Silver Kris Lounge Incheon Terminal 1

The last time I was in Incheon Terminal 1, the Silver Kris Lounge was not operating due to renovations so we were all directed to the Asiana Lounge instead. During this trip, I was able to visit the newly renovated and opened lounge on my flight back to Singapore

The Silverkris Lounge is located in the same area as the Asiana Lounge and opens only at 3 different intervals. The earliest time is from 6.45am to 11am, afternoon from 1.45 pm to 4.30 pm and lastly from 8.45 pm to 11.30 pm. I was early when I cleared customs so I ended up waiting for the lounge to open for their evening session. I am quite surprised at the different timings as most SQ Lounges are open throughout the day

We were the first few guests in the lounge since we waited for it to be opened and the entrance leads to a section of high bar stools and table for people who wish to get a view of the terminal. The main seating area of the Lounge was renovated in the usual SQ Lounge style and colours which is in the tones of subtle grey and brown. I really liked these individual booth seats which are designed to look like the business class seats on board. The main highlight is the cocktail and liquor bar in the centre of the lounge which reminds me of a classy bar

There are only 2 tables; one mainly serves hot food and the other table with mainly cold dishes like salad, bread and cold cuts. You can either get a non-alcoholic drink from the refrigerator at the side of the coffee and tea machines at the beverage stations

Since I had all the time in the world, I tried almost every dish at the counters except for the salad and bread since I was saving my stomach for food on board my flight. For soup, they had the soybean paste soup with seaweed which is a tad salty but was great with rice. I also took some of the Korean side dishes available; savoury black beans, kimchi and pickled chilli. From the hot section, I took spicy stir-fried potatoes and fish, sauteed shrimp and stir-fried eggplants. To end off, I had some smoked salmon with a mix of cheese, fruits and crackers with my Korean soda

Overall, the food at the lounge is not fantastic although some of the selections like cheese and fruit platters can hardly go wrong. I would have expected more varieties of Korean dishes since we were in Seoul but the stir-fried dishes were hardly popular Korean dishes. Even a ginseng chicken soup would have been very heart-warming. While I loved the environment of the new lounge and their polite service, they could really improve on the food offerings by taking a leaf from Bangkok and Tokyo’s lounges where soba noodles or chicken rice is being offered

In terms of other amenities like shower room, and sleeping chairs, they are all available and you need to check in with the service staff for the key. The bathrooms are all bright and well-cleaned and very pleasant to use. The only minus point for me is really the food

Address: 272 Gonghang-ro, Jung-gu, Incheon, South Korea

Operating hours: 6.45am to 11am, 1.45 pm to 4.30 pm and 8.45 pm to 11.30 pm