tfung
Jun 20, 01, 12:33 am
Trip report LHR-DXB BA107 June 19th
After getting to the BA First lounge, I settled down in a comfortable seat and worked on my computer a bit. I got a ginger ale from the bar, but unfortunately, as I was working on the computer, I spilled the drink by accident. I asked for an attendant to come over to help me clean up, and she just told me to move to another seat and someone would come by to clean it. I moved to another seat close by, and it took maybe 10 minutes for someone to clean it up. What efficiency. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif
My phone cord for my laptop broke somewhere between HEL and LHR, and I was unable to go online. Somehow, my laptop would only go online with that particular phone line. I have tried using other ones, and every time my computer would refuse to get a dial tone with anything else. Anyways, I stayed in the lounge till 11:30, and during this time, I sampled their a-la-carte menu. I tried the roast beef sandwich, smoked salmon canapés and also a caesar salad. For the first two, the bread on which it was on was a bit dry. The caesar salad was quite good though, but had too much cheese on top. Overall, I quite like the food and ambience in this lounge. I also saw the Concorde lounge, which was not being used at the moment. I really hope that the Concorde would fly again, so I can at least try it once in my life.
After leaving the lounge, I headed to gate 1b for the plane to Dubai. It was quite far from the lounge, and took about 10 minutes to get there. We had to take a bus to a remote gate, where the 777 parked. When we got there, the plane was still being cleaned, and we were made to wait in the bus for another 10 minutes before boarding was allowed. This is the first time I've been on BA First, and I wasn't too impressed. I now understand why everyone calls the BA suite, "the coffin". The part where you put your feet is very narrow, and the space that you occupied was shaped sort of like one. I took my seat in 3A, and found out that this plane was not fitted with empower. I thought all the BA planes had empower in F class? After getting settled in, I was offered a pre-departure drink and also warm cashews. An amenities kit, socks, and eyeshade were given to me as well. The amenity kit was quite nice looking, and was wrapped in a ribbon with the words BAg on it. Cute.
As more of the busses arrived, the plane slowly began to fill up. By the time the doors were closed, F class had about 9 people. After the doors closed, menus were handed out, and again, it was CX a-la-carte style. Hot towels were also given to the passengers, along with a movie selection sheet. I checked out what sort of movie selection they had, and although there were a lot, they all seemed quite old, and I've seen most of them already. I picked out a documentary on the Empire State building and also A Few Good Men, which I have seen before already. Pushback came about 5 minutes after the scheduled departure time of 12:45, but we taxied up to the runway right away and took off at 12:55. Flight time to Dubai was 6 hours 33 minutes, and the initial cruising altitude was 37,000 feet. The captain informed us that as we went on, the cruising altitude would change to 41,000 feet.
