[NRT] NH - ANA Lounge (First Class)

[SQTalker]

Just to add 1 more photo for the NH lounge entrance...

[flyingfox]

The NH Flounge may be nice on the eyes, but I have never been able to comprehend why the food choices are of such low quality and CHEAP?

Their meals in the sky are excellent and well-done.

But cellophane-wrapped sandwiches, heat and serve udon, and the cheap veggie sushi and inari just do not cut it for a first class lounge.

Why do they hide the Fauchon ice-cream? You have to ask for it as though it's Dom Perignon and they want to keep a count of some sort?

I don't get all the excitement about this particular lounge.

The only plus I see is the L'Occitane toiletry kits given out.

We'll be there in June for a trip home and I really cannot get excited about it!

[kkjay77]

Just to add 1 more photo for the NH lounge entrance...

I can't seem to recall if a model 787 was at F lounge near gate 42.
Is it 42 F lounge or the one in the 50s?

[SQTalker]

I can't seem to recall if a model 787 was at F lounge near gate 42.
Is it 42 F lounge or the one in the 50s?

It's near gate 42 NH lounge entrance.

[stargold]

If I remember correctly, the aircraft model was actually in the C lounge entrance, which is on the floor below the F lounge. From the gate area you have to take an escalator down a level to go to the C lounge, whereas you go up for the F lounge.

[jhm]

The NH Flounge may be nice on the eyes, but I have never been able to comprehend why the food choices are of such low quality and CHEAP?

The NH Flounge (and staff ) are nice on the eyes and I quite agree with your other comments about the low quality of the food choices - particularly the sushi. I expected more from the premier lounge of a leading Japanese airline at its home base in Japan!

[kkjay77]

If I remember correctly, the aircraft model was actually in the C lounge entrance, which is on the floor below the F lounge. From the gate area you have to take an escalator down a level to go to the C lounge, whereas you go up for the F lounge.

Oh, that make sense.
I've even took some picture of 787 model with a fellow FTer in C lounge before.
Just didn't know if there were same/similar 787 model in F lounge.

[stargold]

The NH Flounge (and staff ) are nice on the eyes and I quite agree with your other comments about the low quality of the food choices - particularly the sushi. I expected more from the premier lounge of a leading Japanese airline at its home base in Japan!

If the food in the lounge is too nice, people will get full before they board NH F, and then complain that they have no space for the really good stuff inflight...

... I'm talking not about the Kaiseki option, but the western meal option of course

[jhm]

If the food in the lounge is too nice, people will get full before they board NH F, and then complain that they have no space for the really good stuff inflight...

Nothing some Tupperware can't handle...

I'm talking not about the Kaiseki option, but the western meal option of course

Compared to the NH F lounge, I'd say the JL F lounge is better in some respects (free massage; better food) but worse in others (no shower kit; less staff around).

[stargold]

Nothing some Tupperware can't handle...

Tupperware?? I'd like to think that I have a thick skin when flying (what with my hundreds of photos including photos with the crew), but tupperware might well be beyond my thick-skin limit Also, not sure how much the taste of the Wagyu steak will degrade by the time you re-heat it (for the second time) at home

Sorry, couldn't resist

Compared to the NH F lounge, I'd say the JL F lounge is better in some respects (free massage; better food) but worse in others (no shower kit; less staff around).

Maybe because I was conditioned by NH over many years into thinking that it's okay to have mediocre lounges, but I felt that the NH lounge was perfectly adequate for the time I spent there. Perhaps I would feel differently if NH F wasn't so great in the air!

[kchika]

Can I access the F lounges with an inbound NH F boarding pass (connecting to J)?

The Fauchon ice creams don't show up on their website. Are they available in Tokyo or anywhere else?

[stargold]

Can I access the F lounges with an inbound NH F boarding pass (connecting to J)?

Unfortunately, you will be at the mercy of the lounge receptionist - so I would prepare myself for both answers. On FT there was a period where people suggested that inbound NH F always gets you F lounge even if connecting to C, but that seems to have died away.

The Fauchon ice creams don't show up on their website. Are they available in Tokyo or anywhere else?

I think you can buy the ice cream in certain places in Tokyo, but have not heard of it being available elsewhere - all the more of a reason why you should try to get into the NRT F lounge

The Assam tea and Apple pulp ice cream was among one of the best I have tasted!

[jhm]

The Fauchon ice creams don't show up on their website. Are they available in Tokyo or anywhere else?

That's because they're made under license by Morinaga and specific to Japan AFAIK. More in this thread:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5833

[Kiwi]

Compared to the NH F lounge, I'd say the JL F lounge is better in some respects (free massage; better food) but worse in others (no shower kit; less staff around).

When did JL remove the shower kit? There was one a year or two ago when I last used the JL F lounge at NRT.

[jhm]

When did JL remove the shower kit? There was one a year or two ago when I last used the JL F lounge at NRT.

There was no shower kit when I used the new JL F lounge at NRT T2 in August 2007. The lounge had only opened the month before so perhaps shower kits were introduced afterwards ? I only remember an electronic keycard system to get into the individual shower room but definitely no shower kit.