Flight Details:
- Flight QF49, MEL-SFO
- Aircraft: 787-900
- Departure: 10:35pm (scheduled)
- Seat: 3A
Cabin & Seat
This was my first time flying on a Qantas Dreamliner. Business class is divided into two cabins, with a 1-2-1 layout, all aisle access, fully flat seats. The front cabin has 8 rows, the back only 3, directly adjacent to premium economy.
In front of the front cabin is a single bathroom (left hand side), and a galley that isn't as high traffic as the main galley behind the front cabin. Between the cabins is that main galley, a bathroom on each side (also for Premium Economy passengers), and a in-flight self-service bar.
If you value quiet, opt for the front cabin, mid-cabin. I suspect rows 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 would be quite loud as that galley has all the action, and row 1 might be slightly annoying.
The other thing to note is that the window seats are staggered with the seat and shelf either against the window or against the aisle. Odd rows have the seat against the window, even against the aisle. This makes the odd rows more private, as the shelf and large console do make it fairly isolated, but, they also make it fairly cramped and restricted, particularly if you are a side sleeper.
And finally, the A side has right handed seats on the odd rows (e.g. shelf on the right) and the K side has left handed seats.
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| 3A. |
I selected what I thought would be the best seat on the aircraft for me. 3A. This was as far away from the galleys and bathrooms as possible, isolated seat next to window, right handed. I think this was still the right choice, but, it certainly had shortcomings.
The seat wasn't particularly comfortable to sit in. I'm not sure why, but I didn't ever find a great position. That said, it is still slightly better than Air New Zealand's business class seats ... for sitting.
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| Shelf. |
The large shelf was wonderful to have to put drinks, my glasses, phone, and more. I also liked the shelf/rack where I could put all sorts of smaller things during the flight. For usable space during the flight, it worked quite well. It had standard power and USB as well.
There wasn't much other storage though during takeoff or landing, or in-flight if you wanted it out of the way. No cubby to stash anything, not even shoes, although you could leave them next to the seat if in a window seat.
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| Entertainment Screen. |
In front of the seat is the large in-flight entertainment unit, which I didn't use, and a holder for magazines, that also nicely fit my small laptop.
The seat did not make for a great bed however. Better than
the 747-400 that I took to Sydney, no question, but, it was a very hard seat, and the very thin mattress pad just doesn't make it comfortable. But it was also really, really narrow. I couldn't sleep on my side curled up, and I'm not large.
I suspect that the window aisle seats would be better for this, since you could hang out a little?
So overall a mixed bag of a seat, ok-ish for sitting, eh for sleeping, good usable space, not much storage.
I might be tempted to try the aisle window seat next time.
Amenities & Service
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| Pajamas. |
Standard Qantas pajamas were waiting at the seats, rather than distributed as we were settling in as is more standard. L/XL side for all, but I asked and was able to exchange for M/L, still way too big, but better. Most of the women on the flight asked to exchange, so, I'm not sure why they lay them out in advance, it seems like extra work.
The amenity kit, scratchy not-quite-big-enough blanket, and single pillow were the same as
my flight from San Francisco, and I again was annoyed at only one pillow, and the quality of the blanket. That said, I was easily able to get extras.
Service was ok. Not particularly attentive, and one FA seemed highly stressed at all times. When I asked for sparkling water, he was like "Ahhh, ok, it will be a few minutes, like, 5 minutes, I can't do that right now". I thought I caught him at a bad time. But when I asked for coffee in the morning, it was the same, "Ahh, I'll get to it as soon as I can." Same when I asked for sparkling water another time. I pointed out that there was no sparkling water in the self-serve bar, otherwise I'd be happy to help myself, but, he never fixed the situation.
Cuisine
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| Super Menu. |
Dinner is ordered either in advance online, or, as we were settling in. Orders were brought out one by one, after a cart went through with drinks. Given the flight timing of a 10:35pm departure, there were two fast dine options, but most of my flight opted to skip the meal entirely, having already dined in the airport.
Main:
- Selection of cheese served with accompaniments.
- Green pea and mint soup with snow pea salad.
- Strozzapreti pasta with tomato and eggplant sugo, roast capsicum, basil and pecorino.
- Chicken ciabatta with avocado, rocket and chipotle mayonnaise.
- Seared barramundi with bok choy, steamed rice, lap cheong, sesame, shrimp and ginger sauce.
- Seared beef fillet with shredded fennel and radish salad, grilled asparagus and salmoriglio.
Green leaf salad with Neil's signature vinaigrette.