When we leveled off, drinks were served along with canapés. The canapés consisted of a scallop, some cream cheese, and a fish, all served on bread. For the drink, I picked out their champagne, which I haven't tried before. The wine list was as follows:
Wines
Piper-Heidsieck Rare Champagne
Sancerre Cuvée Edmond, 1998, Alphonse Mellot
Saint-Aubin Premier Cru Les Cortons, 1999, Roux Père et Fils
Tokay Pinot Gris de Riquewihr, 1997, Dopff au Moulin
Bahans-Haut-Brion, 1997, Pessac-Léognan
Brunello di Montalcino, 1995, Leonardo
Coopers Creek Reserve Pinot Noir, 1998
Beaune Premier Cru Les Epenottes, 1998, Domaine Parent
Opitz Pinot Blanc / Pinot Gris Trockenbeerenauslese, 1998
The champagne had a nice citrus aftertaste to it that I liked, and was very good accompanied with the canapés. Lunch selections were also taken, and as I said, it was a-la-carte, so we could pick any selection out of the menu to make our own meal. Here's the lunch menu:
LUNCH
Appetizers
Fresh lobster with shellfish mousse
Richard Corrigan's baby leek and morel mushroom terrine, Chanterelle and white truffle oil dressing
Fresh pea and mint soup, crème fraîche
Mixed seasonal salad served with extra virgin olive oil, Pommery Dijon mustard mayonnaise or citrus vinaigrette
Main Courses
Rack of lamb, rosemary jus, parsley new potatoes
Roasted free-range chicken marinated in orange and caraway seed with pear and date chutney
Shaun Hill's seared sea bass, ginger and pak choy
Asparagus risotto with shaved Parmesan cheese
Lighter Options
Grilled fillet steak sandwich with red onion marmalade
Salad leaves with seared sea bass, citrus vinaigrette
Freshly cooked pasta with your choice of tomato, olive and chili salsa or Fontina cheese and chive sauce served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Dessert
Fresh strawberries and mascarpone cream served with shortbread
Warm treacle tart with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce
Selection of fresh fruit
Chocolates
Cheese Board Selection
Mull of Kintyre, St. David, Blue Wensleydale and Capricorn Goat cheese
I had picked to have the soup, salad, and then the risotto. I had actually wanted to try the lobster with shellfish mousse, but didn't want to seem so greedy (yet!). The FA told me that he can serve me in half an hour, which I agreed to. At this time, I decided to take a visit to the bathroom, and found it to be quite average. There was only one bathroom in the forward galley, which wasn't too convenient. The thing that stood out was that there were wet wipes in the bathroom to wipe down the toilet if you wanted to. I think this was a pretty good idea, and other airlines should adopt it.
My lunch came not long afterwards, and when the FA was setting my table, I asked him if I can try the lobster and shellfish mousse. Of course, he said that it was no problem, and came back with it right away. The dish consisted of a half chilled half lobster and a splat of mousse. The mousse tasted pretty much like cream cheese, and I ate it together with the lobster. I thought it was quite good, but seemed REALLY fattening. The soup came next, and it had a very large dash of cream floating right in the middle. I scooped out half the cream and mixed in the rest. The soup was very tasty, but I couldn't taste any of the mint in it. It had just the right texture, which I like in vegetable soups. The salad came next, and it came with the vinaigrette. I had wanted the Dijon dressing, but the vinaigrette was never the less very appetizing. It was served in a large bowl, and was much easier to eat that on the other airlines where it was served on a plate. Lastly, my main course came. It was rather disappointing as the whole dish was swimming in oil. It must be olive oil, but still was rather gross, so I only had a few bites. Didn't taste that good either, as it was very heavy on the cheese. I guess the Brits like their food really heavy. For dessert, I picked the Warm treacle tart with ice cream, but the FA must have no heard me and brought me one with vanilla sauce. It was very good nevertheless, but very sweet and heavy. If I weren't as full as I was, I would probably have had a second one.
After lunch, I finished off my movie and decided to take a nap. My nap lasted all the way until we were half an hour from Dubai. Unfortunately, since this was a daytime flight, no duvets or sleeper suits were provided. Hopefully on my return flight, they will have those for me. I had also wanted to pick up menus for Business and Economy class, but completely forgot. Have to make a note to myself to remember on the next flight. Our scheduled landing time was 22:30, which was exactly on time. I looked out at the city as we were landing, and thought it was very pretty. Light were everywhere and it went all the way into the horizon. When we were taxiing alongside the terminal, I thought that the terminal had a shocking resemblance to the Hong Kong airport. The Hong Kong one must have copied the DXB one, as I think this one was older than HK airport. We parked at a gate next to an Air India plane, and disembarked. I proceeded to the transit desk, where I was questioned to no-end by the agent there why I was flying to London when I just got in from there. I told him that I enjoyed flying and wanted to try out all the different airline's product. This obviously didn't get through to him, and after arguing for 5 minutes, he just told me that the flight wasn't ready for check-in, and I should go to a certain gate to get my boarding pass at 23:30. Relieved, I headed to the BA lounge.
