August 2015
After a hour or so of relaxing in the
British Airways lounge (link), it was time to get on our flight, BA 286, from San Francisco (SFO) to London Heathrow (LHR), aboard a 747.
The departure time was 7:05pm, but we were slightly delayed. I’d been on this flight before, so I knew to expect that we would board directly from the lounge, but that was a first for my companion. He thought this was rather novel. It really is nice to not need to re-enter the main terminal and avoid the chaos!
Seat & Amenities
The seat and amenities all left something to be desired, not up to par with other similar priced business class offerings.
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| Cabin. |
We were flying in Club World, aka, business class, and it was my first time. Yes, I’d been on BA286 before, but, due to Emil’s awesomeness and generosity,
I was able to fly in First Class last time. So this was a first for me, and I was eager to explore my seat.
We opted for the upper deck, since it is a smaller cabin, rather than the main lower deck where most of business class is located. Every frequent flyer I talked with recommended the top, as the ratio of cabin crew (2) to passengers would be much better. It really was a lovely, tranquil cabin, and felt a lot like a small, private plane. I was slightly concerned about this, since I’ve been on the upper deck of a 747 before (on Qantas), and although lovely, my companion and I both felt the deck shook a lot when people walked by, which was really frustrating when trying to sleep. We hoped BA would do better.
The cabin layout was also very different from Qantas. The seats are arranged in a 2-2 configuration, with quite a wide aisle. But the unique aspect is … the window seats face backwards. So in the pair of two seats, you sit facing each other. Since I was flying with someone I knew it wasn’t strange, but with a strange, it would have felt a bit odd. Of course, there is a divider to put up once underway, but it needs to be down for takeoff and landing. This was actually really nice during meal service, as my companion and I shared most of our food, and it was really easy to pass things back and forth.
The configuration makes the seats not all created equal. Aisle seats have direct access, but window seats do not, and require hopping over the legs of another person (not the person you are looking at). But window seats have large storage compartments, and given how little seat storage there is (more on that later) I knew this was essential.
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| My Seat: 62K. |
So most people need to choose: storage or aisle access? But luckily for me, I was able to get both. My status allowed me to select one of the best seats: 62K. This was a window, so I had the storage bins I wanted. But also, it is also the exit row, so I did not have someone to hop over. I got the rare combination of aisle access and storage bin, so I was thrilled.
The seat lays fully flat, but was rock hard, and quite uncomfortable. Only a single small pillow is provided, along with a small blanket, that barely covered me. The seat, and bedding, definitely do not compare to other business class flights of similar price point.
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| Side Cubbies. |
The window storage bins were just about the same as Qantas, very nice to stow my laptop bag, blanket when I wasn’t using it, etc. But this is nearly all the storage the seat had. No compartment to put a phone, or even a magazine. Where would my glasses go during the flight? And, I was at a total loss as to what to do with my phone. During the flight it was fine, I could use the side bins, but this left something to be desired.
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| Foot Locker. |
Ok, I lied, there was one small locker on the floor. It could fit shoes, or a laptop and power cords, but not much else. Next to it was the power jack, nice to have. No USB ports, just regular power.
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| Amenity Kit. |
As we settled in, amenity kits were distributed. They had only a single kit for both men and women. It didn’t come in a nice case like most other kits I have received, rather, it was in a cotton bag. I have a slew of other kits, so it isn’t like I needed more, and the bag seemed useful for perhaps putting shoes in when I travel? But it didn’t feel nearly as luxurious.
The bag also didn’t have much to it. Some simple socks, earplugs, and eye mask. All low end. Toothbrush and mini toothpaste, pen, pretty standard, The products were Elemis brand, a nice touch. The kits had a small lotion, face cream, lip moisturizer. The bathrooms also stocked Elemis products (soup, lotion), and the BA lounges do as well.
Dining
Our flight served two meals, dinner after takeoff, and breakfast before landing.
Dinner
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| Menu. |
We were given menus before takeoff, but our dinner orders were not taken until we got underway. The menu was … lackluster. Compared to my previous experience in First Class, I could tell this was going to be quite different.
Pre-Takeoff drinks were offered (water, sparkling wine, juice), but I just opted for water having been drinking wine in the lounge.
