Unlike the BA lounge, availability was wide open, so I opted to make an appointment for 2:15pm, so I could do my massage right before needing to leave, and could use the immediate time to explore the lounge. Ojan was able to book a treatment at the same time.
It was really rather amazing to see someone getting their hair cut there ... I can't imagine trusting a random stylist!
The salon area was all branded by Bumble & Bumble, and really did look like a real salon.
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| Treatment Area. |
On the other side is the area for other sorts of treatments: massages, facials, hand and feet, etc. Sadly, body massages are not part of the complimentary service, not even a chair massage.
My first visit, in 2016, I opted for the scalp and neck message, which was a 15 minute treatment in a massage chair. I had my choice of products to use (one oil based, another tonic, which I went for) and my choice of "inhalants" (lavender or lemongrass). It really was amazingly relaxing.
The next year, I went for it again. I was offered lemongrass or lavender scents on my hands to start, and had a deeply relaxing mostly head massage, with a bit of neck at the end. I'd still prefer an actual back massage, but this was more relaxing than I imagined it could be.
Seating
The lounge is ... well, huge. It is arranged into distinct areas, so there really is something for any mood. The areas are all connected and open, but the overall feel is quite tranquil, not loud and chaotic. There is light music playing throughout. While the lounge did have plenty of patrons, it also wasn't crowded, you had your choice of virtually any space to pick from.
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| Reading Material, Seating. |
Right when you enter, there is a large table with assorted newspapers and magazines. I didn't peruse these options at all.
This also gives you a bit of a view of the main center of the room, with assorted seating, and gleaming wooden floors.
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| Bar. |
The very center of the space is the huge, huge bar.
There are many seating options right close to the bar, including comfy leather loungers, and other wing chairs, arranged around round tables for four. At the bar itself is counter seating.
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| The Den: Game Area. |
Another area features carpet flooring, and a pool table.
This is the start of "The Den", sports and hangout inspired, seemingly appealing to the "man cave" sort.
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| The Den: Couches. |
Adjacent to the game area is large couches, that looked perfect for taking a nap, or hosting a large group.
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| The Den: Leather Armchairs. |
Huge leather armchairs, and chaise lounges, offer other "bro" style seating options in the Den.
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| The Den: TV Zone. |
The Den also houses a large screen area, with sports on TV and video games available.
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| The Den: Candy Jars. |
The final element of the den area is a row of candy jars, with mints and sweets.
Sadly, these no longer existed in 2017.
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| Play room. |
The other play area is designed for a younger audience, a colorful play room. Interestingly, I didn't see any children in the lounge, anywhere.
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| The Library: Book Wall. 2016. |
A completely different experience awaits in the Library, the only area that did have doors to close it off. This space had a huge wall of books, and, abundant power chargers, for every style of device.
This space was crazy quiet, not that the other areas were loud, but it did not have soft music playing, and, due to the doors, you couldn't hear any noise from the dining or bar areas either.
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| The Library: Seating. |
The library has several styles of seating, including big couches. It is a large area, and, while we were there, only one other person was seated in the entire space.
The windows in this area are more normal windows, making it feel a bit more like a library/den in someone's home.
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| The Library: Workstation. |
The library also has individual work pods, some that come with laptops if you dont' have your own.
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| The Library: 2017. |
They did renovations. And they tore down the wall. And, well, removed the library entirely, replacing it with more standard dining tables.
I'm not sure why they did this, as the lounge has never been crowded when I visited, and in particular, people don't seem to tend to choose the dining seats. This area was marginally quieter than the main lounge, but, just barely.
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| Strange Blue Chairs. |
Back out in the main room, along the big light filled window area, is a slew of different seating styles. Some ... were more practical than others.
Like these, totally uncomfortable blue quasi-chairs.
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| Window Seating. |
I took a seat in one of these chairs, and was shocked by how uncomfortable it was. Still, there really were options, and plenty of spaces to plug in devices as well.
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| The Loft. |
But that was just the ground floor. You could go up a white marble staircase to reach "The Loft".
This space was incredible, under a cieling of glass, with views of the airport in action. It was incredibly tranquil, and I couldn't believe that there was no one in this space, besides me! I had my own level to myself!
