st530

Plane-is-home

Is it just me, or do others find that the dining room service in the IAH Polaris Lounge is really bad? First time using it in IAH. Usually I go thru ORD or SFO and they do an excellent to reasonable job depending on staff.

FLYMSY

abbydancer

We were there in January, and it took a long time to get served, and no server seemed to be responsible for our table. The manager of the lounge did apologize at the end.

It didn't help that through most of our time there there was guy yelling into his cellphone on a long conversation at the next table.

kaffir76

It was my 1st time in a Polaris lounge - I wasn't in J class at ORD & SFO wasn't opened yet when I passed thru' a few years ago
I read some reviews before my trip so I thought I knew what to expect ... LOL

Staff greeting
When I entered the lounge, the staff who scanned my BP greeted me with a smile, the other lady next to her was expression-less
When I went up to the lounge, 2 ladies (whom I assume were not waitresses but the staff who cleared the tables after the guests leave) greeted me with a cheery and big smile.
That was nice.

Bartenders
I went up to the bar & asked for a glass of champagne, I was poured a glass and I think she gave me a weak smile.
Rough day perhaps.
An hour later, the other bartender was much nicer & he served everyone with a smile and even made small talk with the guests

Food selection - buffet vs dining room
Some pics of the buffet & the menu - I personally liked the buffet better - actually just the beef chili
Didn't eat the rest of it.
I ordered a caprese salad with shrimp & a glass of sparkling water at the dining room - I wasn't planning on dining there as the menu didn't really appeal to me but I thought I'd give it a try.
The shrimp was soaked in water or brine, so obviously frozen - and it was served cold. I wished it would have been warmed up & squeezed dry!
Salad greens were fresh - I think I'll pass the next time I visit, unless they change the menu items.
(Did not feel like eating a burger that day)

MENU




Tipping
I know many FT'ers have differing views on this, as I read the other threads.
I got an awesome waitress that day, she was super friendly, cheerful & engaged in chit chat with the people she was serving.
(I don't mean to be rude but I felt like I was dining at TGI Friday's )
I chatted with the couple seated (very closely) next to me & I asked if I should leave her a tip.
The guy replied that I didn't have to but ....
I left her a $5 tip for a very short dining experience - 10 mins. (see below for details)

Shower room
The shower rooms were huge, lots of space and even one of those bag stands to put your stuff on instead of the floor. And a stool by the sink for you to put on your shoes.
I wished all shower rooms in airport lounges were like this!

Customer Svc.
After I placed an order at the dining room, I popped by customer service to check what time SQ 51 was boarding. It was 6.50pm when I asked & the flight dep. 7.40pm
She wasn't the friendliest person in the lounge, and after click clacking on her computer, she said boarding started at 6.20pm & that I "should leave now"
Even after I told her my flight was scheduled to depart at 7.40pm, she just shrugged and repeated the same
So I took a few bites of my salad, apologized to my server and told her that I had to leave immediately.

When I got to the boarding gate, the passengers had just begun boarding & I spoke to one of the airline staff & told her what happened in the lounge
We concluded that it was because of ....

daylight savings time

I guess common sense didn't prevail at customer svc that day.

Aussienarelle

So fo very much like this lounge but had thought someone had commented the quiet suites had lie flat lounges. They do not. They are the same as the ones in SFO - a recliner seat which is bad for posture and sleeping.

However, much better positiopositioned in IAH vs SFO as the quiet suites are after the shower suites so very little noise.

gmt4

In today's episode of the "least substantive thing I can b**** about" I had an unfortunate experience with the pulled pork sliders on my brief visit to the IAH PL yesterday evening. They were serving the wrapped up sliders with the mini buns slathered in mayo. Utterly putrid, disgusting. Anyone who knows anything about BBQ knows mayo has no place on BBQ, let alone any kind of pulled pork. Not even if you're trying to make a beautifully simple snack like this sound gourmet by trying to call it an aioli instead of mayo. Its just wrong. This is a sin of which there can be no penance given. I only hope this was a mistake, not a new trend.

Also, to the gentleman with the blue shirt and gray beard that chose to park at my clearly occupied table and set up shop with your laptop in the three minutes I was gone to refresh my drink (despite there being many, many others that were unoccupied) I hope your onward flight was ridden with turbulence and you were delayed.

This was the first time I've been asked to present a passport for admittance in IAH as well- the several other times I haven't had to. It wasn't an inconvenience just something different I'd not seen there.

Xyzzy

Let me guess - you're nt from Alabama, are you?! Recipe here ... (It's okay - I'm not a of mayo in/on BBQ fan either)

ExplorerWannabe

I'm not a fan of mayo in BBQ either but I would expect its purpose was to keep the juices and sauce of the pulled pork from saturating the buns, especially if they were premade and sitting on a counter tray.

gmt4

Instead of pork juice it was slimy mayo that saturated the buns. I wiped the slime off the buns and did my best to decontaminate the meat because BBQ should never go to waste. The Empanadas were good as always though.

st530

Some menu changes. Buffet overhauled as well.

fumje

Seems cheaper. The gazpacho and the chimichurri chicken (which really should have been steak, I think) were the best items previously. Maybe the ceviche will be good.

FLYMSY

wantan

how is the crowd during weekdays 5pm onwards ? catching the 9pm Turkish Airlines to Istanbul in J and wondering if I should head up to the airport extra early ... also will one be allowed to lounge hop between the different United lounges ?

WineCountryUA

There is only 1 Polaris lounge at IAH (or any Polaris Lounge airport). Not sure why if at the PL one would want to go to a United Club, but yes you can.

The crowd will not be a problem at those times.