A benefit of my hastily booked flight from Australia to Germany via Johannesburg and London (due to the middle east situation in April) gave me the opportunity to try the British Airways Lounge food in Johannesburg. It was the only Oneworld lounge in Johannesburg and so I made a beeline for it while transiting. On my way over I was tired from my 14 hour day time flight (I didn’t get much sleep) and so I needed somewhere to rest for 5 hours before my next 10 hour flight. The lounge was very busy when I arrived and it was a little tricky finding a comfortable seat to relax so I had a shower first and waited for a couple of BA flights to depart before settling in. A consistent food experience was had through both the busy period and the quieter period which was good to see – the staff were attentive throughout my whole visit. The British Airways Lounge food was a solid experience but there was no wow factor in the general lounge area. While it had variety it was pretty predictable lounge food. That said there were some nutritious elements to the offerings which was great for me as I was in the middle of a 40hour journey.
What’s nutritious in the British Airways Lounge Johannesburg?
There were two small cold buffets in the lounge offering a range of nutritious bites such as cheeses, smoked salmon, antipasto and wholewheat crackers. On my way to Germany I was in the lounge at about 5pm local time which was in the very early hours of the morning according to my biological clock. So for travel wellness I was really happy to see the plate of smoked salmon. I had a few slices of salmon which was high protein and anti-inflammatory snack which was perfect for when my body was thinking it was about 1am and I only had a small appetite. A small note about the walnuts on the buffet – while these are incredibly nutritious (walnuts are a nuts that are a source of plant based omega 3 fats), serving them on the buffet like this increases risks for people with nut allergies as the spoon used for the nuts could be easily used in the other small bowls.
The watermelon and cucumber salad is a great examples of making nutritious salads delicious! This colourful salad was well balanced between fruits and vegetables and protein based foods such as dairy and seeds. This is a good example of a salad conducive to travel wellbeing to help both people about to board a long-haul flight and also transiting passengers whose body clocks are on late night/early morning time.
The sweet potato and kidney bean dish is nutritious and good for gut health and a great hot dish to serve on the lounge buffet. Sweet potatoes are a source of beta carotene and prebiotics, while kidney beans also have prebiotics and are a source of plant protein. So while good for gut health be mindful of not having big portions before a long flight, especially if you are prone to bloating or have IBS.
Not so great. Caution.
The hot dishes including beef and basil red curry, hake in lemon butter cream sauce and chicken and onion creamy pasta did not include many vegetables in the dishes and passengers are reliant on the sweet potato dish for some hot vegetables. And while some of these recipes might not originally have vegetables in them (and that’s fine), overall the hot buffet wasn’t really balanced.
The beef nachos were mainly cheese and corn chips, with some avocado, sour cream (I think) and beef. They were tasty and I did like the portion was small.
The cold cuts included processed meats such as turkey loaf and smoked chicken breast. Be mindful of portion sizes of processed meats as they can be quite salty and have a number of additives.
Chocolate cake, macarons and pastries were available for something sweet. I don’t have to say much here except if you are in the lounge for hours like I was, be mindful about how many sweets you have if you choose to have some. Sweets can add up through out the day
Final word on British Airways Lounge Johannesburg food
The British Airways Lounge Johannesburg food experience was nice – not amazing but nice. I visited this lounge twice 1.5 weeks apart (on a Thursday and then the following Saturday) and the menu was basically exactly the same each time. I was quite surprised at this as I thought something might have changed, even if it was a couple of dishes. The lounge did have a variety of foods across the hot and cold buffets, however saying there was an A la carte menu I thought was a bit of a stretch when it was basically a toastie, nachos and cake. There was separate dining area for first class passengers which I assume had a more extensive A la carte menu however because I was Oneworld Emerald flying business class I was not able to dine there. There were a number of nutritious foods on the buffet which was good to see and so passengers could make a nutritious meal.
NOTE: All pictures of the British Airways Lounge food Johannesburg 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.
See food and nutrition review of flight on British Airways business class from Johannesburg to London.
