Azulcactus

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading many trip reports over the years, salivating over pictures of caviar and Krug. Although I’m still in the miles acquisition phase for some big RTW F trips in the future, my recent trip is a milestone for a few reasons for me so I figured I’d celebrate by sharing with my fellow FTers in my first trip report.

Introduction
Part 1: AA DFW-LHR in F
Part 2: BA LHR-BCN in J
Part 3: Barcelona – Tickets Bar
Part 4: BA BCN-LHR-CPH in Y
Part 5: Copenhagen
Part 6: BA CPH-LHR in J
Part 7: AA LHR-DFW in F
Conclusion

Azulcactus

Introduction

Mrs. and I travel a lot for business and tend to go on each other’s trips for vacation. It is a great way to cut the cost of vacation in half. This trip in specific is extra special for two reasons. First, we are flying in international F for the first time (ok, it’s AA F, but still), and it is our last hurrah before having our first child and therefore also probably last big trip for at least a few quarters until we get the itch.

With my wife having business in Copenhagen and us wanting to spend a few extra days out, we agreed on adding Barcelona at the start of the trip. We had been before but not spent as much time as we wanted and it is really a wonderful city (ok ok, I like the jamon). In searching around for fares I encountered great “I” booking code business fares to Europe. I convinced my other half that we’d practically be leaving money on the table by not booking this! Plus, using my eVIP upgrades on AA would get us into F immediately as upgrading from J->F is far easier and more open than Y->J. The BA connector flights would be in inter-Europe “business”, something to experience (I had low expectations).

The route is set:

DFW-LHR in F then LHR-BCN in J
BCN-LHR-CPH in Y (not efficient but allows us to visit the T5 F lounge)
CPH-LHR in J then LHR-DFW in F

Azulcactus

Part 1:
AA DFW-LHR in F, seats 2D/2G
Boeing 777

We started out in our 2nd home, the fabulous DFW terminal D AC. Due to our extra special status as traveling in international F our experience was “enhanced” with two coupons for a premium drink (this is key to my experience). As my wife is pregnant, that means two premium pours for me from what is probably a $10 bottle of wine instead of a $5 bottle, luxurious! I went for the Malbec, one of my favorites.

We had a somewhat long layover from our inbound connection (I’ve skipped the details on that) and after about 2 hours I started to get one of my major headaches which causes slight vision problems in my right eye. Wonderful. I keep trudging forward through my glass (probably a bad idea).
Time for boarding!

Having read enough trip reports I feel like I’ve already been here before even though this is my first time.

Menu as follows, asterisks next to my selection:

Dining Service

To Start: Warm mixed nuts or Marinated cheese antipasto

Appetizer: Smoked salmon and tarragon shrimp accompanied by capers, red onion and sour cream

The Salad Cart: Fresh seasonal greens with squash, cucumbers, artichoke hearts and roasted tomatoes, offered with pepper cream dressing or premium extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Cajun-style roasted chicken breast

Bread Basket: Assorted gourmet breads

Main Course:

Caribbean Crusted Beef – Grilled filled of beef with a Caribbean-style crust, offered with garlic butter and French potato salad
Boursin Cheese Stuffed Chicken – Served with orange pomegranate sauce accompanied by chipotle mashed sweet potatoes and sage scented root vegetables
*Curried Shrimp and Scallops – Seared shrimp and scallops accompanied by an East Indian curry sauce, served with aromatic jasmine rice and vegetable ratatouille; A signature Cindy Hutson item
Garden Lasagna – Lasagna layered with a blend of cheeses, complemented by diced zucchini, carrots, and broccoli topped with tomato basil sauce; A signature Nancy Brussat item

Dessert:

Ice Cream Sundae – Vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans
Fruit and Cheese – A selection of gourmet cheeses offered with fresh seasonal fruit and assorted crackers

