Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, Hong Kong

Flew Virgin Atlantic Upper Class from Hong Kong back to Sydney recently and must say the entire experience was wonderful.  Had a guilty pleasure of a dedicated check in and line to board... and that feeling of turning left as you board, was sensational.  Their seats are unique, in diagonal rows so you have complete privacy from your neighbours and the seats turn into a flat bed at a touch of a button.  And there is something delicious about crisp linen, glassware, china and proper cutlery. 

I found the experience in their Clubhouse (business class lounge) equally impressive.  It's spacious, privileged but not stuffy.  Plenty of staff that were obliging.  To celebrate my impending return to Australia, I had a Virgin Redhead (above), created exclusively for Virgin Atlantic by Bombay Sapphire. According to the menu, the Redhead is a delicious blend of freshly muddled raspberries, pressed lemon juice, cassis and framboise liqueurs, shaken with Bombay Sapphire Gin and then spritzed with the house champagne.  Verdict? Strong and deadly.

I was intending to sleep through on my flatbed on the plane, so decided to order a light dinner at the lounge.  Minute steak baguette with stilton, onion and potato crisps was perfect.  Cooked upon order the steak was warm and tender, wonderful with stilton sauce, even the 'baguette' wasn't bad although the pale colouring took some getting used to.

Was intrigued by the vanilla ice cream eclair with fresh raspberries on the menu.  When it arrived it was pretty obvious, nice creamy vanilla in light pastry.  It was true to the description: naughty but nice.

All in all, a pretty satisfying experience.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse
Hong Kong Airport