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| Viewing Deck. |
But if you really wanted to see the planes, you could climb up two more flights of stairs, to the viewing deck, an outside area. Yes, outside. Fresh air. In an airport. What!
The Drinks
After taking a quick stroll through the lounge, it was time to set myself up with a drink.
There are absolutely no self-serve options, besides a water station on the bar. While I understand the feel they are going for, I really would have preferred to be able to pour my own sparkling water, make a coffee, etc.
I started with a glass of pinot, as my server said it was light and not tannic, but, I didn't care for it at all. It did have too much tannin for my taste. I moved on to a cocktail.
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| Cocktail Menu. |
Cocktail menus are located on every table throughout the room, and you can order from anywhere from a server, or just walk up to the bar.
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| Cocktail Listings. |
The first page of the cocktail menu is a mix of some signature Virgin Atlantic drinks you can find in most of their lounges, like the "Virgin Redhead", plus a bunch of classics, like a Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Margarita, Daiguiri, Bloody Mary, Martini, etc.
Opposite that is the "Spririt of the Clubhouse" selection, speciality drinks just for Heathrow.
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| Modern Botany Cocktails. |
The final pages of the cocktail menu are a collaboration with the "International Bartender of the Year", with a bunch of botany inspired cocktails. I'll admit that some sounded interesting, but, I'm not really into floral elements, so I didn't try any.
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| Mexican Greyhound (2016). |
"James Wyld Patron tequila, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, black peppercorns, agave syrup. Shaken."
My cocktail was quite successful. I really was in a tequila mood on this trip, I'm really not sure why, but it was a theme throughout. I ordered the Mexican Greyhound hoping it would remind of the really amazing, also Mexican named cocktail I had at The Blind Pig (review coming soon).
I liked it. It wasn't as amazing as the Blind Pig cocktail, but it was very balanced, a bit tart, a bit sweet, and had a great tequila flavor.
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| Concrete Sazerac from Dandelyan, London. (2017). |
"Stone washed Dewar's 12 scotch, fermented biters, absinthe, chocolate stones."
I ordered this to get the opportunity to try out a cocktail from the famous Dandelyan.
It was pretty fascinating, and no light drink. At first it looked like a small cocktail, but, I assure you, it did the trick.
Whiskey forward, as, well, there wasn't anything to make the booze, unless absinthe (!) counts? The bitters gave it even more a touch.
Nice to sip on, and I liked it, but I think I'd prefer it as an evening drink.
In the base of the cup was the chocolate stones.
Three stones. I thought they were just whiskey stones, that had been soaked with chocolate perhaps? It didn't occur to me that they would be something I could eat until one of the spa members asked me, "are they edible?".
Well, huh. I wasn't sure. And I certainly didn't want attempt to bite into an actual stone and chip my tooth right before a flight.
It made me want to drink my cocktail even faster to reach them, but, with this cocktail, that was not the right thing to do.
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| Chocolate Stones! |
Finally, I got to them. I very, very tentatively bit into one. Yup, chocolate! Hard candy coated chocolate.
These were fairly remarkable, and looked very realistic. All three stones were a different style.
I liked the shell on the chocolate stones, but didn't particularly care for the mediocre chocolate itself. I'm also just not sure how they enhanced the cocktail? I don't think much chocolate got through the shell in order to actually infuse the drink. Fascinating though.
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| Decaf Americano (2016). |
Later on during my stay, when I ordered dessert, I also opted for a decaf Americano.
It was actually pretty good, and didn't seem instant. It wasn't as hot as I'd like, mostly likely due to the time it took for someone to make it, a server to come collect it, and then to come find me. Again, a self-serve option for basic coffee really would be nice.
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| Decaf Americano (2017). |
The next year, I again opted for a decaf americano alongside my dessert. It was fine, unremarkable, and like many things, lukewarm.
The Food
Of course, this is Julie's Dining Club, and you are likely wondering about the food, right? I'll get to that soon, I promise. There are two main food options, made-to-order meals, or, a "Deli". Neither are self service. Besides the candy jars in the Den, there is actually nothing self-service. Again, I sorta wanted an option to grab a bag of chips or a bowl of snack mix.
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| Dining Area. |
I appear to have not taken a photo of the dining room, but, there is a whole section with standard dining tables of assorted sizes.
