opened after Covid, they have had the same menu.  No changes from reopening through Aug 1.  

I was tempted to get the shrimp cake, but my memory of the previous, greasy, oily version kept me away.  The pea soup also sounded interesting, with creme fraiche and crispy shallots, but, the lobster bisque in the buffet was so meh I decided to pass.

I did however want a dessert.  The warm skillet cookie was out (sadly, chocolate chip and this was a late departure so I was avoiding caffeine), and the budino was still citrus (lemon now, but not my thing), but I was eager to order the final choice: egg custard.

However, the dining room was full (or, full of dirty tables not being bussed), the wait list was long, and they let me know they wouldn't be able to seat me before they closed in an hour.  The space was definitely short staffed.  When I mentioned "Oh, I just wanted dessert", the host actually took pity on me, asked what I wanted, and put in my order.  He told me to stick around, so he could hand it off to me, and said it really wasn't allowed.  Thank you, kind sir!

Egg custard / whipped cream, coconut shavings.

I wish I could say it was worth his trouble.

The egg custard turned out to be a tart.  I was expecting something more like a pudding, a creme brulee, or something, given the dish title "egg custard".  Ok, that is fine ... but, the tart shell was burnt, definitely very over cooked.  The custard was kinda curdled, the texture horrible.  The whipped cream was from a can and was fine I guess?  I scraped it off and ate it with the sour strawberries from the buffet.

Such a letdown.  *.

Update Reviews - January, October, November 2019 Visits

I've reviewed it before.  You know how I feel about it.  The space is lovely.  It is spacious.  It is not over crowded.  It is well designed.  It really is a fantastic space.

But "Julie's Space Club" this is not, and the food ... yeah, that is not where the United Polaris SFO lounge shines.  In any way.

January 2019 Visit

Yeah, lovely place to hang out, but the actual dining, from snacks to buffets to a la carte, and even the drinks, just really do not do it for me.

It really is a lovely space though.

Chardonnay.

Since I found the cocktails quite unbalanced last time, this time I went simple, opting for wine.  I have randomly been kinda into chardonnay, particularly buttery chardonnay, so I selected this.

I didn't like it.  Harsh, acidic.  

Since I knew I'd be drinking on my upcoming Air New Zealand flight, and I do actually like their wines usually, I didn't bother trying something else.

Snacks: Jelly Beans, M&M, Honey Mustard Pretzels, Pretzel Sticks
Dried Fruit/Nuts/Seeds (lower floor). 

The downstairs snack station had a selection of jars of snacks, both sweet and savory.

I had no interest in the plain pretzel sticks or M&Ms, but tried the others.

The honey mustard pretzels were ok, I liked the coating, but, they are thin style pretzel twists, not particularly thrilling.

The gummy bears, also ok, but a chewer style than I like.   

The dried fruit/nut/seed mix had ... everything in it.  I appreciated the brazil nuts, but everything else was fairly standard, and there were far too many raisins, cranberries, and sunflower seeds for my taste.

Sweet Snacks: Jelly Beans / Skittles / Hard Candies
(upper floor - Studio).

Upstairs, in the far back room (The Studio), was more snack jars.  Here the candy selection included Jelly Belly jelly beans in assorted varieties, Skittles, and assorted hard candies.

Savory Snacks: Mixed Nuts, Dried Fruit & Nuts, Pub Mix,
 Honey Mustard Pretzels, Pretzel Sticks. (upper floor - Studio)

This section had savories as well, including the same pretzels and mixed nuts/fruit/seeds as downstairs, plus an additional nut mix (just salted mixed nuts) and a pub mix with all sorts of goodies, including rice crackers and sesame sticks.

Roasted Vegetable Salad / English pea and ham salad.

"Butternut squash, pepita seeds, frisee, cranberry-Champagne vinaigrette."

Composed salads are actually my favorite part of salad bars, and they had some that looked decent.  Key word: "looked".

The "roasted vegetable salad" included exactly one type of roast vegetable: butternut squash, which I love, except, it was severely under cooked.  Hard still.  The dressing was sweet, and the entire thing was over dressed and soggy.  Too bad, as it sounded quite good, I like frisee, and the pepita seeds should add a nice crunch.

