Business Class Bliss: Philippine Airlines Business Class Dining, Part 2 (Manila to LA)

After spending the holidays with family (for the first time in a while), the time to fly home came upon us like a sudden wave. We knew it was coming, but being on vacation and the slow, lazy pace of the holidays had lulled me into a false sense of security. I went from a laissez-faire December to a chaotic, get-everything-done-now January.

But after accomplishing my to-do list, packing the pasalubong, and one last tearful goodbye, it was time for us to fly back to LA and have one last business-class dining experience aboard Philippine Airlines.

In case you missed it, find part 1 here!

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The (Renovated) Mabuhay Lounge

We wanted to arrive at the airport (NAIA) somewhat early; in my case, because I was paranoid about being late for a flight, while my husband wanted to take advantage of the business class lounge. So we were there around 8 am, for our 11 am departure.

Admittedly, I wasn’t too excited about the Mabuhay Lounge, based on our experience back in 2023. The space wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring. It was a lot smaller and felt cramped from a combination of trying to squeeze in too many seats, and too many pieces of luggage. Sure, they were only personal items and carry-ons, but Filipino packing, especially for international travel is… definitely something else.

We had missed the “entrance,” and had to double back after asking some helpful staff for directions. We were re-directed to the elevator, which was our first clue that we were in for a ride (pun definitely intended).

We took the elevator 2 floors up, and came out to a wide, comfortable lounge with ample seating – and most importantly, more than ample space between those seats to accommodate large carry-ons and even larger personal items. They even had what appeared to be a shower area, though I didn’t check or test it out. Maybe next time?

The new (to us) Mabuhay Lounge was clean, modern, and appeared to be thoughtfully designed with the Filipino customer in mind. 

Apart from the expected dining tables & seats, there was a semi-separated space with dimmer lights and cozier seats perfect for napping. At least, I’m assuming they were the perfect napping chairs, given how many people I saw splayed out or fully decked out with a blanket and a sleep mask. I was tempted myself, but we skipped breakfast to sample the lounge, and the cozy seats were almost all occupied. 

It’s definitely something to look forward to during future visits though!

But most importantly, the food spread at the new Mabuhay Lounge was a lot more extensive and impressive.

Certainly, the quality of a restaurant (or in this case, a lounge) shouldn’t depend on aesthetics. But a lot of people discount the fact that visual presentation does play a role and would have an effect in terms of overall experience. 

But from a subjective point of view, it’s also really embarrassing to have such a small (and kinda sad) food offering in our own backyard, from the biggest local airline. It was why I found my previous Mabuhay Lounge experience back in 2023 to be pretty disappointing – poor space planning I could live with, as it’s par for the course, but a bare-bones food selection? The horror.

I’m glad that the renovated lounge seems to have solved the biggest issues the previous lounge had!

Brunch at Mabuhay Lounge

There was now so much food to choose from, I was almost overwhelmed (but in a good way). So instead of grabbing food right away, I went around the buffet island and counters first, to see what was available. Only after did I make up a plate.

Boarding: First Impressions

I understand the need for safety, especially in an airport, but I still think that 3 separate X-ray checkpoints are overkill. 

The first one, right at the entrance and before checking in the luggage is understandable. It was my first time going through that particular process, as they didn’t have it during our previous visit. After ensuring that we were by the right gate, by checking against our flight number, they put our check-in luggage through an X-ray machine. After it came out, we were no longer allowed to even touch it – it had to be taken off the belt by an employee and brought to the gate agent a few feet away. However, I’m not exactly sure if it was for safety or a privilege for business class passengers. 

Last time they just had security checking manually – as in, they opened my luggage and looked through it. But then they got to my husband’s, which at the time was a hiking backpack that only opens at the top – which they did open, looked at, and then waved through. Inconsistent, not to mention a potentially massive breach of privacy. 

The second X-ray checkpoint was for personal items and carry-on luggage, which also made sense. Most people hate this part: taking off shoes and belts and then removing some (or all) of the electronics from their bags. After this point, most people would assume that’s the end of security, but nope!

At our gate, instead of being able to board our plane right away, there was a third X-ray checkpoint…

I’m not 100% clear on why it needs to be there. Unless there are stores inside the airport selling unsafe or banned items – which again begs the question of why? Also, you can’t bring through drinks, even if they were bought inside the airport. I learned that the hard way when I had to toss out my (mostly full) Venti Matcha from the airport Starbucks during our previous visit.

They also check passports and boarding passes before going through (the third!) X-ray checkpoint. As business class passengers, we had a shorter “line,” but no dedicated flight attendant to check it. Then it’s the same line for the X-ray, regardless of the boarding group. 

Needless to say, I’m not a fan of the (third!!!) X-ray checkpoint, and how inefficiently it’s handled. I’m not surprised that boarding at NAIA took longer than it did at LAX, during both trips.

PAL Business Class Dining 1: Hot Meal

It was surprisingly good – granted, I’m someone who already enjoys a good hummus anyway. Back when I’ve only ever tried the grocery ones, I couldn’t see the appeal. However, after tasting in-house hummus at different restaurants, I’m converted.

I had started the veggies first, leaving the pita bread for last – that was a mistake. I hadn’t realized it was toasted… I wish it wasn’t, because I couldn’t contour the bread to the dish so I could mop up every last bit of that delicious Ube Hummus.

I say surprisingly because, from my experience, most tinola made in restaurants is more on the bland side. It’s the homemade ones, made for family, that are usually more flavorful – they’re usually seasoned to that particular family’s taste. Some have it saltier, leaning on the ginger, or extra chicken.