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| Drink Menu. |
The drink menu was decent, BA always does a good job here (I think it is not a coincidence that this is Emil’s airline of choice!). To start, there was a choice of the classic Kir Royale or Buck’s Fizz, or Taittinger Brut Reserve or Champagne de Castelnau Brut Rose.
A bar selection of standard liquors, soft drinks, and sparkling waters was also available.
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| Kir Royale, Sparkling Water, Nuts. |
I vaguely remembered liking the Kir Royale last time, so I opted for it again.
It took a while for our drink order to be taken. We reached cruising altitude, I went to the bathroom, and much other time elapsed before my drink order was taken (in fact, my dinner order was taken before my drink!). I was parched, and really wanted water!
Anyway, my kir royale was fine, it felt festive, and since I don’t really like champagne that much, a kir royale is always a bit more fun, the creme de cassis takes a bit of the edge off. I also opted for sparkling water since I was so thirsty, and it was offered with ice and lemon.
When my drinks arrived, I was also provided with a bag of mixed nuts. Oh, sadness. Just a package of nuts? Where were my amazing candied nuts from First Class! Not even served in a bowl? Doh, this was going to be different.
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| Dinner Menu. |
The dinner menu began with a choice of two cold starters:
- Beetroot smoked salmon with horseradish cream
- Goat’s cheese and chipotle pepper mousse with grilled vegetables and balsamic glaze.
Next was a single salad:
- Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette.
Then a choice of 4 mains, your standard steak/fish/chicken/veggie options:
- Seared fillet of Midwest beef with garlic and parsley mash and mustard jus
- Roasted seabass with spiced green lentils and grilled asparagus
- Moroccan vegetable tagine with apricot and chickpea cous cous
- Chilled main course salad of sweet chili organic breast of chicken with Asian-style noodles and Asian-style dressing
And finally, dessert of course, a single sweet and a single cheese:
- Wildberry and vanilla crisp
- Jersey Girl and Stilton blue cheese with quince paste
Besides the crisp, there was not much here I was excited by.
My companion and I agreed to each order different starters, so we could try them both. For the mains, he went classic and opted for the steak (even if the steak was overcooked, the mash might be good, was his reasoning) and I went for the chicken salad. Yes, laugh away, but I’ll explain. I certainly didn’t want the moroccan tagine as I don’t tend to like moroccan spices nor cous cous. And the fish seemed possibly ok, except I hate lentils, and I had seafood the two nights in a row before for dinner, so wasn’t really in the mood. Did I want chicken? No. But I was drawn in by the promise of sweet chili sauce and “Asian-style noodles”, whatever those were.
The first round of meal service was done from the cart, even though we already ordered our starters in advance, and we were re-asked our selections.
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| Wine List. |
Moving on to wine to go with dinner, I really appreciated the menu. While not extensive (2 red, 2 white), the menu was full of descriptions and included tips on what dishes would go best with each wine. The white selections were:
- Chablis 2014, Domaine Sainte Claire, Burgundy, France (recommended as an aperitif, with chicken, or with any starters)
- Roero Arneis DOCG 2014, “Villata”, Piedmont, Italy (recommended as an aperitif)
For reds:
- Chateau Landat 2010, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France (great with food, perfect with meat or cheese)
- Ermita de San Felices Reserva 2009, Rioja, Spain (great with roasted meats, especially lamb … which was not offered on this flight).
Wines were served from a cart, with the starters. No hand towels or wipes were provided.
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| Chablis. |
Since I ordered a starter and chicken, I went with the recommendation for the chablis. It was … fine. It wasn’t too dry, it certainly wasn’t sweet. So, no complaints.
***.
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| Starter: Smoked Salmon, Salad. |
"Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette."
All trays contained a basic salad, with a small bottle of vinaigrette alongside. The salad was just mixed greens, a few token olives, and a single sundried tomato. The lettuces were kinda wilted, and not great. The sundried tomato was flavorful enough. **+.
Also on the tray was a small packet of salt and pepper to spice things up a bit, and a dark chocolate. Why was the dark chocolate on the starter tray? I have no idea.
"Beetroot smoked salmon with horseradish cream."
