UA 897F NRT-SIN, Seat 2J

I left the lounge rather late, so the concierge had already left to escort the other F pax. I was the last person to board the front cabin, and found it was going to be full. The FA's greeted me very cheerfully and helped me get settled in. We had one western senior FA and the rest of the crew seemed to be based in Asia. I tried to figure out which one was the purser but didn't get around to it, I guess he was serving the C cabin.

Pre departure drinks and newspapers were offered, and I noticed that the pax that had boarded first and had finished theirs got an offer for seconds. In addition, one of the FA's took out a sample of all the magazines available on board and paraded them to each passenger's seat. She also offered Japanese language newspapers. Noise reduction headsets (again, these worked too) and the menu followed. The last thing distributed before take-off were slippers/socks and eye-shades (the full amenity kits were not offered). All in all, the welcome and initial feeling of the service on this flight didn't feel like the usual UA flight - but more friendly/accommodating than all three other International F flights that I just reported on.

The menu features the following choices:

To begin:

Tender chicken simmered in Chinese wine
- jellyfish salad with sesame soy dressing

Main course:

Deep-fried snapper and king prawn with turmeric cream sauce
- spicy mango salsa with bell peppers and raisin couscous

Herb-crusted rack of lamb with curry oil vinaigrette
- cabbage, onion and mushroom salad

Breast of chicken marinated with Chinese herbs
- smoked with white rice, sugarcane and rose tea,
- egg fried rice and kailan with oyster sauce

The Early Seating Meal:

Braised sweet corn soup with crabmeat and asparagus
Chefs salad with juilienned ham, chicken, Cheddar and Swiss cheese
Eli's Caramel Brownie fudge tart

Dessert:

International cheese sampler
Red Cheddar, Emmenthal and Kikorangi Blue cheese

Eli's Caramel Brownie fudge tart

Wines:

Brut, Veuve Clicquot - La Grande Dame
Sandeman's Porto
Selected French and other international premium wines

[to be continued]