Qantas Sydney & Melbourne first class lounge menu, Summer 2016-17

Starting your next international flight from the Qantas First Lounge at Sydney or Melbourne? Then you'll want to sample the highlights of the seasonal summer menu, which will be available on an all-day dining basis through to the end of February 2017.

Here's a rundown of the new dishes, and at the end of this article you'll find a link to download the all-day menu for your own pre-flight perusal.

Corn, kale and zucchini salad with parmesan and pine nuts

A light and vegetarian-friendly summer salad of kale, corn and zucchini, dressed with plenty of fresh summer herbs, lemon, parmesan and pine nuts.

Chicken with cucumber, chilli, bean sprouts and 'strange flavour' dressing

A popular dish from Neil Perry's Spice Temple restaurants, this salad combines gently-poached chicken with a cooling cabbage and cucumber salad to counter the hot, numbing 'strange flavour' dressing of back vinegar and sesame.

Steamed snapper with rice noodles, galangal and coriander broth

Gently steamed snapper served in a chicken broth base with oak lettuce, rice noodles, herbs and spices, with flavoursome Thai nam prik chilli sauce served on the side so you can really spice this dish up.

Grilled pork loin with fennel, capers, oregano and polenta

A thinly-sliced pork loin is quickly grilled until tender and juicy, then brushed with an oregano salmoriglio (a mixture of pounded herbs, salt and olive oil) and served with soft polenta and topped with fennel, parsley, currants and capers.

Caramelised lamb shoulder with chickpeas, parsley salad and garlic yoghurt

Pretty much every lamb dish we've ever had at the Qantas First Lounge knocks it out of the park. This one sees an Australian lamb shoulder braised with thyme, cumin and tomato for three hours until tender, then grilled and served with tamarind spiced chickpeas, a salad of parsley, red onion tomato and mint.

Choose a red from the wine list (we recommend the Peter Lehman Stonewell Shiraz 2012), or ask what red's been decanted... if you're lucky, it'll be the superb Rockford Basket Press Shiraz.

Red more: Behind the wine list at the Qantas First Lounge

Sticky beef with roasted cherry tomatoes, horseradish, chives and chips

Beef chuck is slowly cooked in a stock flavoured with carrots, shallots, garlic, soy and ginger; then seared and glazed in its cooking liquid and served with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, fresh horseradish, chives and chips.

Pineapple and mango salad with coconut sago and chamomile sorbet

You did leave room for dessert, didn't you? This one combines two classic flavours of an Aussie summer – pineapple and mango –  dressed with lime and coconut.

Summer pudding slice with fresh berries and sour cream sorbet

A little more robust in this berry dessert, with gently-stewed blackberries and raspberries sandwiched between sponge cake layers, then chilled and served with a sour cream sorbet.

Pavlova

Is any visit to the Qantas First Lounge complete without the famous 'deconstructed pav in a glass'? Summer's twist sees the pav matched to fresh cherries and raspberries, yoghurt gelato, passionfruit meringues and mascarpone.

Finally, Chivas Regal Ultis makes a debut in the Qantas First lounge, with the luxury whisky – blended from five Speyside single malts – served on its own, in a cocktail of your choice or as the star ingredient in a bespoke cocktail named Fine St Blend incorporating Chivas Ultis, averna, frangelico, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, egg white and a dash of sugar syrup.

Click here to download the Qantas First Lounge Summer 2016-2017 Menu [175Kb PDF]

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.