JAL SAKURA BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE (Satellite Terminal)
For some unknown reason I left the Qantas lounge feeling refreshed and in a good mood. My final lounge of the morning would be the JAL lounge out in the satellite terminal. I walked in and was immediately surprised that it was VERY CROWED! I found a little corner to set up shop and took a stroll past the food counter. The miso soup was the freeze-dried type unlike the fresh version available in the JAL lounge in the main terminal. I also tried a fish sushi and a glass of champers. I ate the sushi but the soup wasn’t worth eating.
Seating area towards the tarmac. The sun made it too hot to sit there.
My selection from the buffet
The lounge was busier on this end
Drinks and sushi
THE FINAL SCORE:
Just like in Bangkok, the winner of the lounge crawl was QANTAS AIRLINES. The bottom line is that an off-hours lounge with good food is hard to beat! I didn’t get much work done during my stay at Narita airport but I had fun popping around to the various lounges.
All of the sudden, I remembered that I actually had a flight to catch! This wasn’t all about the lounges! A lovely business class seat waited me!
BOARDING:
When I got to the gate, boarding had already begun. I walked right up on the Business Class side and boarded immediately. At the door I was greeted with a polite bow and a motion towards my seat.
Our Boeing 767 to Singapore
I had seen on the JAL website that our flight would have the new Regional Business Class product called the Recliner. It was very comfortable in the sitting positions but I would have preferred a nice flat bed to take my two hour nap.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5060/...2347aa0bf8.jpg
A view of the seat
More seat views
Corbin and me
Our flight to Singapore was actually longer than the flight from Delhi. Some how in my mind, India was much further away from Japan than Singapore. I actually had to stare at a map before that made sense.
Prior to departure, nothing was offered. But once we were in the air, we were offered sparkling wine or OJ along with a hot towel and the menu. Soon after our flight attendant came by asking for our drink orders. I continued with the sparkling wine. Terry has been imbibing less because his waistline is suffering.
Our post-takeoff drinks
More champers for our pre-lunch meal
Normally I’m not a big fan of in-flight entertainment but I did use this as an opportunity to catch up on some movies that have come out since we started to travel. Normally, my own laptop has a better selection of TV and movies waiting to be watched.
MEAL SERVICE:
Today we had a choice of Casual Dining, French or Japanese meals. Terry and I chose the French and Corbin chose the Japanese. The menu was a bit confusing because we weren’t sure if we had a bunch of choices or if we would be getting everything on the menu. It turns out that we got EVERYTHING listed on the menu.
FRENCH MEAL:
Terry and I loved the French meal. I will type out the entire menu below but the highlights were baby lobster & scallop, fois gras and tenderloin. It was all delicious. I think we both ate everything on our plates.
JAPANESE MEAL:
Corbin loves Japanese food and his meal offered many delicious items including marinated sandfish, roast pork and yam mousse. He sampled all of the items but only finished about half since he’s not a big eater. I always ask at check-in that they have not gotten him a child’s meal because it’s always chicken nuggets and carrot sticks. Chicken nuggets should be removed from all menus worldwide. THEY ARE NOT FOOD. He much prefers real food that is more interesting and has some flavour. I also enjoyed finishing up his leftovers.
For dessert a duet of apple tart and cheesecake with berries was served. I was surprised that they didn’t offer a cheese plate so I ask if one was available. My plate arrived but it was a little on the shy side.
Japanese Meal
French Meal
Closeup of French Starters
Close up of beef
Duet of desserts (not on menu)
Cheese plate
Here was the full menu:
Casual Dining:
Tray of Starters:
Potato Salad with Bacon
Beef Pastrami
Parma Ham
Italian Marinated Artichoke
Citrus Marinated Fresh King Salmon
Grilled Scallop
Marinated Sea-bass & Smoked Scallop Ceviche Style
Vegetable Relish with Baby Lobster & Spelt Salad
Raw Ham & Cream Cheese Ball
Cherry Tomato Pickles
Fresh Vegetable with Bagna Cauda
Main Dish:
Grilled Pork Ginger Flavor with Sauteed Onion
Fresh Salad
Bread or Steamed Rice
Dessert:
Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
Contemporary French:
Hors d”Oeuvres:
Citrus Marinated Fresh King Salmon with “Yuzu” Jelly
Baby Lobster & Scallop with Rartouille scented by Genova Pesto
Mini Paris-Brest with Foie Gras Fondant & Apple Compote
Main Dish:
Grilled Tenderloin of Japanese Beef with Creamy Mushroom Sauce accompanied with Bacon Potato Gratin
Fresh Salad
Bread or Steamed Rice
Dessert:
Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
AKITA Samurai Zen Japanese Meal
The local specialities featuring Akita prefecture.
Steamed Yam Mousse with Water Shield
Fried Marinated Sandfish in Sweet Vinegar Sauce
Black Rice Tofu Simmered Shrimp & Maitake Mushroom
Japanese Noodles “Udon”
Roast Pork with sweet soy starch sauce
Poached “Nanohana” Vegetable with Dried Bonito Flakes
Miso-marinated Bamboo Shoots & Simmered Boiled Egg
Japanese Pickles
Dainomono:
Braised Chicken & “Kiritanpo” Rice Cake with Light Soy Sauce
Steamed Rice
Miso Soup
Dessert:
Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
This flight once again was full in all classes. JAL is doing something right if our small sample of two flights were both full.
OVERALL:
JAL offers a good, solid product. The food was great on both flights. I always enjoy Japanese food and it stands up well as airline food.
After a couple of days in Singapore, we will be taking one of the highlight flights of our entire year: Qantas Super Jumbo A380 to Sydney in Business Class. WE CAN’T WAIT!!
Previous reports in this year of travel:
FLIGHT#26: Delhi Green Lounge & JL 740 Business Class with photos
FLIGHT#22: SGN International Sasco Lounge & TG 551 Business Class with photos
FLIGHT#20: SGN Dom Sasco Lounge, VN452 SGN-NHA Biz Class and Sheraton Nha Trang
FLIGHT#19: BKK Royal First Lounge & LH772 BKK-SGN in First Class with photos
FLIGHT#18: TG242 KBV-BKK in Biz Class with photos
FLIGHT#17: TG245 BKK-KVG in Biz Class with Photos
FLIGHT#16: THE CABIN & CX751 HKG-BKK in Biz Class with photos
FLIGHT#15: CX748 JNB-HKG Biz Class with photos