UA Club, EWR, C74

This was my first visit to the smallest of the United lounges at Newark (Terminal C), located near C74.  The lounge is quite new, and may have actually been my favorite, a surprise to me.  I visited just before 11am, and stayed through the transition from breakfast to lunch before moving on to lounge hop (although again, I think I really did like this one the most and somewhat wished I had stayed put).

Setting

The lounge has no shower suites, has a slightly strange layout (it is like a big triangle), and is the smallest in the terminal, but it really is better than most.

Lounge Upstairs

Access to the lounge is up an escalator near gate C74.  It was well marked, hard to miss really.

Bright and open.

The space was pretty empty during my visit, but even if crowded I think it would feel relatively bright and open.  Lots of light from the windows. 

Long Dining Table.

The long dining table was an odd choice, maybe more space efficient than small tables, but seems awkward.

Booths.

The also had dining booths though, which I liked.

Bar.

The bar was sooooo long, and a long high top table ran along it.

Drinks / Snacks

When I visited the club had no working water.  So no ice machine, no soda fountain, etc.  This was quite unfortunate.  This was true in every United club I visited, including the Polaris lounge.

Ice/Water.

Sorry, not available.

They had bottles of water at the bar to grab instead.

Fleet of coffee machines.

I think the coffee machines were somehow working, although I didn't try this.

Soda Machine.

The soda machine, also not working.  No soft drinks available.

Snacks.

The one set of snack jars contained gummy bears, banana chips, papaya.  Nothing savory.

Breakfast

I was there before the breakfast switchover at 11am.  I was surprised that there was not any pastries, yogurt, or cut fruit.  The lineup was fairly standard.

Cereal.

3 kinds of cereal in annoying-to-use dispensers, only skim milk.

Egg Dishes.

Eggs came in several forms, including two premade sandwiches, one with egg whites on tortilla, the other fried egg on a bun.  There was also standard scrambled eggs or whites.

Meats / Carbs.

Breakfast sausage and potatoes came next.

Oatmeal.

Two kinds of oatmeal (regular or strawberry), plus some basic toppings.

Lunch

Right at 11am they started unwrapping the lunch items.

Cheese Board.

The cheese board had an large lineup of cheese, more options than usual.

Salads / Rice Pudding.

There were 3 pre-made salads, and ... rice pudding!

Rice Pudding.

The rice pudding was decent - very creamy, rice cooked well (not too mushy, not too al dente).  Super strong citrus flavor, and lots of raisins I could do without, but otherwise, a nice treat.  I wish I got more.  No other lounges I visited that morning had it.

Sandwiches.

Three kinds of pre-made sandwiches came next.

Oatmeal Cookies / Brownies.

Boring oatmeal cookies and brownies were the other dessert offerings, but compared to hte bigger lounge at C123 that had only chocolate chip cookies, this was a step up.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

And of course, the signature chocolate chip cookies, properly thin and crispy here (not like the big puffy ones in San Francisco).  I was excited to finally try one of these well regarded cookies.  Interestingly, they were smaller radius than the ones in the Polaris lounge.

I see why people like these cookies.  They aren't really my style (I'm not a big cookie person anyway), but they were pleasantly crispy, had a nice buttery richness, and did seem a bit unique.  The chocolate chips were regular size, and it wasn't loaded with them, but they were fine.  I'm glad I tried this, and if I really wanted a sweet treat, I could imagine getting another.  3/5.

UA Club Cookie (Top) / Polaris Lounge Cookie (Bottom).

Interestingly, the ones here were about half the size as those from the Polaris lounge down the hall.  I didn't notice any real difference in taste.