Just found the menu from this flight during a clear out of my rucksack
I kept it so I could capture it all here for future reference/others if needed. Sorry it took so long (and that it's a bit of a long, TR-esque post!). Hopefully lots of details here for future searches on BA178 to reveal
Overall, this was a great way to fly back ^ I got a 06:00 alarm call and after a quick shower met a 06:30 car from the Holiday Inn Express (which is very nice, nicer than the 'real' HI at JFK for sure and although I got a road-facing room (arrived very late and too tired to argue), I had no problem with noise, it seemed well sound-proofed). Traffic around JFK was light at that time and I was strolling in to the virtually empty T7 premium side by 06:45. There were 3 Club desks open and none were in use so I sleepily pitched up to the nearest one, totally forgetting the F desks (2 open) through the doors near the security checkpoint...I was clearly too tired to worry if they Knew Who I Was at that time of day
I was rapidly checked in to my favourite 64K and a man came to take my case for screening, promising to 'spin' the numbers on the lock afterwards once the TSA were happy (which he did ^). Fast track security was indeed open and in mere seconds I was airside...with the long walk around the terminal back to the lounges required (the 'normal' security wasn't looking too busy either, so I'd recommend using that to others because it brings you right out by the lounges).
By about 06:55 I was sitting with a nice big plate of lovely smoked salmon and a glass of Roederer (^^) in the F lounge - never seen that out before in any BA lounges? The F lounge had maybe 25-30 people in it, including a black-tagged PREM opposite me. Pre-boarding was announced in the lounge nice and early and when I trotted to the gate there was no queue, so I was straight on and upstairs for a glass of (not quite as nice – Heidsieck Brut Reserve) champagne
A slightly early push back (it didn't seem to be a full flight so everyone made it on board in good time I think) and take-off was around 08:45 in the end. There were about 4/5 UD seats free, but I heard the crew say they were expecting it to be full so clearly a few no-shows.
Menus were handed out on the ground with washbags and once airborne, the service was slightly different to usual - it began right away with no drinks run first, but worked very well. The menu this time was:
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BRUNCH
STARTERS
Chilled fruit juice
An energising fruit smoothie
Fresh fruit plate
Smoked salmon with cream cheese
MAIN
Full English brunch of scrambled eggs, grilled fillet steak, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and hash-brown potatoes
Cheese omelette
Spinach and roast garlic tortellini with pomodoro sauce and grated parmesan cheese
Duck confit and foie gras on fresh salad leaves with orange dressing
DESSERT
Key lime pie
Aged Cheddar and Danish blue cheese
--==--
The trolley came round (from the back first, thankfully) around 09:10 and I tucked in to my food with liberal doses of champagne and OJ
The food was actually very good quality and pretty substantial - the only bugbear being no ketchup or brown sauce on the plane at all
I had the salmon, lardy Full English and my favourite BA dessert of key lime pie!
I decided I'd take the day off work-wise so had a very enjoyable flight indeed being kept topped up with champagne watching movies pretty much all the way back to London - incredibly relaxing ^ The crew were very good and certainly visibly 'present' during the flight ^
The flight (as others advised in other threads I searched first) was certainly heavier than most I’ve been on - lots of shiny metal dangling around
. The manifest in the UD galley I saw whilst having a cuppa had 6 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 MVCC (a MegaBank). 1 person was marked RDUG (mine should have been, but the manifest was ripped just below my name as the last person so that line was missing). Some people also had 'FQTV' next to them, but there seemed to be no pattern to this (e.g. some non-status people, one of the Golds). I figured this may be people who regularly fly that route perhaps? Anyway, I digress.
The ‘Refreshments’ page for the pre-landing service was:
--==--
SNACKS
Sandwiches of roast beef with caramelized onions and Mozzarella cheese with tomato
or
Sandwiches of crab salad and Cheddar cheese with cucumber
SWEETS
Chocolate chip brownie
--==--
The only thing to ruin such a nice flight was, predictably, LHR
A 5 minute early arrival turned in to landing 20 minutes late and then a Victor stand (after the obligatory delay waiting for a plane to be towed out) at around 21:45. The fun wasn't over though because of course the airbridge wouldn't work. Lots of people with shiny tags on the lower deck too now all clustered at 2L with me (first down the stairs for all the good it did me). It was gone 22:00 before they'd managed to find some stairs and get us off before a DVT-busting walk to a (thankfully) relatively (these days) short passport queue. The only good thing about this farce was the baggage handlers had clearly been working during the delay and my case was waiting on the belt already so there was no further hold-up.
I got home to Waterloo around 23:00ish and was in bed and sleeping by midnight to awake feeling perfectly fine at 08:00 the next day with no ill-effects of jetlag to report afterwards. LHR delays aside (which to be fair can always happen), this is now my preferred way to return from JFK, I think!
Hope this helps for any others considering it in future!
Phil