Wine

Champagne – *Pommery Brut Champagne

White Wines – Joseph Drouhin Rully Chardonnay / Thilion Torbato Sauvignon Blanc

Red Wines – *Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino / *Santa Ema Barrel Select Carmenere Reserve

Sherry – Emilio Lustau Sherry

Dessert Wines – Graham’s Vintage Port / Inniskillin Vidal Icewine


Breakfast

*Cheese Omelet – Served with a cheddar cheese sour cream potato timbale and turkey sausage flavored with sun dried tomato and basil
Yogurt – Creamy fruit yogurt
Cereal – Kellogg’s cereal with milk

All options are offered with fresh seasonal fruit and chilled orange juice
A selection of breakfast breads

Pre-Arrival Beverage

For Your Enjoyment – Chilled sparkling or still water with a fresh citrus garnish



Marinated cheese and warm nuts with Santa Ema Barrel Select Carmenere Reserve (looking this up right now, $8.99, awesome: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/12918.html)


Table setup


Salmon and shrimp appetizer


Salad with just tomatoes and chicken


Blurry curried shrimp and scallops

At this point my headache was fully rockin' and I was about down for the count (my excuse for the bad main course picture). My choice for dinner, although it sounded good, was probably the worst possible option as the fishy/curry smell really turned my stomach. I couldn’t eat much of it, but the first two bites tasted quite good. Luckily my wife carries a purse with about everything you’d want in it, so I snagged some medication. Men like to complain about the size of purses but tend to have no problems being a beneficiary of the bowling bags.

The dessert cart soon came around and I could not break a FT rule, never skip a course. So I select ice cream and berries but skipped my normal dessert beverages. I forgot to take the picture (!!), ate about half, and then reclined away. There is one report on the AA forum that AA is starting pajama and turn down service in F as part of the joint business agreement with BA, however this didn’t happen.

I “woke up” about 4 hours later (I never have slept on a plane and I don’t think I really slept here, but tossed and turned in a pseudo state for a while) to the purser waking up those who had requested (as I did) breakfast. My headache was gone (yay!). I resisted the urge to order some port or ice wine with my omelet. After not eating much for dinner the breakfast was delicious, the potatoes and sausage extra tasty, but I did forget to take a picture again, oops. I promise to redeem myself on the return. We did get the pre-arrival beverage (seems to be hit or miss when flying in J, more miss than hit in my experience).

I should mention the purser was amazing on this flight. He managed to be professional, relaxed and attentive all at the same time. It seemed about 10 of us in F were relaxed travelers (just my impressions based on dress, most were not-solo travelers, and lots of people excited for vacations and excited for F service). For example, upon introductions if the passenger introduced themselves back to the purser by their first name (as most did), he asked if it was ok if he addressed you back by your first name (I think everybody said yes), a very nice touch to understand the level of formality the passenger wanted.

We arrived about 20 minutes early (even after the typical 10 minute LHR holding pattern) and I was excited to check out the BA F T3 lounge in LHR (I have seen T5’s F lounge but not T3). My wife was also excited as she has never been in any lounge nicer than an Admirals Club. I ravage the Champagne bar to make up for the flight over and while pursuing my other options I notice something that would make me the envy of my friends, open bar with JW Blue Label. In past trips I’ve never seen anything higher than Black Label, the only problem is I am not a scotch drinker. I had to try some just because, and it was not good to my taste, oh well.


All you can drink JW Blue

Closer to departure we headed into the proper dining room (something the T5 F lounge seems to lack) and I got the “famous BA burger” which to me looked like something you’d get at Burger King. Disgusting. My wife had some fancy (but extremely small) salad which she said was not too bad.

Off to our connection.

Azulcactus

Part 2:
BA LHR-BCN in J, seats 3A and 3C

The BCN flight is one of few flights BA operates from T3 instead of T5. This was nice because we had a quick connection since AA also arrives at T3, but bad because it seems to mean bus gates (I’m not sure BA does any jet bridge flights from T3, but I could be wrong). So far in all my travels I’ve managed to avoid any busing what-so-ever, but my streak is now broken. Bummer.

