Originally Posted by christep
This has been asserted before, but never with any evidence. I have compared photos, menus and personal recollections from 2001 and 2005 and I can find no significant difference (beyond the normal variation that one gets flight to flight depending on the competence and familiarity of the serving crew with the meal).
I didn't photograph it but flew my first NRT-HKG in the winter of 2002 and was astonished by the kaiseki meal. It was easily the equal of something I'd have at a fine restaurant. Fast forward to this past summer, 2005 (and finally being able to time things to use CX via HKG vs. straight out of NRT) and quality had noticably fallen off. The attention to detail and presentation were still there, mind you. However, what was on offer (I wish I still had the menu) and the preparation simply didn't match up. Mind you it's still excellent and is still the best in-flight meal I've seen but it's not as good as it was... not at all. Of course, that's a sample set of two but IMO reflects a worldwide trend. Everything's cyclical, and I believe we saw the peak of service and quality for this cycle between 2000 and 2002.