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| Place Setting. |
Tables in the dining area came pre-set with plates, napkins, and silverware, plus salt and pepper shakers, sugar, and fresh flowers.
You can also opt to order food from anywhere else in the lounge, where servers are constantly roving, and they will bring you silverware and everything you need.
Each table has a number on it, in the dining area and throughout, so that other servers know where to bring each food or drink item as it is ready.
Ojan and I choose to sit at a regular table for our first full meal, but I sat in the library for dessert, and had another snack and cocktail up in the Loft.
Dining
Besides the deli, the food is all made to order, like a regular restaurant, and you order from a fairly extensive menu, ranging from tapas, starters, mains, salads, and desserts, plus a few items for children, that I'm sure adults can order too. The first page of the menu is breakfast, but, alas, breakfast is only served until 11:30am, so, all I could do is drool over the thought of pancakes. The menu also contained the Afternoon Tea selection, served from 3-5:30pm, with finger sandwiches, scones, cakes, and a large tea selection.
Ojan wasn't feeling well, and was in a rush to order some food in hopes it would calm his stomach. As such, we ordered quickly, which meant I really didn't have time to think through the options. I do blame some of my dislike of the meal on my ordering choices, as they were made hastily.
Overall ... I didn't really like any of the food. It was beautifully plated though, truly, "restaurant quality". The food in the
SFO Clubhouse was far more enjoyable. That said, the Deli was great, I just didn't realize it until too late.
While the food looked like fine dining, the service experience wasn't that. Ojan and I ordered hot tapas, two hot starters, and two entree salads, and they all arrived at once, which isn't exactly what we wanted. Our table was quickly filled with food that was lukewarm when it arrived, and it got cold quickly. If I was in a rush though, I would have appreciated how quickly the food all came.
Tapas
"Our Menu of small bites. We suggest two for a snack, or four as a main meal."
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| Tapas Menu (2016). |
The first section of the menu is Tapas. How these are really different from the starters I'm not sure, I guess slightly smaller portions?
Anyway, this section had a number of interesting items, really something for every palette, ranging from a warm sausage roll, chicken wings, and chips for more bar food style dining, to hummus and veggies, smoked salmon and avocado salad, and squash soup for the healthy diners, and crispy cockles, confit duck, and gyoza to go a bit more upscale.
I did want to try the sausage roll, but, alas, I was only there for one meal, so, it got cut. If I had ordered just one more item, that would have been it.
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| Steamed vegetable gyoza / dark soy sauce. (2016) |
The gyoza came in a small steamer basket, served with metal chopsticks on the side. A nice presentation. The order contained two gyoza.
The gyoza just ... weren't good. The wrapper was slimy but also dried out and hard on the edges. The filling was just veggie mush. I did not like these at all.
Credit for the serving vessel though.
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| Tapas Menu: 2017. |
The next year, the tapas menu was entirely different, no dim sum, and this time some interesting choices like breaded olives with truffle honey and harissa mayonaise.
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| Crispy Squid / Chili and lemon salt (2017). |
This came from the tapas menu. Crispy fried squid.
It was ... fine.
It arrived very quickly. It was lukewarm. Fairly oily
Not particularly seasoned, and not served with any dipping sauce.
Lackluster really.
Main Menu
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| Starters / Main Courses / Salads / Desserts (2016). |
Next was the main menu, containing starters, main dishes, salads, and desserts.
There were only 3 starters: the same soup as we saw on the tapas menu (perhaps a larger portion?), a chicken bao bun, and smoked haddock fish cakes. I opted for the fish cakes, Ojan for the bao.
Next were 3 mains: an indian chicken curry with rice, raita, pickles, chuntney, pappadom, and naan, steamed mussels with fries, or the Signature Clubhouse Burger. We skipped all of these.
I had read many amazing reviews of the indian cuisine served in the Clubhouse, but, alas, it was chicken. I clearly read through the menu too quickly though, as I didn't notice the fine print until much later: "a vegetable curry is also available". Doh. I would have loved veggie curry, particularly since it comes with naan, chutney, pickles, and more. Next time.
