The Qantas International First Lounge Sydney – Qantas’ flagship lounge and one of my favourite lounges. Now I have previously reviewed this lounge in 2019 and many of the nutrition points I made about the lounge still stand. However since Covid happened I wanted to review this lounge again to provide you with an up–to–date look at the dishes now being served. This is because when the lounge first opened during Covid it went through a hybrid First/Business lounge phase (which I reviewed in 2021) and so I wanted to see whether it was back to its former glory.
So lets take a look at the Winter Menu. I was lucky to be there just at the end of breakfast and beginning of the lunch/dinner menu and so I got to try dishes from both menus. And I have to say they did not disappoint. I was really impressed with the addition of plant based dishes to the lunch/dinner menu, and the light hot breakfast option on the breakfast menu.

What’s Healthy?
- I just love this light breakfast option as I really like a hot breakfast but a lot of the time they can be really fatty and heavy with sausages, bacon, hashbrowns etc. So this breakfast was called a Light Breakfast and was a really great size. Confession though, it did come with mushrooms instead of salmon but I don’t love mushrooms and so swapped them for some smoked salmon (which I missed when I was pregnant). I also think the roast tomatoes are the best I’ve ever tasted!


- This was a really delicious bacon, lettuce, tomato and aioli toasted sandwich. It was on wholegrain toast (would have liked a few more seeds/grains but it is a great start) and there was just a small amount of aioli which was enough for taste but not too much that it added extra calories for no reason. The bacon was also a decent rasher without too much fat. While bacon is a processed meat and it usually gets added to the ‘caution’ section, looking at this dish overall with the wholegrains, and salad it helps to to balance it out. But still, try not to have bacon very often. So overall a great sandwich.

- The omelette with gruyere doesn’t look pretty on the plate, and the bread looks a little pale an unappetizing. I boosted the healthy fat content of the dish with a side of avocado (I had ordered this for my 7 month old son). It came quite plainly with just the toast and the omelette but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Eggs are very nutritious and this omelette was not too greasy or oily, even with cheese in it. It did come with ham but there wasn’t too much and the amount of egg outweighed the ham. I didn’t feed this to my son or eat it myself as I didn’t feel it added too much and the flavour with the cheese was lovely without it.

- This nut and seed mix was delicious. I am not sure what the spices and other flavours where on them but they were very tasty. Nuts and seeds are fabulous little packages of nutrients and it was great to see them on offer for a snack for people who may not want a meal. The small bowls for the nuts were also a good size to serve yourself a small portion of nuts (about 1 handful).

- There are new plant based dining meal options which are clearly marked on the All Day Dining menu. I had the Golden beetroot and green beans with celery, miso and pine nuts, and it was delicious. Beetroots are a fantastic food containing a great package of nutrients including vitamin C. While the reddish purple colour of the more well known red beetroots comes via the betalains called betacyanins, the colour of the golden beetroots also come from betalains, but these ones are called betaxanthins. The overall nutrition is similar between the two colours so whether it be red or golden beets you have they are great and I would be trying to include more in your diet where you can. This dish is a good opportunity, and really tasty! The pinenuts, celery and green beans are such a good combination, and don’t forget also have their own winning nutrient combinations.

- I have been choosing the brisket dish in the the Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney for a number of years now and depending on the season and year it is always a little bit different. This offering, grilled slow cooked beef brisket with red chimichurri and grilled brocollini, was a fairly healthy one. The piece of brisket was quite lean without too many fatty bits and it came served with just brocollini which helped keep the dish light. Some briskets I have had in the First lounge have come with potato puree and have been a much fattier piece of brisket.

- The Humpty Doo barramundi with red curry butter was delicious with a lovey crispy skin. The sauce tasted quite decadent so don’t feel like you have to have it all just cause it is on the plate.


- The Bang Bang chicken was really flavoursome however a little too spicy for my taste (which isn’t hard to do lol). It came with plenty of chicken and was on a bed of cucumber with some carrot. I would have liked to see more cucumber and carrot just to bulk it up slightly more with vegetables but overall it is pretty good. One point to note is a peanut/satay sauce can be high in energy (calories) especially if the peanut is mixed with a coconut cream or milk.


