Terminal 3 at the Tokyo Haneda Airport is a busy place. One of the best ways to escape that madness is to dip into the ANA lounge (located near gate 110) for a bit.
The lounge itself isn’t much to rave about with its low ceiling and dense seating layout. It’s the food that makes it worthwhile. More specifically, it’s the hot food. And by “hot food,” I actually mean curry.
Who cares if it’s an extremely busy lounge? As long as the curry is flowing, it’s all good.
My full review of the Terminal 3 ANA Lounge at Haneda (HND)
To be honest, this is a review that happened entirely by accident. I wasn’t planning on doing any lounging before my flight, but it was there, and I had the time. The following is a full overview of my 35 minute experience in one of the two ANA Lounges in Terminal 3.
Location
The fact that there are two ANA Lounges in Terminal 3 tells you everything you need to know about how busy they get. One is located near gate 114. The other (which is the focus of this review) is located near gate 110. Both are located one level above the departures level.
For those of you on s****y Wi-Fi who can’t see this diagram of where the lounge is situated in Terminal 3, don’t panic. Simply head towards gate 110 and look for the sign.To be honest, having “Airline Lounges” spelled out in English isn’t really necessary. The icon of that dude chillin’ like a boss in a phat chair is all I needed to understand where those arrows lead.I can smell the curry from here! It’s either that or escalator grease…Yep, that’s definitely curry. FYI, the normal ANA Lounge is on the left, and the fancy pants ANA Suite Lounge is on the right.“God he’s weird.” Despite the impression I left on her just now, there doesn’t seem to be much action here at the reception desk. But just you wait…FYI, they make you work hard for your curry. The entry hallway is long!This hallway is actually where the showers are located. Based on how busy this lounge is (which you’ll see in a moment), my guess is that seeing the inside of one is sort of like winning the lottery. I didn’t even try.Still not there yet! I’ve never worked this hard for a bowl of curry in all my life.
Layout
This is one of the larger airline lounges that I’ve visited lately. Unfortunately, the low ceilings make it feel a lot more cramped than it really is. They did their best with what they had available to them though. The way they broke up the space with dividers and partitions makes it feel both interesting and cozy.
I’m in! Upon first glance, this looks like a pretty nice lounge. Upon second glance, I’m becoming fearful that all these people are eating my curry.This is a really nice looking lounge actually, and I appreciate the large windows overlooking the airport (on the right).I do not appreciate, however, the anxiety I’m feeling about not getting the bowl of deliciousness that I came here for.
Food
Curry. That’s basically all you need to know about the food situation in this lounge. Yes, there is a made-to-order hot noodle bar. There are also a wide variety of western-style foods. There’s a full salad bar, and enough alcohol to keep even the most fearful flyers comfortably numb. But to eat anything other than the curry would be sacrilegious IMHO.
OK, I’ve been worried about the food long enough. Let’s eat!There’s one main self serve food buffet in this lounge, with several others (that are much smaller) on the other side. BTW, this one is where the curry lives.It should also be noted that this is also the only place in the lounge where you’re going to get hot food of any kind. Other than curry, tonight’s options included fried chicken, pasta, and… I can’t remember the third thing because all I can think about is the curry. There’s a cook-to-order noodle bar as well! I don’t speak Japanese, but I’ll bet anything he’s asking where the curry is located.Interesting. The selection of alcohol is kind of weak for a Japanese airline lounge IMHO. Pro tip: the JAL Sakura Lounge at NRT is the better option for anyone looking to get wrecked before flying out of Japan.< Gollum > My preciousss! < /Gollum)The verdict? Even though this was the first time that I’ve ever eaten curry in an airport lounge, it was (hands down) the best curry I’ve ever eaten in airport lounge. 10/10.I also gave the pasta a go. “Damn you for not tasting like curry!”Moving on. This is one of the other self-serve food bars located on the other side of the lounge.This one is basically a salad bar (and I ain’t interested). At least everything was clean and extremely fresh.Then again, maybe a bit of freshness (and vitamins) is what I need after filling my belly with curry and fried chicken just now. Dear drunkards: I’m sorry to report that the selection of alcohol is just as weak over here that it is over there on the other side.
One final note about the food: I found it interesting that there was no sushi to be found. Not even the cheap stuff. Maybe they save it for other times of the day? I have no idea.
Seating
Warning: the seating layout in this lounge is extremely dense. That said, I really appreciated the obvious emphasis on creating comfortable seating options for solo travelers. Most airlines lounges tend to go overboard on the communal aspect of seating (which I am not a fan of at all). Here in the ANA Lounge, there are just as many seats for solo travelers as there are for groups.
One of the things that I like about this lounge (other than the curry) is the wide variety of seating options for solo travelers. Arigato!I’m not always a fan of hanging out in airport lounges, but with seating options for solo travelers such as this, I’m not going to complain all that much.Of course, there’s plenty of high density seating as well for those of you who would rather mingle with the masses.Interesting how they put the most uncomfortable chairs in the spot with the best view. That looks painful (yet awesome).The introvert in me can’t even look at this high-density seating situation without dry heaving a little. At the risk of losing my highly satisfying pre-flight meal, let’s keep moving…This spot doesn’t look so bad (as long as you can avoid the temptation to try to imagine what the person sitting across from you is eating through the frosted glass). You know those awkward moments western movies when a cowboy walks into a saloon, the music stops, and everyone gives him evil glances as he approaches the bar? That’s exactly what I was feeling as I was attempting to take a picture of the more comfortable chairs here in this back room.Unlike those cowboys, I lack the courage to make a stand. I’m outta here…
How to get in
Getting into this particular ANA lounge is exactly how it is at any other Star Alliance Lounge. There are no secret codes (or handshakes) specific to this one that you’ll need to know to get past the main entrance. You can get in if:
You’re flying business class on ANA (or any Star Alliance airline)
You’re flying ANA premium economy (I was flying ANA 777-300ER premium economy to San Francisco, so that’s how I got in)
You’re a Diamond or Platinum Service member
You’re a Super Flyer member
You’re a Star Alliance Gold member
You have a Star Alliance Member Carriers Paid Lounge membership
You are an ANA Million Miler Program Lounge Access Card holder
Pros and cons of the Haneda Terminal 3 ANA Lounge
If I had to wait my experience in this lounge, I would give it a 6 out of 10. The food was really good (although the lack of sushi was interesting). The overall style and design was excellent. But it was so crowded that I had a hard time getting comfortable.
Pros
Curry! Curry curry curry, curry curry.
The rest of the food was pretty good too. It was all fresh, well presented, and quite tasty.
It’s an excellent lounge for solo travelers. There’s about a 50-50 split of communal seating vs solo seating options.
Cons
The seating layout is extremely dense. It’ll be really hard to find a seat away from everyone else.
Maybe the timing of my visit was all wrong, but I was disappointed by the lack of sushi.