I also missed the fine print under the burger: "a field mushrooms, brie, and truffle burger is also available". I didn't really want a beef burger, as I assumed it wouldn't be cooked to my liking, but, brie and truffles? Yes! I was clearly too excited to read the menu closely. I wished it was available online so I could have made my decisions in advance.
Then, 3 salads: a Greek salad, a Caesar, and a French bean salad. These were all large entree salads, and none were standard at all, as in, the Caesar came with bacon and a poached egg, the Greek with tapenade. I opted for the caesar, trying to at least have some vegetables, and Ojan went for the Greek,
just as he did in the SFO Clubhouse.
The dessert menu was a bit sad, Country & Cream ice cream in assorted flavors (you had to ask what they were, and the ice cream was just packaged ice cream), fruit salad (also on the tapas menu, and totally not a dessert), a lemon tart (boo, lemon), and a strange sounding strawberry & cream option (which I ordered, later).
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| Starter: Smoked haddock fish cakes / pickled cucumber and fresh lemon. (2016). |
My starter was the fish cakes, served perched on top of pickled cucumber, and with a lemon wedge on the side. Like the tapas, it came two to an order, so I really don't understand why they are in different sections of the menu.
The fish cakes were only marginally better than the gyoza. For one, they were lukewarm. The cake was a bit crispy on the outside, but mostly just mushy and and a bit fishy inside. One cake had a dollop of something creamy on top, but there was no aioli or other sauce for the other. The cucumber was very pickled, crazy tangy.
So, uh, cold, mushy fishy cakes with no sauce? Yeah, not for me.
For his starter, Ojan had the "Crispy chicken bao bun / spring onion, coriander, and wasabi mayonnaise", but, he got into it before I could take a photo. He knows better, but, he wasn't feeling well, so I forgave this transgression. I also wasn't intending to try it, because it was chicken. But, shockingly, he offered me a chunk at the end, saying I needed to try the sauce.
The bao was warm and fluffy, but it didn't have a bit of sweetness I usually like the bun. The wasabi mayo however was indeed tasty, creamy, and with a bit of kick. I see why he offered it to me. Of all the prepared food we had, the bao with wasabi mayo was the tastiest bite.
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| Salad: Caesar / anchovies, crispy bacon, poached egg, and parmesan. (2016). |
This was a very interesting interpretation of a caesar salad, and certainly not what I was expecting. Remember when I said I didn't read the menu very carefully? Yeah, I didn't. A poached egg on my salad? Meh, I don't like eggs!
So, what did we have here, besides the poached egg?
Huge chunks of little gem lettuce. Crispy parmesan chips. A huge long crispy crostini. A long crispy slice of bacon. A handful of anchovy filets. A tiny drizzle of dressing. Micro greens to garnish.
Uh ... caesar salad?
I didn't like this. The lettuce was fresh and crisp at least, but, the large chunk format was a bit annoying to deal with. It would have been fine, if it had some dressing, but the salad was entirely undressed, save the little drizzle of dressing on top. Plain lettuce is not my thing.
Instead of croutons, there was the long, crispy crostini, again, an element that was a bit annoying to deal with. Instead of shredded parmesan, there was two crispy parmesan frico. They were crunchy, salty, and intensely parmesan, so they were ok. The bacon was also crazy crispy.
The egg was actually decently poached, the yolk ran out nicely, the white wasn't under, but, I didn't really want a (cold) poached egg in my salad. I ate it, and some anchovies, to ensure that I had enough protein. Had I known how great the deli was though, I certainly would have just abandoned this.
Overall, yes, it was beautiful, yes it was a fun play on a caesar, but, it just wasn't what I wanted.
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| Salad: Greek / broad beans, tapanade, and crispy red onion. (2016). |
Ojan went for the Greek salad, which, was only a Greek salad in name. Yes, it had lettuce (very little), cucumber (mandolined and rolled up), tomato (sundried), olives (as tapanade), and a couple large pieces of feta. It also had chunks of green pepper in addition to the broad beans and crispy red onions mentioned on the menu.
Ojan wasn't really into this, and wanted a regular Greek salad. I tried the crispy onions and a sundried tomato, both of which were fine, but nothing special.
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| Main Menu (2017). |
The menu in 2017 was entirely different for the main dining as well, although the signature burger and curries remained.
