Flying business class on a Qatar flight from Melbourne found me exploring the Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food. As a Oneworld emerald frequent flyer I was eligible to visit the Qantas First Class Lounge (which I did) but I was curious about what the food was like that the Marhaba lounge was serving late in the evening. Why you may ask? Because at check-in I was directed to the Marhaba lounge as a business class passenger flying Qatar. I thought this was interesting since Qatar is part of Oneworld and there are obviously the Qantas lounges at Melbourne Airport (perhaps it is the new agreement with Virgin Australia or perhaps the time of the flight). With Qatar’s reputation for great food onboard I thought it would be good to see whether that experience started on the ground with their choice of lounge. I will let you be the judge.
What’s Nutritious?
First thing that caught my eye from the Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food was the barley salad. Barley has a lovely chewy texture and is a good source of fibre. The salad had a few cherry tomatoes, olives, feta and spinach but it was mostly barley. And while I liked the look of it unfortunately it was tasteless – even with the feta etc there was just not much flavour.
Cheese board was available offering blue cheeses and a hard cheese. I am unsure of the difference between the blue cheeses (i.e. the cheese in the bowl and on the board) – I am sorry I didn’t try them but I do not like blue cheese and so I wouldn’t have been any help here! But overall it is good to see cheese on the buffet – a nutritious food which can be a small high protein snack before a flight or to bump up the protein of a meal. If you are a cheese lover though remember to stay mindful when eating – don’t just eat cheese as snacks if you aren’t hungry. Cheese and crackers are a delicious combination but they can be easy to overeat, especially if bored in an airport lounge.
A baby spinach salad and carrot sticks were available which was great to see. But… it would have been better to see more. Just some spinach and carrots is not really enough. A bowl of light green dip (it was like a mint green colour) was also available on the buffet. I am assuming it was ‘avocado’ dip but the colour of it suggests it is based around something like a cream cheese with only some avocado. I would love to have seen fresh smashed avocado available.
Fresh fruit was available in the evening which was great to see. Before embarking on a long flight to Europe having lighter snack options such as fresh fruit was great for people planning to eat on the plane (like myself – I had heard Qatar Business Class catering was pretty good so I was looking forward to enjoying a meal after take off). Fruits, like vegetables, are a great source of vitamins, fibres, antioxidants and phytonutrients.
A roasted vegetable dish was available on the hot buffet which included carrots and potatoes. Interestingly the sign indicated this was supposed to be potato au gratin (a creamy dish made from slices of roast potatoes, cream, cheese etc). The roast potato was not nice – the potato pieces were really hard and crunchy, almost like they weren’t cooked properly.
The vegetable Tikka Masala, while not pretty to look at on the buffet, is a great inclusion. Packed full of vegetables and chickpeas (I think I remember them being chickpeas – I am sorry I didn’t end up writing it down), the spices from the tikka masala give the dish a fabulous flavour boost! A great way of enjoying vegetables.
Nuts are a tricky food to place when flying when considering nutrition. On one hand they pack a punch when it comes to nutrition, yet on the other hand they can be a risk for people with food allergies who are flying. These nuts are served in the lounge so if you would like a high fibre, high protein snack before your flight please be mindful or how you eat them. Make sure you only use the specified utensils for serving, place the utensils back with the nuts and not with other dishes/don’t use with other foods, and wash your hands before getting on the plane.
There were also small packets of oats, congee and miso soup available.
Not so great. Caution.
There was jasmine rice and green Thai chicken curry available which at first I thought could be good. However when I tried the green curry I didn’t find it very appealing. The chicken pieces were a pink colour and had a translucent sort of sheen to them. The appearance of the chicken turned me right off.
The white rice and the noodles available are low in fibre and fairly refined carbohydrates and so it would have been good to have some higher fibre grains/carbohydrates available on the hot buffet too. The stir-fried noodles did not have much taste I thought – they just tasted like nothing to me. The noodles did have slices of onion which was a start.
The Sri Lanken beef curry had a lot of sauce in the dish with chunks of potato within the curry but not much else I could see. The dish had a hint of spice which was nice, but not too spicy. Without much else in the two curries other than meat and sauce (and small amount of vegetables) it is important to be mindful of this and add more vegetables to your meal. The only options in the Marhaba Lounge to do this on the night I was there was to added Tikka Masala vegetables to the plate or pick the carrots out of the roast vegetables, or alternatively have a side salad of spinach and carrot sticks.
The lamb was sitting in a lot of oily liquid and tasted very salty. It was incredibly tender though with the fork going through it very easily.
Final comments on The Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food
If someone asked me what the Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food is like I think my answer would be okay. There was just nothing amazing about the food on offer – it was an average lounge food I would say. While technically there were some nutritious foods available (which was good) overall the dishes lacked any imagination. And what was served then seemed to be average in taste and appearance. Overall the lounge was very busy just before the Qatar flight boarded and honestly after looking at the foods in the lounge I decided I would rather wait until the Qatar business class food experience. Nothing grabbed me or wowed me. But I was grateful there were some nutritious foods I could choose from to have for a small snack before my flight – that was great to see.
For Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food in the morning see food and nutrition review of breakfast.
NOTE: All pictures of the The Marhaba Lounge Melbourne food are my own and I review a lounge from the foods and menu I see during my visit. There may be different options available at other times.