The smoked salmon was … fine. Three thin slices, not particularly great, but not offensive. I didn’t taste beetroot, but I guess it was smoked with it? The horseradish cream however was not at all what I expected. Primarily because, well, I didn’t taste any horseradish. And it was sweet. I liked it, but, really strange, and not at all as advertised. And a sweet cream was a bit strange with the smoked salmon. ***.
This was the better of the two starters however.
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| Starter: Goat's Cheese, Salad. |
"Goat’s cheese and chipotle pepper mousse with grilled vegetables and balsamic glaze."
The other tray had the same salad and condiments, but came with the other starter. I hate goat’s cheese, but I was interested in the grilled vegetables in this one.
The mousse was, well, goaty, and chipotle pepper flavored. Served super cold, so not really fluffy. If you like goat cheese, maybe this was good? I quickly passed it off to my companion.
The grilled vegetables were a red pepper, zucchini, and summer squash. All were … fine? Not particularly flavorful or interesting. The “balsamic glaze” was just a drizzle on the plate. **+.
Overall, the starters were a bit lackluster, but, about as expected, and I did appreciate that they were served on real dishes, and before the main courses, not as a single tray with everything. Speaking of trays, the trays were tiny! Once you added beverages, there just wasn’t much room to move anything around.
After we finished our starters and salads, the trays remained, but they did clear the dishes from the starters (but not the salad dressing bottles, the wrappers, etc). Little service things like this added up.
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| Bread. |
Along with the starters, a bread basket was passed around, with 3-4 different breads. No descriptions were given, but I opted for the dark one. The rolls were served warm, a nice touch. And actually, the roll wasn’t bad. Crispy exterior, fluffy interior, hearty flavor. Our trays also had a pat of butter on them, which helped enhance the roll. This was better than most airline bread.
The basket came by several more times throughout the starter service, but never alongside the mains. I think it was the best part of the savory portion of meal.
***.
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| Main: beef. |
"Seared fillet of Midwest beef with garlic and parsley mash and mustard jus."
As I said, my companion opted for the beef. It was … very well done. As in, the fully cooked kind of done. I didn’t try it. Nor did I try the veggies on the side. I tried a few bites of the mash, piping hot, but fairly flavorless, and honestly, they didn’t taste like potato. You could have told me that it was cauliflower mash and I would have believed you. There was also no taste of garlic or parsley as described.
Bo-ring. **.
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| Main: Salad. |
"Chilled main course salad of sweet chili organic breast of chicken with Asian-style noodles and Asian-style dressing."
My “salad” wasn’t quite what I expected. First, no greens, so not what I’d call a salad, but given the quality of the greens in the starter salad, I wasn’t saddened by this.
Next, it was warm. Well, the grilled chicken was warm. The chicken actually seemed decent, it had a bit of char to it, looked pretty moist, but I really hate chicken, and only got this for the other components. My companion enjoyed a few slices of chicken. Oh, and the “sweet chili”? Nonexistent.
The “Asian-style noodles” were cold, thin, rice noodles. Cold and plain, they were boring, but with the dressing they were tasty enough. The noodles weren’t clumped together, weren’t mushy, and weren’t too al dente, so, no complains there. Mixed in the noodles were a few chunks of broccoli (meh, but decently cooked), red peppers (slimy), and yellow peppers. I liked the yellow pepper slivers, but I did not like the rest of the veggies.
The “Asian-style dressing” was actually pretty good. I can’t really describe it though. It was kinda sweet. Kinda peanut-y, although I don’t think it had peanuts. Very flavorful at least. The dressing was on the side, so I was able to add it as I desired. And, it turned out, I desired it. I used my entire container of dressing, no problem.
So, overall, I’m pretty sure I made the right meal choice. Cold noodles and tasty sauce? Not an amazing meal, but, good enough. The flavor was there at least. **+.
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| Dessert: Wildberry & Vanilla Crisp. |
Dessert was a no brainer. Cheese, fruit, or an actual dessert? Duh. Obviously I wanted the "real" dessert! Dessert was also served from the cart.
I had no idea what to expect from a “wild berry and vanilla crisp”, and, honestly, BA isn’t known for its desserts, but this was unexpectedly quite good. A crisp it was not, but, who cares?