I disliked the pea salad last time, but I liked the pearl onions, so I snagged some of them again.  Alas, this time they were flavorless, not well roasted.

Orzo Salad / Panzanella Salad.

"Wild mushrooms, herb dressing."

I tried the orzo salad, mostly because I like wild mushrooms, but they were lost among the way, way, way overcooked mushy orzo.  Not good.

Cheese Platter?

This area is supposed to have cheese, and it even had a sign advertising the cheeses of the day (brie, etc), but alas, it had crackers, pickled onions and spreads, and some salami and pepperoni instead.  The lounge really did not do a good job of keeping things stocked.

Bistro Turkey Sandwich / Provolone, Cranberry Aioli, Rosemary Loaf.

I call it boredom, or perhaps sight of flavored aioli (which I love!), that made me try this.

Soggy stale bread.  Aioli that literally tasted like mayo and nothing else.  Why oh why did I bother try this?  Not sure what was "bistro" about it.

Mediterranean Spinach Wrap.

At least I had enough sense not to try the wrap too.

Penne / Garlic Bread.

Moving on to the hot foods.

The pasta looked horrible, dried out, and just penne in a beef tomato sauce.  I'll give them points for the grated parmesan, herbs, and peppers on the side.

I did not try this.

The other entree choice, usually fried chicken I think, was missing, the sign flipped over, and it was never replenished during my hour stay.

Roasted Vegetables.

"Parsnips, potato, carrot, eggplant, squash, zucchini, fennel."

The hot side dishes were cous cous and roasted veggies.  Neither looked good.

Egg Drop Soup.

The noodle bar that was there on my previous visit was replaced with just egg drop soup, never a favorite of mine, but I tried a bite, mostly because I wanted to add toppings.  It was ... egg drop soup.

Soup Toppings: Straw mushrooms / Cabbage.

At least soup toppings were still available.  This station also had chives and crispy wontons, which were missing when I took the photo, but were replenished.

I tried the toppings, they were fine, but without a soup base I wanted, not particularly useful.

Turtle Brownie Bites / Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The dessert lineup had changed from my prior visit. 

I skipped the brownies and cookies.  I believe both plates of brownies were the same, even though one was labelled as blueberry triffle, which it clearly was not.

Puddings.

I love puddings, but since I was not thrilled with the coconut rice pudding last time I was in the lounge, I approached these with a bit of apprehension.  Still, I was glad to see two options, and either were repeats from before.

I tried both, and hated, really, truly hated, them both.

Tapioca Pudding.

First, the tapioca pudding, topped with completely unripe, unappealing strawberries.  Minus one point.

The pudding had a strange flavor, bland yet offensive at the same time.  I guess it was creamy, but the tapioca were kinda too soft and mushy.

Moving on.

Deconstructed Vanilla Cheesecake / Berry compote, graham cracker crust.

This. Was. Horrible.

I honestly didn't understand how they made this taste so bad.  Every. Single.  Element. Horrible.  Truly, horrible.

The base was just a huge, huge pile of graham cracker crumb.  Way too thick . It tasted like cardboard, just, sand like.  Horrible.

But the cheesecake itself was the worst part.  Thick, gloopy.  It tasted like cream cheese ... and nothing else.  Horrible texture, and who wants to eat a mouth full of cream cheese>

The berry compote did not help anything, as it somehow too was no good, seemingly frozen berries, just brought back to room temp.

I tried a few bites of this, not really believing that it could possibly taste as bad as it did, but, alas, it was awful.

October 2019 Visit

After many months, I returned to the Polaris lounge.  I'd like to say that my opinion has changed, but ... it hasn't.

The space really is fabulous.  It is huge, and never crowded.  The bathrooms clean, spacious, and stocked with quality products.

The menus for both the buffet and the a la carte, and the snacks, changed since my previous visits, but ... again, opinion remains the same: the buffet food is fairly awful, the restaurant food *looks* good but is mediocre, and the desserts and drinks are horrible.

Snacks.

The snack stations are in the same place, the back, totally deserted rooms on both floors.

Trail mix, wasabi peas, and a snack mix with rice crackers/nuts/sesame sticks, along with plain pretzels, were all the lower floor had to offer.  Upstairs, the same trail mix, wasabi peas, and snack mix, but at least the pretzels there were honey mustard.  No candy as before.

