A quick trip to Singapore saw me transiting through Kuala Lumpur and experiencing the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge food. I experienced the Regional Golden Lounge as I was departing from the main terminal. And I really enjoyed the experience both in the lounge and on my Malaysia Airlines business class flight. So much that I would be happy to fly from Australia to Singapore again via KL. The lounge was predominantly buffet but there were a number of signs which offered laksa, sandwiches, fries and nuggets to order.
What’s nutritious in the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge in Kuala Lumpur?
There were salad vegetables on the buffet to make a salad. There were also hot vegetable dishes available including green beans, a dish with carrots and chickpeas, and dahl. For those looking to have porridge there were a range of toppings including boiled eggs. So overall there was a fair variety of vegetables available but nothing that really stood out. From a nutrition perspective having the salad ingredients available is fantastic for passengers to be able to make up their own salads to suit their own taste. However for a flagship lounge I think it is also good to inspire passengers through offering some delicious salad recipes. There was a kerabu glass noodle salad which is a good start – would be great to see more. The dahl was delicious. The bruschetta was a great way to boost nutrition and taste! Bread rolls and slices of bread are usually served in lounges with spreads a common accompaniment (or ingredients to make a larger sandwich). However the small bruschetta pieces are good way of having a small piece of bread with some extra nutrition in a delicious way (tomato and basil are a fabulous taste combination).
There were a variety of noodle bowls available with examples of the different types on display. There was a good variety of vegetables and protein across the different bowls. Having them on display is good for passengers to be able to see the ratio of the ingredients in the dish. This is because some noodle dishes can be predominantly noodles with minimal other ingredients. And while this is ok depending on the specific recipes used around the world culturally, it is a useful consideration for passengers when travelling across time zones, on long-haul flights and on late night flights when nutrient composition of meals is important to consider.
The bruschetta was a great snack. Bread rolls and slices of bread are usually served in lounges with spreads a common accompaniment (or ingredients to make a larger sandwich). However the small bruschetta pieces are good way of having a small piece of bread with some extra nutrition in a delicious way (tomato and basil are a fabulous taste combination). There were also cheese, dried fruit and crackers as snacks. The variety of dried fruit was a particularly nice touch with dried mangos, kiwi fruit and prunes a real point of different to the usual apricots usually seen as a cheese accompaniment. Fruit cups and mango jelly cups with chia seeds were also available as snacks. Chia seeds are little bundles of protein and fibre – great for before a flight at this portion size.
Not so great. Caution.
The hot dishes of dahi chicken and ayam masak merah had large pieces of chicken which was highly commendable. These sauces are not necessarily heavy sauces (e.g. dahi chicken is made with yougurt) however I have placed them here in the ‘caution’ section because they were predominantly chicken and sauce and so only consuming these dishes with rice would then miss the opportunity for vegetables (and vitamin and bioactive powerhouses) before flights. The dahi chicken and ayam masak merah were both delicious – very fragrant. If you serve yourself these dishes don’t forget to check out the hot vegetable dishes on the buffet too. The fried fish was a little soggy and also a little dry.
I found the Hokkien Mee tasteless and bit stodgy. The cabbage was welcome but I couldn’t really see any chicken. With the noodles indicated they were braised in soy sauce be mindful of the salt (sodium) content, especially before travelling on a long-haul flight. The corn pilau while including corn was mostly still white rice.
Fried foods such as chips, nuggets and popcorn chicken were available from the bar area, along with a club sandwich. Fried foods such as these are usually nutrient-poor foods (meaning they aren’t very nutritious).
Sweet desserts were on the buffet in the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge. If you feel like something sweet be mindful of how many you have while relaxing in the lounge. It can be easy to have a few if you have a long time in the lounge to wait before a flight.
Final word on Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge Food in Kuala Lumpur
The Malaysia Airlines regional lounge in Kuala Lumpur was a comfortable lounge and I enjoyed my transit time in the lounge. The Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge food was enjoyable and I loved many of the Malaysian flavours. There was a good variety of food experiences in the lounge and I liked there were some dishes that could be ordered over and above the buffet dishes. I am now curious to experience their Flagship lounge in the satellite terminal – I will just have to fly them again and reverse my trip back to Australia.
NOTE: All pictures of the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge food are my own and I review a lounge from just the foods I see during my visit. There may be different options available at other times.
See a food and nutrition review of Malaysia Airlines Business Class flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur and a business class flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