The base and top were a sweet crumble. Sorta graham cracker bits-eque? But very sweet. I liked the texture they added. I guess this was the “crisp” component?
Above the base was a layer of what I guess was the “wildberry”. I couldn’t quite distinguish which berries they were, but there were at least blueberries and some sort of seeded berry. Sweet again, but a decent flavor.
And then on top of that, the majority of the dessert, was the “vanilla” I guess? It was basically a thick cream, almost a mousse, almost a cheesecake. Hard to describe. Not particularly vanilla flavored, but, a nice texture and it completed the dish well.
Overall, was this a 5 star dessert? No. But I enjoyed it. Sweet, good textures, creamy, assorted flavors. I polished it off in seconds flat, and didn’t offer any to my companion (who opted out of dessert. What?!)
The after dinner cart also had tea, coffee, wine, port, and other liquors, but skipped right over me. No offer of an after dinner drink, not even tea or coffee, and not even a refill on my now empty sparkling water glass was provided. I waited a few minutes to see if she’d come back to me, but alas, it did not happen. Again, the little service misses added up. Eventually I decided to be a bit rude and chase down the FA to ask for more water.
After dessert was cleared, water bottles were distributed to keep throughout the night.
Breakfast
I know this sounds silly, but I was looking forward to
breakfast. That is, until I saw the menu. The last time I was on BA286,
I had really amazing waffles. Granted, that was First Class. Sadly, the Club World selection didn’t include any waffles. Or pancakes. Or french toast. Nothing like this at all. I also love muesli, and was looking forward to that. And again, sadly, no muesli. Doh. And how about a danish? Nope.
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| Breakfast Menu. |
Starters were continental:
- chilled juice
- “an energizing smoothie of banana and mango”
- “fresh seasonal fruit”
- “greek yogurt with peach compote”.
Where was my muesli?
The “bakery” selection was a “warm bacon roll served with tomato ketchup”. Where was my danish?
For mains, there were 4 choices:
- Traditional breakfast grill
- Mushroom frittata with roasted potatoes, wilted spinach and grilled tomato
- Continental breakfast platter of ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, and Cheddar
- Warm ciabatta featuring bacon, scrambled egg, and sun-dried tomatoes.
No carb, no sweet, breakfast item to be found! And what exactly was a “traditional breakfast grill”? I assumed this was probably a platter with scrambled eggs, sausage or bacon, potatoes, and a roast tomato? But it was odd to have no description.
I hate frittata, so that was obviously out. And really, some deli meats and cheese? Um, no. So the bacon ciabatta seemed to be the only real option I had, although I lamented the fact that they were serving a breakfast sando sans cheese. Who does that? Could I ask for some swiss or cheddar to go with?
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| Breakfast Starters, Coffee. |
Breakfast began far, far too early. I’m pretty sure I still hadn’t fallen asleep. But the clatter of the breakfast cart was hard to ignore.
The first phase of breakfast came through served from a cart. Apple or orange juice, and the smoothies were offered. I didn’t try any. Coffee and tea were also offered. I opted for decaf coffee, knowing that I’d be drinking plenty of coffee throughout the day. It was instant, fine, I guess.
“Greek yogurt with peach compote”
I was given the choice of the fruit or yogurt. Since the fruit plate had melons, I had to opt for the yogurt. thought it sounded decent, but wow, this was … horrible. The yogurt itself I guess was fine, although not creamy or interesting. But the compote was dreadful. I certainly wouldn’t have known it was supposed to be peaches. It had an awful taste that I can’t even describe. The syrup, the fruit, all of it was just horrible. And it coated the entire plate. I couldn’t even salvage a few bites of yogurt, the compote ruined everything. *.
"Flavored croissant"
After my tray was given to me, a bread basket was passed over, with some rolls and pastries. I asked what they were and was told “rolls”, “croissant”, “flavored croissant”. Um, thanks? I could see that much! I opted for the most interested one, dubbed “flavored croissant”. There were no tongs, and I was supposed to reach into the basket, grubby airplane hands and all, like everyone else. I was careful not to touch anything else, but … was everyone? So gross.
