One of the benefits of flying with JAL in Premium Economy is that we get to have access to their airport lounges, Air France Lounge at JFK Airport (you can read about it here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/air-france-lounge-jfk/), and Sakura Lounge at Narita Airport. I first used Sakura Lounge in 2015 (you can read about it here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/jal-sakura-lounge/), and this is an update from 2017.
The main lobby space after entering is super large, almost mysteriously large… The staffs at the counters are all very nice, polite and professional. They welcomed us with a smile and checked our Premium Economy flight tickets. From here, we go up on the escalator to the main floor. They have a nice locker room where you can leave you luggage so that you don’t have to carry them around while using the lounge. The lockers are complimentary, and large enough to put over-head suitcase and another bag in there. Just make sure to hold on to your key!
The main floor is for relaxing only, no food allowed. So we went upstairs where the food and drinks are served. Also, you are not allowed to carry large bags (like over-head suitcase) to this floor. The staffs here are very efficient so if you are doing something you are not supposed to (like carrying food from this floor down to the main floor), they will come and guide you to the right path…
I love Sakura Lounge so much better than the Air France Lounge, because they have great amount of food offerings, both hot and cold. They had very fresh salad bar with several types of toppings and dressings. They also had a fruit bowl with cut-out fruits in a sweet juice.
The best thing to do is to come to this lounge hungry! Otherwise you miss out on the best benefit of this lounge (in my opinion). Since they are located in Japan, the food offerings are Japanese food, and I am perfectly ok with that. They had Japanese Fried Chicken, Shumai and Gyoza. All hot and kept on the temperature controlled heater plate to keep them hot.
They also had an interesting item, Chuka-Don, or Chop Suey. You can pour them over steamed white rice, and it becomes a donburi dish. And then the most popular item at this lounge, JAL Original Beef Curry. We knew we were going to enjoy this dish for sure.
To go with all these food, they have some side picked items; radish, plum, scallions and a special picked veggies that are usually served with curry called Fukujinzuke. I love having it with my curry…yum!
They also have some baked goods. They have a plane, soft, roll bread to make a sandwich with if you wanted a sandwich. Of course, you can enjoy the brad as is if you prefer. Then there are some sweet pastries as well.
And yes, they do have all sorts of drinks too. They have coffee machine that grinds coffee beans right there, and this machine was less complicated than the one at the Air France Lounge. They had green teas and other teas, in tea bags. All the extras like sugar and cream were neatly organized right there as well.
If you wanted soda and other cold drinks, they had that too. Not much options, but Coca Cola, Ginger Ale and Tonic Water. They also had iced coffee and iced green tea. If you want fancy kind of soda, well, you are out of luck… They do have a fun beer server, if that helps! They have chilled beer glasses right by the machine as well.
If you are there during the morning hours and want to get some juice, they have that too. And, yes, their JAL special Kiwi drink, which is really, REALLY sweet…need a sugar rush? You know what to get.
Maybe you are more of wine drinker. Not to worry, they have that too! They have red and white wines, like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
I went with De Bortoli Lorimer Chardonnay, Pinot Noir Sparkling from Australia. Nothing like a nice little glass of sparkling wine to start off our relaxation time at the lounge.
It is similar to Italian prosecco, nice fruit flavors from Chardonnay with the subtle flavors of Pinot Noir. Clean and elegant sparkling wine. Well balanced and goes down smooth.
After I enjoyed my nice crisp glass of sparkling wine, I was ready for some food. I went and got myself some hot green tea to accompany my Japanese food.
Then I got miso soup, which was nothing really special, but I like having a good hot soup at the beginning of my meal.
I first got some appetizers, shumai and steamed gyoza. They called them Shumai Dumplings and Shrimp Dumplings instead of Steamed Gyoza. I don’t really care what they call them, as long as they are tasty…
The Shumai is made with Berkshire Pork, and it was nice and juicy! They are pretty good, especially thinking that we are inside airport, where good food are hard to come by, especially if they are free! The Shrimp Dumpling were soft and plump, again, pretty good for airport food. And I like that they are both steamed, not fried. A little healthier without the added oil.
