CD747

I guess the things that interest me are:

Firstly the complaints about the burger becoming worse. If anything this has become miles better, to the point where I will happily order it when I wouldn't have dreamed of doing so before.

Secondly, the afternoon tea and sandwiches are I think a nice offering. You certainly can't get this in Galleries club, where there is salad aplenty, so I am not sure why people are complaining really!

Thirdly, I think a disproportionate amount of perceived quality comes down to presentation. Every now and again BS seems to use slightly less expensive serving crockery, and I thought Galleries Club has edged in front (briefly) with the 'authentic' bowls etc.

Tobias-UK

It's an Ambassador's job to keep up to date with topics, especially those with important changes to services.

I've not set foot in the First Lounge for at least 6 years (except to collect an occasional guest to bring in to the CCR) so I'm not qualified to answer about the food offering there. It would be wrong for me to comment because I have no recent personal experience of the food offering save for the Macaroni Cheese with Truffle (which I found very tasty) and the Duck Wrap (which was nice enough, although would have benefited from a side of Hoisin Sauce).

secretplantofightinflation

I think it is clear that the quality of the food has declined in recent years, I don't think anyone on this board would genuinely deny that fact.

OTOH, nobody is forcing people to eat it. There are always other options - I often prefer to bring food into the lounge with me and partake of a few drinks. Keeps me happy anyway

Tobias-UK

I have heard this too from several sources, regular visitors to the Flounge or CCR. Not having tried one for a few years I don't know. My wife has the burger occasionally, as does my son, and neither of them made any complaint ... except about the chips.

corporate-wage-slave

This bit I can fully endorse. It's genuinely difficult to get a grip on the quality side: the vegetarian pies, the chicken mole and mac & cheese are subjectively as good as anything served in First Lounge since it opened. You may have preferred the Compass sandwiches, but I personally prefer about half of the BS range, moreover they've got a range of I think 12 fillings rotating around, and Compass had 4 which never rotated. It's still subjective.

Things have changed so much since Compass that it is very difficult to make a direct comparison, you have to stand back a bit and say "does a visit to the First lounge improve my flying experience today?" and "was it better under Compass?". I would answer yes to the first question without too much thought, and probably no to the second, but I'd hesitate a bit longer on that. If I had a choice between T5 Flounge and the fairly new T2 Senator lounge? After the third visit to Senator the novelty factor would wear off, the very limited food choices would grate, and I'd stick with Flounge. One big improvement with BaxterStorey is that their managers are umpteen times more approachable than Compass, their equivalents were based in some portacabin on the Northern Perimeter and were almost invisible in the lounges themselves.

On the other hand as mentioned up thread I personally wouldn't touch the burger (or even let my dogs eat them, [un]fortunately they are banned from the lounges). I can't actually remember some halcyon day when the burger was worth eating, it certainly used to be worse in the past. You are also correct that since they moved the sandwiches to the salad chiller, there are fewer salad options, but there again there are now the tapas items which are very popular in the evening. Desserts? Well that I have to say that really is a mystery. I mean to shove a big tray of apple crumble in the oven would be almost no work, almost zero cost, total crowd pleaser and as far as desserts go it's vaguely nutritious. There is the cake of course.....

How does one make sense of this? All I can say is that if you want to go back to the last days of Compass, there were plenty of people complaining about the lounge food then, particularly in CCR. Here are some rants from that period, and there are plenty, plenty more:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...quest-now.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-my-story.html

NWIFlyer

Now, my memory in advancing years is not as good as it was, and I've had enough meals in the meantime to make me forget what things were like pre-BS, but I'm equally not entirely convinced that the situation is appreciably worse than in the days of Compass. I'll temper that by saying that the vast majority of my visits to the LHR lounges are at breakfast time, and as others have said it's actually pretty difficult to severely cost-cut that, given how cheap it is in the first place.

That's somewhat counter-intuitive to a saving of Ł7m though, so clearly something will have given. What we don't know is what - iirc BS also do the staff canteens and might have cut more quality there, they might have greater purchasing power than Compass, they might be prepared to take a much smaller profit. There's simply too many possibilities to merely attribute the saving to a decline in F lounge food.

What damns BA here, in my view, is how much others have upped their game. Whilst cws might well grow tired of the LH offering in T2, a lot of BA/oneworld customers will be drawing their comparisons with CX in T3 - where the food, and the service staff, are an absolute country mile ahead of BA imho. Maybe there's also a domino effect from associated gripes - the clear degradation in alcohol quality and the condition of the lounges hardly look good against, say, the UA offering in T2.

subject2load

NWIFlyer - your comments concerning the degradation of BA lounges (their general condition, quality of the alcohol ...) are well-made.

The (unfavourable) comparison with other, superior lounge offerings goes to the heart of the issue : I have always felt that - where its home base is concerned - any 'national' carrier should be setting the standard in terms of lounges & ground facilities overall.
So ..... EK offer the best lounges at DXB, likewise CX at HKG etc etc. I somehow doubt that anyone believes this is the case with BA at LHR ; perhaps quite the opposite.

trueblu

I do think there has been a degradation of quality compared to about 2 years ago (i.e. within the BS timescale). The new tapas options are the best thing about the current offerings. I've tried the mac and cheese once and thought it was awful, but I'm willing to give it another go given all the plaudits it receives on here. However, the hyperbole is a bit much. Even at its lowest ebb, GF has always been better than GC imo.

No, GF is not Pier F. It's OK. I like the scones, as I've commented before, since it's not something I can eat regularly 'back home' in Beijing.

