iluvdoco

Looking forward to my first F experience on FRA-HKG in 2 months and I'd like to maximize that experience!

I've set aside 8 hours to try every lounge in HKG. While at the Wing, how many plates can I order?

Onboard the plane, can I order every single snack item and more than one main entree? Will the FAs give me strange looks?

Bttc

Isn't the food at the Wing mostly a buffet? I remember ordering something along the lines of the "chef's special" from the kitchen, but I think most of the food was on a buffet.

Not sure on the flight--I've never tried to push it.

Orwaid

Hi -

Basically, eat as much as you want.

On HKG-LAX in F I had the caviar; the soup; the steak entree; the lobster entree; the cake AND the ice cream AND fresh berries with clotted cream for dessert; and oh yes, the cheese.

Saved enough room for the hamburger mid flight; more ice cream; more fresh berries with clotted cream

Topped it off with some extra leftover caviar with my eggs for the 2nd meal.

Burp.

iluvdoco

Excellent! So it's like a buffet then.

77W_12A

You should go out and enjoy the food that HK has to offer. It's better than the lounge food. Yeah, I think the lounge food is pretty decent, but maybe I'm a bit bored of it.

I find it really hard to sleep on a plane if I have a full stomach. I try to sleep as much as I can.

LchChester

Just one order from the menu in the Heaven.. and of coz all-you-can-eat for the buffet.

When on board, in theory you can order everything as its more like an inventory list that you can pick from... however, I am sure that you will get a strange eye from the FA, and there are simply not enough food/choice for you to try each of them (not to mention that I doubt whether one can eat so much food).

My experience for a recent HND-HKG F flight was that the FA sounds like she was doing me a great favor when I ask for the an extra main after finishing the Japanese meal and still feeling hungry (ate nothing for the whole day). I didn't specify which main course I wanted. When she comes back, she even said that it is available only because some other passenger has chosen not to eat.

I have also certain other occasions that was told that my choice has run out of stock. There was a discussion a while ago that it seems CX only loads two set of Chinese option on board despite a full F cabin.

QRC3288

I second what LchChester says...there possibly won't be enough catering for you to order one or multiples of everything. Depends on final loadings and the catering fit-out for the flight, and they do overstock for F, but if on boarding you order everything you might not only get a strange look but a request from the FA to talk to other passengers first. Simply put, unless you're a competitive eater by profession there is virtually zero chance you can finish one of everything on the menu so you'd be wasting a lot of food, probably at the expense of other passengers' choices.

Also seconding what he says, certain meal options can run out in F. That's just life. IME I never go hungry on F flights (in fact, I'm usually stuffed after a few dishes). And I probably sample max 30% of the menu items on any given flight. Maybe less.

Very early in the flight - sometimes at the gate if it's a long boarding process - they'll take your meal orders for the flight and see what you might like to eat for the duration and when you'd like it delivered. It's during this time I think you'll get pushback until they have a better idea what other passengers are thinking about. They don't load 6 of everything.

As a side point, the bread basket in CX F is quite large (depends on the crew, but usually they stuff it full) and I often find myself full even before the main course has arrived.

percysmith

Even the standard meal in F is heavy going.

Case in point - my trip to F last month - I woke up at 5:30am, ITCIed, went and traded one 3HK plan iPhone (iPhone 6 HK launch day), sold it for $44 loss (but kept the 24-month plan) cos I received shipping notification that two more AOS iPhones have been despatched to my office, had a small Swiss roll for breakfast, went to Mongkok again to sell one more iPhone and spent ages banking the money in so only managed a Maccas lunch (I think I only managed the time for McNuggets).

Should be pretty starving right? Went into Haven after work and started to dig into one entree, a bit of the roast and the soup to take the hunger edge off. Worked a bit setting up the remaining iPhone for the missus and trying out a cabana, boarded plane (with the laptop in hand cos the missus screwed up her apps update). By the time I worked through the five courses I couldn't finish the fruit.

The challenge for me was to stay up given the very long day, I was conscious of both b-kpf "I wake up to the announcement coming from the flight deck, telling us we’ll be arriving at Toronto Pearson about 30 minutes from now. DRAT! I SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL??!!" and Derek Low's "I’d slept for 6 hours, or $6,000 worth of the flight", so:

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

As others have said - you won't be able to eat one of everything, even if you felt tempted. There is plenty of food, and the serving sizes are just right to be able to complete a 6 or 7 course meal. But as for seconds and thirds that would be perhaps pushing it, particularly for later in flight when others might also want something a little more substantial.

On a recent flight, for the second meal service (which commenced with fresh fruit) I asked for an additional small dish as an appetizer/entree. That wasn't a problem, but if someone had ordered all of them for no other reason than they 'felt like it', it might have meant I missed out.

Perhaps worth pointing out that the food is ok, but it's not 3-hatted Michelin starred.

percysmith

I remember reading somewhere airlines cater 105 or so meals for 100 Y pax to offer choice. The ratios look like 3 for 2 pax for CX J on the cart. Probably higher for F? If yes a second is definitely on.

iluvdoco

Wait, what if competitive eating is my hobby?

@percysmith, I think I would be very upset if I slept through the majority of my CX F flight. I'll power up on caffeine beforehand.

Thanks for the replies, all. So it sounds like choice onboard is limited. I'm thinking I'll go for the Chinese option, then 2 snacks (ideally the hot pot rice + egg custard tarts, if they have those). Maybe the wonton soup if no egg custard tarts.

I think 2 snacks is reasonable, right?

So for my time in The Wing, I've read that they have a sit down a la carte dining room for F passengers. Is there any limit to ordering there?

percysmith

I always feel coffee after security is always somewhat decaffinated.

Haven is the F dining room. No limit, you can eat five times your body weight.

My snacks were Roast Duck in Noodle Soup, Goad Cheese and Spinach Quiche and Ice Cream.

nkrijeka

To each their own, but I would much rather have a nice meal in the city than sit at lounges for eight hours. Lounges are great when you have a 3-4 hour layover, but I would never go out of my way for extra lounge time. I'd also note that, if this is an eight hour layover, you can set aside about 4 hours in downtown HK as it easily accessed from the airport.

LchChester

Should be one main dish only... at least I was denied when Heaven was first open after Wing refurbishment and I had never ask again.
The portion is extremely tiny... i have once ordered the risotto and its like a large plate with 3 spoon-worth of rice. On the other hand, there is still a buffet with plenty selection.

SeeBuyFly

My father, who grew up with food shortages, rationing and famines, always ate everything he was served on planes. If he knew he could order seconds and thirds, he would have done so even at the risk of exploding midflight. Fortunately he never had the chance to fly anything other than economy.

I sometimes envy him his enjoyment of such simple things, and I envy the OP. Personally I find CX's food, even in F, to be mediocre and tasteless even though lavishly described on the menu. I do eat enough to ward off hunger, but I cannot imagine eating more. On shorter KA flights I pre-order the fruit plate.

If you want good food, travel QR, even in J (I have not flown QR in F).