Qatar's New Doha Lounge Menus: The Steak Moved to First, Business Got Japanese Potato Salad
Markus Neubauer · 2026-10-15
Qatar Airways' October lounge menus in Doha: the Black Angus steak is off the Al Mourjan à la carte and the South lounge is down to one main course, while Al Mourjan The Garden added Japanese salads and Al Safwa still grills an Angus tenderloin.
The short version: Qatar Airways has new lounge menus in Doha, and they do not treat every lounge the same. The Black Angus steak is gone from the Al Mourjan à la carte. The main Al Mourjan lounge in the South is down to one main course for lunch and dinner. Al Mourjan The Garden in the North has quietly grown a proper Japanese corner, potato salad included. And the steak has not left Hamad International: it now sits on the grill in Al Safwa, the First Class lounge.
We went through the five menus Qatar Airways currently publishes for its Doha lounges, dish by dish. Here is what changed, where to eat, and which lounge is worth the walk.
The five menus at a glance
| Lounge | Who gets in | Lunch & dinner à la carte | Menu edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Safwa | First Class | Soups, salads, five starters, six mains, a grill with four proteins and five sauces, four plated desserts | 09-2026 |
| Al Mourjan The Garden (North) | Business Class | Five mains, three family dishes, sushi plus three Japanese salads | 10-2026 |
| Al Mourjan (South) | Business Class | One main, two family dishes, sushi | 10-2026 |
| Platinum & Gold (North) | Privilege Club Platinum & Gold, oneworld Emerald & Sapphire | Three all-day dishes, plus the buffet | 09-2026 |
| Platinum (South) | Privilege Club Platinum, oneworld Emerald | The same three all-day dishes, plus the buffet | 09-2026 |
Al Mourjan South: the steak is gone, and so is most of the menu
Regulars will notice it first at dinner: the Black Angus beef steak no longer appears on the Al Mourjan à la carte. It is not the only cut. The October menu for the main Al Mourjan lounge lists, for lunch and dinner from 11:00 to 04:00:
- Main course: barley risotto with tomato, saffron, home-made sun-dried tomato and garlic chips. That is the only one.
- Family offering: nachos with guacamole, and spaghetti bolognese.
- Japanese selection: four nigiri (prawn, tamago, smoked salmon, tataki tuna) and six maki rolls.
- Dessert: four ice creams and a fruttini selection.
For the flagship Business lounge of a five-star hub, one main course is thin. We read it as cost control: fewer dishes cooked to order, more weight on the buffet. Breakfast is intact, with eggs any way you like and bayd wa tamat, Qatari-spiced eggs with tomato in a skillet.
The drinks list did not get the same treatment. Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale and a Gobillard rosé champagne, a 2017 Saint-Julien from Château Moulin Riche, a Sauternes for dessert, and a cocktail card by Lorenzo Antinori, whose Bar Leone in Hong Kong the menu notes was named the World's Best Bar in 2025. The Old Smoke (single malt with Amarula cream) and the Golden Delilah (vodka, apple and champagne) are the ones to try.
Al Mourjan The Garden: walk north and eat better
Same cabin, same ticket, different menu. The Garden in the North concourse runs the same October edition and the same drinks, but the kitchen offers far more:
- Five mains: prawns machboos with dried lime and daqoos sauce, the barley risotto, lemongrass grilled chicken with coconut sauce and jasmine rice, an Angus beef burger with skin-on fries, and truffle mac & cheese.
- Three family dishes: chicken nuggets with fries, spaghetti bolognese, and a 32-hour sourdough pizza margherita.
- Breakfast extra: eggs Benedict with turkey ham, which the South menu does not list.
The beef that is left in Business is the Angus burger, and only here.
The Japanese corner, and a confession
The Garden's Japanese selection now reaches past sushi. Next to the same nigiri and maki you will find three salads:
- Japanese potato salad with mayonnaise, turkey ham, onion and cucumber
- Soba noodle salad, cold matcha soba with vegetable julienne and yuzu ponzu
- Cucumber salad with sunomono dressing and sesame
We will admit a weakness: Japanese potato salad. Creamy, a little sweet from the mayonnaise, crunchy with cucumber and onion, it is the most underrated side dish in Japanese cooking, and finding it in a Gulf transit lounge was a genuine surprise. If you have a long connection, this alone is a reason to pick the Garden over the South.
Al Safwa: where the steak went
The First Class lounge is the only one with a menu that still reads like a restaurant, served from 11:00 to 04:30:
- From the grill: Angus beef tenderloin, lamb chops, chicken breast or salmon fillet, with chimichurri, béarnaise, green peppercorn, mushroom or mint sauce.
- Starters: seared scallop with truffled cauliflower purée, Puglia burrata, lamb sambousek, spinach fatayer.
- Soups: saffron consommé with scallop and prawns, or roasted tomato.
- Mains: jumbo prawn machboos, baked hammour, a Wagyu beef burger, Qatari beef hamsa, linguine with mushrooms, butter chicken.
- Desserts: almond croquant tiramisu, a 70% dark chocolate mousse, a vegan chocolate mousse, an artisan cheese platter with Sidr honey.
The wine list matches: Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve and Taittinger Prestige Rosé, two 2015 Bordeaux classed growths (Château Croizet-Bages from Pauillac and Château Cos Labory from Saint-Estèphe), Shaw + Smith Shiraz, and a Lenz Moser Trockenbeerenauslese. For spirits, Hibiki, Rémy Martin XO and Patrón Añejo.
Platinum and Gold: three dishes and the buffet
The status lounges in the North and South share one menu: smoked salmon tartare on multigrain toast, butter chicken with basmati rice, and butter paneer masala, next to the buffet. The wines are simpler too (a German Riesling Sekt instead of champagne). If you hold oneworld Emerald or Sapphire and a Business Class ticket, the Garden is the better meal.
What to do with this
- Business Class with time to spare: go to Al Mourjan The Garden in the North. More mains, the Angus burger, and the Japanese salads.
- Craving a steak: only Al Safwa still has one, the Angus tenderloin from the grill. That means a First Class ticket.
- Status only: the Platinum and Gold lounges feed you well enough for a short connection, but the à la carte is three dishes.
Every Doha lounge, with location and access rules, is in our Doha lounge directory. Planning a long connection? Our Doha transit guide covers the rest, and the Qatar Privilege Club Avios calculator shows what the flight earns.
Verified 15 October 2026 against the lounge menus Qatar Airways publishes: Al Safwa (09-2026), Al Mourjan The Garden (10-2026), Al Mourjan (10-2026), Platinum & Gold North and Platinum South (both 09-2026). Menus rotate, so a dish can come and go between editions.