Fabulous to have the opportunity to try the All Day Dining American Airlines First Lounge London Food having previously been in the lounge at breakfast time. I had been particularly interested in trying their A La Carte afternoon menu. With many Oneworld lounges in T3 London Heathrow and all offering some form of A La Carte dining, I am always interested in exploring the quality of the menus. And the American Airlines First Lounge food I tasted on the A La Carte menu was a really nice experience, albeit limited. So overall what was the rest of the lounge food like? I had a long trip back to Australia in front of me and so a relaxing and good food experience in the lounge before setting off was very important for me.
What’s nutritious in the American Airlines First Lounge at London Heathrow?
The All Day Dining A La Carte menu had four dishes with two of them being fairly nutritious which I tried, and two with a description that suggested not as much (pork belly and a burger). The seared tuna sashimi was delicious. It was served warm and was served with a seaweed salad with seaweed, spring onions and tomatoes. The green gyoza were nice too with the broth served separately in a small jug which staff poured some onto the gyoza and then left the rest for me to pour as desired. While the gyoza at first looked like they were seared and therefore would be slightly crunchy they weren’t (not sure if the broth caused that).
On the buffet there were a some salads and salad ingredients. There were salad bowls with a tomato and bocconcini salad and a noodle and seaweed salad, along with small individual bowls of caesar salad. There were also bowls of salad ingredients so passengers could make their own salad or add more vegetables to the salads on the buffet. I loved the combination of salad ingredients – such a rainbow of colours! I really loved the purple cauliflower florets. There were bowls of fruit available including bananas, apples and oranges.
There was a small variety of hot dishes available on the buffet. The slow cooked lamb with carrots and mushrooms was really flavoursome but the lamb was a little tough. The bulgar dish was also really nice. The Mediterranean vegetable dish was fabulous to see as it provided a really nutritious dish to complement to lamb, pasta and bulgar dishes. I included the Puttanesca pasta dish here in the nutritious section because it included large whole olives in the dish, rather than sparse small chopped pieces of olives. Tomato based pastas in lounge can be so disappointing both from a taste and nutrition perspective so this was good to see an effort to be more than just pasta and sauce.
Wholemeal crackers are more nutritious than crackers made with white flour so it is always good to see these as an option in the lounge. There was a plate of cheeses to go with the crackers including both soft and hard cheeses.
Three types of sandwiches were on the buffet including wraps, mini buns and finger sandwiches. There was a decent amount of filling in the beef wraps and the caprese rolls, however the tuna and sweetcorn finger sandwiches didn’t seem to have much.
Not so great. Caution.
While I LOVE mac and cheese, unfortunately it is not the most nutritious of dishes. I couldn’t go past trying this one in the American airlines First Lounge though and wow was it cheesy! So cheesy. I only had a spoonful as it was very rich and I didn’t want to have too much of a fatty high energy dish before 24 hours of flying.
There were a range of cured meats available including salamis and prosciutto. Cured and processed meats can be high in salt and other additives, with regular consumption not recommended for health. If you enjoy cured meats be mindful of how often you eat them within lounges. Try not to have them on every visit.
There were a variety of breads available however they were all white varieties. It would have been good to have a wholegrain variety available for a more nutrient dense option.
Sweet and savoury snacks were on offer at the buffet. There was a savoury snack stand on the bar with crisps, pretzels, rice crackers and nuts. There were also jars of lollies (candies) at the entrance/exit to the lounge. Be mindful of grabbing a handful when leaving the lounge – it can be easy to forget how many are eaten when walking (or running) to a flight.
Final Word American Airlines First Lounge London food
The American Airlines First Lounge London food experience was enjoyable with the A La Carte menu lifting the dining experience. Serving some of the dishes on the buffet in individual bowls also helped lift the buffet experience towards more of a first class lounge. Otherwise I felt the buffet experience was nice but it did not standout to me as being particularly first class – just the vibe. There were a number of nutritious elements to the food experience which was great to see. Overall next time I head through T3 London this lounge would be one I consider visiting.
NOTE: All pictures of the American Airlines First Lounge London food in T3 at Heathrow are my own and I review the food from the foods available at the time I visited the lounge. There may be different options available at other times.
