State of Concorde Room food … AWFUL

[hugol0ver]

I had a recent visit after a long hiatus. Wow, the food is bad. It’s literally spot the item from the Brakes/Sysco catalogue (other suppliers are available) and the cheapest, most easy stuff to prepare. Chicken terrine?- it will even be pre-portioned. £5 a head doesn’t seem far off.

All microwaved. Nothing is made in house, nothing seems fresh, not even the curry? Duck is the re-heat in a bag crap https://www.brake.co.uk/meat-poultry/frozen-processed-poultry/duck/cooked/brakes-duck-leg-confit/.

Spotted dick has more chemicals in it than Katie Price’s face. “Afternoon tea” is the defrost kind, cakes taste “wet” suggesting they’re made with vegetable oil (palm oil). I tried it, but I just feel awful after eating this stuff. If there’s a rush on the cream cakes, Chef will be sweating how to figure out how to defrost them in the microwave.

I hardly need to mention GF and GC buffet, do I?

Compare this to the Singapore T2 lounge, where the food is freshly made, you can see the chefs doing it in the kitchen, they even chop their own salads…and that’s a mere Business Class lounge.

There is nothing to aspire to in terms of “achieving” status to enter this luxury lounge and enjoy a premium meal, or before a First Class flight. It’s this sort of junk food why the UK has an obesity crisis. There’s people on FT who fly just to sit in the CCR and enjoy the food/drink, they’re utterly mad. What do they eat at home? Fray Bentos? Do they visit food banks?

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

U ok hun?

[JDB]

@hugol0ver – yes, the food in the CCR is between dire and very second rate in contrast to the alcohol, much of which is suitably premium, albeit slightly declining in quality. The CCR is significantly more civilised than the Gold lounge as it’s more spacious and quieter/less busy but it’s definitely not somewhere to go to eat. The other lounges even less so.

There were some comments last week about how nice the burger and chips is/was so I think you have hit the nail on the head wondering what on earth it is people are eating at home that leads to these eulogistic lounge food reports and people adjusting travel plans to spend extra time in such places. There seem to be some more realistic assessments of the T3 lounges appearing as well.

P.S. I know what you mean by Fray Bentos in this context (probably now superseded by Ginsters) but it’s actually a rather charming small riverside town in Uruguay.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

You really lost the plot (and any sympathy) with your last paragraph.

And I’ll assume you’d rather jsut rant on here than do anythign practical like complain directly to BA.

Still glad you got that off your chest?

[Froggee]

I’ve never been to the Concorde Room lounge but I really want to go now as it sounds right up my street.

One of my great aunties apparently once put a fray bentos pie in the oven without opening it first and according to legend it became a pressure bomb blowing the door off the oven.

The pie covered the kitchen comprehensively but the family dog then proceeded to pick it off the wall up to a certain height leaving an attractive two tone finish to replace the wallpaper.

I really want this to be true but I only have my mum’s word for it.

[JDB]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

And I’ll assume you’d rather jsut rant on here than do anythign practical like complain directly to BA

The problem is that not enough people do complain to BA and in fact many say the food is good or decent when objectively it isn’t of a sufficient standard for a premium lounge.

To the extent that some do complain, I don’t think many complain in a detailed and constructive manner that might get some traction. As identified, there is a major issue from start (sourcing) to finish.

[freckles]

I’m with you @froggee To many people, Fray Bentos was a luxury while growing up. I half hope that story is true, and half hope it’s been embellished over time

To the OP, OK it’s not to your taste, but as JDB says there are ways and means to make a point without seeming to insult or demean people. Absolutely what is wrong with a bit of corned beef on occasion; you know for certain what is happening in the kitchen at the CCR?; do you really think people who are unfortunate to be in the position of having to use food banks can afford to fly F or have status to use CCR?

Almost thinking I have strayed onto another DYKWIA thread.

[forensic]

Froggee wrote:

The pie covered the kitchen comprehensively but the family dog then proceeded to pick it off the wall up to a certain height leaving an attractive two tone finish to replace the wallpaper.

I really want this to be true but I only have my mum’s word for it.

It has certainly happened. I recall many years ago my late mother rushing to the aid of an elderly friend who had done just this. Not sure about the dog but the pie certainly redecorated the kitchen in a nice shade of beige.

A couple of years ago I was given a Fray Bentos pie. It actually was not too bad. I’m not sure I’d spend money on one but it certainly exceeded my expectations.

[NorthernLass]

This is why I prefer to be in a lounge at breakfast time. You can’t really ruin smoked salmon and eggs, or bacon and sausage in lesser lounges. And all go with champagne, as they are inherently salty (it’s a myth about champagne and chocolate/strawberries etc being a good combination).

But you can still get Fray Bentos pies in those tins, up north anyway! I think the original Fray was a South American monk or priest after whom the town was named.

*Hollands are the pie of choice in these parts, though, especially as they have pastry at both ends!

[jj]

I’m not sure that I agree breakfast is a safe bet. Factory-produced sausages never come close to the ones made by my local butcher; bacon, eggs and sausages deteriorate rapidly if they are kept warm instead of being cooked to order; eggs can be pasteurised or, worse, dried and reconstituted; hollandaise sauce can be pre-made; cheap black pudding is execrable; citrus juices may be reconstituted instead of freshly squeezed…the list of crimes committed against a simple breakfast is a very long one.