It is a pity that things have gone downhill somewhat. As a teetotaler, I would much prefer cost savings on the drinks front...but I can see how that would cause a much bigger uproar.

The issue I have with the lounge is that when I eat, I may scoff myself a teeny bit more than if I had to pay for a meal, but not excessively so. I don't understand how people go crazy with the JW Blue or champagne "because it is free". And that is the sort of behaviour that actually costs BA far, far more than having a bit more a decent food offering.

tb

PUCCI GALORE

Bless you. Thank God someone said that. I really am beginning to think that either my expectations are so low as to be non-existent, or people have become demanding beyond reason. I'll bet that were you to go to any of the masses downstairs and invite them to come and participate in this Filthfest, they'd be up those stairs faster than a rat up a rope.

As I have said before, each time that I go into that Lounge I am staggered by how many people are in it so assume that a cull will be made before too long as this cannot be sustainable. Every time I get a text from BA asking me where I am and to mark my Lounge experience. The other day, like a dolt, I pressed the wrong number assuming 1 was best when it was worst. My phone rang not 5 minutes later and it was the BA Lounge Manager (she did say her title but I do not recall it) asking if she could come and have a word. She was out in a flash. When I realised what I had done, I apologised
profusely for wasting her time. The point of this is to say - if the food is so disgusting, downgraded, or unfit for Flyertalk Poster's consumption - ask for Her or Him depending on shift. Nothing can be done about it here. You are either preaching to the converted or those who think that it is fit for purpose.

My Best Friend's partner is French and he loves it. The other day they were serving a rather good Gigondas which he enjoyed with his Burger. My friend had the Macaroni cheese as he like I does not count "carbs" (God Help Us) as he's as thin as a rake. He said Middle Class it may be, delicious it is.

One's taste is one's own but this I will say - the very sight of all that Champagne open and waiting is enough to make my mouth water - and judging from the numbers of empties that they wheel away constantly, so do lots of people.

As it is my belief that there will be a huge clear out in the Lounge department based on nothing but common sense given the expense involved (they'll probably hoick up the quaifying levels), I am enjoying it whilst it lasts. Still, that won't worry too many people here as they're all "voting with their feet", and I will be able to sit without having to ask people to remove their bags and baggage from the chairs.

Tobias-UK

You make a very interesting point, and I also note that those who tend to be the most vociferous about how poor BA has become are often those who quickly grab the the mistake fares, wait for ex-EU sales to take long, very cheap and convoluted TP runs to inflate their status as cheaply as is possible. They moan about everything and about how much better the competition is, yet they keep returning to BA for more??? Some of them want to invite complete strangers in to the lounges for a booze and binge-fest and expose BA to even more cost.

I really do wish BA would up the amount of BA metal that must be flown in order to maintain or achieve status - perhaps make it more than 60% of total TPs, that should soon stop the whining here.

mjh0

Was in T5 GF a couple of times in the last week after a bit of an absence - a relocation, change in personal priorities, and much less flying. A return to Silver possibly awaits.

I noted the re-organisation of the food in particular, and the hot buffet seemed particularly picked over, even on multiple visits.

The "to order" Mac & Cheese filled a hole, but it wasn't of any sort of quality a self-respecting cafe would want to serve. The presentation totally un-imaginative, just a load of overcooked pasta slopped in a bowl.

Sandwiches were decent - I honestly think these have improved since the time whe BS initially took over the contract - and so I agree with c-w-s in this respect.

One of the main things to remember is that T5 is fast approaching it's 10th Birthday.

This is showing in more than one way.

There's the various bits of powered artwork which were trumpeted massively when T5 was opened, such as "All The Time In The World" and "Cloud" which have stopped working some time ago and never been repaired.

On a more functional level, we saw the replacement of carpeting and soft-furnishings in 2015 - remember that these were becoming decidedly worn and tired.

But, things such as the toilets are now definitely showing their age, for instance damaged and chipped finishes, stained toilet bowls, broken coat hooks or shelving, and the back-lit ceilings being full of dust, punctuated by the occasional dead insect.

PUCCI GALORE

I hadn't thought of that as I really hadn't counted all those people. I'm afraid that my threshold of boredom is too easily achieved. All I can say is that you are absolutely right about the amount of "BA" people need to fly to get status. Still I suppose that is basically the thread on which OneWorld and all these others alliances depend.

stevie

SO basically you want people that predominately fly BA, only buy full fare A to B flights, do not complain about anything BA related, and limit their food and drink intake so as not to increase BA costs.....and you are the ambassador for the BAEC on here

NWIFlyer

Please allow me to clarify one thing, and then I hope we'll be able to move back to the actual thread subject of F lounge food.

Ambassadors here, and throughout FT, have extensive knowledge of their 'home' airline's product - knowledge which they frequently use to assist and guide others. They are not Ambassadors for the airline or for the FFP. In no way are they precluded from having their own opinion, which we are all free to disagree with without becoming personal. Tobias-UK was clearly stating his own view, which has nothing to do with his Ambassadorial position. Views should be challenged, not people.

That said, perhaps we can avoid the diversion of turning this into a discussion on status, for which there are plenty of other existing threads to contribute to, and return to the core discussion.

Thanks.

/mod

bafan

Yes, I think this is the case. I didn't use the GF lounge during the Compass years. But I'm sure things were better in the first year or so of BS. Ok, so they introduced the bowls of gloop, but there was still a wider choice of solid foods on the hot buffet. Now, it seems to be gloop, a pie, or nothing...And the new salad bar is a pale imitation of that from only a year or so ago.