I've gotten that once and I was really impressed. It's the fabled 1970s service every old fart speaks of.

To be honest, when/if I choose to fly CX I am making a conscious decision to leave behind the plusses of other airlines, e.g. better food, because I want the things that I like about CX more - throughout most aspects of service, they have a judicious eye on what to offer guests, as well as how much of it. That comes part and parcel with its caveats - noone can be everything to everyone.

Perhaps it's that I spent the past decade on some very badly-managed airlines, that I enjoy CX today and find them to be professional and robust most of the time. I still recall when the J crew of a certain European carrier once just decided to lie to me and forgot about a certain drink request they didn't want to fulfill. They had lie-flat seating intra-asia, but did it matter? HELL NO.