I was a little disappointed BA didn’t do any priority bus boarding, I’m not sure if that is the norm or not, but it ended up being a free for all and we were about in the middle of the pack. Yuck.

Thankfully, once aboard again we had an amazing purser and the busing memories were a thing of a past. I’ve heard in the past that most inter-Europe flights up front you almost always get served food so although we were in a rather strange departure window, about 3 pm, so I was expecting afternoon tea which I thought to be cool to have on a plane.

Service started with towels and packaged nuts. I asked for a Kir Royale which I’ve heard about before on BA but the FA said unfortunately she didn’t have the necessary items to make them and she believed them only available on international flights. So I had some red wine (there was actually a choice between reds on this short flight and the FA presented the splits to me to view for selection, wow!) and then sure enough, I could see the ovens firing up for something warm. Afternoon tea service followed with a couple canapés, one of roast beef and one of cheese, with a little salad. Very nice (or I should say “quite lovely”). The oven was used to warm up a scone (which I think was dotted with raisins) and there was a little apple tart cake. This was also the first time we have had clotted cream and I have to say it was disgusting. It was very runny (is this normal?) and tasted of nothing. Although I won’t let a sample size of one from a plane deter me from trying again in the future. But the strawberry jam was excellent as a backup spread. It was delicious and a perfect size snack. Oh, and of course there was tea. I’m not a tea person but I had some anyway to complete the package. My wife who loves tea said it was excellent for a plane and didn’t have a hint of coffee like the tea on AA has, probably because the water runs through the same machine as the coffee.


Afternoon tea on BA

I should also mention there is a rather substantial curtain between J and Y. None of this mesh stuff you get in the US. It was very nice and made the cabin feel extremely private, you could not see through at all.

We arrived on time (and at a jet bridge!) but unfortunately had to wait about 20 minutes for bags, I think staff was overworked with a lot of flights arriving at the same time. Anyway, got them and on our way.

Azulcactus

Part 3:
Barcelona – Tickets Bar

I’m a big foodie, which is one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Barcelona. Spain is home to someone who is widely considered to be the best chef in the world, Ferran Adria. Since 1984 he has been the chef at the 3 star elBulli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Bulli ) out in the middle of nowhere, Spain (Roses, Catalonia to be specific). The reservation process for this restaurant was legendary. The story states reservations are taken on one day a year and you email the restaurant and hope. You have something like a 0.3% chance of getting a reservation.

Anyway, in true eccentric style Ferran announced elBulli would close forever as a restaurant in 2011 because it was “losing money” (it may have something to do with the fact it was only open half the year) and he and his brother Albert (who is also accomplished) opened up a much more casual restaurant this past summer in Barcelona proper, Tickets Bar (http://ticketsbar.es/).

There are a few most excellent things going on with this new venue. First is the obvious one, location. It is in the city about a 5 minute walk from a metro stop. Brilliant. The only losers in this situation are the hotels by El Bulli. Second, it’s much easier to get a reservation. Dates open up 90 days out, long enough for you to plan a trip, short enough such that you know what your personal schedule may look like. Third, it is casual, no more coat and tie, it has approachable prices, etc. Fourth, and turns out most important for me is there is a bar attached, 41 degrees (41grados.es) which also takes reservations the same way and serves drinks and a partial tapas list from the main Tickets menu.

The big bad news is that I only heard about this 60 days from our trip and try as I might, a slot never opened up for our stay. Although I have to say, based on my constant checking up to our trip, if you check at 90 days out when a day opens up, you’ll get a table. It seems to take about 24 hours for all slots to fill up for a day, so not hugely competitive (everything in perspective), but that also may be because the restaurant is fairly new. I did get reservations at 41 Degrees though for 8:30 pm (although they offer as early as 6, we didn’t want to be the American tourists and eat that early in Spain, totally un-cool, 8:30 was probably also a bit early by Spanish standards!), so all is good.