I’m surprised that anyone is surprised: I’m not sure that I have ever, at any time or in any country, eaten food in a place owned and operated by a multinational company that I would willingly choose to eat again at the price I paid for it. Why would BA, an airline, be any better? It’s fuel, for goodness sake! You can eat well when you arrive at your destination.

[zapato1060]

jj wrote:

I’m not sure that I agree breakfast is a safe bet. Factory-produced sausages never come close to the ones made by my local butcher; bacon, eggs and sausages deteriorate rapidly if they are kept warm instead of being cooked to order; eggs can be pasteurised or, worse, dried and reconstituted; hollandaise sauce can be pre-made; cheap black pudding is execrable; citrus juices may be reconstituted instead of freshly squeezed…the list of crimes committed against a simple breakfast is a very long one.

I’m surprised that anyone is surprised: I’m not sure that I have ever, at any time or in any country, eaten food in a place owned and operated by a multinational company that I would willingly choose to eat again at the price I paid for it. Why would BA, an airline, be any better? It’s fuel, for goodness sake! You can eat well when you arrive at your destination.

I think it falls into ‘rip off Britain’. We pay through the nose and get lacklustre products. As previously mentioned, in SIN, they wouldnt have it. Labour cheaper in SIN, maybe? But still does not take away from the fact we get shafted here so eat it, try not to bring it back up, smile, move along.

[JDB]

@zapato1060 – it’s not “rip off Britain” but rather that many British people aren’t fussy and seem to know quite little or care about food. As you suggest, in most countries the sort of rubbish they serve in the CCR and other lounges wouldn’t be accepted. This unfortunately extends to restaurants, where again people seem happy to pay high prices for poor quality. A chain like the Ivy that saves money by not employing real chefs in the restaurants gets away with poor ingredients made into products reheated long after it was cooked, so you will never get a good result. This does now seem to be dawning on people, but the humblest restaurants in France, Greece, Argentina, China etc. do miles better because customers understand and appreciate real freshly prepared food.

In lounges at airports and hotels, the fact that the food is “free” seems to cause people to suspend any objective consideration and eat it because it’s there. As @jj says, much better to eat at the destination and the idea of being in some interesting city and spending time in a soulless hotel lounge, well …

[To dare is to do]

JDB is correct people don’t complain to the right people, I love reading a good rant but you need to complain to the people who run lounge or BA. If you keep accepting sub par products they will continue to give you them.

[John]

hugolover is a frequent Hilton lounge critic on flyertalk and has mentioned the Brakes catering stuff a few times there :p

I do eat the Brakes food because it’s free but also because I don’t need to think. That’s the reason I stay in chain hotels in the first place. I generally travel to places for particular reasons and I want the hotel part of it to be easy. Sometimes I don’t want to waste time having to search for a place to eat, travel there and ponder the menu.

[Andrew.]

CCR – Buchanan Field Airport, Concord County, CA. Quite fun that they call their lounge the Concorde Room, seems a bit of a niche location for most people on here to visit though.

Nothing wrong with a bit of Fochabers Fayre on your plate. You probably wouldn’t be complaining if it was a little pot of Baxter’s jam served with your scone.

[can2]

I had to look up who Katie Price is. Wish I didn’t :/

[phil-lavin]

There’s people on FT who fly just to sit in the CCR and enjoy the food/drink, they’re utterly mad. What do they eat at home? Fray Bentos? Do they visit food banks?

Entitled much? Maybe donate all that money you spend flying around the world to the food banks, instead of complaining about the quality of the champers.

[Misty]

duplicate

[Misty]

Love a good rant post. No chance I will ever go in the Concord room so not too bothered myself.

@NorthernLass You can still get Fray Bentos pies down south as well. I distinctly remember buying a few of these before the first lockdown, incase we were all going to starve to death as well as run out of loo paper.

Strangely there were always plenty of them on the shelves.

[MF176]

I have only ever been to the CCR twice and on both occasions the entire experience was excellent, including the food.

My most recent visit coincided with a ‘royal’ visit – Sir Cliff was sitting on the terrace on his way to a ‘summer holiday’. I’m not sure if he had any Fray Bentos in his hold luggage for a taste of Blighty whilst away, but if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for me.

[NorthernLass]

On my first visit Mick Fleetwood was “going his own way”, presumably back to his home in Maui. I crossed paths with him en route to the loos and can confirm he is VERY tall!

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

How many Frey bentos pies would you have to stand on to be able to see eye to eye with him?

More or less than Sam Fox?

[Ihar]

Well I don’t rate the burger, but the rest of the food is pretty good. I’m only there for a snack before the on-board service in First, which is still great. And for a few glasses of LPGS.

We usually sit at the bar, and the service is excellent. If the OP doesn’t like it, better not to go there.

[Andrew J]

Agree the CCR is functional but nothing to tell your friends about. Conversely, on the way home in First from Miami a couple of months ago, the food in Flagship Dining was outstanding – Wagu beef skewers for starter, perfectly cooked, followed by lobster linguine washed down with a bottle of LPGS.

[StanTheMan]

jj wrote:

I’m not sure that I have ever, at any time or in any country, eaten food in a place owned and operated by a multinational company that I would willingly choose to eat again at the price I paid for it.

You’ve never had a McDonald’s or Nobu and thought “I’d have that again!” ?