A pretty basic breakfast buffet was available in the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne when I visited at 10am on a weekday. While the buffet didn’t switch over to lunch menu until 11am, the staff weren’t very attentive at filling up dishes. The hot food had completely run out and I asked if there was any more and the staff seemed surprised. To their credit they did refill the hot food pretty much straight away after I asked but I don’t know whether they would have if I hadn’t have said anything.
What’s healthy?
- Always lovely to see bowls of fresh fruit available for breakfast. These bowls were mainly different types of melons on the day I visited. Different coloured melons have different bioactives – for example carotenoids are responsible for reds/oranges/yellows we see and flavanoids are responsible for reds/purples/blues/whites. Research is suggesting bioactives can have beneficial effects on our health. Getting a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables in each day is great for health. So these little bowls of colourful melons are a great addition to a morning before flying.
- There were two types of cereal available: Nutrigrain cereal and a muesli. The muesli was cinnamon flavoured. Nutrigrain is quite a processed, sugary cereal (it certainly doesn’t grow on a plant in that shape). There is a variety available with 25% less sugar but it is unknown whether this one is the one with less sugar. Even with less sugar it is still a very processed cereal. When I was there the milk jugs weren’t labelled from what I could see so I am not exactly sure what milk I ended up having.
- There were two varieties of Greek yogurt pots – one with granola and one with passionfruit puree. Greek yogurt is a thicker, more concentrated yogurt than regular yogurt as it is made by straining the yogurt to remove some of the liquid (the whey component). While nutritious like regular yogurt, the thicker texture is great served in little pots. Be careful – the passionfruit puree may have added sugar.
- While it is good there is wholemeal bread available these slices are fairly large. Start off with 1 slice and add a high protein topping such as a nut butter, eggs or backed beans. You can then see if you are still hungry after and have more slices if you are. While wholemeal does include the whole grain which means it retains more nutrients than white bread, it is still a refined flour. While there were not wholegrain options there on the day I visited, if they do offer wholegrain bread at other times then try those. The only other option was white bread which is usually lower in fibre and less nutritious.
Not so great. Caution.
- Croquettes – now I love croquettes. When I travelled to Spain I ate a lot of amazing croquettes. So I was curious to see what the croquettes were like in the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne. And I was very disappointed – I did not like them at all. The filling was very sticky and gluggy. And looking at it from a nutrition perspective – they are not a very nutritious food for breakfast. So I will save eating croquettes to when they are absolutely amazing and delicious, rather than have second rate ones.
- Eggs are a nutritious food – I just wanted to say this up front. So you might be wondering why I have placed these in the caution section. Well there was just something about these eggs that was a little…off… I had a chunk that seemed to be cooked in the corner of a dish – it was incredibly smooth (too smooth) and was a weird texture. I am not sure if these were powdered, or processed, eggs, but they didn’t have that lovely fluffy soft texture most real scrambled eggs have. So I will try these again on a different day and see if they are any better. But for now I will keep them in the caution section as a reminder to always check the quality of food before you eat it. And if you don’t end up liking it, or you don’t think it is good quality, then don’t eat it.
- Apple and cinnamon slice is not really a breakfast food. Consider it like a cake and have it as an occasional treat.
- Pancakes were also available via the typical lounge pancake machines. I know these machines can be fun with kids when heading off on holidays, however if you visit the lounge often try not to have them too often. Pancakes are similar to white bread as they are usually made from white flour. Most topping for for pancakes are also not very nutritious with maple syrup/honey/butter being common toppings.
Last word from a food and nutrition perspective for the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne at breakfast
The Virgin Australia lounge Melbourne is a big lounge, with a basic breakfast food offering for breakfast. There are some nutritious options but you get a feeling there may be a few corners cut. While there was a hot and cold buffet there wasn’t much variety on either. So it makes eating a nutritious breakfast a little harder because if you don’t like something then there isn’t much choice.
Interested in seeing the lunch/dinner foods and menu? Check out my review of Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne lunch and dinner menu. I have also reviewed the Virgin Australia Brisbane Lounge and the plane food on Virgin flights to Canberra and from Brisbane.
