Good evening/morning (wherever you are) from Abu Dhabi. I’m currently writing this in the Etihad First Class lounge. As many of you may know, this has long been my favourite lounge and I’ve spent many, many enjoyable hours in here. You may also know that cost-cutting in the Middle Eastern airline sector is very strong and has been for the last year or 2, obviously, it doesn’t end well for passengers.
It hurts me to say but Etihad have been doing it quite a lot and as someone who flies them regularly it’s quite sad to see but it’s evident.
Possibly the biggest thing I liked about the lounge is the food, more so the Emirates Palace menu. I’m sad to say, but it’s gone and on top of that, the menu has gone from 6 pages to 1.
The menu has been in the lounge since being first opened and it’s been a long time favourite of passengers.
Date with Chami:
Chicken and barley soup:
Scallops mughrabia:
Sorbet:
Lamb medfoun:
Batheatha
Here’s the new ‘enhanced’ menu:
As you can see, it’s been heavily reduced and with only 10 options to choose from for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner that’s a major cutback.
And if you’re feeling like dessert, there’s a stand for you with a few options. This is also being used for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
I enquired and asked if there would be a new menu as there was supposed to be one a few months ago but was told no. I was also told the menu was hugely popular and the servers are not even sure why it was removed. Even if you’re in the Residence you still cannot have the Emirates Palace menu.
Overall this will only affect people who wanted to try the menu or fly Etihad often. I still love Etihad and will continue to fly them but this is quite sad to see how much they’ve cut.
If there’s one positive thing about this, it’s that the new cheesecake is damn good!
2 comments
I feel its so sad that it has come to this;)
Given your enthusiastic review of the new dessert offering, how does it compare to the Cheesecake Factory’s?
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