I took some nuts and dried fruit from the snack mix to add to my ice cream sundae on board.  None were very good though, even though as I always I was drawn in by what looked like a good line up: brazil nuts! Papaya!  Oh well.

The snack mix was my favorite of the items, decent stuff, lots of goodies in it, lots of textures.  Nothing I'd ever purchase, but it wasn't awful.  

The honey mustard pretzels were rather stale and ... sticky?

Hot and Cold Buffets.

On one side of the buffet is the cold lineup: still the same basic salad bar (*very* basic, even the United Club has more to offer for ingredients), cheese, salami, and crackers, pre-made sandwiches, and a trio of salads.

I tried two of the salads, a flavorless Asian style one with way too much edamame, and a broccoli bacon slaw that was mediocre, at least it had mayo and bacon.

I tried all three cheeses - swiss, gouda, and what I imagine was cheddar.  All were fairly flavorless.

Nothing interesting here.

On the hot side, all new items, and ... they certainly didn't look good.

"Garden vegetable penne pasta" that honestly looked worse than elementary school cafeteria food, short rib beef bourguignon swimming in oil, unlabeled roasted chunks of what looked like carrots and potatoes, breaded sesame teriyaki chicken that looked actually decent, but the veggies were soft and the sauce flavorless, and unlabeled wild rice.  The soup was onion.

Dessert: Tangerine Cheesecake Cups.

And finally, the desserts, now only one item to offer, another deconstructed cheesecake, this time dubbed "Tangerine cheesecake cups".  Not that I liked the cannoli, rice pudding, cookies, or anything else they ever had, but a single offering was kinda lame.

Um .... yeah.  These were as bad as all the previous desserts.  And the ratio was totally out of whack, the little cup was >50% graham cracker crumb!

The graham cracker crumb layer was just very fine crumb.  No binder, no chunks, not a crumble, just, pulverized graham cracker, and tons of it.  I used it as a topping on ice cream later, which was fine, but really, this was a lot of crumb.

And the cheesecake?  Just a thick layer of ... slightly sweetened cream cheese.  Definitely not cheesecake.  No consistency of note.  Bo-ring.  It had no tangerine flavor either, the "tangerine" seemed to just the slice on top.  Meh.

Dining Room Menu.

And with that, I went into the main dining room to try my luck there, where they had a all new menu, launched Oct 1 (my visit was just 8 days into the menu being offered, so the staff were fairly unfamiliar with it).

Besides the burger, everything seemed different from previous menus.

I usually go for the small plates, but nothing there called out: chicken wings (I don't like chicken), shrimp skewers (meh, shrimp is so often rubbery or poorly cleaned), polenta cakes (yay! oh, but goat cheese - boo), and caprese bruschetta (on sourdough, another thing I loath).  Really, not the menu for me.

Luckily the mains fared better.  I've still never had the signature Polaris burger and fries, and was tempted by the pesto cheese tortellini (with asparagus!), but the entree salad is where my attention fairly quickly gravitated: Cobb salad, with blue crab!  I love crab! {LINK}.

The dessert lineup sounded *fabulous* ... if I wanted caffeine.  Both non-cheese options were chocolate.  Doh.  But I did love the sound of the dark and white chocolate mousse trifle, and the chocolate chip skillet cookie, served warm, with ice cream ... swoon.

Blue Crab Cobb Salad (no avocado, dressing on the side, add side aioli).

Since I'm allergic to avocado, and I assumed the Cobb salad would have it, I asked to have that left off, which was accommodated.  I also asked for the dressing on the side in case it was not my style, or, over dressed.  And since the dressing was an herb vinaigrette, and I'm all about creamy dressing, I asked to have some aioli from the burger on the side.  My server definitely questioned this, but it was done with no problem.

The other toppings were crumbled bacon, sliced of hard boiled egg, and halves of little tomatoes.  The bacon was good, not greasy really, and a size much bigger than bits, but smaller than chopped up pieces.  I wasn't in the mood for bacon really, but, this was good bacon.  I didn't try the hard boiled egg.  The tomato was not good, not flavorful, not really ripe.

