Anyone who’s visited the flagship Qantas First Lounges at Sydney or Melbourne will have sampled the seasonal delights of the first class lounge’s a la carte menu.
But there’s also a secret menu – or a ‘special menu’ as Qantas calls it – reserved for the airline’s first class passengers, most elite frequent flyers and other VIPs.
You won’t see this menu on display at any of the lounge’s regular restaurant areas where most Platinum-grade frequent flyers (and their Oneworld Emerald and Emirates Skywards Platinum equivalents) tend to gather.
The special menu is available only in a roped-off ‘premium’ dining area, which in turn is reserved for an elite cohort of travellers:
- first class passengers
- Platinum One members of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program
- members of the invitation-only Qantas Chairman’s Lounge
- and assorted other guests considered to be ‘VIPs’, or at least a cut above the norm
(Don’t try plonking yourself down in this area: access beyond the red rope is only for those escorted by a Qantas First Lounge concierge.)
In Sydney, this exclusive dining room is just past the entry to the lounge’s day spa, and the current special menu for autumn lists two dishes.
- Salmon sashimi with finger lime and coriander (which the menu suggests is best paired with a glass of Grosset Springvale Riesling 2022 from South Australia’s Clare Valley)
- Scotch fillet minute steak with Café de Paris butter and chips (paired with either a Yarra Yering Pinot Noir 2021 from Victoria’s Yarra Valley, or the Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2021 from NSW’s Southern Tablelands)
Interestingly, both dishes have appeared on previous seasonal iterations of the standard Qantas First Lounge menu – indeed, a “Black Angus minute steak with chips, chipotle butter and lime” is still listed on the menu of the Qantas First Lounge at Los Angeles.
Qantas has been trialling this exclusive menu for passengers escorted into the primo dining space as it considers ways to further differentiate the first class lounge experience for actual first class flyers and those high-value Platinum Ones and Chairman’s Lounge members.
After all, entry to the Qantas First Lounge is equally available to someone who’s paid for a Qantas first class ticket to London and a Platinum frequent flyer on a Jetstar economy fare to Auckland or Bali – so, the argument goes, why shouldn’t that first class flyer receive a better, more more premium, more elevated experience?
Thankfully, there’s another little-known aspect of the Qantas First Lounge which every visitor can enjoy: a glass or two of very top-shelf red wine.
A new Qantas First Lounge menu also means new wines and cocktails.
In addition to the red wines listed on the Qantas First Lounge’s standing menu, there’s usually something special to be found in the decanter sitting atop the bar.
When Executive Traveller visited the Qantas First Lounge earlier his month, that red was a superb Clonakilla – previous hidden hits have been drawn from the best of Yarra Yering, Rockford Basket Press, Henschke and Penfolds.
And all you have to do is ask your waiter for a glass from the decanter. That’s it: it’s nothing to do with status of class of travel. There’s no secret password, no knowing nod or wink or subtle tap of the nose.
“The special decanted wine is something that is quite special,” explains Lexie Bucholtz, a wine specialist from the Neil Perry team who overseas the Qantas First Lounge’s food and wine selection.
“It will usually be from one of those really premium Australian producers, it’s a real treat for our customers and (the wines) cycle through quite often, which is really nice.”