Tuesday, September 11, 2018

JetBlue Mint, B6 516, SFO-JFK

Flight Details

Date: June 2, 2018
Departure: SFO, 1:14 PM (scheduled) 1:18pm (actual)
Arrival: JFK,  9:23 PM (scheduled)
Seat: 4K
Class: Mint
Date: June 2018

We boarded before 12:30pm, totally leisurely, as everyone showed up.  We pushed back on time.  We took off on time.  Smoothest, most on-time, flight experience I've had in years.

Amenities

I've reviewed JetBlue Mint extensively before, so, no full review this time around.  Not much has changed, as always, a wonderful experience, both hard product and soft.
Seat 4K.
 Yup, I scored the suite.  Spacious, private beyond belief with the door shut, and plentiful power.
Amenity Kit.
Amenity kits are still provided by Hopper, colorful cases, with the standard pen/toothbrush/ear plugs/hand lotion/eye mask/glasses wipe lineup, plus some actual nice looking socks.

None of this really necessary for my day flight, but, the toothbrush I knew I'd use at hotel.

Dining

Eastbound Lunch/Dinner Menu, June 2018.
As always, menus were distributed as we settled into our seats, orders taken once underway.  The menu followed the familiar format - appetizer, choice of 3 of 5 small plates (2 chilled, 3 veggie, 1 seafood), and local ice cream.

WELCOME TASTE
  • CARAMELIZED ONION DIP WITH TARO CHIPS
DELISH DISHES
Choose three. Please note: The first two dishes listed below are chilled
  • GRILLED CORN SALAD: paprika mayonnaise, sweety drop peppers, cotija cheese
  • ROASTED CARROT SALAD: burrata, mâche, pistachio-herb dressing
  • SOY GLAZED SALMON: green pea puree, potato pancake, chinese broccoli
  • MEXICAN CHICKEN STEW: cherry tomato, avocado, radish, lime
  • MEATBALLS: marinara sauce, provolone, basil-feta pesto*
SWEET BITES
  • ICE CREAM: Double Rainbow, San Francisco, CA
WHEN YOU RE-TREAT
  • COOKIE, milk bar, NYC and beyond
This was an awesome menu for me, as I *adore* JetBlue's taro chips (as I've reviewed before) and I'm obsessed with their caramelized onion dip, and who says no to burrata?  My choices were very easy, meh to chicken and meatballs, totally yes to everything else.
Drink Menu.
And of course, a drink list with the usual beer, liquor, coffee, tea, and wine.
  • Sparkling: RAVENTOS I BLANC DE NIT BRUT ROSÉ, 2015, Penedès, Spain
  • White: SANDHI CHARDONNAY, 2015, Sta. Rita Hills, California
  • White: VON WINNING ESTATE DRY RIESLING, 2016, Pfalz, Germany
  • Red: COUNTY LINE PINOT NOIR, 2016, Sonoma Coast, California
  • Red: BROC VINE STARR ZINFANDEL, 2016, Sonoma County, California
RefreshMint and Sparkling Water.
Pre-takeoff, as always, drinks were offered, and I decided to indulge in a RefreshMint.  As always, it was sweet and refreshing, and helped ease me into my travels.
Welcome Taste: Caramelized Onion Dip with Taro Chips (double).
Our Welcome Taste was delivered once underway.  I told my FA that I was excited because it was my favorite of the ones I've tried so far, and since our cabin wasn't fully loaded, he brought me a double order.  Score!

I liked it as always, crunchy nice taro chips, and that dip is just so oniony and delicious.  I still have absolutely no idea what is in it, but, I like it so much, every time.
Sandhi Chardonnay.
"2015, Sta. Rita Hills, California."

The wine menu was all different wines than I've had before, but, JetBlue does a nice job with wines usually, and I remember some really nice Chardonnays, so I went for that, also knowing it would go well with my salads and fish.

It was ... fine?  Really not much to say about it.  A bit bitter?  Not buttery?  Ok, maybe I didn't like it very much.
Lunch.
My tray arrived with all three of my small plates, the standard roll and butter, and ... a bonus!  Another serving of taro chips and onion dip.  Heh.  Much appreciated.

The roll was incredibly bad as always, and I wished I had remembered to tell him I didn't need it.  Warm, but so spongy and awful.
Grilled Corn Salad (Chilled).
"Paprika mayonnaise, sweety drop peppers, cotija cheese."

First up, a chilled salad.  This was a mixed success.

The sweety drop peppers were really fascinating, adorable tiny little things that were somehow really sweet, yet, spicy?  Really fun and tasty.

The corn itself was ... fine?  Not really grilled tasted.  The menu didn't mention beans.  Eh to the beans, but at least there weren't many.  I didn't actually appreciate the parsley on top, but, yay, garnish?

The real issue though - I love mayo based dishes, and this had tons of paprika mayo on the bottom that I was eager to stir in, but ... i didn't like the strong smoked paprika flavor.