The salad base was just shredded iceberg, but, I like iceberg, it was juicy and fresh enough, and a fine base, although I'd prefer larger chunks.

And finally, the crab.  This was the SFO lounge, so I was surprised to see blue crab, rather than Dungeness offered.  The portion was reasonable, and it was decent.  Not fishy, no shells, nothing negative about it.  Not amazing or anything, but not bad.

The dressing, as I expected, wasn't particularly interesting.  Just an herb vinaigrette.  But the aioli?  It was fantastic!  I wasn't expecting it to be garlic aioli, but it was, and the garlic was quite strong.  I loved it.  I bet it would be a great dip for fries too, even if I didn't get the burger, I'm sure I could get the fries and aioli only.

I composed my perfect little salad out of this - the iceberg base, some bacon (but not all of it), all the crab, some wasabi peas and sesame sticks from the snack mix for more crunch, and a mix of herb viniagrette and garlic aioli, and truly enjoyed my salad.  I'd do this again, but I think that Napa Farms Market out in the terminal likely has some better options (see reviews).

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream / Orange Blossom White Chocolate Sauce.

For dessert, I didn't get the warm skillet cookie, since it was double chocolate, and that would have caffeine, but, I still wanted something other than the awful "cheesecake" from the buffet.  So I asked just for the ice cream and sauce, which was delivered with no problem.

The ice cream was ... fine?  It was just vanilla ice cream, not special really.  Slightly melty.  It was fine.  That is about all there is to say about it.

But the little ramekin of orange blossom white chocolate sauce?  Highlight of the meal!  Really.  It was thick, not really a "sauce", but I think that with the warm skillet cookie it likely melts in?  And I didn't care that it was thick, it was delicious.  I didn't taste orange blossom necessarily, but it was creamy, had a lovely sweet white chocolate flavor, and a subtlety to it that enhanced it greatly.  It was wonderful, really.

I made my own ice cream creation out of the vanilla ice cream, the white chocolate sauce, and the graham crumble from the buffet "cheesecake cups", plus the rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream I came prepared with, and really did enjoy it ...

November 2019 Visit

Just a month later, I was back, this time before a Singapore Airlines flight.

A few things actually *had* changed, but overall?  My impression was still the same.  Great space, horrible food, yay jars of goodies.

New Candy Lineup.

Many of the jars now had new items.  Gone was the snack mix.  Gone was ... anything healthy, really.  

The wasabi peas were not a style I liked, too harsh.  The yogurt pretzels were fine but boring.  I didn't try the M&Ms, Skittles, or what looked like chocolate covered raisins.

The star though?  Gummy raspberries and blackberries!  I love these things, and although these were a bit dried out, a bit hard, I still loved them.

Boston Cream Pie Puddings.

The pudding cup of the day was Boston Cream Pie.

I had a tiny bit of hope, but I'm not sure why.  They never make good puddings.

And this was the same.  Soft soggy crumble top.  Gloopy, really not tasty, "cream" layer that tasted like it came from a can.  Thick chocolate pudding base, that somehow had no flavor.

I don't understand why all the pudding cups are just not ... good.

Mini Cheesecakes.

A new addition to the menu, little mini cheesecakes, assorted flavors.

 

Toppings included one with a white topping (I think it was supposed to be some kind of cream top? But it had no distinct flavor), one with chocolate chips, one with a chocolate blob, one with almonds, and one with ... dried fruit?

I tried a few, and they were actually fine.  Not amazing or anything, but creamy and rich enough.  Better than any other desserts offered.

Macaroons.

Also a new addition, that I didn't try, mini macaroons, assorted flavors.  I hate macaroons though, so I didn't bother try.

Baklava.

And the final new offering, baklava.

This I had real hope for, as baklava has a good self life, and I figured this really might be ok, likely purchased frozen.

It was fairly meh though, the walnuts inside quite bitter.  It would do if I really needed something, but it certainly wasn't very good.

Original Review, August 2018

I don't fly United.  Full stop.

But I do fly with their partner, Air New Zealand.  Which gave me the chance to check out the brand new United Polaris Lounge at SFO. It was quite the upgrade from the United Club, but that is not a very high bar.

It Looked Good at Least?

