das

The following is the second trip report from my Star FRTW. The first report: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585705 contrasts LH F on BKK-SGN with UA F on SGN-HKG.

I'm in the process of relocating from Sydney to Chicago and am combining a 6 week trip with my move. My overall route is SYD-SIN-PEN-BKK (side trip BKK-BOM-DEL-BOM-BKK) BKK-SGN-HKG-ICN-NRT-LHR-ZRH-MUC-ORD, then ORD-LAX-SYD in December.

This report will contrast SYD-SIN in SQ F to NRT-LHR in NH F, not necessarily the fairest comparison, but hope this will be interesting. I'll try to get up some more reports in the next few days (although I am in ZRH so not quite done with the trip yet).

SQ 232, Sydney to Singapore, 11:30am to 5:15pm, B747-400

I arrived at Sydney around 9:45am to check in for the 11:30am departure to SIN. While the Y line was chaotic, F class check in was quick and efficient, and even immigration was fast. I think this flight departs in between peak hours at SYD.

I headed off to the SKL, and I already knew the SYD lounge wasn't too impressive. The F section is basically a clone of the Raffles section, but obviously less crowded and with some nicer food! There was fruit salad, nuts, candy bars, sandwiches, fancy desserts, etc. I needed to save my appetitie for the flight so I didn't eat much. While in the lounge, some PPS pax were paged and given op-ups to F. Apparently Raffles was oversold today.

Upon boarding, I was immediately escorted to my 3A skysuite, and as soon as I saw the F cabin, I knew the flight was going to be fantastic. The personal TVs were large, and the seats had rich leather and wood accents - reminded me a bit of the new EK cabins. After all, this was only my second flight in Intl F (I'd flown UA on the 747- and as well all know the UA suites look really tired). I was immediately offered a beverage, and a Perrier was served along with a small bottle. Incredibly classy! Then menus, sleep suit, slippers, eye shades, and a Bulgari amenity kit were handed out - it felt like Christmas.

We had about 10 seats filled today, so a fairly heavy load in F. The F cabin was served by the IFS [in flight supervisor] who happened to be female - I heard this is really rare, as well as one male and one female F/A (I guess a fairly senior F/A as her dress was green). SQ seems to have prescribed gender mixes of its crew in the premium cabins. We pushed back early and took off at 11:40am. Our flight path today took us north over Queensland, crossing the coast at Darwin (sometimes this flight will cross the coast at Broome).

After departure, drinks were offered, and I indulged in some Dom Perignon, then a F/A spooned a mix of Macadamias and Cashews into a large ramekin. I was offered a choice of a mix, or a single type of nut. The ramekin was about 2x the size of UA's (although in all fairness - SQ serves Raffles their nuts in a bag). Then, tables were set for the main meal! No tray was used, and along with utensils, salt/pepper, and a bread plate, a large "base plate" was put on the table for each course plate to go on top of.

Here is today's menu:

Appetisers

Chilled malossol caviar
with melba toast and condiments

Tian of crayfish with mango and leek crisps
chilli mango coulis and basil oil

Soup

Oriental chicken soup with asparagus and beancurd

Spicy pumpkin soup with shrimps

Salad

Assorted seasonal greens
Thousand island dressing
Bush tomato and herb dressing

Main courses

Barramundi with white beans, tomato and bacon salad, boiled potato and hazelnut dressing

Seared Australian black augus beef in pepper sauce with asparagus, spinach and potatoes

Braised chicken with shiitake mushrooms, seasonal vegetables and fragrant rice

Indian style lamb shank curry with spiced vegetables and basmati rice

Eggplant parmigiana with tomato sauce, basil oil, wild rocket, and shaved parmesan cheese

Cheese

Gourmet cheese

Dessert

Warm stick date pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream

Fresh fruit

A selection of fresh fruit

From the bakery

Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter

Garlic bread

Hot beverages

Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea

Pralines

To end on a sweet note


Wines -
Dom Perignon 1998
Krug Grande Cuvee

2003 Bannockburn Chardonnay (Australia)
2004 Rudesheimer Magdalenekrueuz Riesing Spatlese, Jose Leitz (Germany)

2004 Chateau Reynella Cabarnet Sauvignon (Australia)
1998 Chateau Cos d'Estournel 1998 saint-estephe (France)

The caviar course was delicious - a huge lump of caviar with chives, egg yolks and whites (finely ground), onions, lemon, and toast. I was even offered vodka with my caviar, but needed to pace myself so declines. The bread basekt was then offered, I chose an olive roll which was nice and warm but tasted surprisingly mediocre.

