sky303

PVG-DTW, B747-400, Seat 6E
1AUG16

Flight was pretty good, with excellent crew. Food was about what I expected after all the horror stories of ex-Mainland China catering. It was all edible, but nothing was really great, save for the poorly presenting mid-flight dim sum or the Shanghai fried noodles.

Never sat in one of the "E" seats before, and I thought it might be interesting, hence 6E. Yeah, if I happen to be on a 747 again, it won't be in 6E. No air vents, no thank you. Also no bins. It was kind of isolated in a way and an interesting perspective, looking forward and out the windows, but all the seats are plenty private, and the view isn't worth it to me. First time getting the PJs as well. They're pretty comfy and light and I even snagged an extra pair for a buddy of mine who wanted them. The only issue is they try to do two sizes fits all, so the proportions on most people are kind of wonky, but hey they ain't supposed to be your "Sunday best."

On with the food now...



Settling In: Duck Breast, Black Mushrooms, and Roasted Pumpkin with sesame dressing



Starters: Tomato Caprese Soup (supposedly topped with goat cheese, but this was absent, and didn't even seem to be on the cart as would be usual for soup garnishes) and Mixed Salad with honey roasted turnips, potatoes (nope), and feta cheese--served with yogurt dressing (nope, balsamic vin)



Main Course: Beef Tenderloin with gnocchi gratin (nope, fondant potatoes) and buttered vegetables



Dessert: Lemon Cake with Fresh Raspberries and I also asked for some brie with crackers from the cheese selection



Mid-Flight Snack: Dim Sum--fish roe sui mai, turnip rice cake, jade dumpling, and dim sum chili sauce, served with seasonal fresh fruit and chocolate



Almost There: Shanghai Fried Noodles in Oyster Sauce with chicken, bamboo shoots, and black mushrooms

Came with some kind of julienned carrot and unidentifiable vegetable salad concoction (meh) and a piece of orange cake which was pretty good (neither of these were listed in the menu)

sky303

The Banfi, I assume? It's definitely quite enjoyable, and cheap on the ground too, so I tend to have a bottle at the house.

That'd be my advice...see above. The Chinese-ish dishes (duck app, dim sum, and Shanghai noodles) were all pretty good, the Western stuff is where it really fell quite short of my usual experiences.

Also, I guess I was on the plane you came in on. What are the odds, LOL?

PV_Premier

A couple of very nice meals on D1 this past weekend.

Flew SFO-JFK-AGP on Saturday (Sunday EU arrival), upgraded with miles from an M fare. I did not take photos of meals or menus but they were good.

SFO-JFK 11:15am departure, I had the lamb chops with cheesy polenta, verts and salad. The lamb was cooked very nicely, a little bit well done for my usual tastes however it was very tender and juicy. It paired very well with what turned out to be quite a nice pinot noir from Sonoma (can't remember the label/vintage).

JFK-AGP I selected the halibut, which was breaded lightly and served with creamed corn and snow peas. Fish was not dry at all and served at a nice temperature.

I honestly cannot remember what the breakfast options were on the TATL flight, or even what I ate, haha...it was some kind of traditional egg and sausage option, I think.

One interesting thing I ran into was that I requested the "dine and rest" option on the short JFK-AGP flight. The purser apologetically told me that it was unavailable because a family of 5 had already requested it and he was only given 5 "dine and rest" trays by catering. I had no idea that it was a separate tray that was pre-assembled for this option, I thought it was cobbled together in the galley by the FA on request of the passenger. Learned something new, and will be sure to remember this for the future when selecting my seat when flying a short TATL.

In any case, the D1 FAs were very quick with the service once off the ground, and attentive to move me on to the next course in an expedient fashion. I skipped dessert and was tucked into my flat bed within 1 hour and 15 minutes of the time the wheels left the ground at JFK. Managed to get 3 or so hours of decent sleep on the quick crossing...total flight time was 6 hours and 28 minutes.

appleguru

Any chance you recall what the Chinese selection meal was ex PVG?