The flavored croissant certainly didn’t look good, but actually, it tasted good enough. Served warm. The pastry wasn’t flaky, and it was oily/buttery beyond belief, and a bit gummy, but somehow it worked. Sprinkled on top with bits of pecans and inside was a pecan pie like filling. The filling was sweet and gooey. Was it a good pastry? Well, no. No quality here. Not fresh. But it was warm, it was carbs, it was decadent, and well, I, captive audiance, liked it. ***.
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| Fruit. |
My companion opted for the lackluster fruit option. He tried the blueberries but didn’t bother touch anything else.
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| Bacon Roll. |
"Warm ciabatta featuring bacon, scrambled egg, and sun-dried tomatoes."A while later, the FA came through with two choices in her hands: “English breakfast or frittata?”, she asked. I was stumped. Where was the “warm bacon roll served with tomato ketchup”? And what about the other two main dish choices. I asked if those were our only choices. She said a salad was also available. Hmm.
Perplexed, I pulled out the menu, and directly asked. The first “warm bacon roll” was listed in the “bakery” selection, and that had clearly been replaced with the croissants and other breads. Ok, not a problem, the pecan danish was tasty enough, so I didn’t mind. But what about the other two main dishes? She didn’t acknowledge the continental platter, and no one in our cabin was able to get it. However, when I crept downstairs to use the bathroom, I saw plenty of people down there, in the other business class cabin, with it. Not that I wanted it … but, more service misses.
The “warm ciabatta” is what I wanted. So I asked, again, directly about it. She said, “oh, that comes with the bread basket”. I said , “and it has bacon and eggs and everything in it?” And she said, “oh, uh, yes”. I said it was what I wanted. Maybe it was supposed to be in our bread basket but had run out and no one noticed?
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| Bacon Roll: Inside. |
I'm still not sure if what I got was the aforementioned Bacon Roll from the "bakery" or the entree warm ciabatta, as it didn't actually match either description. It didn't have sundried tomato as the entree one was supposed to, and it had some white stuff (cheese?).
It was served warm enough, the ciabatta crispy on the outside, and fluffy inside. The cheese was nicely melty. The eggs however were not good, and the bacon was quite soggy. Once I removed the soggy bacon and mealy eggs however, I did like it. The warm bread and melty cheese was pretty satisfying and filling, particularly for 3am, as it was in my time zone. **+.
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| Fritatta. |
My companion went for the frittata. The frittata and mushrooms looked awful so I didn't bother try, but I tried the potato cake. It was mushy, unseasoned, and not good.
*+.
June 2016
The next summer, as with most trips to Europe, I headed out of San Francisco on BA 286, London bound. Our flight was delayed by 17 minutes, which we were notified of several hours in advance, long before we left our house. I appreciated this, as many airlines don't bother notify of such a minor delay. Our takeoff time was around 7:30pm.
Seat
Our aircraft was an A380.
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| 53K. |
For seats, I booked far enough in advance that I had great choices. Since the seats have virtually no storage, I wanted to be on the upper deck, and on the window side, for the storage bins. I also knew that unlike the 747, the 380 is a seriously stable plane, so the annoying bouncing you sometimes get on the upper deck wouldn't be a problem.
But most window seats have a serious disadvantage: you have to climb over your neighbor to get in and out, and, for an overnight flight, this can be annoying. So I selected 53K, the only window seat with direct aisle access (which, of course I knew!). The downside however is that it is adjacent to the galley. This turned out to be really, really annoying, so much noise, so much activity, so much opening and closing, after meal service, in the middle of the night, and all through the morning. I would not pick this seat again.
My seat had a full 3 window bins in which to stash my stuff. This is great easy access storage. Besides that, the seat was the same as any other BA Club World seat. The seat was never very comfortable for sitting up, and it was annoying for dining. The tray table wasn't capable of reaching close enough to be really over my lap, and there is not a small side table to just place drinks (it does fold in half, but, that is still fairly invasive). And of course, there is no real storage for anything like your phone, glasses, a water bottle, or even the provided headphones. Seriously, I really don't like this seat.