This is the flagship, premium product from United.  And ... well, it matches my feels on United in general.  The staff do seem to care, and try, but, I don't really have anything else positive to say, besides that the space is lovely.

The Space

The lounge is huge.  2 floors.  Gorgeous.  Tranquil.  Well designed.  Oddly empty.

They really restrict access, and that is nice, I guess, but it felt really desolate and quite strange.

My visit was on a Tuesday evening, 6:45pm-9pm.

Entrance.

The lounge is easy to find, right past security, inviting sign to come in.

Ground Floor: Library.

You enter in the bottom floor, which was quite literally entirely empty when I arrived.

This section had a lovely library, with book shelves and pretty chairs.

Ground Floor: Arm Desks.

The next section had these individual cubby desks, each with power (yes, USB too), and little lamps.  This seating style is also available upstairs.

Ground Floor: Window Seats.

More seating is alongside the windows, another style, more lamps, more power.

Ground Floor: Drinks.

At the back of this area was a small drink station, with coffee and hot water for tea, plus water.  Given the level of non-occupancy, I can guess this was not particularly fresh.

Ground Floor: Snack Station.

Self-serve basic soft drinks, oranges, and wasabi mix rounded out the food and drink offerings for this floor.

Shower suites and bathrooms are also on this floor, I failed to take photos, but they were large and looked nice.

Upper Floor: Hallway.

The escalator leads to the upper floor, where most of the interesting space is.  This area at least had some people.

First up though?  A long hallway, with nothing really in it.  It added to the cavernous desolate felling quite a bit.

Upper Floor: Seating.

I ventured down that hall, but it was clear no one else did.  It had more seating similar to downstairs.  And no people.  Literally.  No people.

Upper Floor: Snack Station.

At the very back was another sad looking snack station, again with wasabi peas and water, and this time, honey mustard pretzels.  None of this was labelled, but I could tell the pretzels had a powder on them, and tried one just to see.  The salty coating was nice.

Upper Floor: Seating towards Bar & Dining.

In the other direction, the hallway eventually leads to a bar, buffet, and dining room, with various types of seating found along the way.

Upper Floor: Bar.

The bar was easy to spot, illuminated by blue, and clearly a focal point.  It had bar seating with high stools, and yes, power.  And a special cocktail menu.  No food or snacks.

Upper Floor: Buffet Dining Tables.

Next comes tables for eating at, if you choose to dine at the buffet.  More on that soon.

The Food: Buffet

The simple option for dining is the buffet.  The ... very sad buffet.  Particularly for vegetarians, who had no hot main, no sandwich, and seemingly only a few salad choices.

Bulgogi Style Beef and Rice.

First up, "hot" foods.  I say "hot" because they are certainly items one would expect hot, but they weren't on warmers, or under heat lamps, or replenished often as no one was there, so, I doubt they were?

But to be fair, I didn't try this horrible looking beef, with some clearly neglected rice on the side.

Lemon chicken scallopini. 

The other hot option?  Chicken, coated in some kind of crust.  It said "lemon chicken scallopini".  I most certainly did not try this.

Warning vegetarians: No vegetarian hot main available.

Noodle Bar.

Things get slightly more interesting with a DIY Noodle Bar.  Bowls of noodles were available for you to add toppings and broth to.  I did not try the noodles.

Noodle Bar: Toppings.

The toppings were at least interesting: crispy wontons, green onion, kimchee, tea leaf eggs, cilantro, and fried garlic.  These were even labelled!  On the side, asian sauces and sesame seeds.

I tried the crispy wontons and crispy garlic, along with sambal.  They were standard, fine.  Something to munch on.

Noodle Bar: Broth.

The final step for DIY noodles is to add the broth.  I didn't try it.

And that ended the warm offerings.

Salads.

The other side of the buffet is the cold items, starting with pre-made salads.

Only one of these items was labelled, and it just said "pasta salad" anyway.

The others seemed to be a grain based salad, a mayo based pea salad, and tomato and mozzarella.

I tried the pasta salad.  It was mushy.  It was oily.  The veggies were nothing special inside.

I also tried the pea salad.  It had bits of ham, egg, and roasted pearl onions.  And obviously mayo.  The peas were cooked fine, and I did like the pearl onion, but this was nothing special.