I of course got some Tatsutaage Fried Chicken with Ginger Soy Sauce. It was not the best Japanese fried chicken, but it was still flavorful to the point that you didn’t really need dipping sauce, and it was juicy enough. One thing about food that is being sitting out for a while is that they start to get dried out. But, here at Sakura Lounge, the demand for food is high, so they don’t really sit out there for too long. And the staffs are really good at re-stocking the food.
For the main, I of course got their JAL Special Beef Curry. I got some Umeboshi (pickled plum), Pickled Scallions, and Fukujinzuke, which is a must have for me with curry. Fukujinzuke is described as “sliced vegetables pickled in soy sauce.” It goes oh-so perfectly with curry… It enhances the flavor of the curry very well.
The curry is good, with lots of ingredients, and nice chunks of beef. The beef is tender, soft, and very tasty. The curry here is the best thing to get, no wonder it is so popular. If they are almost gone (which happens often), just give the staff a few minutes and they will bring out a fresh batch.
Towards the end, I tried some other soup offerings that they have. They have two more soups in addition to regular miso soup. The first one is Japanese-Style Soup with Mushroom and Potato. Warm and cozy flavor with nice citrus flavor. The soup is made with yuzu (citrus fruit) infused in the soup, which gives subtle refreshing flavor. It has three kinds of mushroom and potato, making it pretty hearty.
The other soups is a Creamy Tomato Soup. It has the sweetness from the cream, and a bit of sour flavor from tomato, creating a nice balance. You can have it as is, or add some croutons. It was indeed nice and creamy, I liked it. I was getting really full at this point, so I only got a small amount, just a little taste is all I wanted.
After having all the food and drinks and R&R, we decided to get some desserts. Another thing we do is to get to the lounge super early, so that we have a few hours to spend in the lounge. This way, we can eat more food, and have a good amount to settle hour stomach as well. So, for desserts, we got some baked goods. The first one was Strawberry Danish.
It was a good size, and I like strawberry, and I like Danish, so it was an easy choice. It was fluffy and airy, but nothing really special. The strawberry jam was on the top, I wish if it had a bit more on it, but it was ok.
Then we had Mini Apple Cream Bread. I like regular cream pan (bread), so I got curious when it seems to contain apple in it.
The cream filling was nice, sweet custard but not so much apple, not as much as I expected. And, the amount of filling was not as much either. More bread than cream. I love a whole lot more cream filling than bread…
The last one we tried was more savory than sweet, so I didn’t really do the baked goods in the right order… But that is ok. I will know for the next time! This one was Takana Bread.
Takana is a pickled mustard leaf, it is just mildly spicy, but not so much. It has nice crunchy texture, and quite refreshing. It had a really nice amount of filling, much better than the cream filling. It was kind of strange to end the dessert with savory bread, but it was still good and tasty.
Their bathroom is near the staircase to go down to the main floor. It is not a large bathroom, but roomy and well-lit.
After we fished with all the food and drinks, we went down the stairs to the main floor. Here, you can relax without food. You can stay upstairs if you want to, but when it gets really busy, the staff might come and ask you to go down the stairs if you are not eating, as there are limited space and seating upstairs.
And, I was thinking “They had more alcoholic beverages the last time we used the lounge” but then I found all the drinks on the main floor! They were not in the large open space, but on the side space.
They had wines, hard liqueur, sake, and beer. The negative thing was that this area smelled like cigarette smoke… I didn’t see anyone smoking at that moment when I waked by this area, but it is maybe possible that this area is smoking area??? Or maybe near smoking area??? I don’t know… I really don’t like cigarette smoke, so this was a really big negative change that I saw at this lounge. If I wanted to get more alcoholic beverage options, I have to go get it from where they are leaking with cigarette smoke smell…
Other than this negative point, everything else was great as before. The staffs were efficient and polite, they were walking around constantly, making sure everything is well taking care of. Some of them helped with clearing off the table if you have trays and dishes after you finished eating. They have lots of plugs everywhere that allowed us to have our laptops and phones charged while we were in the lounge. It certainly is an oasis in the airport, I love using this lounge at Narita Airport. Thank goodness for Sakura Lounge with all the nice food and drinks!
JAL Sakura Lounge – Narita International Airport, Terminal 2