Not a winner really, my third pick, and I certainly wouldn't want it again.
Roasted Carrot Salad (Chilled).
"Burrata, mâche, pistachio-herb dressing."

Another mixed success.

The carrots were rainbow carrots, cut in half.  Just like the corn, they didn't really have any roasted flavor, the carrots had nothing "grilled" about them really.  No grill marks, no flavor.  They were also very inconsistently cooked, some soft, some seemingly raw.  Pretty, but, meh.  Then again, I don't like carrots much, I ordered this for the burrata, duh!

The mâche was wonderful, fresh, crisp, slightly peppery.  I loved it and wished there were more.  I wanted a mâche salad, not a carrot salad!
Chilled Carrot Salad: Underneath.
Under the mâche was the burrata, a full bulb.  Seriously, what a ridiculous portion of burrata, but, when burrata is good, I can eat that no problem.

This burrata *seemed* like it should be good.  The skin was thin, it burst open full of cream.  But ... the burrata wasn't actually creamy.  It was just ... some kinda chewy mozzarella and cream.

The "pistachio-herb" dressing was a nice surprise, in the bottom, definitely more like a pesto than a dressing.  A bit oily, but the oil was nice with the burrata.  The flavor was great though, as was teh slightly chunky texture.  When it mixed with burrata cream it was even better.  I used it as a dip for more of my taro chips.

Given the mâche and the tasty dressing, I'd get this again actually, but my second pick overall.
Soy Glazed Salmon.
"Green pea puree, potato pancake, chinese broccoli."

Finally, a hot dish.  Now, I don't like fully cooked salmon (so fishy!), and I didn't expect to eat the salmon really, but everything else about the dish sounded fantastic.  Pea puree! Potato pancake!  Tasty greens!

The salmon, as expected, was fully cooked, fishy.  It also didn't really have a soy glaze, just some sesame seeds on top.  It was lukewarm.  Moving on to the parts I actually cared about anyway, all hiding under it.
Potato Pancake / Pea Puree / Chinese Broccoli.
The potato pancake was not crispy.  It was made from shredded potatoes and aggressive spicing.  The spices were really unexpected.  They seemed to be ... curry?  Indian spicing so some kind.  It made no sense at all.  I didn't like it.  At all.

The pea puree was not a puree, but a mash.  Which is fine, but, definitely not as advertised.  Not particularly great.

The Chinese broccoli though I really liked.  Just simple steamed Chinese broccoli, mostly leaves, not much stem, but, it was bitter, fresh, hot, and I added salt and pepper and really truly enjoyed it.

So, overall, I'm giving this the number 1 slot only because I really did like that broccoli.
Double Rainbow Ice Cream: Lychee and French Vanilla.
And ... dessert time!  As always, ice cream, served from a local ice cream maker from the port of departure.  For SF, this is Double Rainbow, which always makes me sad since we have so many great ice cream shops!

Our ice cream was slated to be Lychee Nut (I asked while we were waiting to takeoff, lol, had to plan ahead!), but our FA warned that they had a shortage (!) and it might be caramel.  It was the lychee, 2 scoops of that, one vanilla, with the random mint garnish as always.  I brought my own toppings.  I'm a pro!

It was served way too hard, so I had to patiently wait for it to warm up.

Lychee Nut
"Pure​ lychee ice cream intensified by lychee fruit."

The lychee flavor was ok.  Somewhat like a cross between ice cream and sorbet, fairly icy, very fruity, very sweet.  Too sweet really, but, that is lychee, and the lychee flavor was nice.  If it really had "nut" as titled, that would have been nice.  It had some little bits of lychee for texture, but not many.  Meh.

French Vanilla
"French Vanilla: Winner of  Best in America, our French Vanilla is a perfectly crafted blend of the highest quality milk, cream, eggs and vanilla."

The French Vanilla was better.  More creamy, more ice cream like, decent vanilla flavor.  Still really hard originally, much much better once softer, and with my added toppings.

I still really wish JetBlue did toppings.  American Airlines, United, etc are all about the sundaes.  Why isn't JetBlue!  I've made ice cream sandos by asking for the parting gift early, and my FA said people like to take the chocolate chip cookies from the snack bar to crumble on top, but I was the first to come with my own toppings, lol.  I'm a pro!
Decaf Coffee.
To go with my ice cream, I ordered hot coffee, decaf.

It was fairly awful.  It is supposed to be Dunkin' Donuts, but, eh.  It really tasted like instant.  It had that funk to it.
COUNTY LINE PINOT NOIR, 2016.
And I moved to red wine, my standby, pinot noir.

Much much better.  Light and drinkable.
Milk Bar Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Our parting gift was again a cookie from Momofuku Milk Bar, the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow, which I've had many times, like on JetBlue Mint, 334, SFO-BOS (December) (review coming soon!

My FA may or may not have snuck me extra.

They were fine.  Never as good as when they are fresh, and the JetBlue selection seems to never include the corn or blueberry ones I like, but, still, its a sweet, seriously buttery, cookie.  I liked the salty crunch from the cornflakes this time around too.

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