United has shuttered all of its Polaris lounges, hopefully just on a temporary basis. What are we missing during this time?
Dinner In United Polaris Lounge Newark
Last week, I enjoyed linner (lunch and dinner in one sitting) in the Newark Polaris Lounge prior to my United flight to Cape Town. It wasn’t deliberate, but I had a cup of coffee and some yogurt at 6:00AM, skipped lunch beyond some carrots in the United Club at Washington National, and found myself sitting in the Polaris Lounge around 5:00PM quite hungry.
I headed over to the a la carte dining area and took a look. Several things on the menu looked appealing, so I took the liberty of ordering all of them. Too much really, even though portion size is small.
I ordered a gin basil smash, which is a very weak drink, but has a refreshing twist to it with basil and thyme.
For my first course, I ordered the “hearty autumn salad” (even though it was winter in Newark and I was heading to summer in Cape Town), which included root vegetables (beets and radishes), autumn fruits (apple slices), ricotta cheese, rye crumbs, and mixed greens. There was no dressing and it was a fairly bitter salad.
Next, I tired the sopa di pedra which was a flavorful soup of kale and sausage, quite tasty, but also heavy.
For my pasta course, I started with corecchiette with lamb sausage and a carrot puree.
While tasty, the butternut squash ravioli with sage and butter at the buffet looked even better, so I tried that too.
Next, I ordered salmon with lentils and squash, which was quite tasty. There was an Indian man sitting next to me who ordered the same thing but told the waiter to make it spicy. It came out covered in paprika and actually looked better than mine. I appreciated that the lounge was willing to customize the order.
Finally, I examined the dessert menu and ordered the double chocolate skillet cookie…talk about a delicious fat and carb bomb.
Pretty decent cappuccino as well.
CONCLUSION
I’m sad that this lounge is now closed, though with premium traffic dried up for now, it just makes senes. But when it re-opens, hopefully United will not remove the a la carte section at it seeks to survive and rebuild.
You can read my full review of this lounge here.
> Read More: United Polaris Lounge Newark (EWR) Review
Meow! Looks good. Sadly I’ve never gotten to try Polaris dining.
And it’s called lupper not linner silly. And at 5 pm, you’re squarely in supper/dinner territory. Lupper is determined by the time of meal (e.g. 2-4 pm), not whether you’ve eaten lunch.
Bacon cheeseburger, rare with mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle and fried egg. They do an awesome job and it’s expertly cooked. Strongest menu item. Extra order of fries as well.
I’ve only dined their once but just loved the orecchiette with lamb sausage. It’s a great way to begin the Polaris experience.
Shale oil producers are negotiating with OPEC. Haha. They have dropped all pretention of capitalism.
How many republicans did you beat up today?? You have a right to feel angry at these assholes.
My prediction is that the Polaris lounges do not reopen. 🙁
Flying Polaris Monday. The lounge is part of the reason I purchased the ticket. They should issue us rainchecks.
Wait what, you are in Cape Town??
If you are still there;
Strong recommendation for The Nelson’s Eye on Hof St. Impeccable.
Bootlegger Coffee Shops are also a good place to hang out.
Sincerely, a regular British visitor to the best city.
Prodigious appetite…
Matthew…. how can one who appears so thin and fit come even close to devouring such a meal? So this is what you did when you left FTU!
Yes Anita, but it was my only meal of the day!
How funny, I never thought I’d see a sopa da pedra outside of Portugal! The name literally translates to stone soup. The story in Portugal says a poor monk went around the village carrying a stone, knocking on every door and asking every family to give him an ingredient to go with the stone in his soup. People gave him all sorts of things from potatoes to chorizo and he ended up making this heavy, earthy soup with no stones in it. I was fully convinced this was a traditional portuguese dish with no international reputation but it’s good to be proven otherwise.