The soup course was also a bit disappointing - it was a clear chicken soup, with small asparagus pieces. I expected a soup that was a bit more hearty. The salad was really large and had all sorts of vegetables including carrot slices and yellow capsicum.

I ordered the Barramundi (something I like to eat on the ground in SYD - but have had mixed experiences eating it ex-SYD - been excellent on UA, but so awful on VS that I had to swap dishes). On today's flight, the Barramundi itself was moist and flavorful, but while the presentation looked nice, I wasn't impressed with the sides - they were primarily bland white beans. Perhaps I should have BTC'd Lobster Thermidor, but hey I need to save something for next time.

Then it was time for the fruit and cheese trolley, where I selected a few cheeses (don't remember exactly which ones) and some Barossa Valley quince paste (yum - this is also in Raffles). There was a huge fruit basket - I chose a kiwi fruit, strawberries, and grapes. I passed on the dried fruit.

Finally, it was time for the dessert course. I love sticky date pudding on the ground in Sydney, but this was a disappointment, a bit dry and bland. But the presentation was beautiful, and the vanilla ice cream had really vanilla flakes in it! At this point, we'd been flying about 3 hours and were crossing the coast of Australia off Darwin. I took some pictures to say "good bye" to Australia. Thoroughly stuffed, I picked out a few pralines to go with my chamomile tea, and then had some rest, but given it was a day flight I didn't really sleep that much.

F/As came through the cabin every 15 minutes to refresh drinks - so I stayed hydrated with Perrier the whole flight. When the menus were collected, I asked to keep the insides and was told "no problem". You need to be very careful flying Asian carriers in F - they are all keen to collect the menus!

After about 4 hours after the main meal was completed, it was time for the pre arrival service. I ordered the congee, which was served in a large bowl and full of flavor. I could actually see real slices of fish, it wasn't just a bowl of mystery flavors. I then rounded off the snack with a kiwi fruit. F/As kept refreshing drinks until 20 minutes before touchdown, always asking "would you like more?" when clearing a glass. Geez, on UA, juice glasses are grabbed 50 minutes before touchdown with no offer of a refill. We landed early at 5:10pm, and while the flight was a fantastic experience, I was very sad to be finished with my experience of SQ F. I wished the flight was longer!

I'll contrast Raffles on Singpaore to Penag to Thai Business on Penang to Bangkok in a future report. Yeah I know the outcome of that report is obvious.. ;-)

NH 201, Tokyo Narita to London Heathrow, 11-Aug, 11:40am to 4:10pm, B747-400

I hadn't intended to go to LHR as my destination was ZRH, but finding A class availability on NH was incredibly difficult, and over the 7 day period I wanted to travel to Europe, the only A class seat was to LHR. Nothing to CDG or FRA, which was a pain because getting this RTW under 29,000 miles was very difficult. Nontheless I was determined to fly in NH F because its menus that I had seen on FT looked so appealing, and given I probably won't do another F RTW for 2+ years, I wanted to sample their product.

I decided to spend 24 hours in London to help reduce jet lag, and allow me to fully enjoy the onward connection on LX. In hindsight, this was a smart move because my flight to London was one day after the airport security changes.

Following a week exploring Japan, I spent the night at the Hilton Narita, and since I'd heard about the security changes, I headed to the airport 3 hours in advance of my flight. There were no noticable changes in security, as the UK (unlike the US) hadn't imposed restrictions on inbound flights. Nonetheless I had checked all my fluids but at least I could carry on my books! Terminal 1 (the new *A area at NRT) has zonal check in, and I headed to the F area, which was quite deserted and quickly checked in, as my boarding pass had already been printed. I was then directed to a priority security area, not sure who qualifies to use it, but it was also fairly quiet even though the airport was busy.

