Had my first opportunity to try out the new plated service YYZ-PEK-YYZ and overall I'd say it is an improvement, but with opportunities to get better.

A few observations:

• The food was actually properly cooked. Black Cod outbound was fine and Tenderloin on the return was medium rare verging on rare (hallelujah). The veggies were nicely al dente. I was so shocked that I asked the FA whether this improvement was as a result of the plating - apparently not since all the food for one serving still gets bunged into the oven together - so maybe it was just a matter of someone knowing how to cook in the galley.
• The food did not arrive at my table as warm as it had in the past. This is likely because the plates being used are at room temperature/cool as opposed to the previous iteration which was being warmed in the oven with the meal. In the "old days" when AC had plated service the caterer used to deliver pre-warmed plates in insulated bags shortly before departure. Doing so again would improve the experience.
• The food looks a bit lost on the larger (but still not large) plate. It serves to remind me of how small the AC portion size actually is. They could solve this very inexpensively by adding more vegetables. My beef was served with two each tiny broccoli and cauliflower florets. They might also consider providing some garnish to the plates to fill them in.
• Being able to choose cheeses is a nice improvement. Now if only AC on flights from Canada could switch from bland medium cheddar to extra old.
• Also good to see the deserts presented as a whole sliced cake