UA 870
SYD-SFO
2 hour delay with pretty poor communication on the ground (e.g. United app saying to "go to gate" and "boarding soon" even though 1) we had no aircraft 2) there was a full ground stop 3) lightening was striking all around, no delay issued until past our departure time, no announcements at the gate, etc), but, the delays were understandable given the severe storm (75,000 lightening strikes in Sydney that afternoon!). In flight team made up for the poor ground experience - pilot kept us well informed about our progress (e.g. "well, the bad news is that we were only part way through fueling up when the ground crew got sent back inside, so, we need to wait for it to be safe for them to come back out, and there is no real way of knowing when that will be ... "), flight attendants were friendly, proactive, and just generally a joy to fly with (especially San Diego based Mary!). Light load in Polaris, only 33 seats booked out of 50 meant that everyone seemed to get their first choice of meals, double desserts were no problem, etc. PBD of sparkling wine offered, I didn't try to ask for anything else. PJs on demand, and only a handful of mattress pads available (that went to all the 1Ks).

Now, on to the eating!


Linner (e.g. 4pm lunch) Menu. Menu choice were two different cheese appetizers (mozzarella or halloumi, both vegetarian), and fairly standard choices of beef (brisket though, so slightly different), chicken, fish (salmon), or pasta (ravioli).

Wines. The wine list was unchanged from my past few flights.

Warm Nuts. Once underway, we were given placemats and ramekins of nuts, as is standard. The nuts were a pleasant surprise, as they were actually a full mix of nuts: almonds, cashews, walnuts, and even ... I had one macadamia nut! They were served nicely warm.

Argyle Pinot Noir, 2022. My red wine options were the LVE Signature Cabernet that I didn't really care for on my flight three weeks prior, the Penfolds shiraz that I've always found pretty blah, and an oregon pinot noir, so I went for that. It was remarkably boring. No complexity. Not offensive I guess, but, wow, tasted like ... nothing? Low ***.
Meal Tray. Meal served all at once, hand delivered row by row.

Warm Breads. No basket, but two rolls, both ones i quasi like, and warm. Slight preference for the seed topped one. ***.

Salad: Mesclun Salad. "with cherry tomatoes and pumpkin seeds."

Meager salad: limp-tastic with gross tomatoes. Pumpkin seeds were nice for crunch. **+.

Appetizer: Marinated halloumi cheese. " with olives, oranges, marinated cucumbers, spiced honey, and crackers."

For appetizer, we were actually given (verbally, just before our meal was brought to us) the choice of cheese (tomato/mozzerella) or other cheese (halloumi with olives/citrus). I went for the halloumi. The halloumi was fine? The menu said it was marinated which it didn't seem to be, but everything else was. It came with well seasoned stuffs with it, that were swimming in marinade that was flavorful enough, but I don't like olives/citrus that much. I did like the marinated cucumber, even though it was fairly mushy. The menu claimed there would be crackers, but there were not. As I would discover throughout the meal, the menu only quasi-represented what we were given. *** halloumi, *** cucumbers, meh to the rest.

Entree: Cheese and spinach ravioli. "with pesto cream sauce, bell pepper, broccolini, and roasted pumpkin."

I got the pasta, which had strangely VERY good broccolini - which I say as someone who usually hates it and loathes how much the cafes at my office serve it, but it was al dente and not soggy at all, and almost roasted? It was strangely good. ***+. There were pretty decent cubes of pumpkin (squash) too. ***+. I didn't try the bell pepper cubes as I don't care for it.

The pesto cream sauce that I was looking forward to was fairly average, and the ravioli not really anything better than microwave meal ravioli, and I didn't care for the flavor, but it was not mushy or dried out, and was a large portion of 8 patties. **+ to those parts.

Port. I was glad port was available, and enjoyed it as always. Such a nice sweet treat, and something I always look forward to on flights. ***+.

