Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024)

Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne lunch and dinner salad bar
Nutrition Rating: 6/10

Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024)

Updated August 2024

I reviewed the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne when I was flying Melbourne to Canberra in 2023 and it happened to be at the switch over period from breakfast to the lunch/dinner menu which was fantastic as I got a good idea of all foods served. The change over happened at around 11am which was perfect for me to check out all the foods before my 11.55am flight. As many of you know I usually try to fly Oneworld carriers and so haven’t done a lot of travel with Virgin over the last few years. I was really curious to see what the offerings were for lunch/dinner and how they compared to other domestic carriers in Australia.

I updated the lounge review after flying in August 2024 and visiting the lounge at approximately 6.30pm.

Here is a snapshot of some of the lunch/dinner menus in the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne. The foods available are very similar to the Virgin Australia Lounge Sydney (see review).

Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Salads (2023)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Sandwiches (2023)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Salads (2024)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Sandwiches (2024)

What’s Healthy?

  • There was not one, but two identical salad bars offering a range of fresh salad vegetables including mixed leaves, capsicums, cucumbers and tomatoes. These are such versatile salad vegetables which you can use to make up a side salad, have as a snack or use to bulk up the premade sandwiches (more on this later).
  • There were three premade salads available on the salad bar in both 2023 and 2024. In 2023 there was a potato salad, a pasta salad and a cous cous salad. The cous cous salad was a pumpkin cous cous salad – while it was great to see pumpkin added to it, unfortunately I found the salad a little bland. The German potato salad didn’t have too much dressing which was nice to see – the dressing complimented the thinly sliced potatoes so it wasn’t too stodgy. The pasta salad was described as an Italian penne pasta salad. In 2024 there was a spicy cous cous salad, lentil and pumpkin salad, potato salad.
  • There were falafels available however there were the driest and hardest falafels I have ever had in 2023. I didn’t try them when I visited in 2024 as I was quite put off still from last time. I was surprised they were so dry the first visit in 2023 as the food had only just been brought out and placed on the buffet so it made me wonder are they all like that? Not even the dip could save them. It was great they were on offer – adding a couple of falafels to a salad helps give a splash of plant based protein to the meal.
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne lunch and dinner salad bar
Salad vegetables at the salad buffet (2023)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne salad bar
Falafels, a potato salad, cous cous salad and penne salad (2023)
Salad vegetables Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Salad vegetables (2024)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Spicy cous cous salad, lentil and pumpkin salad, potato salad and falafels (2024)
  • Soups were also a staple of the lounge foods on offer – see below for a quick look at the pumpkin soup and chicken and corn soup. I have placed the soups in the What’s Healthy category as they include vegetables however it is hard to tell the ingredients, especially the blended/smooth soups like the pumpkin soup. Be mindful some soups can be made with high levels of salt, sugar and fats such as oil and cream and so just because there is vegetables in the name doesn’t automatically make them healthy. Soups can be quite energy dense so don’t treat them like a snack and assume they are low calorie.

  • While it was a fairly basic selection, it was still fabulous to see nutritious snacks available including sultanas and, cheese and crackers. This is great for people who just want a light snack before their flight.
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Sultanas, crackers and cheese (2024)

Not so great. Caution.

  • This black forest cake had a sign signaling this was one of the morning tea options. Not too many surprises why it is in the caution section – not a very nutrient dense food.
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Black Forest cake (2023)
  • There was a big tray of sandwiches available which suggests sandwiches are a staple of the lounge menu. When I visited there was only one variety which was a ham and cheese sandwich. It had ham and cheese, and a very small amount of mixed leaves and a tiny bit of mustard (covered one mouthful worth of bread). The sandwich was quite dry and made up mostly of bread. Utilise the great salad bar by adding vegetables to the sandwich to bulk it out and boost the nutrients. In 2024 there was the same flavour available but in wrap form. There was more filling this time – good to see at least a few lettuce leaves in there.

Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Ham and cheese sandwiches (2023)
Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (updated 2024) - Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Ham and cheese wraps (2024)
  • There was one hot meal on offer – a dish described as penne pasta and tomato sugo. Sounded lovely but unfortunately the execution wasn’t as tasty. The dish was basically just pasta and a red sauce – reminded me of pasta with a jar of pasta sauce. If you visit the lounge and are feeling like a hot meal then you could choose to have some of this but try and bulk it out by adding a side salad. It does lack protein and there aren’t that many protein sources available in the lounge to add on the side (other than the dry falafels) so including a high fibre side salad will help with satiety where protein in lacking.
Penne pasta (2023)
  • The chicken and tomato risoni pasta was half way between a soup and a pasta. It was so watery and bland. At least it had chicken in it and some vegetables – much better than just tomato sauce and pasta. But it was just too watery and bland to be enjoyable, and it was still mostly pasta.
Chicken, tomato and risoni pasta Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Chicken, tomato and risoni pasta (2024)
  • Corn chips, cretzels and potato chips were available as snacks.
Corn chips, cretzels and potato chips Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne
Corn chips, cretzels and potato chips (2024)

Final thoughts on Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne

Soups, salad and sandwiches – these are the staples of the Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne in both 2023 and 2024. To bet honest not much had changed in the nearly 12 months between lounge visits. While the food selection sounds great in theory, the foods just didn’t quite hit the mark in taste and quality. Don’t get me wrong – the foods on offer are a a fairly solid base to eat well (and having two salad bars certainly got my attention). But there is some room to move to bring the food choices up a bit in terms of quality and nutritiousness.

NOTE: All pictures of Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne are my own and I review the food from the menu I was given and the food I ordered on my flight. There may be different options available at other times.

Potato croquettes Virgin Australia lounge melbourne breakfast

Suggested related review: Virgin Australia Lounge Melbourne Food and Nutrition Review (breakfast)

The breakfast buffet at the Virgin Australia Lounge in Melbourne offers a basic selection with both hot and cold options, but suffers from issues like unattended refill needs and limited variety. The review appreciates the inclusion of fresh fruits and Greek yogurt for their health benefits, but criticizes some choices like croquettes and the texture of scrambled eggs as less appealing.

Airport Reviews

Airline Lounge Nutrition Review Rating:
6/10
Name:
Virgin Australia Melbourne Domestic Lounge
Airline:
Virgin Australia
Airline Alliance:
N/A
Location:
Melbourne Airport, T3 (domestic)
Class:
Business, access also for Velocity Platinum, Gold and Lounge Access (and partner airlines) members, access also available for certain AMEX cards
Time of Visit/Date:
11am 12 October 2023, 6.30pm 18 August 2024
Lounge Food Serving Style (Self-serve / Al la Carte):
Self-serve buffet
Style/Theme of Food:
Western
Allergy and Intolerance information available:

Vegan rolls were available.

Some menus had gluten free and vegan symbols.

There was also a note down the bottom of menus saying “Gluten free options may be available, please ask out team”

 

Is there a limit to the amount of food you can have?:
No

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