Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Lounge Heathrow T3

22nd April - En Route to New Jersey
So, I have a business ticket on Virgin and part of the deal is that you can get into the lounge. Airlines like loyalty and offer a variety of incentives, and this  from Virgin is a good one. If one can justify buying a business class ticket, or if you have enough money or if you have enough points from previous flights, you are in. I have only used a few lounges at Heathrow, and I think this one is the best for many reasons. I don't know why they call it a clubhouse, as you don't have to be a member, just have the money. The reasons it appear in this blog, is that they feed you hot food if you want it.There are several types of travelers using the lounge: the true business user who needs somewhere to continue their work as long as possible and who buy their ticket off a business, the rich who don't need to mix with the great unwashed on the concourse of terminal three, and the lucky who manage to collect enough air travel points for an upgrade. I have been two of these, and you can figure out the other. Some are clearly going to treat the food from this lounge as their main repast, and will be the ones who sleep all the way through a flight. Have a look at http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/travel-information/airport-guides/london-heathrow/clubhouse.html
Inside the lounge there is a bar type area serving (free at the point of consumption) drink and food, a deli where you can get salad and sandwich stuff, and a sit down area like a smart urban restaurant, which is the one I chose

The bar area

Depending on the time of day and the season there is a short Table de Hote three course menu. Not unexpectedly, the food is stylish and served in modest quantities, but as everyone knows there will be a next meal, that is ok.

For starter I chose a ham and pea terrine

Obviously not hot, and a little overgarnished with pickles for my taste, but very pretty. Under the terrine is a crispbread which does not like to be cut and crumbles under the knife. However this appetiser is tasty attractive and leaves enough room for the next course.

I chose what appeared to be the most popular dish - a mini burger.

The service (given that no one is actually paying for the meals again) is very polite but highly dependent on the numbers sat down at any time. The burger was somewhat lackluster and scored a 7.8 on the CHOF scale, but the chips were excellent. I can only hope they were not precooked as they were hot, just crisp enough and very hot (9). 

The quality of the food is good and for a lunchtime this was an excellent offering. I have tried the Virgin Lounges at Gatwick, JFK and EWR, and this is by far the best of those 4. I cannot speak for other airports, and the food is leagues above the scrawny offerings in the Star Alliance lounge.

At the end of the day, someone is paying for this, and the huge differential between economy and business flights is barely compensated by this totally hedonistic lounge. On the other hand, it is good to not have to press up close with the transit passengers after security in T3.