Our seats came with a single flat-as-a-pancake pillow and a single scratchy blanket. My companion has clearly gotten used to flying on other airlines, as he commented, "Wait, no mattress pad or sheet?" We also were not provided pajamas. As always, I tried to ask for extra pillows and blankets as soon as I got on board, and, for the first time, I was unable to acquire any. "One pillow and blanket per seat!", my FA told me. Doh. I've literally never struck out before, and in the past, they've even gone to get a pillow or blanket from another cabin for me. So I asked another FA. It turns out, he had overheard me ask the previous one, and reminded me that she had already told me no. But then, 20 minutes or so later, he showed up with an extra pillow and a smile. Encouraging my bad behavior?
The seat was decently comfortable to sleep, and very, very private. I did appreciate that element of the galley, as it meant I had a wall at my feet rather than any other people. Cabin temperature was shockingly good the entire flight, I wasn't ever too hot or cold, when awake or laying down.
But, I didn't get any sleep. I learned my lesson. Never again will I sit in front of the galley. It was just way, way too noisy nearly the entire flight. So much opening and closing of doors, so much clanking.
Dining
Service was ... interesting. Dinner service was crazy slow. After breakfast, I was sitting with my cup of coffee on my tray, when the FA came over and asked if she could open the windows and look out. I said sure. She couldn't see anything out the windows, so she asked if she could look at my display to see where we were. I said sure. So ... she came and sat on my footstool, you know, the thing labelled "Not to be used as a seat". It collapsed instantly, sending her flying forward into my tray, spilling my coffee everywhere. "Oopsie!", she proclaimed. She then proceeded to exit my video and navigate to the flight map. She never came back to clean up the spilled coffee, which, by the way, got all over my belongings. She didn't put my foot rest back up. It was such an odd experience.
Dinner
The dinner format was the same as my previous flight, choice of 2 starters, a salad, choice of 4 mains (one of which is a salad), and single "real" dessert.
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| Dinner Menu. |
Starters
- Char siu duck with green papaya slaw, crispy pancetta and soy glaze.
- Glazed goat's cheese with orange fennel salad and sun-blushed tomato.
Salad
- Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette.
Main Courses
- Braised short rib of beef with celeriac mash, broccolini, and Bordelaise sauce.
- Seared fillet of haddock with white wine dill sauce, parsley rice, and roasted vegetables.
- Penne pasta with tomato and olive ragout, shaved Parmesan, and fresh rocket.
- Main course lentil quinoa salad accompanied by tomato and herb marinated chicken.
Desserts
- Baked cheesecake with cherry confit.
- Krystal Cave Aged Cheddar and Moonlight Chaource with fig jam.
- A selection of whole fresh fruit.
It was a fairly uninspiring menu, and I was glad I had mostly eaten on the ground.
Meal service was quite slow, particularly for a flight that was only going to be just over 9 hours. Perhaps it is because I was near the galley so I could see everything going on, but it took an excruciatingly long time for each course.
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| Kir Royale, Sparkling Water, Nuts. |
Once underway, our drink orders were taken, and delivered with a little bowl of cashews and raisins. Not warm, not spiced, but, at least a step up from the bag of nuts we got last time, and something other than standard peanuts I guess?
I started with a BA classic, the Kir Royale. Like some people always order tomato juice on a flight, I always get a Kir Royale when flying with BA. I don't ever like champagne, but, for some reason, a Kir Royale just hits the spot, and it did on this flight. ***+.
No napkin was provided with my drinks and snacks, but others did get one.
No refills were offered on my water, even though my glass ran dry. I was glad I had grabbed an extra sparkling water from the Cathay Pacific lounge, and was able to drink that when I ran out.
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| Starter: Duck, Salad. |
"Char siu duck with green papaya slaw, crispy pancetta and soy glaze."
Starters, salads, and more drinks were served from the trolley rolling down the aisle.
The starter choices were ... not exciting, since I loathe goat cheese I didn't have much choice here. I doubted they would do good duck, but the papaya slaw and pancetta were promising at least.
The papaya slaw had no flavor, I'm pretty sure it was entirely undressed. The crispy pancetta was a few cubes of way too chewy and crispy bits. The only flavor came from a too salty thick soy glaze dotted on the plate. The duck was rubbery.