The day arrives and I’m giddy, and my wife is somewhat too because she’s heard me talk about this chef for years and over the years I’ve made her into somewhat of a foodie too (although she still usually wants to know what she is eating before eating it). I never figured I’d be able to dine at his restaurant. Earlier in the day I did a recon mission just to make sure it wasn’t difficult to find, it isn’t.

I had heard they sometimes have 1 or 2 tables available for walk-ins, which surprised me, but we left early to just see and got there around 7:30 when no self-respecting Spaniard would be ready for dinner. When we got there the front entrance is roped off and it looks like the entrance to a movie theater. The host, dressed in what looked to me like a black coat with tails you may see in old-school movie theaters (it worked with the theme) approaches you with a clipboard and you give your information. It sounds pretentious but it doesn’t feel like it, I think the setup serves what are probably its two purposes well, first it sets the theme nicely, second it probably prevents people from milling into the restaurant.

I inquired if there was by chance any place in Tickets that evening and the answer was a polite “no, I’m sorry”. I said ok and that we had 8:30 reservation at 41 Degrees and he said they would be happy to seat us now there. Great! I didn’t get any initial pictures of the restaurant inside but here is a site with a lot of good pictures: http://www.foodandthefabulous.com/re...drias-tickets/ You can see the host at the entrance in black with red accents on the far right of the picture with the red velvet rope. Here is a picture I took.


Tickets entrance

41 Degrees is a small separate room at the back of Tickets. It has a bar with about 12 stools, a long booth around the outside with about 6 small bar-sized tables along the booth and then a chair on the other side. There are two more bar-sized tables with 2 chairs centered in the room. It is very cozy but never was cramped during our 3 hour session (good thing we went at 7:30 pm instead of 8:30 pm as I may have fallen asleep before dessert!).



I was a little worried about the food as I went online and the menu is rather limited and over half oysters, which neither of us like. But I figured they would have a bigger selection than what is online and most likely the menu changes fairly frequently. This ended up to be true. Here is the menu which was printed on folded paper (suitable for my wife’s purse) and printed in 3 languages (Catalan, Spanish, English). I’ve marked our selections again with an asterisk. All prices in euro.

The World of Oysters (4.80-5.10 each, or 24.50-26.50 for 6):
Our oysters are selected by Mariscos Genario to ensure the highest quality. Excellence No1.

Natural Oyster
Oyster with Ponzu Yuzu and Salmon Roe
Oyster with Lychee Nectar and a Horseradish Iceberg
Oyster with Mint Clorofil and Finger Lime
Oyster with Green Apple Juise and Celery
Oyster with Miso and Black Garlic
Oyster with Spicy Chicken in Consome and Kimchi
Oyster with Soy Sauce Tapioca Pearls and frozen Wasabi Powder
Oyster with Osetra Caviar (16 each)

The Caviar
Sourced from the River Amur, on the border of Siberia and China
Caviar Osetra Schrencki from the River Amur (18.00 for 10g, 74.00 for 50g)
Caviar Shot: 5g of Osetra Schrencki and a shot of Belvedere Vodka (13.50)

Nigris from 41 degrees (~4 each)
*Tuna Belly
*Marinated salmon
Smoked eel
Foie gras

Snacks (~4 each)
*Stuffed Olives from 41 degrees (these are the famous elBulli olives)
Curried Wild Rice “Worms”
Pistachios in Tart Yoghurt
*Honey and peanut cookies
Crisped Prawn with Saffron
Fried Fish from 41 degrees
Crisped Spicy Tentacles
*Crisped Seaweed with Quinoa
*False pistachios
*Nordic Travel Smoked beef Toast
Diced Pork Rinds
*Air Bread with cured Iberian Ham
*Mini mozzarellas with basil
*Parmesan Ice Cream Sandwich with Lemon Marmalade
Seaweed Cornet with Puffed Millet and Spicy Tuna
Grilled Brioche with Truffled Cheese