Not so great. Caution
- Don’t hate me – I know the corn fritters are one of the breakfast favourites in the Qantas First Lounge however these fritters are fried which may increase the calorie content without really adding any nutrient benefit. Just because there is corn in the name doesn’t automatically make them healthy. The dish comes with bacon, avocado, creme fraiche and tomato jam. The poached eggs were a side that was added to the order. Eggs are fairly nutritious so this helped to make the dish more nutrient dense.
- Eggs benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham is definitely a more nutritious dish. Salmon is a source of omega 3 and I am definitely a fan of having salmon when flying, and as mentioned above, eggs are quite nutritious. So why have I placed this in the caution section I hear you wondering if two of the main ingredients are really healthy? It is because I wanted to highlight the hollandaise sauce is quite a heavy, buttery sauce. Now while I am not a fan of just calorie counting, just be mindful of how much sauce you have, especially if you are wanting to more food in the lounge or are just about to eat on board.



- While the roast pork bao might seem like a good option for a snack or entree because it is small in size, it is not a nutritious option and should be viewed as a delicacy. This pork bao had a very fatty piece of pork which I believe was a slice of pork belly. Baos are also very high in refined carbohydrate, being mainly made from a white flour. So keep this bao as a ‘treat’ or order with a side of steamed greens or mixed leaves.

- Similar, the pork belly bowl isn’t a great choice due to pork belly being quite a fatty cut of meat. However, I do like how the bowl comes with pickles and cabbage as these are both foods that aren’t necessarily common foods that people eat regularly. Including these more in your diet can be good for gut health and so if you order this dish don’t just eat the pork, but make sure you eat all your vegetables too.

- Jaffas and Liquorice Allsorts make appearances in many of Qantas’ international and domestic lounges in Australia. If you are feeling like something sweet then choose to have either a dessert from the menu or a small dish of these lollies/chocolates – not both. It is good to see the serving dishes for these are quite small so it can help keep portion sizes down. Have just one small dish and no more. Same rule for the crisps – if you feel like a small snack and don’t feel like the nuts then you can have some of these crisps but keep to one small dish and don’t order small dishes from the menu as snacks.

- And finally… the famous Salt and Pepper Squid. Such a delicious dish but unfortunately not the healthiest due to its fried nature. Now I am not saying you can’t have this dish as it is an iconic dish for many to have while relaxing in the First lounge. But either eat this meal with a side salad, or share it with travelling companions as an entree so you get the lovely taste but not all the calories. That way you can then order a main meal as well. I have talked more about this dish in my past reviews of The Qantas First Lounge. And during the ‘covid hybrid lounge period’ it came with a small cabbage salad which I thought was fabulous!


Qantas International First Lounge Melbourne (breakfast) Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024)
The Qantas International First Lounge in Melbourne offers a diverse and nutritious breakfast menu with options like the Light Breakfast and plant-based dishes such as zucchini and soba noodles. However, some dishes, such as the bacon and egg roll on brioche and corn fritters, are higher in calories and less healthy, making it important for travelers to make mindful choices.
Last word from travel food and nutrition review for Qantas International First Lounge Sydney (2022).
First up, similar to my first review of this lounge, I want to highlight that I know this is a first class lounge and so good food quality and taste are high up the list of priorities for the food. Health and nutrition are not necessarily the number one priority, and that is ok. However the main aim of my reviews is to highlight aspects of nutrition to help frequent flyers make better choices depending on their health goals. So I do have a health and nutrition lens on when reviewing, and I do try and balance up the food quality and nutrition perspectives, and appreciate when foods and dishes are delicious.
I do really love the Qantas First Lounge menu and find it is quite delicious and great quality! Be careful though not to over order dishes which can be easy to do with an A la carte menu. Check in with your hunger levels and also think ahead to the class of travel you are in on your flight and how long it is. Are you about to board a first class flight to Europe in which case you will probably be about to have many courses in the air?
Now while I have taken a look at the Winter Menu, the results may be generalised to the other seasons as well. This is because the style of menu seems to remain similar across seasons with seasonal changes to dishes/ingredients.