Overall, really not good, but, I didn't expect otherwise. Pretty plating at least? **.
"Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette."
The salad was more interesting than expected, much better than my last flight, a nice mix of fresh assorted baby greens, radish shreds, and green beans. The radish added some flavor, and the pole beans were nicely cooked, still a bit crisp. I enjoyed this, but, there was no choice for the salad dressing, and I don't really like vinaigrette. The bottle of vinaigrette was cute though! ***.
I skipped the bread basket, but it did have a decent variety of options. Butter was provided on our trays.
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| Main: Pasta. |
"Penne pasta with tomato and olive ragout, shaved Parmesan, and fresh rocket."
Our main dishes didn't come until an hour and 48 minutes into the flight. Ooph. This was taking a long time.
The main dish was at least an interesting choice. Short ribs were out as I don't like them, as was the lentil quinoa chicken salad (seriously, three ingredients I hate, all in one dish? It was a comical choice, actually). If I were at a real restaurant, I would order haddock in an instant. I love haddock. But, on a plane? Normally on a flight I go for the safe choice of pasta, but in this case, it had olive ragout, not something I love.
Luckily for me, my companion wanted the haddock, so I went for the pasta, hoping that would mean I'd get to try both. However, it turned out that everyone on our flight wanted the pasta. The FAs came around asking everyone if they would reconsider their choices. No one wanted to change. They buzzed around the galley very upset over all the pasta orders. I'm not really sure how this was resolved. I almost opted to change and get the fish too, but, I'm quite glad I didn't.
Not that the pasta was good, but, it was certainly better than the fish.
So, the pasta. The penne was decent, not mushy, not undercooked. Some bits were a tad overcooked and crispy, but, just like the edges of lasagna, this was actually a good thing.
The ragout though ... it turns out, I didn't need to worry about not liking olive, as there was very little of it. There was even less tomato. Really, just not much sauce at all on the pasta, making it very, very plain.
The "shaved Parmesan" long ago melted and congealed into a mass on top, and the "fresh rocket" was totally wilted.
I know this sounds bad, but, actually, it was ok. The cheese was good, and there was flavor in the minimal sauce. The wilted rocket was sorta like basil mixed into a sauce. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't good, but, it wasn't awful. ***.
With my main, I opted for a glass of Chardonnay. It was Kendall-Jackson, so, not exactly a fancy brand, but it was a Vintner's Reserve at least. My menu said it would go best with my entree and with salads. It wasn't a buttery Chardonnay like I was hoping, but it also wasn't acidic, was quite smooth, and even a bit sweet. I did actually enjoy it. ***.
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| Main: Haddock. |
"Seared fillet of haddock with white wine dill sauce, parsley rice, and roasted vegetables."
Since I was located so close to the galley, I could smell the fish cooking. And smell it did. Such a fishy smell. The taste matched the smell, fishy, and it was very overcooked. You know me, I'm a sauce girl, so I drenched my fish in the sauce, hoping to save it, masking the fishiness and the dryness. The sauce was thick and a bit strange, but it had a nice dill flavor.
I didn't try the rice as I don't like rice. My companion took a bite of the eggplant, and actually spit it out. He made a remarkably awful face in doing so. It made me very glad to have seats facing each other! This did not inspire me to taste the veggies either. He left this all untouched.
I clearly won this round, but, none of the main dish food on this flight really seemed worth eating. **.
Note to self: next time, just eat dinner at a normal time at the airport, and skip dinner service. Drink the wine, get dessert, and go to bed!
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| Dessert. |
"Baked cheesecake with cherry confit."
Finally, dessert came, served from a cart, 2 hours 20 minutes into our flight.
Dessert was also not a question, as, there was only one choice besides cheese: cheesecake!
The cheesecake was ... interesting. It was fairly creamy, and, very rich. It did taste like cream cheese. But the consistency was unlike any cheesecake I've ever had before. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Strange, but, not bad exactly.
The crust was basically non-existent. I think there was some graham cracker crust at the bottom, but the layer was thin, and just mush. I didn't taste it.
The cherry confit was ... not good. The fruit was canned fruit calibre, but, it wasn't coated in sweet goo like canned cherries. Instead, it was tart and tangy. Did not like.