Desserts (~4 each)
*Forest Floor – Discover a world of sensations, submerged in a forest full of spices, herbs and dried fruits (26.50)
Blackcurrant Profiteroles with Yoghurt and Atsina
Chocolate Bonbons
Lime and Coconut Marshmallows
Macaroons duo. Raspberry and Chocolate

There were also a few dozen unique drinks to have, although the menu was not suitable for a souvenir. All mixed drinks were around 10-14, quite reasonable for such a trendy restaurant. I had 2 Kir Royales (since I didn’t get them on my BA flight!) and 2 caipirinhas. They also had about 5 non-alcoholic concoctions (~9 each) which was appreciated by my wife. She had something which tasted similar to a virgin mint julep to me.

I was first a bit shy about pictures so I didn’t get the first half of our options, but then saw others taking them too (no flash) and there was a bright spot light aimed at our table, so here are pictures of the second half of our meal.


Crisped seaweed with quinoa


Mini mozzarella with basil


Air bread with cured Iberian ham


Nordic travel smoked beef toast


Forest floor dessert


Famous "ice cream" cart in Tickets restaurant

As with El Bulli, almost everything is to be eaten with hands. In fact, everything we had except for dessert was just that. We only got silverware (two small spoons, you can see part of them on the right side of the last picture) once we ordered the dessert. I pointed that out to my wife and she had not even noticed we never used silverware so it isn't like you are sitting there licking your fingers.

Overall and excellent experience. The price for 6 total drinks and all the food plus service charge was 160 total, steep, but I think a good bargain for the experience. I’ve heard elBulli typically was 250 a person on up (depending on the amount you drank). Even if you do not want to go that much, with the 41 Degrees bar you can really just walk in (although it takes reservations, they were not 100% full and this was a Friday night) and eat/drink as little or as much as you want.

During our stay in Barcelona we saw more of the typical touristy stuff you can read about elsewhere.

Azulcactus

Part 4:
BA BCN-LHR-CPH in Y

The flights were bearable and fairly uneventful. I had a sleeper/snorer next to me on BCN-LHR and a talker LHR-CPH (who didn’t take my hint of putting on my noise canceling headphones). I think I preferred the sleeper/snorer.

Our layover was only 1.5 hours which resulted in only 25 minutes in the T5 F lounge after the T3-T5 transfer and security screening. I did get us through fast track by waiving my pink AA priority immigration arrival jacket from our DFW-LHR flight the prior week.

Azulcactus

Part 5:
Copenhagen

This was the first time for us in any Scandinavian country and after 85 degrees F temperatures in Barcelona, we were looking forward to milder temperatures, forecast around 60-65. Overall it was a very nice trip, doing the typical touristy things, but there is one notable adventure.

The hotel we booked, Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, was a strategic choice. First and foremost, I have status with Priority Club. Second, it is a known quantity, western hotel. With a pregnant wife it was not the time to start experimenting with local hotels which may be hit or miss. Third, it is outside of the city center meaning the price is quite nice (the concierge floor was the same price a regular hotel downtown, this turned out to be an extra bargain because food and drink is expensive in Copenhagen!). And finally it is right next to both the subway and city train.

Due to the location to mass transit, I had decided we’d make our own way to the hotel instead of taking the hotel shuttle. I mapped it out ahead of time, the hotel is at Ørestad station which is one stop on the train. For whatever reason, when at the airport I started directing us to Øresund instead, which is 4 stops on the metro. Hilarity ensues when we exit at Øresund and are in the absolute middle of nowhere. If Copenhagen had cows they would have been roaming outside the metro stop. According to the hotel info sheet I had printed out, the hotel should have been “right there”, a big 25 story black building, directly opposite a huge US-style shopping mall. Aside from a couple houses and some dirt, there was no hotel and no Macys.