I skipped the starters, since I started with tapas instead, but my companion had the tuna poke. I was at my spa appointment when it arrived though, so I wasn't able to try it.
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| Butter Poached Cod / Mashed Potatoes / Spinach / Caper and Parsley Hollandaise. |
Well, this was a lovely plate. And it was fine.
A bed of raw spinach, topped with mashed potatoes and a piece of cod, smothered in hollandaise, and garnished with crispy capers and some kind of micro green.
The raw spinach was a bit odd of an accompaniment. Rather hard to eat. But fine, baby spinach.
The cod was decently cooked, although not as delicate as I'd like.
The mash was crazy rich. Like way too rich, and over whipped, almost glue-like.
The hollandaise was fine, likely the same as they use on the eggs benedict, but the plate was smothered. I love this kind of sauce, but, on the already too rich mash, it was just too much.
I did love the crispy, salty, fried capers. They were great.
Dessert
The
dessert menu was always meager, fruit salad, cheese, and
ice cream, and 2 other items.
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| Strawberries and cream / strawberry jelly, clotted cream and shortbread ice cream. (2017). |
Well, this is not quite what I was expecting. That said, uh, I guess it was what the menu said.
Yes, a cocktail glass full of ... strawberry jello, topped with a few strawberry halves, a sprig of mint, and a scoop of ice cream.
I was expecting clotted cream somewhere, but I realize, it did say "clotted cream and shortbread ice cream". And I guess I thought that the strawberry component would be, well, something more than just jello.
Anyway, the jello was, jello. Um, yeah. I didn't want it, but, Ojan, who wasn't feeling well, actually gobbled it up. I guess that is what they serve you in hospitals, so, why not?
The strawberries on top weren't particularly good, they were red, but, didn't seem particularly ripe nor flavorful.
And finally, the ice cream. This was ... ok. I am pretty sure this was the "Cream Tea" flavor by Cream and Country, as they provide the other ice cream options. The description of that ice cream reads "Our indulgent clotted cream ice cream receives a luxurious swirl of strawberry compote and is finished with shortcake pieces. This is not your average scone and jam." This sounds like what I had, and kinda matches the "clotted cream and shortbread" description from the menu. Anyway, it was ice cream, fairly standard, and yup, it had bits of biscuit in it.
I can't say I was satisfied by this dessert option.
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| Warm dark chocolate fondant / Chocolate and cherry ice cream. (2017). |
The dessert menu again failed to inspire. Lemon tart or chocolate fondant? MEH!
Still, I'm not one to resist a warm dessert with ice cream.
Just like the main, it came plated beautifully, garnished with a crumble of some sort, mint, and powdered sugar.
The ice cream said it was going to be chocolate and cherry. This was not chocolate and cherry. This was salted caramel. Way too sweet. Way, way too sweet. But decently creamy.
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| Warm dark chocolate fondant: Inside. |
The dark chocolate fondant was ... fine. Are we noticing a theme here?
It was a classic molten chocolate cake, nice liquid center, but, the cake was very dry, and the entire thing didn't have much flavor at all.
Very lackluster, and served only lukewarm at best. I guess it was a nice pairing with the way too sweet salted caramel ice cream?
Deli
The deli area is separate from the main dining area. At a glance, it looks like a self-serve station, but, like everything else in the lounge, it is not. Most items are not labelled in this area, and the staff seemed annoyed and somewhat unwilling to tell people what the items were. Nearly every person I saw go to the deli asked some question, and got back a slightly surly response. "What is that salad?", someone would ask, pointing at one of 6 salads. "Salad", was the response. Um, thanks? Some signs would really help here.
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| Deli Menu. |
The main menu mentions the deli, and we had walked by it on our way to the dining area, but it just said that at lunch time the deli has cheeses, smoked salmon, charcuterie, salads, and chutneys. It didn't sound particularly exciting.
It undersold itself.
I honestly wished that I had just chosen to eat from the deli rather than the made to order menu.
 |
| Breads, flatbread, cookies (2016). |
The first section of the deli is fresh baked breads, in all assorted varieties. If you want any, the staff member behind the counter slices it to order for you. None are labelled though, so if you care to find out what they are, you have to ask.