NH has two F lounges, but instead of lounge hopping, I headed to the lounge near gate 56 - it was fairly spacious and open (with a huge business center), but quite busy with the European flights and JFK/IAD flights all leaving around 11am. Upon arrival I was immediately offered a beverage, even though there is a self serve area. There was a good selection of canapes (asparagus sushi, prawns, etc.) and some packaged snack foods and pastries, as well as whole fruit and cereal. I didn't really eat much because I was saving my appetite for the flight!

Boarding began at 11:15am, the gate area was a bit chaotic, but as soon as I boarded the chaos ended as I was escorted to 3A, in the 10 seat F cabin. When I arrived at my seat, the F/A greeted me by name. She never saw my BP so I assume she studided the manifest. There were only 4 of us in F today (the flight had shown F0 when I checked a month ago, perhaps some connecting passengers rerouted), which made the cabin very private. The Business cabin - at least lower deck - looked quite full.

Prior to departure, the purser introduced hereslf, sleepsuits and cardigans were distributed, and the crew suggested I change before we leave. The F/A then brought around a basket of amenities so I could "make my own amenity kit", and put the basket on the credenza so we could take extras if we needed them in flight. Perhaps due to the late boarding time, pre departure drinks were skipped.

The seat was fairly comfortable and spacious, with a large television screen (i.e. much larger screen than in the UA F suite, and a nice pivoting beverage tray). The seat didn't look quite as new as the SQ suite, and part of the seat blocked the view from one of the windows, but overall I give the NH F seat and the 747 cabin high marks. The thing about my westbound RTW routing is that there is only one overnight flight (LAX-SYD) so I'm more focused on service and IFE than in comfort of sleeping in the seats.

After seeing two other NH 747s take off, we were airborne around noon, about 10 minutes later, the seatbelt sign was off and hot towels and beverages were offered, along with a nice plate of canapes (skewer with smoked salmon, some shellfish - maybe a clam - in the shell, a cup of cheese mini breadsticks, fig wrapped with proscuttio), along with some classy bamboo toothpicks! I started off with some Perrier, to pace myself. :-) I remember similar fancy canapes in Business on NRT-SFO, so this course really sets NH apart.

Menus were then handed out in a classy binder (I subtly removed the menus from the binder so I could keep them- haha), and I ordered the Japanese option, along with the caviar course from the western menu. After all, I had to compare the caviar course to SQ. :-) Given it was a day flight, the service was nicely paced, I never felt rushed at all, even though due to the light load, the crew could have rushed everything.

Here's the menu transcript, which covers the main meal, the midflight snack choices, and the pre arrival meal options. I ended up having some more midflight snacks in lieu of the pre arrival meal.

Special kyodo course

Our regional cuisine series introduces a variety of tastes from around Japan. This summer we present colorful treasures of the season from Nagano, where a unique food culture exists among bountiful mountains and clear water. Enjoy the sumptuous variety of these characteristic dishes.

Zensai course

Wine-perfumed prawn
Simmered iwana (Japanese charr)
Shrimp dumpling
Golden brown yam
Soy-cured black bean
Vegetable bun
Apricot spiral

Nimonowan course

Hamo (pike conger eel) in soup

Otsukuri course

Fresh yuba (tofu crepe) sashimi
Salt-cured soft roe of ayu (sweet fish)

Kobachi course

Braised Shinano free-range chicken with special sesame soy sauce

Oshinogi course

Shinshu soba (buckwheat) noodles with wasabi stem garnish

Shusai course

Grilled Shinano yukimasu (whitefish) with sake pefrumed Yuba (tofu crepe) and freeze-dried tofu simmered in light soy sauce

Steamed rice, miso soup, and assorted pickles

Dessert (your choice of one of the following)

Watermelon sorbet
Mango mousse with tapioca-cocount sauce
Warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce

Selection of fresh seasonal fruit

Green tea, roasted tea

Wagashi course

Toraya "Shin midori" yokan (white azuki bean and green tea jelly)


Western menu

Light easy, uncomplicated dining. Choose trhe dishes that catch your imagination and each will be plated on board, producing a freshness and taste not unlike a fne restaurant dining experience. Naturally, we also offer a tempting range of fine wine and sake for your consideration.