We walked a little bit (by this time I was dragging both our suitcases) until finally I decided to call the hotel. They told me the same thing I thought I already knew, get off the train at Ørestad and you cannot miss it, huge black building. Hmph. We walked for about 5 more minutes until I finally realized my mistake, the hotel is at Ørestad and I am at Øresund. Two letters do make a difference.

Relieved that I figured out my mistake (also lucky as it was starting to rain a little), using my printed mass transit map and newfound attention to detail, we got on the metro, rode a couple stops into town, switched lines and rode back out of town to the hotel. An illustrated guide to my mistake, everything is in the far lower right:



One interesting thing about the Copenhagen mass transit is there are no ticket gates. It is pretty much honor system on the whole paying thing. As good visitors in a foreign country we did pay, although it did work to our advantage. The payment is zone based. From the airport to the hotel is a 2 zone ticket as they are one zone apart. However, we traveled much more than this even though our “net travel” was still legal per our tickets. If there were actually gates we’d have had to pay again for our separate trip since we exited and re-entered the station.

Once getting to the proper station there was a very obvious mall and 25 story hotel. Estimated time on train from airport to hotel: 7 minutes. Actual time: 56 minutes. Luckily we arrived 45 minutes prior to the closure of the lounge happy hour so we had “dinner” there and then turned in.

Azulcactus

Part 6:
BA CPH-LHR in J, seats 3A and 3C

After about 10 days gone we were both ready to get home again. Everything was uneventful at CPH, there is a little contract lounge where we got some breakfast before heading to the gate. Breakfast was served up front and it was some sort of standard breakfast mix. Eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, served in a tin tray sitting in a plastic dish. While the afternoon tea service on our prior flight exceeded my expectations in its presentation and quality, this was rather poorly presented and a greasy mess. It truly looked like a breakfast tray you’d get in Y.


Greasy mess

We landed ahead of time (and without a holding pattern, a first for me at LHR) and made the trek from T5 to T3 where after a brief duty free bonanza, we were off to the BA T3 lounge. We did the same thing as before except it was breakfast time instead of lunch. Oh, and I put myself on a strict champagne diet to not have a possible repeat migraine like I had on the inbound.

Azulcactus

Part 7:
AA LHR-DFW in F, seats 2D/2G
Boeing 777

About 1.5 hours prior to departure I wanted to go over to the Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge because I presumed we needed to be a part of the security theatre since we still had tickets on BA stock. In my experience flights going into the US the carriers only want to accept their own tickets. Sure enough, when we got to the AC and presented the BA passes we got the baggage questions before another sticker was added to the back of my passport and the boarding passes reprinted in AA stock.

We proceeded into the Flagship Lounge and helped ourselves to a couple sorry-looking options while waiting about 30 minutes until boarding was called. When the screen showed “proceed to gate” an announcement was made in the lounge to stay put until they made another call since boarding had not yet started the gate area was small. Once that was called and we went to the gate area they were not kidding. It was an enclosed pen and probably had enough seats for only 2/3rds the flight, maximum. What a mess. We actually had to wait outside the pen when we got there because they could not even fit another standing person inside. Boarding started so we got in and practically had to crowd-surf toward the jet bridge. For a “flagship” route this was absolutely horrible. AA needs to expand the gate or use a different gate. As the OW carrier who probably has the most flights out of T3 daily, they should do better.

Once on board things felt better. The purser introduced herself and we got the menu.

