South London Bon Viveur

I would love there to be sushi and sashimi in the lounges. If introduced to the CCR please could any leftovers be sent to GF- I'd happily eat it even if mediocre/sh*t by foodie/Japanese standards.

flybymonkey

I think they tried that a few years ago with The Dorchester and fell flat on its face.

PUCCI GALORE

Excuse me but I thought that Merluza was cod

Anyhow, I am here to reply to the question was "Ever thought about a sushi chef in the CCR?"

The answer is that No I have not thought about Sushi Chefs in or out of the CCR or any other Lounge whilst we are about it. Actually I do not think about Chefs at all. Now, if they looked like Brian Ferry then I might give them a second thought, but then those that I have known tend to drink a lot which is, I think, and occupational hazard.

Seriously, I think that would be much more appropriate in a JAL Lounge for obvious reasons. I am a late convert to Sushi as I prefer my fish cooked, Now, were a Chef to suggest to me Turbot with a Hollandaise Sauce then I'd be all over him like a rash. Were he to pair it with a Chablis Premier Cru, I might think about him whatever his wife might think .

mikeyfly

I don’t imagine there’s any “chefs” in the kitchens behind CCR and GF. Microwave / Merrychef technicians maybe… the food served comes in a chilled / frozen truck and is warmed up and put on a plate.

orbitmic

Merluza is actually hake It is a very nice fish indeed (as is cod) and one that reminds me of many a lovely trip to the Basque country!

I love sushi and sashimi but am also with you on turbot being a wonderful fish (and a proper hollandaise something delightful. In fact, I quite enjoy making a hollandaise or a beurre blanc myself though feel a bit guilty on cholesterol grounds!), You can also easily corrupt me with a simple but properly made sole meuniere (here is that butter again!) or simply cooking a very large John Dory or an equally large scorpion fish on a wood fire! As you have guessed by now, I love fish in almost every shape and form!!

FlyingScientist

But we would not want the sushi prepared by 5 waiters, would we?

corporate-wage-slave

Having given this some thought, I think where the idea of an itamae table goes wrong is that I can't really square it with the ethos of CCR. The idea of an Afternoon Tea partnership with Claridges would fit in. However the main usage of CCR is between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs, tailing off considerably by 14:00 hrs which means both sushi and Afternoon Tea aren't well placed. And this isn't about keep GGLs happy, the marketing is for the once in a lifetime trips, and remaining corporate travel, in commercial First. So realistically, and probably more sensibly, and certainly more affordably, it would make sense to have an egg chef doing the theatre work, and ideally offering things like quail and duck eggs as well as hen egg dishes. After all the "simple" omelette aux fines herbes is by no means simple but works well as a light bite before departure.

MarioRossi

For starters, I'd appreciate a real chef to begin with ...

AAL2887

I'm all for it

IJN Harekaze

One presumes that all these Sushi chefs would have to be registered according to the Shanghai Fugu Agreement also

davidcamp6

They could then get rid of the ovens and create more space I suppose.

oldfolky

sushi bar at NRT is open all the time the lounge is open. The quality of the fish is fine but post-pandemic, or possible post-refurbishment the fish selection is much less fancy. I’ve had hirame and Chu-toro in the past, but now it’s maguro and something seasonal but not fancy.

ISTFlyer

If the speculations on the other thread are true: GGL changes (speculation) , regarding the CCR being overcrowded and the rumor regarding BA trying to reintroduce the CCR card due to high amount of people using it ( cost-cutting so less people use the CCR ), I am not hopeful that we'll see any improvements on the CCR anytime soon, unless there is a major change.

While the quality of the food menu items have significantly gone down since the last few months ( with the exception of the Chinese New Year menu which was there for 6 days ), other than supermarket style sushi, I don't think that we'll have any improvement in the near future regarding Asian food.

We need to be objective here and since BA has significantly scaled down flights to Eastern Asia ( they only have SIN, HKG, HND ), it's pretty predictable that we wouldn't see any Asian food but we might see fish&chips or something at that variety as BA is already serving battered cod at a similar style at their new joint lounges at JFK ( this item is only available at Soho and Chelsea, photo below is mine from Dec 2022 )

Scots_Al

I love sushi and sashimi (though not as much as I love some other Japanese foods - not ramen, though, that's not my thing).

But the point is they're clearly and unequivocally Japanese, with no particular link to the U.K. I don't see the brand link at all - even if so would lap it up.

81romeo

Talking about afternoon tea, this was the lovely setting this afternoon. Kept my sugar levels high.

I think BA nailed it this time.