To Finish:
- Chocolate malted tart with creme fraiche
- Seasonal fruit
- Maggie Beer ice cream
I had pre-ordered the pea soup as a nice light dish, knowing I'd eat in the lounges, but, after a surprise trip to the Qantas F lounge (thank you seatmate who brought me as his guest!), I decided to forego the meal. It was 11pm after all, and I had eaten in 5 lounges, and on board my last flight anyway.
Well, forego the meal except for the desserts that is. All of them.
I appreciated that my desserts were served as they did initial meal service, rather than making me wait until dessert service for the entire flight. And they didn't set my table or anything, let me just use my little side table, much less invasive.
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| Cabernet Sauvignon. |
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Drinks and "bakery" (e.g. bread and rolls) were offered from a cart at the start of meal service.
To go with my desserts, I also selected a red wine, the cab. I actually liked it, a fairly big wine, but not too tannic, and more interesting than the other wines I had consumed in the lounges and previous flights.
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| Chocolate Malted Tart with Creme Fraiche. |
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The tart was not at all what I was expecting. As in, I expected a chocolate tart. This had chocolate, but only a thin layer on top.
Under the layer of chocolate was ... I just don't know really. A smooth filling, kinda creamy, maybe ... malt flavored? I sorta liked it but not really. The chocolate was good, a thick rich ganache.
The tart shell was not hard as I hate, but rather, soft, soggy, in the defrosted sense. The flavor wasn't great. Eh to the shell.
On the side, well, just creme fraiche. Not whipped, not sweetened, just, creme fraiche. It seemed like it should have gone with a scone.
A fairly confusing item, really.
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| Maggie Beer Ice Cream: Burnt Fig, Honeycomb, & Caramel. |
The ice cream was served rock solid, in its package, not plated up in any way. But I waited patiently, ate my other dessert, and eventually made my way to the ice cream.
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| Maggie Beer Ice Cream: Burnt Fig, Honeycomb, & Caramel. |
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It was really good, clearly premium ice cream. Rich, creamy.
The flavor was not one I'd normally pick, and was certainly a bit odd. The caramel and honeycomb were both sweet and made sense as ice cream flavors. But ... how did the fig fit in here? Yeah, it didn't, really. Fig and caramel? Eh. Maybe I just don't like fig enough, but, every bite that had fig in it made me sad.
So, just not the flavor for me due to the fig, but I really loved how rich and creamy the ice cream was. I'd gladly try more of their flavors.
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| Snack Bar, |
Between the two business cabins is a self-service bar area with water, soft drinks, wine, and assorted snacks - Red Rock Deli Chips (plain only), crudite and hummus, apples and pears, packaged Amaretti biscuits, and Koko Black brand chocolate bars.
The menu indicated that there would be almond, fava beans, and chickpea chips too, but I never saw them. And it also said there would be rhubarb and frangipane danishes, which I looked for every time I went back, but, alas, the same apple frangipane tarts that they had as part of the second meal were all I ever saw.
Also, mid-flight, you could order a couple small dishes from the staff:
- Pumpkin empanadas with tomato relish
- Stir fried eggplant with roasted red capsicum, sauteed mushrooms, and egg fried rice.
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| Light Dinner. |
The second meal is ordered like breakfast normally is on overnight flights, with a menu card you tick off and fill out before you even take off, but, the offerings are ... different. It isn't breakfast. Which makes sense, since you are landing at 5pm. But it also isn't a big full dinner.
The menu basically acknowledges how confused your body will be.
I understand that they have you order when you first are seated to maximize sleep, but ... particularly for this timing, that doesn't work well, as most people were up hours before the meal was served, trying to convince ourselves it was afternoon. I had no idea what I'd want 12 hours later, would I want a hot cooked meal? Just some breakfast items? So, I kinda selected it all.
Also, the timing of the meal was fairly standard for arrivals in that it was 1.5 hours before landing, but that was quite late no matter what time zone you were in. In Melbourne time, that was 11am, in San Francisco, 4pm. Our first meal was served really promptly, so this was a good 10 hours after the first meal. (Of course, there are mid-flight options available, and the self-serve snacks, and I had a bag of pastries from
Cafe Vue and
Bar Pulpo in the airport (reviews soon!), but, still.
I think that not doing it order-card style, serving an our earlier, and offering more of a brunch lineup would be far better.
The menu:
Drinks
- Apple juice, orange juice
- Bloody mary, mimosa, champagne
- Coffee, decaf coffee, hot chocolate, Dilmah teas
- Green juice.
Light Dinner
To Start: Croissant or Sourdough with berry jam/marmalade/vegemite/honey.
