Aspire AMEX Salon/Lounge presents a sophisticated international culinary journey, masterfully blending diverse global flavors into an elevated dining experience. The menu features expertly crafted pasta dishes, showcasing traditional techniques and premium ingredients, alongside inspired international selections that cater to discerning palates. Guests can anticipate a refined atmosphere conducive to both relaxed conversations and memorable meals. This establishment offers a curated selection of dishes designed to provide a distinctive and satisfying gastronomic adventure. Each plate is a testament to the kitchen's dedication to quality and innovative presentation, ensuring a unique dining moment.
The Aspire Lounge receives mixed feedback, with visitors frequently praising the cleanliness, modern design, and the exceptionally friendly and attentive staff who often elevate the experience. While many guests enjoy the high quality of the made to order food and the relaxing ambiance, others express frustration regarding the lack of in lounge washrooms, limited menu variety, and the inefficiency of the QR code ordering system during peak hours. Long wait times to enter and potential delays in food delivery remain points of contention, leading some travelers to suggest that the lounge is best suited for those with free access rather than those paying out of pocket.
Nice atmosphere, the ordering system sucks. Only order 1 order at a time, wait for food can be from 5-15 mins. Drinks is by order only, so will need to wait while if the lounge is busy. The drink menu is way longer than the food menu.
Food wise, it's decent. Portion is on smaller side, but still need to put in several orders.
The menu is surprisingly lacking. Sandwiches & hot food, 2 types each.
The manager at the AMEX lounge at YUL - I believe her name is Daria - should seriously learn a thing or two about customer service & basic professionalism. Travelers in airport lounges are often exhausted, stressed, & running on little sleep. Yelling at your very young & clearly inexperienced staff in front of guests is not good management. It's embarrassing & uncomfortable to witness. Either hire more experienced employees or treat your current staff with respect while they learn. Or get a job at a 5 star hotel where everyone is trained to behave & work in the manner she obviously wishes they did.
As for the lounge itself: honestly, I hope AMEX completely rethinks this concept.
Despite more than two-thirds of the lounge sitting empty, the manager was still creating a 30+ minute wait list. Why? Nobody could explain it.
Once you finally get inside, the experience somehow gets worse. Their'sophisticated' ordering system only allows one item at a time through your phone. No smartphone? Too bad - you're basically out of luck. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for older travelers.
Best part - you can only order one item at the time & can't place another order until the first one is delivered to you….Want a sandwich? Wait 20+ minutes.
Want soup with it? Add another 20.
Want a drink? Another wait.
Coffee? More waiting.
& remember: you can't enter more than 3 hours before your flight, so if you time things perfectly, you might manage to get a soup, sandwich, cookie, coffee, & maybe a couple drinks before boarding.
Also, charging extra for basic items in an AMEX lounge is ridiculous:
• Hot dog: +$8
• Espresso martini: +$5
AMEX completely missed the mark here. This lounge manages to combine empty seating, long waits, poor management, slow service, & a frustrating ordering system all in one place.
May 16, 2026
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Very organized. Order your food / drink via QR code. Wait for it to get served at your table. Once you get it, you can order the next item.
Some may find this slow, if they're in a rush. But I like that this system is not chaotic.
Feedback: it'd be good if the dietary signs / symbols are visible. Also , if we could add a note to the order. Eg: my juice was served with ice. I couldn't request without ice at the time of order placement.
I just had a visit & here is few points that I thought I should share. Excellent staff & super polite. However the system of ordering one item per person at a time it is a bit frustrating specially if your flight is coming up shortly!! The quality of food is a bit concerning I would expect more from Amex name!!! the choices for lunch & dinner was very weak when I visited. I had a choice of roasted chicken or a Hotdog for an extra fee. yes those were the main options for a 70 dollar lounge access!! I really believe when you enter the lounge the staff should give you more information about the system in place before accepting you as a guest. I will pay a visit back & I hope this time there would be some better dining options. & please work on the food quality & presentation.
Plus mauvais lounge jamais fait! Déjà ce n'est pas un buffet, c'est un service à table. & sur liste d'attente ! Il n'y a que 4 plats & 1 dessert sur la carte & vous ne pouvez commander qu'un plat un par un. Vous devez attendre d'être servi (environ 15-20mn d'attente) pour commander à nouveau sauf que l'application bug, les serveurs se trompent systématiquement de table & de commande, les plats sont minuscules & pas très bons. Ça arrive froid car ça passe 15-20 mn sur le passe-plat avant d'arriver. L'organisation est très mauvaise, j'ai dû commander mon dessert à l'oral car l'application ne me laisser pas commander, je vous laisse imaginer que j'attends toujours mon dessert. Les serveurs discutent entre eux, ils sont 5 derrière le comptoir à rigoler pendant que les plats se perdent &/ou refroidissent. N'y allez pas !
Nice looking lounge. Food was decent & service was good. Would be better to provide clear information about what is included for each person, possibly include in the ordering system QR code. FYI restroom is outside & not in lounge.
You have to order one item at a time via their online menu. When we arrived, orders were blocked for about 30 minutes while they switched over to lunch. While waiting we got someone else's order, not once but twice.
When we could order it limited us to one item per category.
On the plus side the food was excellent & it arrived quickly.
Seating is not very comfortable.
I like that the ordering system reduces food waste but it needs some tweaks.
