Which Oneworld lounge London Heathrow T3 is the best for food?

Cathay pacific smashed avocado lounge london heathrow

Passengers flying a Oneworld airline out of T3 at London Heathrow are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to which Oneworld lounge they can choose. American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas all have lounges in T3 with American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific each having both a business lounge and a first class lounge.

With all this choice, a common question that always comes up for Oneworld flyers is “what is the best Oneworld lounge to visit in LHR T3”?

As a Oneworld Emerald frequent flyer I have access these lounges so I thought I would answer this question slightly differently to other reviews and look at it from a food and nutrition perspective. I have provided an overview of the foods available in the lounges and also the nutrition rating I gave each lounge after I visited. Let’s take a look at the food at each of the Oneworld lounges and the nutrition ratings so you can decide which lounge works best for you to visit next time you fly from T3.

American Airlines First Class Lounge London Heathrow

The American Airlines First Class Lounge (classified as a premium lounge not flagship lounge on AA’s website) has both a buffet and an A La Carte dining section. When I visited the A La Carte menu had seven dishes available for breakfast, and three for afternoon dining (plus a dessert). The breakfast buffet offerings were stock standard – nothing overly imaginative. There was a hot buffet with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a cold buffet with cereal, cheese, pastries, breads.

Bacon and sausages American Airlines london heathrow Oneworld lounge
Bacon and sausages American Airlines LHR T3
scrambled eggs american airlines first class lounge oneworld lounges
Scrambled eggs American Airlines LHR T3

The A La Carte dining area helped to give this lounge more of a ‘first-class’ feel and when I visited one morning at 8am I was the only one sitting in the dining area. The menu had dishes such as American Pancakes, Eggs Benedict and Smashed Avocado. I chose the smashed avocado however unfortunately it was only a slice of toast with some avocado spread on it and the avocado seemed to be an off green colour reminiscent of the prepackaged tubs of avocado found in supermarket fridges.

Smashed avocado American Airlines first class lounge LHR T3
Smashed avocado American Airlines first class lounge LHR T3
Menu for dining section of American Airlines first class lounge LHR T3
Menu for dining section of American Airlines first class lounge LHR T3 (April 2024)

Read the entire review of the American Airlines First Class Lounge London Heathrow

Lounge nutrition rating: 7.5/10

British Airlines Galleries First Lounge

The food available in the British Airlines Galleries First Lounge is mainly served at a self-serve buffet, with a small number of dishes available A La Carte style via a QR code. Each time I have visited this lounge it has been fairly quiet compared to the other Oneworld First/Emerald lounges. My last visit was in April 2024 and was in the morning and so breakfast was being served. The breakfast foods on offer were nothing innovative or inspiring. The hot buffet was serving a traditional English style hot breakfast bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes of – haha no surprises here being the lounge was at London Heathrow and the airline was British Airlines. The cold buffet had typical continental style breakfast offerings – yogurt, fruit, cereal, pastries, cheese slices and English muffins.

Hot buffet British Airways first class lounge LHR T3 Oneworld Lounge
Hot buffet British Airways first class lounge LHR T3
Cold buffet in British Airways first class lounge
Cold buffet in British Airways first class lounge

Overall, a solid offering but nothing imaginative. Compared with the other Oneworld lounges I found this lounge to have a fairly basic food offering. Nothing regarding the food stood out as First Class to me and if I didn’t know I was in a first class lounge I would have thought I was in a business lounge. I did love how quiet to lounge was though – I have found the British Airlines Galleries First Lounge very relaxing (due to not encountering many people inside) which helped to elevate the lounge experience. I also loved there is an enclosed kids area in the lounge – even though I wasn’t travelling with my 2 year old it is nice to know there is a First Class lounge in T3 that has a dedicated area for kids.

Which Oneworld lounge London Heathrow T3 is the best for food? - Oneworld lounge
A La Carte dining menu from a QR code in the British Airways first class lounge (April 2024)

Read the full review of the British Airways Galleries First Lounge T3

Lounge nutrition rating: 6.5/10

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge

Now this Cathay Pacific lounge with a reputation for being one of the best lounges in LHR T3 for food and I have to say I pretty much agree with this. While the lounge was packed (it is a small lounge) the food really was a standout. There is both a buffet and an A La Carte restaurant. When I visited in the morning the A La Carte section of the lounge was full, however they allowed me to take a menu and order the food to my seat in the lounge area. The buffet was predominantly cold foods, with a couple of small hot dishes such as quiches/tarts under heat lamps. There were sliced meats, fish, a range of yogurts, fruits, pastries etc in the cold buffet. I think what I really liked about this lounge is the food wasn’t served up in like a ‘big bowl’ so it had a more premium feel. For example the small egg tarts were lovely and were nice instead of a big bowl of sloppy scrambled eggs like in other lounges (you could order eggs in the dining section if that is what you wanted). The buffet complemented the dining room menu.

