Please add your own descriptions of the SKL as I did not take notes on the food and treated the place like a stop at a self-service beer cafe.
If the atmosphere of the SKL struck me as that of a self-serve stone kitchen, that is because we treated it as such.
With our bags being carryons, the J 'lounge' side of the lounge (where the lounges and more comfortable seating areas lie) was pretty popular this Thursday night, so given we had around an hour to kill, we'd better spend it at a 'real' table rather than a coffee table.
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I must preface the following comments to those who do not visit the Mid-East airline forum.
My experience with lounges will forever be a subliminal comparison withmy first impression of the huge and very well-designed Gulf Air lounge at Bahrain.
Having enjoyed quality food, very light, airy, comfortable and fun surroundings at the GF lounge, looking out to the tarmac and the procession of flights in and out of BAH (in the morning, afternoon and evening) as well as having a relaxing whisky/whiskey double pre-flight, sets a very high expectation for flagship lounges.
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I didn't take notes of the food offerings.
While the stone benches had cutouts to hold perhaps 20 bainmarie heated pods or salads/nibbles/cold food on trays, SQ didn't seem to be trying to impress with its lounge food offering.
Amongst the most popular items was the potato and leek soup (with Mrs B & some other Irish folks, at least
) and some cooked chicken appendages.
I sampled most of the items, except for the chicken, but this was not the lounge food experience I was expecting. No delicious laksa or chicken rice, no interesting Chinese or regional curries to tempt SQ premium flyers.
The refrigerator full of chilled glasses, alongside the new, shiny Tiger tap made up for this. Almost.
The white and red wine offerings were not tempting and there was no champagne out. Did SQ stop serving Dom and Krug for any reason?
Eventually someone found an attendant and asked for the bubbly and a Charles Heidseck (sic, hic) was placed out and suitably sampled by most patrons.
There were a few people at the cafe-style tables near the entrance and coffee area where we were sitting. Most wisely stayed in the lounge side, given the food was a disappointment.
After taking our nightly malaria tables with the Tiger, we were about to take our leave, just before Mrs B had her own SKL bathroom adventure.