LAX-PVG (and return)
AA 183/182
788 Dreamliner
December 19th/31st, 2015
Dinner, Business Class
The "Ginger Beef with Enoki mushrooms and cilantro pesto" appetizer was served chilled. Very disappointing. The beef was overdone so you were just eating a cold, fibrous meat on a stick with minimal flavor. Looked cool though.
Had the "Coconut Cashew Crusted Chicken". It wasn't too bad but wasn't too good either. Not a big fan of coconut although appreciate the effort at a Thai style dish. The "ginger mashed potatoes" on the side was okay.
The tiramisu cake for dessert was tasty as well. Pretty good quality -- comparable to what you would find in an average bakery. The cream was a bit thick though.
About 2 hours into departure was served another meal. This curry noodle with roasted duck was surprisingly good! Very mild in spiciness yet also very flavorful -- most of y'all should be able to hand it. The roasted duck was juicy albeit a little bit fatty. Actually liked this quick meal service better than the lengthy dinner.
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The appetizer disappoints yet again. Looked GREAT -- tasted terrible. If you've had actual "Peking Duck Spring Roll" you know it tastes nothing like this. The wrapper was very stale, and the duck skin was cold and not crispy at all.
This was "Roasted Duck Breast with Plum Sauce and Egg Fried Rice" -- it was essentially the same duck breast from the curry noodle in the outbound leg, but actually enjoyed that dish more than this.
The fruit tart for dessert was once again very good. Bakery quality -- I suspect maybe it is indeed outsourced from a bakery and not catered by Sky Chefs or whoever does AA's food now.
In conclusion, the items served were largely Asian inspired and quite flavorful. Would take the meals here over a premium transcon or domestic meal service any day. However, AA still lags a bit behind Asian carriers in terms of both food quality, presentation, and FA meal service.