milesaddict

Dear Readers,

The following trip might have been called “My Quest for Balik Salmon”….

I will cover TK in Economy and Business in another Trip Report, the main event comes from the well-known Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai but Instead of flying EK I will fly Qantas! Final routing; CDG-IST-DXB-LHR-CDG

In the morning of june 17th I was in the horrible T1 lounge in CDG on the way to KUL with UL and I wanted to eat Balik Salmon, not a little but to fill my stomach with it…

Where can I find unlimited supply of Balik ? Emirates First Class Lounge ! Now time to figure out how to fly to Dubai.

My ticket to France for august already in hand, I had a tiny window to fly on 2 specific dates…

My first idea was to fly Etihad in First with AA miles but could not find any availability to AUH the date I wanted, same with Emirates to DXB. BA was an option… just an option given how outrageous BA charges for an award. I decided to buy the ticket in coach with TK via Istanbul and I could taste again the pides. My first thought was to buy the ticket and land in Dubai at 6am, spend 18 hours in the First Class Lounge… my second thought was to ignore the first one… I did purchase the ticket but I went to the hotel to rest like a regular guy… Almost…

I was lucky to find 1 award seat the day I wanted to fly QF. I pulled the trigger and bought the award for 80.000 miles… using my BA account.

For the full report:
http://www.youtripreport.com/report/flight/25

Let’s begin:

I arrived from Istanbul on the beautiful B77W. It’s 6:30 am.


My flight is at 2am, I went to Terminal 3 to check-in… but…


When I arrived, the agent told me: Sir I can’t check you in you are on the 2am flight and the computer won’t allow me. He also stared at me with a weird look probably thinking, this guy is crazy (my inner voice said, no Balik Addict). Fair enough I opened my laptop and I was able to check in. I came back to the desk and I collected my boarding pass.




Let’s face it, it’s around 7am. Should I go to the lounge. Tempting.. But no, I have a room booked nearby and I was beat enough to convince myself to get some rest before coming back…





I came back at 2pm, I’m in great shape and ready to eat !


I’m on my way, I like DXB.


There you are! It’s massive!


I was checked-in in less than 10s:


In case it’s your first visit or you are lost, you have a map:


Duty free inside the lounge !


One thing at a time -> Restaurant


The kitchen behind the window:


Let’s check the buffet first:


Now you know what my eyes are looking at the moment..




The menu at the time:














The restaurant is quite big, by the time I was there we were 3 pax.


My choices from the buffet:


The scallops were great:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/VeyL5Z]

I ordered the sea bass:


Before I start the desert, more Balik.. I haven’t shared all the Balik taken.. It’s better this way 😉:


It was time to freshen up and take a shower:







After my shower, I went to the end of the lounge where you have another seating area and a small buffet. You can also order the menu from there.











The small buffet:


My later afternoon bites:


After that, I was full and decided to rest, EK does not provide private room, instead you get a comfortable chair but it’s not a proper bed. Alas, I managed to rest 1h30.


At 8pm I had my neck massage:


At 10pm I went back to the restaurant to have my dinner since I won’t have a dinner onboard:


My delicious beef:


Perfectly cooked for me:


I then put my soccer team on my laptop (Allez L’OM):


Last Balik before boarding:


I boarded from the Lounge, it’s gonna be a full flight in First:


Upon boarding a lovely FA escorted me to my seat. My home for the next 7 hours:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/VnBuVm][/url

It’s huge!






The screen looks small:


Welcome drink with olives and crackers:


Pajama and kit:


The remote screen where I can control my seat:




On the one hand I’m surprised not to have a real meal after take off and on the other hand it’s not a surprise since most passengers arrive from Sydney and had a dinner before landing in DXB.

After take off, the lovely FA came to make my bed:




Good night:


The table is set for breakfast :


Corn flakes :


Scrambled eggs, I wanted to remain light since I will have the breakfast in the lounge on my way to Marseille.


Final shot before landing:




Bottom line :

I was really looking forward to trying the Emirates lounge. Was it up to my expectation.
Yes and no. Let me break it down :
Design : When you have a map to guide you, you can be sure to have a huge lounge.
Confort : The lounge is way too big for me. It gives however all the comfort needed. Individual room should have been put in place. The quiet room is good enough to have a quick break. All seats are comfortable.
Restauration : Aside from the Balik Salmon and the scallops, nothing stood out. Both meals were good but not outstanding.
Service : All staff were great with me. Smiling, chatting. A big kudos to them.
Entertainment : Wifi was good, kids room is a plus but a far cry from QR.

All in All, I'd be happy to get back but won't make a big detour for it.

Flight with QF :
The crew were absolutely adorable and genuine.
Cabin : What a large bed, I slept like a baby but looking forward to trying it on a ultra long haul.
Catering : Hard to tell from what I've seen, the breakfast was fine.

Hope you enjoyed the report and feel free to share your comment!

Thomas

Paella747

....do I come across someone who can put down as much raw/smoked/cooked/blackened salmon as I can......
That looked amazing!
Thank you for the trip report!

I've often wondered why they didn't do a few private rooms in the F lounge. It's so big, and usually quite empty. You'd think they could've fit a few in......

offerendum

Very nice, thank you! Do you have to register for shower? Last time I visited the ´lounge in DUB I can´t remember any registration.

miuk

Oh my, what a delightful twist for a trip report.... the devastation of the balik salmon platter in DXB

Firipu

Looks incredible! Thank you for sharing.

Did you have any luggage to check in? If so, did they accept bags so many hours before the actual flight?

BA5E

Wow all that lovely salmon, tuna and scallops, absolutely my favourite, i would certainly have made a big dive for that menu and might well have cleared it out.
Agree QF F is great have always found the staff to be extremely helpful, happy to be working in the cabin and very proactive.. i can quite concur with you I certainly would not have wanted to eat anything on joining th flight having made good use of the EK lounge offerings. I am suprised you partook in some breakfast if you were then going to eat in the lounge on arrival, unless you just wanted to try out the breakfast offerings. Thanks for sharing the trip and all the great food.^

irish_goat

That's a serious feed of salmon!

grandgourmand

Fun TR.

BTW, maybe you should black out your name on your ticket.

kevinflyaway

Great TR! Thanks

gaobest

Great TR! Glad you enjoyed the salmon!!

milesaddict

Thanks for your kind comment, I guess we are a few out there regarding the salmon... And you haven't seen my wife...

The day I take my wife in EF FC, they will ban us !

Yeah, with such a big lounge, I would have thought that Emirates would use the space more efficiently. It's such a huge advantage to have a private room a la QR.

milesaddict

Thanks. The lounge attendant just recorded my name.

milesaddict

Thanks Firipu.

I had no luggage, as far as I can recall, the agent at check in told me it would not be possible.

milesaddict

Merci Grandgourmand.

Well, my name can be found so easily that I no longer hide it. But I need to hide my details aside from my name.

irish_goat

I stayed at a hotel this weekend in Ireland with smoked salmon at the buffet. The waitress noticed me piling a plate up and offered a smoked salmon and scrambled egg from the hot menu but I told her I didn't want to fill up on eggs. Was thinking of this thread as I went back up for a 3rd helping.