Oscietra caviar with traditional garnish
Parma ham with cantaloupe melon
Warm uni (sea urchin roe) and file fish ragout in saffron sauce

Fresh garden salad with tarragon vinaigretter
Duo asparagus terrine with new onion compote and coddled eggs

Pan-fried wagyu beef tenderloin with wild horseradish and JunmI Akw ewsuxrion
Sole meuniere and seafood ragout with Cantonese abalone sauce
Roasted spare ribs of Kagoshima pork with star anise perfumed
Gateau of summer vegetables and Baratte gasronome

Selection of breads with a choice of Lescure de Charente butter or extra-virgin olive oil

(same dessert options as Japenese menu)


Delights

For those who prefer lighter dining, we invite you to choose from out extensive selection of snack dishes. For additional options, may our crew recommend one of the chef's short tasting menus

Sake accompaniment

Sansho peppered baby fish
Grilled oyster with special sake marinade
Yakitori (skewer grilled free range chicken and vegetables)
Handmade fresh tofu, garnished with Japanese herbs and soy sauce
Oden (hot pot with fishcakes and vegetables)
Assorted Japanese pickles

With wine (these must be cheeses??)

Fourne d'Ambert AOC
Chabichou du Poitou AOC
Mimolette

Light dishes

Kitsune udon (hot white wheat noodles with fried tofu)
Cantonese-style noodles in shark's fin soup
Wagyu beef sirloin and onion braised in special soy sauce, served over rice
Japanese tea poured over roasted rice ball, garnished with Japanese herbs
Cantonese-style congee (rice porridge)
Chef's special free-range chicken and mushroom curry
Super cheeseburger
Classic calzone
Creeamy corn potage

Sweet treats

Grapefruit Jelly

Post-nap comfort

Fresh garden salad
Cornflakes with milk
Selection of fresh seasonal fruit


Petite Japanese course

Grilled ango (conger eel) and cucumber salad tossed with sesame sauce
Grilled kamasu (Japanese barracuda) with sake marinade
Steamed rice of okayu (creamy rice porridge)
Natto (fermeted soybeans)
Dried seaweed
Miso soup
Assorted pickles

Petite international course

Pan-fried veal with truffle, orange sauce
Bread roll
Fresh seasonal fruit

Wines

Krug Grande Cuvee (Champagne)

Chablis Premier Cru Les Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 2000 (Domaine Laroche, Bourgogne)
Puligny-montrachet 1er Cru Champ Gain 2003 (Pierre Ponnelle, Bourgogne)
Schlossberg Grand Cru Reising 2002 (The Cave of Kientzheim Kaysersberg, Alsace)
Babich Winemakers Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (Marlborough, NZ)

Chateau Brane-Cantenac 1999 (Margauz, Bordeaux)
Chateau Petit Village 2002 (Pomerol, Bordeaux)
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2001 (Domaine Jacques Prieur, Bourgogne)
Renato Ratti Conca Marcenasco 2001 (Piemonte, Italy)

Ichinokura, Junami daiginjo Shozaten (Miyagi)
Hakurei, Daiginjo Kouden 25 Migaki (Kyoto)
Satasouji-Shouten, Kakutama Plum Wine (Kagoshima)
Kawagoe, Genuine Imo-jochu (Distilled spirit) (Miyazaki)
Tempai Hakaya Dontaku, Shochu made from barley, aged three years (Fukuoka)

Taylor's 20 Years Old Tawny Port



The caviar was excellent, but a smaller portion than SQ, it had toast points and small pancakes along with the traditional accompaniments. I have no idea how to eat caviar, but it was tasty indeed. Presentation of the Japanese courses was really artistic and varied in presentation - no bento boxes, but china plates with everything nicely garnished and laid out. For example, the soft roe was portioned into a hollowed out lime half!