- Seasonal fresh fruit plate
- Mushroom and pecorino quiche with tomato relish and mesclun salad
- Hot-smoked salmon with blanched kale, soy mushrooms, brown rice, nori and sesame yoghurt dressing
- Grilled chermoula chicken with roasted sweet potato, cauliflower tabouleh and pomegranate dressing
- Sweet potato, ginger and turmeric soup with crispy onion and pepitas
- Selection of cheese served with accompaniments.
To Finish: Apple frangipane or Koko Black chocolate bar
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| "Super". |
I opted for the starter of a croissant, and decaf coffee, as they were the only "breakfast items" besides sourdough bread and fruit. And the smoked salmon as my lunch item, since I don't like quiche or chicken, and didn't particularly want sweet potato soup. And a cheese plate, in case that is all I wanted. And both "desserts", just the same apple frangipane tarts and Koko Black chocolate bars they had in the bar the entire flight.
The meal started with an offer of a small juice shot, passed through the cabin in advance of the meal, which made me think the meal was coming, but, it was still another 45 minutes before service began.
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| Decaf Coffee, Black. |
I wanted coffee, it was morning, but, I also knew I shouldn't have caffeine. So ... I went for decaf coffee, and had some chocolate for a little kick (in the form of an excellent brownie I had with me!).
The coffee was instant, but actually not bad.
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| To Start: Croissant. |
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The croissant (or sourdough toast) is offered with your choice of berry jam, marmalade, honey, or vegemite. I selected the berry jam, and butter also came with it.
The croissant was large, served warm, and decent. Not good, but not horrible. Not a fresh, flaky, buttery, excellent item, but, it was warm and not spongy. That said, the muffins I had in my bag from Cafe Vue and Bar Pulpo (reviews coming soon!) were better, so I opted for those instead.
The berry jam was Bundeberg brand, the standard in Australia. The butter was fantastic. And it wasn't just the packaging! Really creamy, slightly sweet, rich butter. I slathered it on my muffins.
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| Hot smoked salmon with blanched kale, soy mushrooms, brown rice, nori, and sesame yogurt dressing. |
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Well, this was a strange dish.
I didn't quite know what to expect given the hodgepodge of ingredients, but I hoped that it would somehow be breakfast-like. Smoked salmon and yogurt after all, right? I was also very curious what "soy mushrooms" were, I thought they were faux mushrooms made of soy, lol, but, actually, they were just sliced cooked mushrooms, probably marinated in soy sauce?
Anyway. It was a rice bowl. Warm, healthy, bo-ring brown rice as the base. I don't really eat rice (besides rice pudding), and this is at the bottom of the barrel of types of rice for me. Eh to the base.
And major eh to the blanched kale, I know this is a very healthy dish, and the warm blanched kale on a rice bowl appeals to some people, but, eh! The mushrooms were flavorful at least, and I like shredded nori.
The smoked salmon was ok. Served warm, kinda scattered around the top of the bowl. Not slimy and flavorless like the smoked salmon (served cold) I had on
a salad on my previous Qantas short flight from Sydney to Melbourne, but not nearly as amazing as
some smoked salmon I've had on flights (
Air New Zealand really wins here!).
The dressing surprised me. I don't really like yogurt dressings, because yogurt is tart, healthy, and, well, not the mayo I go for, but this was creamy, flavorful, and really tasted like a lightened creme fraiche, and had a nice flavor. It was really creamy, and went great with the smoked salmon.
I basically made a creamy smoked salmon salad, with the dressing, mushrooms, and nori, and ate it inside the croissant for a smoked salmon salad croissant. Not bad, and it was good to have protein before moving back to my pile of mushrooms.
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| Selection of cheese served with accompaniments. |
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The cheese platter amused me. The little card highlighting the cheeses was actually quite nice to have, but, the presentation was also funny, with the card just throw on top. The cheeses however were actually quite quality.
The cheese platter included two types of French cheese: Gres Champenois and Fourme D' Ambert. The Gres Champenois was fantastic, served perfectly soft, gooey, ripe. The cheese in enriched with creme fraiche, and, well, you can tell. I loved this cheese, but didn't particularly like any of the pairings. I wanted some spiced nuts, or something like a quince paste.
The Fourme D' Ambert is a classic blue cheese, very rich, very ... blue cheese forward. Not my pick of cheeses, but, this is a well known good one.
Also on the plate were standard dried apricots, a date and nut slice, and two types of crackers.
I enjoyed the cheese, but I think I would have liked this more at the start of my flight with a glass of red wine. Maybe next time ... dinner in the lounge, save room for cheese and wine to start the flight!
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| To Finish: Apple Frangipane. |
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This was the same as the little tarts they had in the self-serve kitchen through the flight.
I did not like it at all. A dry hard tart shell, mushy filling, mushy sliced apples. Not for me.