I picked a soft dinner roll from the bread basket – which I completely forgot about until I was almost done with the Chicken Tinola. But at least I remembered it in time to dip it in the broth and it was amazing! I didn’t do it too much though, since while I love the taste, I’m not a fan of the resulting texture of the bread.

Though to be fair, this could be due to how much more flavorful the crudité and appetizers were. Alternatively, it could’ve been because of how dry the cabin (and my sinus, eyes, skin, and everything else…) was.

I had also started feeling full, halfway through the Chicken Tinola, so it was a little harder to enjoy the Miso Seabass. I was just thinking to myself that I probably should’ve skipped that churro from the Mabuhay Lounge…

No regrets: The flavor was more or less a typical Halo-halo, but the difference was in the texture and volume of the mix-ins. The ice was also SO thin and fluffy, a lot more than what I’ve ever had at Filipino restaurants, even ones that specialize in Halo-halo, like Razon’s. I would say the texture of the ice was closer to a Bingsu than a traditional Halo-halo.

As a side note, the chocolate pudding on offer also looked very appealing. Overall, I’m a lot happier with the curated dessert options during this flight over our LA-Manila flight.

PAL Business Class Dining 2: Mid-flight Refreshment

Technically, I missed this one (again). At least this time, it wasn’t because I slept through most of the flight. Neither my husband nor I got hungry for a while, and by the time we did get hungry (around 7-8 hours into the flight), they only had 1 serving of Buffalo Wild Wings left.

They offered me either an Arroz Caldo or the Tuna Egg Sandwich, but neither appealed to me. Besides, the rice and bread would’ve been too filling for me anyway. So I let my husband have the wings, and though he offered to share, I just got a consolation chocolate bar from the flight attendant. Anyway, I preferred to save stomach space for breakfast instead.

Either way, my husband was happy with his wings, and I was happy with my chocolate bar.

It was actually through our first Business Class flight with PAL in 2023 that I first heard about the Auro brand. I liked it so much that during this trip, I made a quick stop at their flagship store in BGC to buy some chocolate, and introduced it to my family.

Who knows, maybe next time I’ll get to actually sit down at an Auro cafe and try their meals too!

PAL Business Class Dining 3: Breakfast

It just never tastes the same in the US. The flavor and even texture of tropical fruits are just all wrong – the closest is pineapple, but even then, I’m used to a much sweeter pineapple (during the right season).

In retrospect, I probably could’ve asked for more cream on the side, but I was somehow both very groggy and sleep-deprived at the same time.

The texture was a little thicker than I preferred (maybe it was cooked too long or there was not enough water), so I needed more cream. However, I wasn’t that hungry and was uncertain if I could finish the whole bowl, so I didn’t want to waste more cream.

I ate as much as I could; One because I do enjoy a good Champorado, and two because eating it as an adult is always so nostalgic. But in the end, the saltiness of the (too many) dried fish got to me, so I called it quits with about a quarter of Champorado still left in the bowl. 

Bonus Content: The Husband Experience & Verdict

Deplaning: Final Thoughts

So far, this is only my fourth time flying Business Class, all of them with Philippine Airlines. However, service during this flight felt almost… uncoordinated, maybe? They were minor things, that on their own wouldn’t have caught my attention, but together, they were somewhat noticeable. 

Some small examples were:

• On our first roundtrip flights, the food seemed to be served one of two ways: either by row going from front to back, or each food item was brought out at a time (so everyone who ordered a Miso Seabass gets their food, then those who ordered Braised Beef Short Ribs would get served, etc). But during the flight, there were times that my husband would get his food while I waited, or vice versa – I could also see the attendants bringing the same food I was waiting for to passengers behind me. To be honest, the wait times weren’t bad – measured in a few minutes at most. It was more the fact that it felt disorganized as if the attendants weren’t all aware and on the same page as to who got served and who was still waiting on food.
• I had my table napkin taken away when an attendant picked up my empty main course plate. It was done so quickly, that I didn’t even have time to tell them that I hadn’t gotten my dessert yet – I was still waiting for a different attendant who promised to show me their curated dessert options.
• When the (glorious dessert) attendant came by with their curated desserts, she only had 1 spoon on hand. I told my husband to take it while I waited for another spoon, but he finished his (semi-frozen!) ice cream before anyone came by. So I just used his spoon, and I finished my Halo-halo without anyone coming by with a new spoon or apologizing for not bringing me one. I didn’t need an apology, but I’m used to at least some form of acknowledgment – even at most restaurants in the Philippines, they offer a token apology for taking so long.

Overall, the dinner service felt a little disorganized, but not bad per se. I guess I just expected…more? Or at least on par with the service and welcome we experienced during our flights back in May 2023. 

I was expecting that the holiday season might negatively affect our LA-Manila flight, with everything being more chaotic. But I was hoping to have a better experience during our Manila-LA flight since it was after the holidays.

To be frank, the minor inconveniences were just that: minor. It was something to note because I’m looking to specifically compare my and my husband’s experiences flying with Philippine Airlines Business Class against each other and later (hopefully!) with other airlines.

But what truly bothered us was the…odd conversation with the head flight attendant when she introduced herself. It was awkward at best, and insulting at worst. I’m hesitant to write or talk about it since I’m not even sure it would lead anywhere even if we were to complain about it.

Looking for more context, or just straight-up more food photos? Find part 1 here in case you missed it!