After getting to the BA First lounge, I settled down in a comfortable seat and worked on my computer a bit. I got a ginger ale from the bar, but unfortunately, as I was working on the computer, I spilled the drink by accident. I asked for an attendant to come over to help me clean up, and she just told me to move to another seat and someone would come by to clean it. I moved to another seat close by, and it took maybe 10 minutes for someone to clean it up. What efficiency. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif
My phone cord for my laptop broke somewhere between HEL and LHR, and I was unable to go online. Somehow, my laptop would only go online with that particular phone line. I have tried using other ones, and every time my computer would refuse to get a dial tone with anything else. Anyways, I stayed in the lounge till 11:30, and during this time, I sampled their a-la-carte menu. I tried the roast beef sandwich, smoked salmon canapés and also a caesar salad. For the first two, the bread on which it was on was a bit dry. The caesar salad was quite good though, but had too much cheese on top. Overall, I quite like the food and ambience in this lounge. I also saw the Concorde lounge, which was not being used at the moment. I really hope that the Concorde would fly again, so I can at least try it once in my life.
After leaving the lounge, I headed to gate 1b for the plane to Dubai. It was quite far from the lounge, and took about 10 minutes to get there. We had to take a bus to a remote gate, where the 777 parked. When we got there, the plane was still being cleaned, and we were made to wait in the bus for another 10 minutes before boarding was allowed. This is the first time I've been on BA First, and I wasn't too impressed. I now understand why everyone calls the BA suite, "the coffin". The part where you put your feet is very narrow, and the space that you occupied was shaped sort of like one. I took my seat in 3A, and found out that this plane was not fitted with empower. I thought all the BA planes had empower in F class? After getting settled in, I was offered a pre-departure drink and also warm cashews. An amenities kit, socks, and eyeshade were given to me as well. The amenity kit was quite nice looking, and was wrapped in a ribbon with the words BAg on it. Cute.
As more of the busses arrived, the plane slowly began to fill up. By the time the doors were closed, F class had about 9 people. After the doors closed, menus were handed out, and again, it was CX a-la-carte style. Hot towels were also given to the passengers, along with a movie selection sheet. I checked out what sort of movie selection they had, and although there were a lot, they all seemed quite old, and I've seen most of them already. I picked out a documentary on the Empire State building and also A Few Good Men, which I have seen before already. Pushback came about 5 minutes after the scheduled departure time of 12:45, but we taxied up to the runway right away and took off at 12:55. Flight time to Dubai was 6 hours 33 minutes, and the initial cruising altitude was 37,000 feet. The captain informed us that as we went on, the cruising altitude would change to 41,000 feet.
When we leveled off, drinks were served along with canapés. The canapés consisted of a scallop, some cream cheese, and a fish, all served on bread. For the drink, I picked out their champagne, which I haven't tried before. The wine list was as follows:
Wines
Piper-Heidsieck Rare Champagne
Sancerre Cuvée Edmond, 1998, Alphonse Mellot
Saint-Aubin Premier Cru Les Cortons, 1999, Roux Père et Fils
Tokay Pinot Gris de Riquewihr, 1997, Dopff au Moulin
Bahans-Haut-Brion, 1997, Pessac-Léognan
Brunello di Montalcino, 1995, Leonardo
Coopers Creek Reserve Pinot Noir, 1998
Beaune Premier Cru Les Epenottes, 1998, Domaine Parent
Opitz Pinot Blanc / Pinot Gris Trockenbeerenauslese, 1998
The champagne had a nice citrus aftertaste to it that I liked, and was very good accompanied with the canapés. Lunch selections were also taken, and as I said, it was a-la-carte, so we could pick any selection out of the menu to make our own meal. Here's the lunch menu:
LUNCH
Appetizers
Fresh lobster with shellfish mousse
Richard Corrigan's baby leek and morel mushroom terrine, Chanterelle and white truffle oil dressing
Fresh pea and mint soup, crème fraîche