Each course was served individually, except the Kobachi, Oshinogi, and Shusai courses were all served together which was nice because I could switch between flavors and hot vs. cold dishes. The rice and miso soup were served next, although I had the option of having them served with the previous course.

While I know it's proper to drink sake with Japanese food, I wanted to pace myself so I decided to do a wine tasting instead. I started with the Sauvignon Blanc and then moved onto the 1999 Bordeaux, they were served in a large wine glass and were both excellent. However, NH didn't let me taste before they poured the glass, like SQ would.

For dessert, I had fruit and the watermelon sorbet, I forgot to ask for the Wagashi course! The fruit plate was excellnet - kiwi, mango, grapefruit, and apples slices, but the watermelon sorbet was disappointing. It was frozen solid and very difficult to eat, and since it wasn't creamy, it was hard to eat as it melted as well. I finished off with a pot of Roobios tea, a South African red tea that has no caffeine - it was exceptional.

Now... believe it or not... I was not stuffed after this meal (maybe because I didn't eat breakfast to prepare) so I was able to enjoy a few pralines which were put on the credenza. Evian bottles were handed out, and the crew offered to make my bed whenever I was ready. There were about a dozen or so movies to choose from (interactive video on demand), nothing really interested me, so I did some reading and then figured I would go to bed. The crew brought over a mattress pad and tucked me in with a duvet.

Given it was a day flight, I only napped for a couple hours. NH doesn't replenish water bottles or refill water glasses while you are sleeping, and the F galley was deserted, so I headed back to the Business galley (where there is a self service bar area - like on VS) to get some water, but the f/a offered to bring it to my seat. Then I decided it was time to try some more food!

I ordered the Cantonese Shark Fin Soup and a plate of fruit, a huge steaming bowl of noodles, and just for the snack my table was set. After reading a bit more, I decided to have some more snacks 3.5 hours out of LHR, ordered the Oden (hot pot with fish cakes) and the handmade tofu. The Oden was amazing - huge fish balls and a laegr piece of octopus, as well as a spicy mustard sauce accompaniment. The tofu was cold but came with some nice garnishes (ginger and green onion) to give it flavor. I had another fruit plate, tried the French Pinot Noir, and another pot of Roobios tea.

Determined to have complete my ANA experience, I had some more food 1.5 hours out of London. Instead of ordering the "petite course", I decided to try more choices from the snack menu! I had the Yakitori (really tasty chicken skewers, two of them) and the rice ball with Japanese tea. For this dish, the F/A literally pours the tea from the pot over the rice ball at your seat! It was a brown rice ball with tiny dried fish inside. Not something I'd ever know how to cook, but very tasty! To round it all off, I tried the Grapefruit jelly - which was tart and flavorful, with a real grapefruit segment.

All good things in life eventually come to an end, so it was time to change out of my sleep suit (the crew retrieved my hanging clothes from the closet), and the crew then collected the suit (it's heavy material so they are washed and reused I assume), and then the purser came by to thank me. I told her the service was exceptional and asked her to thank the rest of the crew. We landed early in LHR at 3:50pm, but we needed to wait until 4:15pm for a gate to open up. Obviously the outbound flights were delayed due to the added security. Fast Track took about 20 minutes, so I was on the Heathrow Express at 5:02pm. The arrival process at LHR was painless, in spite of being the day after the new security measures.

Concluding thoughts -

1) ANA's F catering ex-NRT is amazing. I don't know of any other experience quite like it! Specificially it was much better than SQ catering ex-SYD, although may not be as a fair comparison as SQ ex-SIN.

2) Japanese food is well suited for an F class feast because it is so light - I never felt stuffed at all during the flight

3) ANA F/As made a great effort and were caring, but the service just wasn't anywhere near as polished as SQ. Some of this may be cultural (i.e. ANA is an airline mainly for Japanese, whereas SQ positions itself as a global carrier). You also can't beat the SQ uniforms!

