New Domestic Business and Qantas Club menu

[jaydub]

Thanks Red Roo for the opportunity - for once I'm actually able to attend!

Red Roo - I sent you a PM but was having some connectivity issues as I was sending it - please let me know if you haven't received it and I'll resend.

 

[Red Roo]

Thanks Red Roo for the opportunity - for once I'm actually able to attend!

Red Roo - I sent you a PM but was having some connectivity issues as I was sending it - please let me know if you haven't received it and I'll resend.

Yes, I've received it. Thanks for entering.

 

[jaydub]

Perfect! Thanks Red Roo.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Had been hoping this was an announcement about the on board domestic business menu when i clicked on the thread!

 

[medhead]

Darn. Organised meetings for that time.

Will just have to see what I get next week.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Fantastic prize, will be watching jealously from the sidelines !
Good luck to the entrants

 

[deka2]

Just received my invitation

Thanks Red Roo

Looking forward to some great food and good company.

 

[jaydub]

Thanks Red Roo for the invite - I really enjoyed the lunch and learning more about how the lounge menus are put together. It's really easy to forget how much thought is actually put into each menu change.

For those who couldn't make it, the highlights for me from the Domestic J menu were the pot pies that will be a part of the island dining (we tried a chicken and leek one - great quality filling and very generously sized), as well as whole baked potatoes with your choice of toppings. From the Qantas Club menu, my favourite was the cauliflower salad (hey, one has to be healthy every now and then!).


Chicken and leek pot pie



Baked potato, cauliflower salad and fried rice

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's really easy to forget how much thought is actually put into each menu change.

Interesting. What's the 'thought' process involved?

 

[JessicaTam]

Just sampled the Chicken and leek pie in the MEL J lounge. A good amount of filling if a little oily. Nice to see the rollout happening so quickly.



Edit: And I have just been offered a Maggie Beer's gin coughtail.



Double yum.

 

[samh004]

Looks really good!

 

[JessicaTam]

Looks really good!

They were.

Now to start on the new F lounge winter menu ...

 

[jaydub]

Interesting. What's the 'thought' process involved?

I should've written down some notes from the lunch!

From what I recall, the domestic lounge team including their in-house Rockpool consultants spend about 2 months developing and testing the menu for the next season, taking into account seasonal availability of ingredients and passenger preferences during that season. They also then have to co-ordinate the menus with the in-flight menus to ensure there's as little repetition as possible between the lounge menu and in-flight menu.

One of the other interesting things to note was the actual timing of the menu cycle during the season - there are 6 menus that rotate amongst the major capital city ports weekly, so that no two lounges have the same menu on a given week. There was a discussion on the changeover date, which will move this season from a Wednesday to a Friday, as they have found that many business travellers leave on Tuesday and return home on Thursday - if the menu changes on a Wednesday in a lounge/onboard then they could risk facing the same menu on both legs. Moving to a Friday changeover will attempt to avoid this situation for a larger number of regular passengers.

Sorry - I'm sure there's more to it than that but I was too busy eating!

I forgot to mention that one other welcome addition for the winter menu will be a larger variety of soups that will be of higher quality (so not your usual pumpkin soup etc).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I should've written down some notes from the lunch!

From what I recall, the domestic lounge team including their in-house Rockpool consultants spend about 2 months developing and testing the menu for the next season, taking into account seasonal availability of ingredients and passenger preferences during that season. They also then have to co-ordinate the menus with the in-flight menus to ensure there's as little repetition as possible between the lounge menu and in-flight menu.

One of the other interesting things to note was the actual timing of the menu cycle during the season - there are 6 menus that rotate amongst the major capital city ports weekly, so that no two lounges have the same menu on a given week. There was a discussion on the changeover date, which will move this season from a Wednesday to a Friday, as they have found that many business travellers leave on Tuesday and return home on Thursday - if the menu changes on a Wednesday in a lounge/onboard then they could risk facing the same menu on both legs. Moving to a Friday changeover will attempt to avoid this situation for a larger number of regular passengers.

Sorry - I'm sure there's more to it than that but I was too busy eating!

I forgot to mention that one other welcome addition for the winter menu will be a larger variety of soups that will be of higher quality (so not your usual pumpkin soup etc).

thanks. I guess that is interesting... although more about the logistics than the menu itself.

I had a chuckle about the 'avoiding repetition'... given most of the menus feature a 'bowl of' [pumpkin] soup for starters, followed by a 'big bowl of' [the same soup] for mains.

Cost would also be an interesting matter.

 

[JessicaTam]

I should've written down some notes from the lunch!

From what I recall, the domestic lounge team including their in-house Rockpool consultants spend about 2 months developing and testing the menu for the next season, taking into account seasonal availability of ingredients and passenger preferences during that season. They also then have to co-ordinate the menus with the in-flight menus to ensure there's as little repetition as possible between the lounge menu and in-flight menu.

One of the other interesting things to note was the actual timing of the menu cycle during the season - there are 6 menus that rotate amongst the major capital city ports weekly, so that no two lounges have the same menu on a given week. There was a discussion on the changeover date, which will move this season from a Wednesday to a Friday, as they have found that many business travellers leave on Tuesday and return home on Thursday - if the menu changes on a Wednesday in a lounge/onboard then they could risk facing the same menu on both legs. Moving to a Friday changeover will attempt to avoid this situation for a larger number of regular passengers.

Sorry - I'm sure there's more to it than that but I was too busy eating!

I forgot to mention that one other welcome addition for the winter menu will be a larger variety of soups that will be of higher quality (so not your usual pumpkin soup etc).

I think someone missed the memo about that one. I have often found that multiple lounges have the same hot meal for a given week. Often enough that I figure QF put on a particular meal Australia wide.

 

[kermatu]

I think someone missed the memo about that one. I have often found that multiple lounges have the same hot meal for a given week. Often enough that I figure QF put on a particular meal Australia wide.

That's been my observation too.

slightly off topic, but I am also intrigued / mildly frustrated that the Dom J menus on board are repetitive and identical. In the last 2 weeks I have had 3 morning 'refreshment' flights ex Cairns, Sydney and Adelaide where the menu was identical -- pork and shiitake mushroom omelette, fruit salad or tomato and feta frittata. While the frittata was delicious, by round 3 I did wonder why the menu has to have the same 3 options on each flight. Presumably to balance choices but need they be the same choices?

 

[RickyT84]

Currently in the SYD Dom J Lounge and tried the Mongolian Beef with rice as well as the Minestrone soup for dinner. Both items were full of flavour and filing. A thumbs up to the new improved menu.

With the Mongolian beef, the sauce was good in that it was rich but not too salty and had a hint of sweetness. The beef was of good quality as well as the accompanying vegetables.

There were lots of vegetables in the Minestrone and it also had some pasta. Again, the soup was hearty and filling.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

So where's the on board improvements to get up to va standard on domestic j

 

[Foreigner]

In CNS lounge today:

 

[MEL_Traveller]

In CNS lounge today:

Chickpea Surprise?