rewardflying

I was fortunate to have reserved the best business class seat on the plane, 5A. It's in the mini-cabin behind first class and in front of door 2. With eight seats it's similar to first in privacy. I took a peek into first. It looks great. But after this flight, business class felt like first class and for 50% more points, you have to consider the value. Having said that, ANA strives to make first exclusive. A sign was placed on the curtain that separates the cabins that basically said, keep out. Then when we arrived in Singapore, the front door was opened and first class passengers disembarked. Once out EVERYONE else left through door number 2. First class remained closed to entry even after landing.

The seats are designed extremely well. Frankly they don't look that great in photos. In reality they are private, roomy, have lots of storage and are very comfortable. The meal tray table slides out from underneath the IFE monitor and is large. Maybe not as large as what's on the Cirrus Zodiac width-wise, but it's much deeper. Positioned on rails, like a sliding stove shelf, when you want to get out of your seat instead of stowing it, simply push it in a bit and get up without having to clear the tray.

Along with the oversize tray, next to your seat is a table that is plenty big for laptops, tablets or whatever else you can put on it. There's a ring to put a bottle of water in keeping it stable in case of turbulence as well as a weird kind of storage container that I didn't fully understand. And the table has a cool blue light ring around it so you can find stuff when the cabin lights are dimmed.

I chose the Japanese cuisine for dinner and each dish was fabulous. Offered as the Taste of Japan, this particular theme by ANA featured seasonal ingredients from the Prefecture Saga, which is an area in north Japan by the Genkai-nada and Ariake seas. The meal was constructed primarily using ingredients from this area. Two ingredients, memorable to me, were the Umitake clam and Yobuko swordtip squid. The clam was marinated in sake lees which gave it a slight hit of sake and had a creamy texture. The squid was not chewy calamari we're so used to, it melted in your mouth and paired well with truly fresh tomatoes that completing the dish. These flavors, textures and presentation were unique to me and to top it off, the local Spanish mackerel was cooked to perfection. No small feat on an airplane.

With a great selection of current movies, along with tv shows, music and the airshow I wanted the 7 hour flight to last longer. If it's required to find fault, bring your own headphones.

For full report and photos:
http://www.rewardflying.com/report-b...business-class

popoemt

Hmmmm, interesting, looks nice, does that seat recline with leg rests? I don't see any attached to that chair?

rewardflying

Lie Flat and lots of room for your feet. Very comfortable with mattress pad.

popoemt

Ah yes, does the chair have a leg rest though, i.e in recline position? It doesn't appear that the seat actually reclines. Is it either sitting straight up or laying down, no in between?

fpc552

It does, and it does recline. This is the Zodiac Skylounge seat, the other major installation of this seat is on the EK A380 fleet. It's very similar in function to the more well known Thompson Vantage/Vantage XL and Stelia Solstys staggered seats.

rewardflying

No it reclines. There is a leg rest.

popoemt

Ah, interesting, thank for the replies, I didn't see a leg rest portion to the chair in those pics (or at least it did not appear to me that there was one (it looked like the fabric on the chair stopped at the seat cushion).