JL5 JFK-NRT

After a quick and, more importantly, traffic-free Uber ride, I arrived at JFK’s Terminal 1 about 90 minutes prior to departure. There was no wait in JAL’s first class check-in line, although the friendly check-in agent claimed to have never heard of either Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. Nonetheless, with my bag tagged and boarding pass in hand I made it through security in just a few minutes and was soon on my way to the Air France lounge.

Air France First Class Lounge New York (JFK)

This was my first time using the Air France lounge since it was completely renovated in Fall 2014. The new design is very open and bright, owing to the light wood tones and multitude of windows. Upon check-in, I was invited to use the first class section of the lounge – located upstairs (although there seemed to be very little monitoring of who was actually using the first class section of the lounge). Food offerings were relatively sparse, consisting of just breakfast items. On the plus side, there was a huge Nespresso maker and Champagne buck full of non-vintage Duval Leroy on offer.











After a quick hot shower, in keeping with my usual lounge routine prior to a long-haul flight, I headed down to the gate just as boarding was announced.

Japan Airlines 5
New York – Tokyo Narita
B777-300
April 25, 2015
1:15P-4:25P (sked)
1:15P-3:50P (actual)
Flight Time: 12hr59min
First Class
Seat 2K



Upon stepping aboard, I was warmly greeted by flight attendants Ando and Yamaguchi with deep bows and genuine smiles. I could already tell it was going to be a great flight. Ms. Yamaguchi quickly returned with an offer of Champagne – clearly they had already discovered my weak spot. Until a couple of years ago, the Japanese carriers were forbidden from serving alcohol on the ground. It’s nice to see this has changed, because beginning a flight with a flute of Champagne always seems to be the proper thing to do.



Settling in, I realized it has been over just 16 months since my last JAL flight. Since then, the first class seats had seen a slight refresh but otherwise remained unchanged. While not the most cutting edge product, it is equally comfortable and private in a 1-2-1 configuration with a total of 8 seats in the cabin. Today the cabin filled to just 5 passengers, leaving all but one of the middle seats in the first row empty. Ms. Ando came by with some pajamas, the first class amenity kit featuring Shiseido Men products, and a basket of additional wellbeing items. Ms. Yamaguchi returned offering a top-up of my Champagne and the menus for this afternoon’s flights. I had already pre-ordered the Japanese meal, but let’s take a look anyways:

















I’m always impressed by the sheer amount of food that JAL offers in first class. Besides the multi-course main meal and the sizeable pre-arrival meal, there are enough enticing snack items to feed a small army. It’s a far cry from the minuscule transpacific mid-flight offering of US carriers.

We pushed back exactly on-time and enjoyed a quick taxi out. Midday seems to be a relatively light time for JFK departures, and we were #2 for departure as we approached then hold-short. It was a beautiful spring afternoon as we took runway 31L and began out takeoff roll towards the New York City Skyline. The initial climb out afforded some great views of Brooklyn as we made the customary sweeping left turn back towards the east.





I was fortunate enough to have some great views of Long Island’s north shore (where I grew up) as we crossed the Long Island Sound and continued our climbout over Connecticut. About 10 minutes after the seatbelt sign had been turned off, Ms. Yamaguchi came by with a table cloth and some of the really good stuff (2002 Salon Cuvee S Blanc de Blancs from my favorite village in the heart of the Côte des Blancs region of Champagne – Le Mesnil sur Oger. This wine is truly phenomenal – too phenomenal, in fact, for in-flight enjoyment – but I’ll take it anyways! In my opinion (admittedly, as a Champagne lover), it’s probably the best wine offered by any commercial airline, period!



An amuse-bouche soon followed (JAL again wins that “best airline toothpick competition”), along with a selection of pre-packaged nuts (staying away from the dried natto) presented on a plate once selected (take that Heather Cho!):





I’ve always enjoyed JAL’s seasonal Japanese menu, so I called ahead to pre-order my meal. Luckily, those selecting the Japanese meal still have the option of starting with caviar. JAL’s presentation features the customary mother-of-pearl spoon along with both blinis and new potatoes.



The Japanese menu began with the kozara (small dish) course including tastes of grilled sea bream in a green pea sauce, crabmeat with caviar, abalone topped with sea urchin, soy milk jelly, and simmered vegetables.