Flying back on Friday via HKG.

RE same flight, didn't you just post that you flew over via NRT?

sky303

I did, but I left PVG the day you arrived, same plane not same flight. Menu for the CNML in a post below.

TrojanTraveler

Exactly. I have had great service on LGA-ORD, and have had abysmal service.

TrojanTraveler

This sounds very odd to me. I have had the dine and rest service many times, and I didn't recall any special dishes/set-up etc. I'd think FAs could easily put something together. But maybe I hadn't paid enough attention and could be mistaken.

sky303

Just found the menu...here's the CNML, which came with the same appetizer as the other meals:

Starters: Fried Tilapia with carrot can cucumber julienne and five spice sauce, Chinese Pickles with pickled mustard greens, and Tomato Caprese Soup (supposedly topped with goat cheese, but this was not present--one of several things that didn't quite match the menu)

Main Course: Gu Lao Pork with fried rice and mixed vegetables

AANYC1981

It's true there are only so many dine and rest options and if they run out FA's are told not to try and make their own version by rearranging things on the tray.

Gquie

Thank you for posting this! The food looked amazing. Did you do a Japanese meal from NRT back to DTW if you flew that route? I've ordered a special meal (Japanese meal) on the NRT-DTW leg. I'm hoping it's just as good.

The midflight snack looked pretty good too. Soba noodles and green onions yum.

If you decide later into the flight that you'd prefer to have the western breakfast or midflight snack is that an option? or do you have to stick with the special meal the whole way through?

sky303

Sure thing, I try my best to post as many D1 flights as I can. The food was indeed quite good, and presented nicely.

I flew back PVG-DTW, so can't comment on that, BUT people (and in my personal experience this is true) say that ex-NRT JPMLs are consistently great.

The soba noodles mid-flight on ATL/JFK/DTW/MSP-NRT flights has always been a favorite of mine since I can recall them serving it. It's light and refreshing and not liable to get messed up being heated and doesn't have many variables. I always look forward to it and even tell FAs to wake me for it, if I'm sleeping.

Indeed, I've never had an issue switching to Western options after the main service. I think the number of non-Western options they cater for the mid-flight and pre-arrival services is independent of the number of JPMLs they cater. In fact, on this flight, the FAs offered me the choice before bringing anything, just like they did for pax who ate the Western meals for the first service.

appleguru

Thanks! Should be the same from HKG... But will confirm tomorrow.

Dawgfan6291

This is the biggest problem with DCI. They are damn inconsistent!

and what is really a shame is out of the worst DCI carriers (G7, S5 and CP), S5 and CP have the best airplanes. (E70/E75.)

I really wish DL would have gone with the E75 for 9E.
Very true.

If it helps DL is investing heavily into DCI to make them more on par with mainline. 9E is really starting to shape up. Hopefully DL just dumps G7/S5/CP and moves those airplanes to 9E and OO. (won't happen because then they lose the ability to whipsaw labor)
The bad news is S5 is going to end up being RP.
DL putting ovens on all the two class RJs so it isn't so hit or miss would be really nice......

PV_Premier

If the purser wouldn't have been so awesome and friendly and clearly customer oriented I'd have called BS, so I'm glad this was validated. And in fact the service was so fast (not rushed, just attentive) that it didn't make much of a difference at the end. Seated in 1D, I was done with my meal at about the same time as the dine-and-resters back in row 4.

AANYC1981

ORD-LGA
E175
Lunch

PDB....yea right.

Choice of ham and Swiss sandwich or another (but different from my outbound) Asian chicken salad.

The salad was really good and came with wonton chips and a delicious miso dressing.

FA service didn't start until well after 30 mins after take off due to "turbulence". Cabin check ins were better than my last flight but am still not loving Shuttle America....they are not good representatives of the Delta brand (obviously I know they are not employees like Endeavor but Deltas goal is to make the experience seem the same between mainline and regional).