Nothing worth eating here.  And to be fair, I do like deli salads quite a bit, and often find them the highlight of lounges, like the Qantas Business lounge in Sydney .

Green Salad.

And then, the salad bar, to assemble your own.

One type of base (mixed greens), and only 6 toppings: carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, croutons, and red peppers.  How ... extensive.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches.

Next up? Sandwiches.

The sign said "chicken salad sandwiches", so I think these were all the same.  On croissants.  I didn't try.

Salami and Cheese (?) Sandwiches.

The second sandwiches were not labelled, but, I could see salami, cheese, and a creamy spread.

Warning vegetarians: no vegetarian sandwich available.

I skipped all this originally, but after a disappointing snack in the a la carte Dining Room, I came back and grabbed one, hoping the spread, cheese, and charcuterie inside would be good.

They weren't.

The bread was hard and stale, the spread flavorless, and the salami and cheese quite generic.

Desserts.

Ok, now we were talking!  Dessert time! 

This section had a pudding, cookies, two types of brownies, and cannoli.  The cookies, and second type of brownies, were not labelled.

Coconut rice pudding and pineapple brulee.

Ok, I was excited for this.  So excited I failed to take a reasonable photo it appears.  Blame the lighting?

I love pudding!

This .. wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but, it wasn't actually good either.

Fairly creamy rice pudding, but quite flavorless.  The caramelized pineapple on top was ... fine?  Again, not that great.  And then, coconut.  Fine.

So, all fine, but nothing particularly good.

Matcha Green Tea Cannoli.

I don't eat caffeine in the evening, and this had both matcha and chocolate chips, but, I still wanted to try it.  I wasn't thrilled with the other options.

The cannoli shell was horrible.  It was soft and kinda soggy.

The filling, also not good.  Gritty and strange.

I moved on to a cookie.  I didn't take a photo.  Because really, when do I like cookies?

I wouldn't say I *liked* this cookie, but it was the best of the trio of desserts.  It was ... a fig cookie?  It had exactly one tiny bit of fig in it.  Otherwise, just a sugar cookie.  It had tons of sugar on top.  It was sweet and buttery.  Like I said, best of the bunch, but, that wasn't a high bar.

The Food: The Dining Room

The dining room is a full service, a la carte restaurant.  I've been to several similar concepts, like the Qantas First lounge in Sydney (which, is incredible, and honestly features some of the best food I've had in Sydney).  The Qantas First lounge in Los Angeles (good, but not quite the same level as Sydney).  The Cathay Pacific Wing in Hong Kong.  A bunch of British Airways lounges in London, like the Galleries First Lounge, and of course, the Concorde Room (for breakfast, for lunch - eh, nicely plated but mediocre).

Those dining rooms impress.  This one ... did not.

Dining Room Entrance.

"Wait to be seated" sums it up.  I waited.  And waited.  The staff acknowledged me, but, they seemed kinda overwhelmed with basic service, like, clearing empty tables and seating new guests.  Or, um, providing silverware and napkins to seated diners who repeatedly asked for them (my neighbor).  Or, dealing with loud obnoxious people screaming at their kids across the dining room (??)

Menu.

The menu lists both the lunch and breakfast options, so I got a preview of it all.  I wished I was there for breakfast - mango pudding! Hot cinnamon rolls! Brulee oats!  Although, chances any of it would be good?

The breakfast menu:

LIGHT BITES

• Tropical mango pudding with fruit and coconut granola
• Fresh hot cinnamon roll with pecan streusel and berries
• Steel-cut brulee oats with a caramelized layer and fresh berries
• Deconstructed lox and bagel with cream cheese. smoked salmon, capers, red onions and cucumbers

ENTREES

• Traditional Chinese congee with tea egg. dried shrimp, green onions, cilantro, wonton, soy sauce and sambal
• Three-egg omelet with choice of tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, onions, peppers, ham, bacon, cheddar and Swiss
• Silver dollar pancakes Plain or blueberry – served with Vermont maple syrup

But I was there for dinner, which is the same menu as lunch:

SMALL PLATES

• Crispy shrimp cake with sweet’n sour sauce
• Wedge Cobb salad with bacon, blue cheese and herbed dressing
• Chef’s daily soup seasonally inspired, classically prepared