Today's owan (soup) course was a clear soup with a shrimp mousse dumpling inside.



The shiizakana (Chef’s course) and mukozuke (sashimi) courses were served together and included squid and potato sushi, a duck roll, smoked salmon roll, saffron-flavored yam, skewered shrimp, and sea bream sashimi.



Similarly, and appropriately, the dainomono (main course) and hanmono (rice) were served together. Today’s main was a simmered sablefish that was incredibly flavorful without being too heavy. Naturally, JAL prides itself on its freshly steamed onboard rice, and today I opted for the chicken and burdock rice. Fantastic! Also offered with the course was miso soup and selection of Japanese pickles.





JAL’s presentation and dishware are beautiful, which adds to the meal’s overall enjoyment and can honestly make one temporarily forget they’re eating airplane food. Midway through the meal I switched from the Salon Champagne to sake. Ms. Yamaguchi insisted I try both sakes on the menu, and I ultimately picked the Isojiman – a junmai daiginjo from Shizuoka Prefecture (home to Fuji-san) that promised (and delivered) the sense of “fresh sea air off the Pacific” (although maybe all of the fish also played a small role in that experience). The Isojiman really complimented the entire menu. A post-flight search revealed this sake retails for over $100 per bottle, although availability seems very limited in the U.S.

The sweet course was a delectable black sesame pudding. I really enjoy how many Japanese and Korean desserts, such as this one, are not super-sweet. I enjoyed a cup of green tea along with the pudding.





Although already quite full, I asked if it would be possible to have a small sampling of the cheese plate, which was listed on the a la carte portion of the menu. Yamaguchi-san was happy to oblige.



I finally wrapped up the leisurely lunch (past 3 hours at this point) with a cup of “JAL Grand Cru Café” Coffee of the Month: the “San Sebastian Plantation” from Guatemala. The menu featured an impressive full page description of the coffee, describing how the coffee cherries were “nurtured leisurely into very high-density beans.”





I spent the next couple of hours catching up on some overdue reading, and before I knew it we were hugging the Arctic Ocean coastline nearing Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I settled in for a four hour nap, awaking as we overflew the Sea of Okhotsk very close to the Sakhalin Island – a remote area of the Russian Far East I’ve longed to visit.

JAL uploads the entire menu onto the in-flight entertainment system, providing first class passengers the opportunity to order specific menu items/drinks directly from their seat. Although I view the method as a bit impersonal – I generally prefer walking to the galley instead of ringing the call button – I nonetheless decided to give it a try. I cannot imagine such a system working well on U.S. carriers – it would probably drive the flight attendants mad. I ordered the snack of “Japanese delicacies”, listed on the menu as wasabi flavored octopus, spicy scallop, and simmered stem lettuce. Ando-san quickly appeared from the galley insisting that I order something more, because the portions were quite small. I assured her I just wanted something small, and she came back about 5 minutes later with fresh table linens and the snacks nicely presented on a lacquered tray.



About an hour prior to landing, a pre-arrival meal service was offered. I was debating between just ordering a bowl of curry or a larger meal. Ultimately, I asked which of the western lunch options remained from the main meal service – and was told everything was still available except the caviar and steak. Amazing! How much does JAL over-cater these flights? I ultimately decided on the white asparagus mousse marinated scampi appetizer in “Saikyo Miso” sauce and the Chilean sea bass with saffron yellow pepper coulis. Everything tasted very fresh – far exceeding my expectations for a meal that was catered some 15+ hours earlier.





Dessert consisted of the chocolate hazelnut mousse from the western lunch menu with another cup of the “Coffee of the Month.”



I finished off the flight with a glass of the Suntory Hibiki 17 blended whisky – a fantastic dram. For the whisky aficionados reading, JAL also offers Chivas Regal Royal Salute (21 year).



We tracked down the northeast coast of Honshu, passing Hachinohe, Sendai, and Iwaki before commencing our decent into Narita. Flight Attendants Ando and Yamaguchi came by to thank me again, although really it was me who needed to thank them for the excellent service. We smoothly touched down on RWY 16L and pulled into the gate a full 35 minutes ahead of schedule turning my 90 minute connection into a full two hours (i.e. more time in JAL’s great First Class lounge). Overall, a uniformly excellent flight, further cementing my belief that JAL currently offers one of the best (and still relatively under-the-radar) F products available.