Trip Report: United Polaris Lounge at Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
I was excited to try out United’s Polaris Lounge at ORD, since I’d only ever been to the SFO one. Since I was flying Lufthansa Business Class, I had access to the lounge, located in the C Concourse near gate C18.
The entrance was still decked out for the holidays.
After entering, you turn towards the right, and there’s a seating area with a bar on the left.
On the right side is a rather small but well-stocked buffet. Beyond that are the shower rooms.
The buffet had some pretty interesting things.
What really caught my eye were these two: “pecan pie trifle” and “apple oatmeal crisp.” They looked like mini pecan and apple pies, perfect for the hoolidays.
I got some chicken soup, and a pecan pie trifle to eat, while I was waiting for a spot at the sit-down Dining Room. The pecan pie trifle was SO good! But I was notified much more quickly than I expected, so I had to finish it quickly. (I’ll describe the trifle more, later…)
Here’s the menu for the Dining Room.
As a starter, I had the beet salad. It was fine.
For my main course, I got the chicken schnitzel, served with herb spaetzle and braised red cabbage. Very German, perfect for my upcoming German flight! The chicken schnitzel had a kind of a simple breadcrumb coating, while I was expecting something perhaps more crusty. Everything tasted fine, if nothing spectacular.
I must make a note here, of the setting. The Dining Room at ORD is much smaller than the SFO one, and not only that, the little booth I was in felt tiny too! There were two place settings here, but it seemed hard to imagine two people fitting in this little area, which is enclosed on 3 sides with the table pressed against one of the sides, and a column pressed against the fourth side. It felt cozy just for myself.
I was sad when the waiter informed me that they didn’t have the bourbon-maple bread pudding with dulce de leche ice cream. That was maybe what I was looking forward to, most of all! I don’t like bourbon, but I like it in desserts, and I love maple syrup.
Oh well, this left more room for more of those desserts from the buffet!
I took up a spot with a nice view out onto the planes. The lounge is at gate-level, and with floor-to-ceiling windows, the views are superb.
I got more of the chicken soup - just the broth -, and a mini egg salad sandwich which was delicious, with its soft roll.
And this time, I had time to indulge in these amazing desserts.
Basically they were the best parts of apple pie and pecan pie, in the perfect ratio, in tiny cup form.
The apple pie trifle, or “apple oatmeal crisp” as the lounge called it, was basically 50% this spiced whipped cream, then a thin layer of spiced apple, and then oatmeal crisp on the bottom.
The pecan pie trifle had a top 10% layer of pecans with chocolate shavings and a kind of caramel drizzle, then 65% whipped cream, and then 25% pecans mixed with gooey pecan pie filling. I love the concept of pecan pie, but normally that middle gooey pie filling layer is way too thick and sweet, and there’s not enough crust or pecans (or whipped cream) to balance it out. For me, this was an absolutely perfect balance of pecan pie components!
Soon enough, it was time to pass through the underground moving sidewalks to the B Concourse, where my Lufthansa flight was departing. I used to pass through ORD so often; it made me nostalgic to see these lights and hear Rhapsody in Blue!