Mango cheesecake.
A new dessert on the rotation, mango cheesecake. Since many of the United desserts actually come from Eli's Cheesecake (e.g. the pie in the sky, the yummy apple custard cake that was on rotation earlier this year), I had high hopes for the cheesecake, particularly as cheesecake is Eli's specialty after all, and I've enjoyed some in the past. I don't think this was an Eli's product though. It wasn't a classic cheesecake wedge, rather, a bar. The cheesecake flavor, as in cream cheese, was minimal at best. It was more like just a thick set mousse. It was creamy, texture was good, and it was sweet and sorta mango flavored, but, it certainly didn't remind me of a cheesecake. **+.

Ice Cream Sundae: Caramel, Almonds, Whipped Cream. I opted for the same toppings as always on my ice cream sundae: caramel (although I do really want to try the fudge sometime, I am always flying at night and avoiding caffeine), nuts for crunch, and whipped cream. I skip the strawberry goo and cherry, because I never like either, and bring my own fresh berries to add instead (and sprinkles of course). The ice cream was served at a very appropriate temperature, not rock solid, not melty, just soft enough to easily eat, and not melting too fast so you had to rush. No ice crystals, and much better overall than it has been on any United flights I remember in the past few years. I adored the sweet caramel (although I'd prefer just a bit less!), and the crunch from the sliced almonds. Whipped cream was fine. Overall, one of the best sundaes I've had on a United flight (particularly with my additions after). Perfect with my port. ****.

Breakfast. Breakfast is served on a tray all at once. Out of Sydney there is never yogurt nor cereal, just the bread of the day (often a roll out of Sydney, but the more common croissant this time), fruit bowl (which I had to skip because it had watermelon), and choice of two entrees: eggs or carbs. Jam and butter provided as well.

Coffee Regular. The coffee was better than usual on United flights, warm, no funk. Not bad at all. ***+.
I later moved on to decaf (instant) which was exactly as expected.

"Croissant." The bread of the day was the standard mushed "croissant" that is slightly sweet bread, but it was warm and not stale today, so, a bit better than is often served on these flights. **+.

"Ricotta Pancakes."
"with mascarpone cheese, blueberry compote, and maple syrup."

I had to laugh when I saw the "pancakes", as described by both the menu and the flight attendant. But this was a "bank favor in your honor" incident for me, as I wasn't particularly excited about the pancakes (generally thin, limp, lackluster on flights), I had just ordered them because I didn't want the fritatta at all, and I *do* both love liege waffles, and I've had some actually very good versions on flights (a decent version on Japan Airlines first class, fabulous British Airways First Class pecan waffles with sautéed bananas and cinnamon honey, and great ones from Cathay Pacific, which also came with berry compote and mascarpone).

I can safely say this is the best United breakfast I think I've ever had. Now, that said, the bar is very, very low. United is clearly not known for the catering in general, but in particular, the breakfast is usually abysmal. The "croissant" obviously gets its fair share of scorn, as do the assorted versions of odd green egg mounds and low quality sausage, and I hate the Ciobani yogurt served on flights out of the US, so, take that into account of course. I wouldn't go as far as to say this was even a "good" breakfast, but, certainly the best I've had with United, which means I didn't actively hate it, and move on to something I had brought with me instead. The disappointing aspect was the texture. Liege waffles are characterized in part by having a crispy exterior. These were quite soft. No pearl sugar caramelization on the outside. But, the flavor of the base waffle was decent, and even if it didn't look particularly appealing, ***. I did like both the blueberry compote and the melted, somewhat broken, mascarpone cheese sauce (assuming that is what it really was? I didn't really taste mascarpone, but, it was a cream of a kind). I added my own fresh berries and that was better, but, the compote was absolutely acceptable. There was no syrup as described by the menu, but it wasn't needed, the other components were sweet enough. *** toppings. This would have been much better if the waffles weren't soft, and if the sauces were served with a bit more care (and I would have preferred separate, and greater quantity), but again, best I've had with United with no question. *** overall.