* What an improvement! *
While I mostly enjoy flying Cathay Pacific, the YVR lounge was always a bit of a letdown compared to the other lounges in their network. It had that same old tired steamer of 2 types of dim sum, a few mediocre sandwiches and low quality snack food. It had a separated space for first class from the business class, and all that added was slightly better alcohol and a few snack options. Not a big difference at all.
Those times are done. Cathay closed that old lounge and has opened this new one in a different location. They built on the 4th floor between gates 66 and 67, and built a space that is a smaller version of their better quality lounges you find in many airports in Asia.
They no longer pretend to separate business and first class, and instead have opted to make a larger space with higher quality offerings for all. The highlight is by far the noodle bar, which is quite similar to the one in the Hong Kong airport business class lounge (they haven't gone as far as to do the full sit down table service and private cabanas like the HK first class lounge, but considering this is a remote station for them that seems just fine).
They offer three varieties of noodle soup: wonton, dan dan, and fish ball which are all prepared fresh after you order. They also had a variety of dim sum on the menu that you could also order to be prepared fresh instead of just sitting in a steamer over steaming. I ordered the dan dan noodles, which is prepare entirely vegetarian. After ordering they give you a beeper to let you know when your soup is ready.
The soup was presented in a classic styled bowl. The noodles were surprisingly good - toothsome in fact. The broth had the classic peanut, sesame and chili balance and really satisfied. They offer chili oil on the side to increase the heat to your comfort level. (I tend to go less hot when flying, so it was appreciated to have the flexibility.) What an improvement over the food choices they used to have in their old lounge back near the international security entrance.
The other soup option available in the international terminal is the Plaza Premium lounge which does freshly prepare fish noodle soup, but I have to say the quality of the soup and noodles here at the Cathay lounge are MUCH better.
They also have a small buffet set up outside of the noodle bar where you can grab a variety of sandwiches, meats and cheeses, small desserts, salty snacks, etc. The quality of the catering overall on those is also improved from the ones that used to sit in the fridge at the old lounge.
After dining, there were very comfortable leather chairs with ottomans you could put your feet up on looking out over the tarmac and North Shore mountains in the distance to watch the planes land. Each chair had a wooden side table that had a pull out drawer with power and usb power outlets. Nice touch!
Overall this is a great improvement to the Cathay service out of YVR. Bravo, Cathay!!!!!!! read more