Mixed seasonal salad served with extra virgin olive oil, Pommery Dijon mustard mayonnaise or citrus vinaigrette
Main Courses
Rack of lamb, rosemary jus, parsley new potatoes
Roasted free-range chicken marinated in orange and caraway seed with pear and date chutney
Shaun Hill's seared sea bass, ginger and pak choy
Asparagus risotto with shaved Parmesan cheese
Lighter Options
Grilled fillet steak sandwich with red onion marmalade
Salad leaves with seared sea bass, citrus vinaigrette
Freshly cooked pasta with your choice of tomato, olive and chili salsa or Fontina cheese and chive sauce served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Dessert
Fresh strawberries and mascarpone cream served with shortbread
Warm treacle tart with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce
Selection of fresh fruit
Chocolates
Cheese Board Selection
Mull of Kintyre, St. David, Blue Wensleydale and Capricorn Goat cheese
I had picked to have the soup, salad, and then the risotto. I had actually wanted to try the lobster with shellfish mousse, but didn't want to seem so greedy (yet!). The FA told me that he can serve me in half an hour, which I agreed to. At this time, I decided to take a visit to the bathroom, and found it to be quite average. There was only one bathroom in the forward galley, which wasn't too convenient. The thing that stood out was that there were wet wipes in the bathroom to wipe down the toilet if you wanted to. I think this was a pretty good idea, and other airlines should adopt it.
My lunch came not long afterwards, and when the FA was setting my table, I asked him if I can try the lobster and shellfish mousse. Of course, he said that it was no problem, and came back with it right away. The dish consisted of a half chilled half lobster and a splat of mousse. The mousse tasted pretty much like cream cheese, and I ate it together with the lobster. I thought it was quite good, but seemed REALLY fattening. The soup came next, and it had a very large dash of cream floating right in the middle. I scooped out half the cream and mixed in the rest. The soup was very tasty, but I couldn't taste any of the mint in it. It had just the right texture, which I like in vegetable soups. The salad came next, and it came with the vinaigrette. I had wanted the Dijon dressing, but the vinaigrette was never the less very appetizing. It was served in a large bowl, and was much easier to eat that on the other airlines where it was served on a plate. Lastly, my main course came. It was rather disappointing as the whole dish was swimming in oil. It must be olive oil, but still was rather gross, so I only had a few bites. Didn't taste that good either, as it was very heavy on the cheese. I guess the Brits like their food really heavy. For dessert, I picked the Warm treacle tart with ice cream, but the FA must have no heard me and brought me one with vanilla sauce. It was very good nevertheless, but very sweet and heavy. If I weren't as full as I was, I would probably have had a second one.
After lunch, I finished off my movie and decided to take a nap. My nap lasted all the way until we were half an hour from Dubai. Unfortunately, since this was a daytime flight, no duvets or sleeper suits were provided. Hopefully on my return flight, they will have those for me. I had also wanted to pick up menus for Business and Economy class, but completely forgot. Have to make a note to myself to remember on the next flight. Our scheduled landing time was 22:30, which was exactly on time. I looked out at the city as we were landing, and thought it was very pretty. Light were everywhere and it went all the way into the horizon. When we were taxiing alongside the terminal, I thought that the terminal had a shocking resemblance to the Hong Kong airport. The Hong Kong one must have copied the DXB one, as I think this one was older than HK airport. We parked at a gate next to an Air India plane, and disembarked. I proceeded to the transit desk, where I was questioned to no-end by the agent there why I was flying to London when I just got in from there. I told him that I enjoyed flying and wanted to try out all the different airline's product. This obviously didn't get through to him, and after arguing for 5 minutes, he just told me that the flight wasn't ready for check-in, and I should go to a certain gate to get my boarding pass at 23:30. Relieved, I headed to the BA lounge.