So, overall, obviously not great. But, if I ignored the cherry and the crust, and just scooped out some creamy cheesecake mousse, and thought of it that way, I didn't mind it? **+.
Normally I get decaf coffee to go with my desserts, but, I knew this would be instant, and I really didn't want any caffeine. It would be hard enough to sleep on this flight, I didn't want to do anything to make it harder.
I also often would order port with dessert, but, I still had plenty of wine left, so, I just opted to finish that.
Breakfast
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Breakfast Menu.
|
Starters
- Chilled fruit juice
- An energizing smoothie of strawberry and kiwi
- Fresh seasonal fruit
- Bircher muesli
Bakery
- A selection of warm breads and breakfast pastries
Main
- Traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, Irish bacon, sauteed mushrooms, rosti potato, and grilled tomato
- Asparagus and mushroom frittata with roasted potato and grilled tomato
- Continental breakfast platter for Swiss, Cheddar, and chilled eggs
- Warm ciabatta with bacon, spinach, and sun-dried tomato
I was actually really looking forward to breakfast, as there were many great choices on here. Bircher muesli! Warm breakfast pastries! Even the smoothie actually sounded good. This was the menu I had expected on the previous flight.
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| Smoothie & Coffee. |
The first round of breakfast was served from a trolley. We were offered juice (orange) or a smoothie (strawberry kiwi), plus s choice of fruit or bircher muesli. Moments later, a bread basket was presented with several types of rolls, plain croissants, and raspberry danishes. As always, no tongs were provided, and each person just reached their hands into the basket. Shutter.
I opted for the smoothie, and of course, some necessary coffee.
The smoothie was actually really quite nice, fruity, and frothy, and not too yogurty. I didn't really taste kiwi, but it was refreshing and nice to have something fairly healthy. ***.
I opted for regular coffee, given the fact that I'd barely gotten any sleep. It was fine. ***. For my second cup, I switched to decaf, instant, awful. *.
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| Muesli. |
I was thrilled to see the muesli back on the menu, but, the muesli was a disappointment. But, such is life with Bircher muesli, there is always so much variance.
This was very yogurty, tart, and didn't really have much in the way of oats. It did have little cubes of apple and a few other types of fruit I couldn't quite identify. I prefer less yogurt, more oats, and less apple.
**+.
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| Fruit Danish. |
On my last BA flight, I did actually enjoy my warm pecan danish.
This time, the danish was not warm (it probably was at some point, but I was the last one served, and the basket wasn't covered). Besides being cold, it was fine actually, not soggy, not dried out, and filled with raspberry goo. Not good for sure, but, not bad.
***.
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| Breakfast Main: Ciabatta. |
"Warm ciabatta with bacon, spinach, and sun-dried tomato"
After our first round of breakfast was cleared, we were asked what main we'd like, and it was delivered moments later. I guess they just make a ton of everything and hope for the best?
For my main, I went for the ciabatta, given that the other options were all eggs: a full English breakfast with eggs, a frittata, or a continental platter with chilled eggs (chilled eggs? I hoped someone would order this, just so I could see it, but, alas, no one did. I imagine that is just hard boiled eggs?)
Of course, what I wanted was waffles, pancakes, french toast, anything like that, but, I did recall enjoying the ciabatta on my last flight as the bread wasn't bad and it had tons of cheese. I was sad this one didn't have cheese though.
Except ... it did. I laughed when I opened it. There was two slices of cheese, one on each side, melted in. Excellent. There was also ... eggs. Doh. Every breakfast had eggs! These were "scrambled eggs", aka, really strange powder that turns into magic crumbly awful eggs.
Now, what about the ingredients it actually listed on the menu? I didn't find any spinach. The sun-dried tomato were a few chunks, fine, but, not really my thing.
The bacon was better than last time, 3-4 slices, mostly pretty crispy.
The ciabatta itself was nice and soft, slightly toasted on the outside.
So, there was much here I didn't like, but enough that I did like. I removed the dreadful "eggs" and most of the sun dried tomato. The ciabatta with cheese and crispy bacon, open faced, was pretty tasty, just like last time, but even better as this bacon wasn't soggy.
***.