Dining Service

To Start: Warm mixed nuts or Marinated cheese antipasto

Appetizer: Smoked salmon and tarragon shrimp accompanied by capers, red onion and sour cream

The Salad Cart: Fresh seasonal greens with pickled carrots, plum tomatoes, broccoli and scallions offered with creamy blue cheese dressing or premium extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Sliced herbes de Provence chicken breast

Bread Basket: Assorted gourmet breads

Main Course:

*Chateaubriand with Mushroom Sauce – Seared fillet of beef served with porcini mushroom sauce, grilled vegetables and potatoes au gratin
Shrimp and Scallop Provencal – Shrimp and scallops with Provencal sauce accompanied by lemon tarragon rice and zucchini and eggplant tapenade roll
Foie Gras Stuffed Chicken – Breast of chicken stuffed with duck foie gras, offered with black peppercorn sauce, buttered haircots verts and wild rice with pecans
Pecorino Gnocchi – Gnocchi stuffed with a rich pecorino cream filling

Dessert:

Ice Cream Sundae – Vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans
Fruit and Cheese – A selection of gourmet cheeses offered with fresh seasonal fruit and assorted crackers

Wine (same as on the way out)

Champagne – *Pommery Brut Champagne

White Wines – Joseph Drouhin Rully Chardonnay / Thilion Torbato Sauvignon Blanc

Red Wines – Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino / *Santa Ema Barrel Select Carmenere Reserve

Sherry – Emilio Lustau Sherry

Dessert Wines – Graham’s Vintage Port / *Inniskillin Vidal Icewine

Mid-Flight Snack

Fruit and Cheese – A selection of gourmet cheeses offered with fresh seasonal fruit and assorted crackers
Snacks – Assorted snack items are also available

Light Meal

*Uno’s Farmer’s Market Pizza – A Chicago-style deep dish pizza topped with mixed vegetables and a three cheese blend, served with basil pesto and a fresh green salad
Gourmet Salad – Fresh seasonal greens topped with grilled chicken and sliced beef, asparagus, tomatoes and Brie, offered with balsamic tomato vinaigrette
Dessert – Fresh fruit or cookies, freshly baked on board

Pre-Arrival Beverage

For Your Enjoyment – Chilled sparkling or still water with a fresh citrus garnish

Luckily I was feeling better so I was able to enjoy my meal and get pictures. We both selected the Chateaubriand. I’ve had this before in J on the 767 (which has a service style and quality closer to F on the 777) and it was great, so I expected it to be similar. Plus I still had memories of the seafood in my mind from the flight in. Sure enough, the beef was fabulous, crazy tender and flavorful and still somewhat pink.


My nuts


Setup


Caviar and Krug service, minus the caviar and Krug


Salad (to be fair, I asked for just chicken-only)


Awesome Chateaubriand


Sundae with ice wine

My wife and I decided to dine together for the light meal. I’m not a salad person so I had to select the dreaded Uno’s pizza (almost nobody on FT likes these and I’m pretty certain the exact same pizza is served in J). It was lackluster as expected.


The dreaded Uno's, times 2


Dessert - fresh cut fruit on board (I saw the preparation), and the classic AA fresh-baked cookie

I feel obligated to mention no PJs were offered on this flight either, and we did get the pre-arrival beverage. Immigration at DFW was the longest I’ve ever seen it, although it only took about 30 minutes to get through, far better than all my experiences at LAX.

Azulcactus

Conclusion:

All in all a good trip. I highly recommend the Tickets restaurant in Barcelona, it was fabulous. Inter-Europe J was actually not as bad as I expected. The seats of course are horrible but the service is very attentive and the meal offers for short flights and strange times are more than you get in the US. Overall though I think I still prefer the US-style domestic F to the inter-Europe style.

I hope you enjoyed my first trip report!

Jinxy

I loved loved loved your report!!!

Laughing about the name mix up at the train station!

Wishing you both all the best with your new bubba!

JHIN

Yea this whole pizza thing in F and J HAS TO GO BYE BYE - we need an internet campaign to reject what AA is serving here certainly there are other better options.

Jimgotkp

Nice TR! Super jealous of the ice wine! Kind of drooled when you mentioned it in the first menu!

francophile

Am I just very hungry at this moment, or does the food in your pictures in AA F look incredibly delicious.... and might I add, a marked improvement over pictures I've seen on previous trip reports.... Even the Uno's pizza looks tasty.

Anyway, excellent pictures and trip report! Thanks so much, Azulcactus