Cold buffet foods Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3 Oneworld lounge
Cold buffet foods Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3
Hot foods on buffet in Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3 Oneworld Lounge
Hot foods on buffet in Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3


The food quality in the Cathay Pacific first-class lounge was a standout. I ordered the avocado on sourdough toast from the A La Carte menu to be able to compare to the American Airlines lounge’s version and wow what a difference! This avocado was chunky and seemed to be smashed fresh – it was so flavoursome! And the sourdough bread was absolutely delicious. However, while the food quality was great, the nutrition rating didn’t score quiet as highly due to the types of meals available on the menu, especially many of the dishes based on refined carbohydrates. This is partly due to the Chinese cuisine influences throughout the menu with noodle dishes featuring a number of times.

Avocado on toast in Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3
Avocado on toast in Cathay Pacific first class lounge LHR T3
Which Oneworld lounge London Heathrow T3 is the best for food? - Oneworld lounge
Menu in dining section Cathay Pacific first class London Lounge (April 2024)

Read the full review of the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge

Lounge nutrition rating: 6.5/10

Qantas London Lounge

Now the Qantas London Lounge is interesting as it is not technically a first-class lounge, but a hybrid lounge serving as a place for both their business-class and first-class passengers (and from a Oneworld perspective sapphire and emerald members). There is a buffet upstairs and an A La Carte dining area on the ground floor. Similar to the American Airlines and British Airlines buffet, there was stock standard eggs, sausages, tomatoes etc on the hot buffet, with the cold buffet serving pastries and foccacia bread, fruits and individual pots of yogurt, chia puddings etc. It wouldn’t be a Qantas lounge without ham, cheese and tomato lol – for anyone travelling domestically through Australia you know what I mean! There were five dishes listed on the brunch menu in the A La Carte dining section and including their famous salt and pepper squid dish. I loved they had a breakfast salad listed on the menu too.

Overall this lounge really is a hybrid lounge – sitting somewhere between their first and business class lounges. For anyone who has visited their ‘flagship’ lounges in Sydney and Melbourne would recognise the dining menu is a smaller and similar version of their A La Carte dining menus, whereas the business lounges are predominantly buffet style (sad buffet style when I think especially about Sydney) with a few individual dishes that occasionally float around the lounge being handed out by staff. So overall this is not really a Qantas first class lounge experience.

Which Oneworld lounge London Heathrow T3 is the best for food? - Oneworld lounge
Buffet Qantas London Lounge
Scrambled eggs Qantas London Lounge T3
Scrambled eggs Qantas London Lounge T3
Bacon and sausages Qantas London Lounge T3 Oneworld lounge
Bacon and sausages Qantas London Lounge T3
Which Oneworld lounge London Heathrow T3 is the best for food? - Oneworld lounge
Brunch menu Qantas London Lounge (April 2024)

Read the full review of the Qantas London Lounge

Lounge nutrition rating: 8/10

Overall which Oneworld lounge is the best for food in London Heathrow T3?

So which Oneworld lounge do I like to visit flying out of T3? Personally, I like to visit the Cathay Pacific lounge for the food (and of course the view), however it can become a little crowded. If I am not really looking for anything much to eat then I will try the British Airways lounge to try find some peace and quiet. The Qantas London Lounge is great to check out for food too however can become quite busy too. In regard to nutrition reviews of these lounges for breakfast have shown they are all similar in terms of nutrition with small differences that have the Qantas London Lounge coming out on top. Qantas is great at providing salads and vegetables which are essential while flying (an important pillar for travel nutrition) and I usually can rely on their lounges for providing these. But the Qantas London Lounge does not provide a traditional Qantas first class lounge experience.

But remember nutrition is one element of a lounge experience that important while travelling. This must be delivered through high quality and enjoyable dishes. That is why the travel nutrition reviews of lounges incoporate both a nutrition rating but also pictures and descriptions on what the food was actually like. So you can make a decision based on both nutritious elements but also whether you look like you would like to food. That way you can hopefully have a really enjoyable lounge food experience while also hoping to have you feeling your best.

For more ‘best of reviews’ see Best of paid lounges T1 Changi Singapore.

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