Looks like I need to do a day flight on SQ from SIN to Europe to do a proper comparison - but won't happen anytime soon.

Hope you enjoyed this report, sorry it's so long but hopefully it will be interesting to some of you.

-das

milehighj

thank you for posting.

RTW4

I could not agree with you more on your assesment of NH versus SQ. I just flew NH from NRT-LAX and it was superb. SQ has far superior entertainment choices however, and the BTC option is excellent. But the subtle understated elegance of the NH first cabin is really terrific...

Kiwi Flyer

Thank you das ^

Note to self - try, try, try to get an NH F flight.

kyushuman

Excellent Report!
I think you're absolutely right about NH vs. SQ: You can't really go wrong with either of them, but SQ is just more "professional" and comfortable, while the NH crew is less about anticipating your needs--but responds to them really well. I think a lot of the problem is language- and/or culturally-based.
I speak a lot of Japanese, after having lived in both rural and urban Japan for a total of 5 years just after college. I have found that, as a pax, speaking Japanese does make a huge difference on NH: The crew was much more relaxed, and some spoke Japanese with me while others continued in English. This is true with Japanese culture as a whole--when speaking in English, everything is just a bit stilted, uneasy, since making mistakes in languages might cause a loss of face or uncomfortable situation. Not always true, of course it depends on the person, but once I speak a little Japanese--with plenty of slang, grammar mistakes, and jokes, everyone relaxes.
That said, I don't think SQ catering is nearly as "fun" as NH's.... though the BTC on SQ does make it come close.
I really enjoyed those midflight snack options on NH's JFK-NRT in June--so I think the "midflight snack" options are all the same systemwide, not just ex-NRT. The Oden is excellent, and a wonderful treat if you know traditional, simple Japanese food.
SQ's IFE, even in Y class, beats the heck out of NH... but there is enough on NH's system to find something to watch or listen to. Also, NH offers Connexion on its 773 flights that I've taken... how about on your 744 flights (SQ/NH)? Finally, was your 744 outfitted with the New Style F Pod seat?

CGK

Great report das. ^
Just a quick note regarding the soup. There were two choices in the menu. If you were not satisfied with the clear soup, you should have asked for the other choice.
And yes, the baramundi side dishes looked not appealing to me. I like the BTC baramundi last time I took that flight.

TrayflowInUK

Great TR, das. I love reading F TRs. Green with envy!

I like the finer things in life but there are some rather large cracks in my knowledge and your post reminds me I'm not the only one. So, why not ask on FT? There seem to be many people more cultured than I so I'll do the asking!
Does anyone know what the proper term is for this "base plate"? Surely there is one.
Neither do I! I know you're supposed to have a mother-of-pearl or bone spoon, but what are you supposed to do with the little toasts and pancakes? I assume spoon the caviar onto them and garnish w/ egg/onions?

TEX277

Thanks for posting this trip report das. I shall be taking a flight on NH201 in F next year and, after reading your review, am now looking forward to it even more!

WindFlyer

...I imagine this is all a matter of preference; I spread a little cream on the blinis, put caviar over that, and then pop it in my mouth whole, crushing the caviar with my tongue against my palate... delish!

I skip all the other garnishes, unless the caviar is of lesser quality...

Thanks for the report, das ^

Babaduck

I do believe it is known as a "charger"

eutow

Thanks for the excellent and detailed TR, das. For some reason NH don't serve drinks before departure, but they make up for it soon after departure!

TrayflowInUK

Yes, now that you mention it, that rings a bell!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charger...ble_setting%29

Thanks!

hairpeace

They're amazing, I want to get one for myself.

lucky9876coins

Thanks for the great report! I was going to do a flight to Asia in NH F, but I think I may just do SQ across the ocean both ways, and just try NH F within Asia.

kyushuman

Since there is no NH F within Asia (only Regional C, which is not even as good as NWA, in terms of food, seat, and IFE, in my opinion--though service is better)... I would recommend SQ F within Asia, especially if you can get longer flights like ICN or NRT to SIN. NH F on long-haul is hard to beat, though SQ is an equal, at least in terms of *A carriers.