I tried a walnut raisin bread, after hearing another guest rave about it. It was fine, yes, fresh bread, but, not particularly notable. Still, much better bread than you normally find in an airline lounge, for sure.
The flatbread/crisp things were loaded with seeds of all types, far more exciting than standard crackers.
The cookie options were oatmeal raisin and chocolate chocolate chip. I tried the oatmeal raisin, after not being satisfied with my jello dessert. It was ... fine. A large cookie, buttery and sweet, not too crispy but not super soft. But you know I don't tend to love cookies.
An idea for the future though: get cookies from the deli, and order ice cream, and make an ice cream sandwich. That has potential.
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| Deli: Breads, Crackers, Cookies. (2017). |
The lineup was about the same the next eyar, although the cookies were oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chunk).
My companion had a bunch of the breads, and he enjoyed them, sliced to order.
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| Cheese, Charcuterie, Chutney. (2016). |
"British farmhouse cheese, fine charcuterie from France and Italy, pickles and chutneys."
I didn't get a great angle here, but, this section had several types of cheese in huge blocks, sliced to order, plus a number of different types of charcuterie, and a bunch of pickles, spreads, and chutneys in jars.
I tried the triple cream, and I was rather blown away by how good it was. Super creamy, great flavor, nice bloomy rind.
I also tried the onion marmalade, and it too was quite tasty, super flavorful.
I realized at this moment that I would have been far happier with these selections rather than the meal I had settled on. Doh.
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| Cheese, Charcuterie, Chutney. (2017). |
I really liked the brie last time, and I certainly would have gone for it again, but, there were too many things to try, and I never got to this section.
I admired it though, a nice looking selection of both cheese and meat, and some tempting spreads.
 |
| Salads (2017). |
Next were a bunch of salads, none labelled. Some were greens based, others grains based. This is where I heard many others asking for explanations of what the salads were, and getting totally unsatisfactory responses.
I didn't try any salads.
 |
| Salads (2017). |
The salad line up was different, this time with:
Back row: roasted carrot with cream (not pictured, it was being replenished), a ceasar-ish kale salad, cabbage slaw.
Front row: Orzo salad, cous cous salad, plain greens (no dressing), cucumber and tomato salad.
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| Shrimp salad, Smoked Fish (2016). |
This is where things started to get interesting.
In the little glass jars in front was shrimp salad, lightly dressed with mayo. I didn't try it because I really wasn't hungry at this point, but I really wished I had that instead of the proteins from my salad!
There were other firm, smoked fish here too, not really sure what they were, I didn't try them.
 |
| Assorted Smoked Salmon. (2016). |
Well, geeze. They weren't messing around here. 4 types of smoked salmon, on wooden boards.
The red one caught my eye, it looked sorta like tuna. I asked what it was, and I was told "beetroot". Clearly, it wasn't actually just beetroot, it was some kind of seafood. Confused, I asked, "like, marinated with beetroot?" "Beetroot", was the only response. "Is it salmon?", I asked, again, trying to figure this out. "It is good, try it" was the response.
Uh, ok. So, I said I'd try a little. It turned out to be crazy delicious. This was seriously good smoked salmon. Firm, smoky, wonderful. I tried a bite of one other as well when Ojan got a plate full, and, yup, it too was great.
So if I were to do the lounge again, I'd make some major changes. Perhaps I would have ordered that veggie curry, or the mushroom/brie/truffle burger. But really, I would go straight to the deli, load up on excellent cheese, spreads, and smoked salmon, and just call it a day.
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| Smoked Fish & Prawn Cocktail (2017). |
The smoked fish lineup was again impressive.
Nothing labelled, and again really unhelpful staff, I heard several people ask about the beetroot cured salmon, and be told simply "Beetroot", and then be very confused. "But, its not just beetroot right? Its fish?", they'd ask. "No, beetroot, Americans call it beet." Um, thanks?
Still, a beautiful lineup.
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| Raisin walnut bread, onion chutney, brie, seeded flatbread, beetroot smoked salmon. (2016). |
My hodgepodge platter, assembled not due to hunger, but mostly just out of curiosity, which turned out to be the most delicious stuff from the lounge.
The cheese and smoked salmon in particular were just top notch.
