would say the perrier jouet is my favourite champagne even though its "entry level". like it better than some of the more expensive stuff like the LGPS in the Concorde lounge.

food wise i do concur with some others that pier J gives the F a run for its money now (sadly).
But the PJ + desert wine is what keeps me going back to Pier F

Ha yes, my quote sounds a bit too snooty. However it was just too good an opportunity to pass up a cheap shot at CX F&B.

Champagne of all stripes is lovely. Of course, there are levels to it, some of those levels which tend to put a serious dent into your pocketbook. In general you don't get those levels in the airline lounges, and just crack the door open on some F flights with lovely cuvees like Krug NV. (and recently, some vintage Krug). But yes anything being the Champagne name is worthy, or "real" as I call it above.

I think a lot of the Champagne "wars" and criticism is badly misplaced on places like the blogs, because I would bet very large sums of money in a truly blind tasting - as in, not even know what types of Champagne are on offer - of what I call "entry-level" Champagnes we're talking about here, as well as those entry-level pretige cuvees (like Krug NV, recent Dom vintages, etc.) people would be very surprised at what they liked and didn't like, and my guess is they would be completely totally wrong with their stabs at grape varietal, which house style, location in Champagne region, vintage, etc. Or rather, they'd be rather humbled.

Anyway I couldn't pass up my chance to get a thwack in on CX booze in lounges. If you like wine, particularly still white and red wines it's particularly bad.

I misread the caption as "Spanish" quiche, and assumed it was a dish that entailed scorching the surface:D

Just had the Salon on JAL F. Most Champagne is now broken for me.

Or Portuguese tart (these are v-good by the way)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9cfceb12dd.jpg

Well, this blogger dis-agrees ..

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....ier-hong-kong/

A la carte dining – The key to any first class lounge is a nice a la carte dining menu. It is my understanding the menu is nowhere near what it once was, but I enjoyed a superb plate of pasta and cheeseburger

Will be visiting for the 1st time next month, and I'm looking forward to it ^

Ah yes - the cheeseburger: the standard by which fine dining restaurants are judged the world over.

And even then, the cheeseburger in the Pier sucks. "Wagyu" or not, it's got absolutely no flavor, the brioche bun is usually dry and a terrible texture, the flavorless white cheese has already melted coming to your table, and there's barely and sauce or flavor.

I've had better in flight burgers in United Economy than I have had burgers in the Pier.

Pre flight dining for BA is completely different than CX F. You must be flying J/F to get the pre-flight supper service, no matter your emerald status, and flying international long haul by definition.

Whereas anybody flying short haul, even in Y gets access to CX F lounges, and can access it using any emerald program. How good can the quality be if it's open doors to Y pax with 45 minute flights to Guangzhou, Xiamen, Hanoi, etc?

Cathay needs to take a Polaris approach to the lounges. Be selective and increase the quality instead of massive cutbacks and turning everything into a mediocre product.

I enjoy reading Matthew's posts (the owner of the blog), but I give him zero credit for food-related posts.
Food is just not his strength.
I had the exact same pasta and cheeseburger he had at the Pier, and they were nowhere near to being "superb": they were actually quite poor IMHO.

I don't know the writer, but to be fair, nowadays the quality of the same dishes can vary a lot depending on the day. One example from late last year; had a dish that I considered to be perhaps the best dish I had ever had in Pier F. Then next week, went back and decided to get the exact same dish. Had to send it back as it was totally inedible.

That being said, I've never really understood the rave about the burger either. I find that you can get a much better one even at one of those McDonald's shops in HK where you can assemble your own.

Hehe, totally agree with your view of Matthew. Generally a very thoughtful blogger, and putting aside all the obvious caveats about subjectivity of food appreciation, he's just not the guy to listen to on food - unless your palate runs middle America bland.

There's are some secrets you need to know to enjoy the lounge and especially the burger in all its glory. The first secret requires the need to slather the patty in a rich bath of ketchup and whatever that tangy sauce is (which is not quite bbq sauce). The second secret requires you to starve yourself silly before reaching the lounge.

Currently there are two empty shelves in the Pantry fridge where the "jarred" appetisers used to be. I'm not sure if this is a temporary or permanent change.