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tl;dr – While departing South Africa on British Airways First Class, I had the opportunity to stop in at the British Airways Galleries Lounge at OR Tambo Airport. Overall, it’s a decent lounge, though it’s best visited when you are long on time. If you’re flying first, the reserved dining room makes the lounge experience less chaotic.
After much fun, sun, wine, and big felines in South Africa, it was time to begin the journey home, the long way through London. Before my British Airways First Class flights from Johannesburg to London Heathrow, I had the chance to check out the British Airways Galleries Lounge. The lounge was solid overall, with decent food and beverage options and serviceable amenities, though there is not a ton of seating, and it can get busy quickly. Accordingly, it may be overwhelming to pop in for a quick visit during peak hours, but if your flight doesn’t depart for a while and you have time to stake out a spot, it might be a good spot to post up. It’s a good value if you are flying first class, as you have access to the dining room, where you can enjoy made-to-order selections from a gourmet menu.
Accessing the British Airways Galleries Lounge, Location, and Getting In
As Mrs. Blackbeard and I were flying first class on British Airways, we received access to the lounge as part of our fare. That said, had I been flying economy, I would have also received access as an oneworld Emerald through my (American Airlines Advantage Executive Platinum Status). You can access the British Airways Galleries Lounge at JNB if you are:
- Flying on a scheduled British Airways flight in First, Club World or Club Europe.
- A Silver or Gold Member of the British Airways Executive Club on a scheduled flight operated by British Airways or one of our oneworld partners.
- A Sapphire or Emerald member of any oneworld airline frequent flyer program on a scheduled flight operated by British Airways or one of our oneworld partners.
Sapphire or Emerald oneworld members can bring along one guest as well.
After clearing security in Terminal A at JNB, we shuffled up to the mezzanine level to find the British Airways Lounge. Head upstairs to get to the BA lounge – Source: You Are Travel
The lounge is open from 16:00 to 22:30 daily and primarily serves passengers departing on British Airways overnight flights.
After scanning our boarding passes, we were informed that we had access to the dining room, so we made our way over there.
Layout, Food and Beverage, and Amenities
The layout of this lounge is strange. After the hostess kiosk, the first room has the main bar, which is weirdly positioned. There is a narrow path everyone needs to pass through (with all their bags and luggage) to get anywhere else, whether it’s the bathroom or showers (the only ones are located upfront in an alcove next to this bar), exit the lounge, or visit any of the food or seating areas. It isn’t that the bar is huge; it’s just in an awkward position. 
The next room is where you’ll find the main food offerings in a central buffet, a cooler with a host of beverages, and, of course, a sidebar with teas and coffees. This is a British Airways production, after all. For food, you’ll find a few hot entrees daily—a curry, chicken dish, jeera rice, and stew were available on my visit.
Buffet food offerings – Source: You Are Travel
Meats, cheese, crackers, cold salad fixings, and desserts are also available for light snacking. 
You’ll find a cooler full of non-alcoholic beverages and beers. For something harder, you have entry-level gin, whiskey, vodka, and wine – the wine being South African labels that you’ve likely encountered at your local supermarket. At the main bar, you had about twice as many booze options, a few slightly more upmarket.
Non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverage options – Source: You Are Travel
You’ll also find some standard cafeteria-style seating here.
If you need to host a meeting, you can do so at this aggressively long meeting room table in a room that overlooks the terminal.
There isn’t a ton of comfy seating in this lounge – there’s one dedicated area in the back with wall couches and loungers, which, as you can see, fills up rather quickly.
Main seating area – Source: You Are Travel
I didn’t get the chance to peek in at the showers, but there are at least four and possibly six. Unfortunately, you needed access from the attendants at the kiosk, and I was short on time, not wanting to arrive late at the gate.
That said, the bathrooms looked clean, which is crucial, given that they were the only ones in the lounge.
First Class Dining
The star of the show. The first class dining room is not huge, but it is much more comfortable than the rest of the lounge. We spent most of our time here, stepping out only to take a few photos of the rest of the lounge.
First class dining room – Source: You Are Travel
Once seated, a server dropped down a few menus.
As we were short on time, I was a bit torn. I was curious about the food quality in the first class dining room, but I didn’t want to spoil my in-flight experience by filling up a full meal. After all, this would be my first British Airways First Class experience, and I was excited. Ultimately, I ordered a burger, which I felt would be one of the faster items to prepare, and took a few bites. It was alright – nothing to write home about – but not bad. The food doesn’t come close to American Airlines Flagship First Dining, but a full meal here would be much better eating than what you’d find at most other business-class lounges (at least those outside of Asia and the Middle East).
Burger from first dining – Source: You Are Travel
I should add that there was a full bar in the dining room, with the same more fleshed-out beverage options as the main bar and even a few more wines.
Conclusion
After I sampled the burger, we took a few last sips of our drinks, left some gratuity, and headed for the gate. I’m not sure this is the strongest lounge at JNB airport (I haven’t had the chance to investigate all the other options) but if you’re flying on a first class fare, there are likely worse ways to pass the time before your flight.
