After all 4 legs, I can report back on the meal options I had with CI.
For YVR-TPE, I forgot to take photos, but the dinner service opened with Crepe Stuffed with Chicken and Prawn salad and a garden salad. This was followed by the soup course, which was Butternut Squash soup. Salads were decent, soup was good. So far, 8 out of 10.
Main course that I picked was Stir-fried Prawn and Vegetables with Steamed Rice. Was decent, but nothing spectacular. I give it 7 out of 10.
A cheese and fruit course followed, with Brie and Asiago cheese, plus grapes, apple slices and a dried apricot.
Desert was a Haagen Dazs chocolate covered ice cream bar with nuts.
Overall, 7.5 out of 10.
Breakfast choice was the Chinese breakfast; plain congee, with some sides;
Sautéed Mushroom and Kailan Carro;
Dried Radish Egg Omelette;
Asparagus and Pepper Salad and Mushrooms;
Dried Seaweed Fish Floss;
and a Salty Egg
This was accompanied by some fresh fruit; nothing memorable. Overall, 7.5 out of 10.
On the TPE-SIN leg, I did remember to take photos, so here we go:
We opened with canapes; Apple Topped Butter Brioche with Shrimp and Pistachios Nut, and Mentaiko Cream Cheese in Cherry Tomato. 8 out of 10 so far:
The appetizer, main course, and the fruit course were served together: the appetizer was Smoked Duck Breast Salad with Pesto Dressing and Mozzarella Cheese Ball, main course chosen was Assorted Seafood in Oyster Sauce with Noodles.
Appetizer was a 8.5/10, main course was a let down, I give it 6.5 out of 10. Main course needed more seasoning, rice noodles were bland and didn't really match with course. They should ditch the flat rice noodles for something else that more easily absorbs the sauce. Fruit was decent though.
Return SIN-TPE went as follows:
Canapes:
Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Mayo;
Roasted Chicken Breast with Sundried Tomato Pesto, and;
Cherry Tomato and Bocconcini Skewer wiith Olive Tapenade
8 out of 10.
This was followed up by the appetizer and main course;
Appetizer: Smoked scallop topped with almond pesto, flamed and Salmon and puffed rice salad with Tobiko Mayo
Main course: Indonesian style roasted perch with tumeric rice
This was a solid 8 out of 10 for both appetizer and main course; fish was cooked flaky and moist, and was well seasoned. Bread was both hit and miss; the roll offered was a Rheingau roll, which was difficult to cut open to spread the butter, but they came around with garlic bread later on, which more than made up for it.
Dessert was a small single serving of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream; that was a little too frozen and needed some time to thaw before you could really get at it after opening.
Overall, 8 out of 10. Good, but nothing really spectacular.
For the TPE-YVR leg, I had pre-ordered the specialty meal that was branded with 3 Michelin star restaurant Le Palais in Taipei; the flight attendant that was coming around with the menus confirmed the pre-order with me.
As per usual with CI, appetizers and main course were served together on a tray; this is what the specialty meal I had pre-ordered had:
Opening appetizers:
Sichuan-style spicy radish;
Pumpkin with Osmanthus dressing;
Lemon bitter gourd;
Smoked egg with cucumber and mustard sauce
Pork aspic delicacies
Main course: Lobster topped with Mapo tofu
This was followed up by a desert and dim sum course; the dim sum was Sesame mung bean cake, and the dessert was Stewed asian pear with rock sugar.
A very good 9 out of 10 here. Definitely go out of your way to pre-order this meal. Everything was flavourful and cooked perfectly.
Before landing, we had breakfast; again, I chose Chinese breakfast; plain congee, with some sides;
Stir Fry Scallops with Ginkgo Nuts
Stir-fried Cured Meat with Mushrooms and Garlic Sprouts
Mushroom with Spinach
Dried Seaweed Fish Floss
Salty Egg
I give breakfast a 8 out of 10; the sides were better and had more impact.
Overall, I give CI a solid 8 out of 10. Some meal choices stood out well, others were so-so. For the so-so TPE-SIN meal, I probably should have picked the other options available.