One of the more popular topics to be found on our community discussion board is anything to do with food or wine. The way to a frequent flyer’s heart does appear to be via the stomach. While the inflight choices may be limited, our members also often spend a lot of their time in airline lounges. And it’s in the lounges where the food on offer can sometimes appear to be boring.
Recognising the problem, both Virgin and Qantas have at times promised change and more variety in their lounge offerings. Qantas have often featured a seasonal dish of the day in their business lounges. More recently Virgin has featured pop up theme food, such as Vietnamese rolls, which tour the various lounges for a week or so. Outside of these promotions, which are served for limited hours in the lounges, the traveller is still faced with the standard fare that rarely changes. As a result, one of our members started thinking about ways of spicing things up, to make it more interesting and inviting.
Another option is to play what I like to call Lounge Masterchef and make something new from the ingredients and appliances provided. So here’s a thread where we can swap ‘recipes’. I’ll start: VA lounge Thai soup poured over a bed of the cold quinoa ‘salad’. Topped with crushed kettle chips (lime and pepper works well if available).
QF business lounge green curry with added sweet potato from the salad bar – try it on a bed of baby spinach leaves instead of rice.Flatbread from the bread basket and hommus from the salad bar, olives and cucumber if available, makes a lovely Mediterranean plate.
With some good lunch and dinner options put forward, breakfast was the next focus for our members. One welcome addition to many lounges in recent years has been the Australian invention, the pop cake machine. With the push of a button, the machine springs into action, producing freshly made pancakes in minutes. What you put with those pancakes can make all the difference.
Pretty basic one from me and sure to result in health problems later in life, but when there’s a pancake machine available I’ll layer slices of butter and syrup between the pancakes. So rich and lovely tasting
Pancakes are obviously not everyone’s choice for breakfast however. Others might like a hot egg or two to start the day. With cold boiled eggs the only choice in many a lounge, its time to get inventive. One idea is to slice the egg and place it on some bread . Adding ham and cheese then toasting it will produce a good alternative to the bacon and egg muffin. Or you can try an open toasted sandwich – just make sure you catch it before it falls of the conveyor of the toaster.
While there are no cookbook prizes on offer, or the opportunity to have your creation judged by a celebrity chef, if you do have some ideas about making the lounge food more interesting, why not join the conversation HERE.
