henrus
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- Jun 23, 2016
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Today I got to try Fiji Airways Chefs Table and couldn’t be more impressed.
The concept started back in May this year so has been around for about 6 months. In short Fiji airways has a couple of spare rooms in their lounge and have turned one into a twice a day fine dining experience. Starting at 1pm and 6:30pm they offer this multi course meal within the lounge and it’s open to everyone!
I first heard about it on points hacks:
www.pointhacks.com.au
but until today hasn’t given it much thought. Given the coverage of this offering isn’t that wide spread online I thought I’d give a full review to AFF as all I could find online was a couple of new sites like points hack who’d just received the offical media release and a couple of TikTok influenzas “influencers”.
So let’s start with the basics, any airline departing from Nadi international is eligible however there are a few things to note:
Once booked online you’ve guaranteed your spot however at this stage it’s not confirmed. As noted online they take a 50% deposit over the phone (however in my case they charged the full 100% over the phone). After my booking online the next day during Fiji business hours someone from a local Fiji landline called and took my card details for payment and noted that a receipt would be sent to my email and I was to show that at entry. I only booked a couple of days out so no idea if that made the difference regarding the amount but it didn’t matter.
Fast forward to the day of travel, I was flying Virgin on the 3:55pm departure to Brisbane and with VA officially opening check in at 12:55pm I arrived around 12:40pm to find a large queue in the regular line but no one in the priority queue and a couple of minutes later before they’d opened the regular queue I’d got my boarding pass and was through airside.
I’d been to the FJ lounge last year so knew where to find the space downstairs and approached the desk with my receipt. Now I wouldn’t normally attach the receipt but travel nerds will find it funny that they processed my FJ$150 payment through like a normal flight ticket, I had a FJ ticket number, PNR and Amadeus receipt:
I must admit at first the staff were a little confused and then I mentioned I’d booked the chefs table and all was good. I was told to enter the lounge and let the bar staff know I was here for the chefs table and they would assist and I did exactly that and was offered a drink and told to wait for a minute.
Not long later I was led into the room next to the bar and sat at the table. Now normally they offer this for up to 8 people but today I was the only one so had the room to myself.
The lovely bar staff introduced themselves and offered a drink so I went for a gin and tonic (the Nadi lounge serves the local blue turtle gin). A short while later I was offered a menu:
A few moments later the chef arrived with bread and this lovely garlic butter. He introduced himself and the menu plus said he will personally deliver each meal with an explanation and a chat. At this point it was crazy as I had the chef and one of the bar staff in the room with just me and no joke there were people outside occasionally looking into to see what was going on!
The bread was warm and fresh plus a really nice butter which went down a treat to start!
The concept started back in May this year so has been around for about 6 months. In short Fiji airways has a couple of spare rooms in their lounge and have turned one into a twice a day fine dining experience. Starting at 1pm and 6:30pm they offer this multi course meal within the lounge and it’s open to everyone!
I first heard about it on points hacks:
Fiji Airways brings Chef's Table to the Premier Lounge
Passengers departing from Nadi International Airport can opt for a four-course degustation in the Fiji Airways Lounge.
www.pointhacks.com.au
So let’s start with the basics, any airline departing from Nadi international is eligible however there are a few things to note:
- You can be booked on airline on an international flight departing from Nadi.
- The two sessions start at 1pm and 6:30pm so you must be ready in the lounge to start at that time (some airlines only open checkin 3 hours prior).
- The cost is FJ$150 (~AU$100) regardless of if you already have existing lounge access rights (no discounts for those in business class or with QF status) but you do get lounge access after/before if not already eligible.
- They do not cater for dietary requirements so if you can’t/don’t eat everything then this isn’t for you.
Once booked online you’ve guaranteed your spot however at this stage it’s not confirmed. As noted online they take a 50% deposit over the phone (however in my case they charged the full 100% over the phone). After my booking online the next day during Fiji business hours someone from a local Fiji landline called and took my card details for payment and noted that a receipt would be sent to my email and I was to show that at entry. I only booked a couple of days out so no idea if that made the difference regarding the amount but it didn’t matter.
Fast forward to the day of travel, I was flying Virgin on the 3:55pm departure to Brisbane and with VA officially opening check in at 12:55pm I arrived around 12:40pm to find a large queue in the regular line but no one in the priority queue and a couple of minutes later before they’d opened the regular queue I’d got my boarding pass and was through airside.
I’d been to the FJ lounge last year so knew where to find the space downstairs and approached the desk with my receipt. Now I wouldn’t normally attach the receipt but travel nerds will find it funny that they processed my FJ$150 payment through like a normal flight ticket, I had a FJ ticket number, PNR and Amadeus receipt:
I must admit at first the staff were a little confused and then I mentioned I’d booked the chefs table and all was good. I was told to enter the lounge and let the bar staff know I was here for the chefs table and they would assist and I did exactly that and was offered a drink and told to wait for a minute.
Not long later I was led into the room next to the bar and sat at the table. Now normally they offer this for up to 8 people but today I was the only one so had the room to myself.
The lovely bar staff introduced themselves and offered a drink so I went for a gin and tonic (the Nadi lounge serves the local blue turtle gin). A short while later I was offered a menu:
A few moments later the chef arrived with bread and this lovely garlic butter. He introduced himself and the menu plus said he will personally deliver each meal with an explanation and a chat. At this point it was crazy as I had the chef and one of the bar staff in the room with just me and no joke there were people outside occasionally looking into to see what was going on!
The bread was warm and fresh plus a really nice butter which went down a treat to start!