ENTREES

• Chicken katsu bento box vegetable egg roll, jasmine rice and a sunomono salad
• Hand-cut pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout and shaved Parmesan cheese
• Cioppino with traditional seafood
• United Polaris Burger with cheddar. lettuce. tomato, pickled vegetables, garlic aioli, bacon. fried egg and house-made chips

DESSERT

• Tiramisu espresso cup made with illy coffee
• Cheese plate with grapes and crackers
• Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and Ghirardelli Chocolate sauce

I went for just a small plate, since I wanted to also check out the buffet, and would be having a full meal on the flight anyway. Nothing from the entrees particularly called out at me anyway (meh, chicken, eh pasta, and how good would their cioppino or burger really be?).  I'm glad I skipped all this after seeing the quality of everything else.

The desserts all had caffeine, which I avoid in the evenings, so I also skipped those, and opted for buffet selections for dessert.

Sparkling Water and Smoky Negroni.

"Smokey Negroni, Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Carnpari house made vermouth and orange bitters with a dehydrated orange garnish."

There were many cocktails on the menu that sounded great (the Polaris Old Fashioned, the Paper Plane, and the Cloud Cover were all top contenders!), but I went for the negroni.  It is my kinda standard pre-flight drink.

I didn't like it.

It was decently smoky.  But ... besides that, not balanced at all.  Harsh.  Meh.  I heard others complaining about the bloody mary, asking for more tabasco, and finding out nothing could be adjusted as it was a mix.

The full cocktail menu, for the curious:

Signatures of the Sky

• United Polaris Star: Star anise-infused vodka, Dolin Blanc and Dolin Dry garnished with a single star anise
• The Paper Plane: Oolong-steeped bourbon, jasmine honey Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, Aperol, chamomile honey arid lemon garnished with a paper plane
• Cloud Cover: Aviation Gin, grapefruit liqueur and fresh lime juice with lemon twist
• United Polaris Old Fashioned: Rieger’ss Kansas City Whiskey, house simple syrup. San Francisco Bitters, Company Reception Bitters with a fresh orange wheel and Luxardo cherry

Traveler's Favorites

• High Altitude Bloody Mary: Star anise-infused and house made bloody mary mix with fresh pepper, sea salt, olive and celery garnish
• Ginger Scotsman: This playful version of the classic Penicillin combines Balvenie DoubleWood, ginger beer, chamomile honey, lemon and a mist of Ardbeg 10 Year
• Lavender Lift: Riondo Blu Prosecco, Belvedere Vodka, lavender and lemon essence with a lavender garnish
• Smokey Negroni: Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Carnpari house made vermouth and orange bitters with a dehydrated orange garnish
• Mai Tai: Cana White Rum. Crusoe Spiced Rum, fresh orange and pineapple juice, and Amaro Nonino with a dehydrated orange wheel and a cherry
• Pisco Punch: Pisco Porton, pineapple juice and lime garnished with a pineapple spear.

Migration by Duckhorn, Pinot Noir, Russian River, California 2014.

"Complex aromas of rich earth and rose petals with abundant cherry pie, strawberry and a touch of sweet oak."

I moved on to wine.  I asked for just a taste to start.  I'm glad I did.

This I did not like.  I'm glad I asked for a small small glass.  Very very tannic.  Not for me.  I decided to just wait until I boarded my flight, as Air New Zealand usually has decent wine.

Small Plate: Crispy shrimp cake with sweet’n sour sauce.

 I was blown away when I saw the dish.  It looked great!  The table next to me even commented on it.

Sadly, it didn't live up to the looks.

The shrimp cake was oily, soggy, not crisp.  The texture was really quite firm.  Not because it had large chunks of shrimp though.  It was just ... firm.  It had bits of onion and pepper inside.  It wasn't anything special, and again, kinda oily and soggy.

On top was a ton of slightly pickled cucumber and carrot.  Meh.

The sauce, while nicely plated, was not great either.  It looked like sweet chili sauce somewhat, and said sweet and sour, but, it wasn't any distinguishable flavor besides sweet.  Meh.

Overall, it certainly looked good, but I didn't enjoy it.