10.301 Fish Harra

10.301

2 (Sat) November 2019

2.5

on Emirates – EK 336

-Dubai en route to Manila-

with the Family

Family Holiday Fall 2019 in UAE, Day 6.

In transit.  Spent the boys’ fall break in the United Arab Emirates, both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  On our way back home to Manila.

Good to be going home, of course, but I would’ve liked staying for another couple days, still so many things to do, see, eat – we did not once go out for dinner, did not go to a single restaurant on the list that I had painstakingly researched.

SNACK

First look at Emirates Business Class Lounge at Dubai International Airport.

Spanning what seemed to be the entire length of the terminal, it is the biggest lounge that I’ve encountered yet.

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Food stations are located at distant points throughout the sprawling space, each station serving different items and different types of cuisine – annoying to anyone wanting a variety of foods.

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Didn’t have time to even drop by the Moët & Chandon Champagne Lounge.

Alas, we had but a few minutes to enjoy it all before boarding.  What little bits we did manage to try – IZ had 2 full plates of butter chicken – were quite good.

On GMTD’s rankings of dining experiences in airport lounges (see BEST IN LOUNGE), Emirates Business Class Lounge enters at #3 – just shy of Turkey and Singapore, which both have the advantage of offering made-to-order stations of local goodies, as well as centralized food stations.

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When we received our boarding passes, which indicated Gate C1, I said to DJ, “I’ll bet that the gates are numbered in reverse” – exactly.  And so, I’m not just imagining this curse, we were in fact assigned boarding gates at the end of the terminal on both legs of the trip (10.295 Tofu & Mushroom Spring Roll with Hoi Sin Sauce).

DINNER

As always, I am grateful for and respectful of the opportunity to travel, especially via business class, including lounge access.  Any comments here, even the negative ones, are simply relative to other business class experiences, not complaints per se.

Having been very disappointed with Emirates business class on the way in, I felt the same on the way out.  Joined by my family this time, who were respectfully appreciative of the privilege in general, they concurred that the food was meh.

The carrier retains its initial position at #13, second from the bottom, on GMTD’s rankings of in-flight business class dining experiences (see BEST IN FLIGHT),

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