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-   -   Trip Report: Turkish Airlines Business Class Manila (MNL) - Istanbul (IST) (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/2001249-trip-report-turkish-airlines-business-class-manila-mnl-istanbul-ist.html)

johnsw1988 Dec 25, 2019 6:29 pm

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines Business Class Manila (MNL) - Istanbul (IST)
 
Hi all,

As my adventure continued, I’d like to share my experience flying Turkish Airlines Business Class from Manila to Istanbul with you all. So that you have some idea what to expect. :-)

Boeing 777-300ER is Turkish Airline’s backbone fleet for their long-haul flights. This particular aircraft has a 2-3-2 business class seating configuration.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0c0524188b.jpg
Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Business Class Cabin, 2-3-2 Configuration
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...821237882c.jpg
Turkish Airlines Business Class Seats

I assigned myself seat 2A. Waiting at my seat were memory foam pillow, noise-canceling headset, and slippers. The flight attendant then came around to offer pre-departure beverages and distribute the amenity kit. As usual, the options were lemon mint, fresh orange, fresh raspberry, and water — I chose fresh raspberry.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c26a926351.jpg
Noise Canceling Headphones
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c5671e6c68.jpg
Versave (Female) Amenity Kit
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2bb98cef2a.jpg
Pre-Departure Beverage - Fresh Raspberry

Turkish Airlines is known for its fantastic in-flight meal and dining experience by DO&CO. On long haul flights, they assigned two flying chefs in the business class cabin. On this flight, it was no exception. Chef Selchuk, who worked in my aisle, did a fantastic job throughout the flight, and took excellent care of me!

Turkish Airlines offers dine-on-demand dining, and the dinner menu reads as follows:




assorted canapés

GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH PRAWNS

or

CHICKEN EMBUTIDO SMOKED TANGUINGE, GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

and/or

SWEET CORN SOUP

please choose from our selection:

SEAFOOD SALPICAO

or

GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST

or

PENNE WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

selection of our dessert;

POTPOURRI OF TRADITIONAL TURKISH DESSERTS

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

MANGO & COCONUT TART

VANILLA ICE CREAM

SELECTION OF CHEESE

FRESH FRUIT SALAD

COFFEE AND / OR TEA

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6d0eae9db1.jpg
Capanes

For dinner, I ordered grilled vegetables with prawns, followed by the main course, seafood salpicao.

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Appetizer
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ca8eadcc6a.jpg
Main Course

The prawns were tasty and fresh. The seafood main course was perfect as well, though it wasn’t necessarily gourmet. To finish, I had mango & coconut tart and a scoop of vanilla ice cream — it was excellent!

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...99e367df91.jpg
Dessert

Once the flight attendant cleared my table, he offered a turn-down service. Turkish Airlines’ bedding is excellent And the temperature was perfect. While 6-hour sleep wasn’t that long, it was a quality sleep. Tt even felt like I was sleeping at home, on a real bed — It was that good!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...45cd374adb.jpg
Bed

The lavatories are pretty standard, but they were immaculate. I noticed the crew cleaned it after every use. Unlike the amenity kit, they use Molton Brown for the skincare products in the lavatory.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cb771b08a9.jpg
Lavatory with Molton Brown Amenity

At this point, we were 9 hours into the flight. I got up and walked to the galley to stretch. It seemed like all the crews, except the chef, were on the break. So I briefly chatted with him and checked out the snack bar, until suddenly my sweet tooth craved for the cheesecake.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d8649270a7.jpg
Snack Bar

Upon return to my seat, he brought me a slice — Yum!!

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9a69588c4f.jpg
Dessert Snack

Turkish Airlines has a decent selection of movies and TV shows. But I didn’t even browse for movies. Instead, I just played with my phone as a WiFi connection on board Turkish Airlines is fast and free for business class customers.

About two hours before landed, the breakfast service commenced, but It’s a bit too early, in my opinion. The breakfast menu was distributed along with the dinner menu.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...47ecb06d22.jpg
Breakfast Appetizer

I ordered a few items from the menu. For the main course, I had a crepe with scrambled eggs and tomatoes, along with freshly squeezed mango juice and double shot espresso with milk.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...eff229ae9a.jpg
Breakfast Main Course

The main course was delicious, but the coffee was exceptional. It was the best coffee I had in the sky.

An hour before landing, the crews started to collect the headphones and prepared the cabin for landing. We landed in Istanbul ahead of schedule. The new airport is massive, and it usually takes at least 30 minutes to taxi to/from the runway. For some reason, it didn’t take as long this time.

Conclusion

All in all, it was a great flight. Even though the 2-3-2 seating configuration is dated, the seat is very comfortable to a point, it felt like my own bed at home. The flight attendants were professional, though not polished.

The dining experience by DO&CO onboard Turkish Airlines flight is always a treat. Chef Selchuk took really good care of me, and I enjoyed every meal he prepared. There is no doubt that this is the area where Turkish Airlines stands out the most.

I do love the new amenity kits by Versace. I believe they do offer eight distinct colors, four colors for each gender. I do have four at home, so I’m going to ask for a different one next time I fly with them. I wish Turkish Airlines provides pajamas on their long haul flights because it would’ve been a perfect set.

There is one thing I’d like to note. In general, Turkish Airlines flight attendants are professional, but they’re not necessarily friendly. They’re not rude or anything, but it’s something you wouldn’t find if you were flying on Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways. It could also be a cultural thing and a language barrier. But then again, sometimes I had fantastic crews on Turkish Airlines flights, for example, my connecting flight from Istanbul to Los Angeles, which I will review very soon.

luv_flying Dec 25, 2019 6:49 pm

Thank you for the nice report. Turkish Airlines is one of the few airlines that deliver consistent quality product. The food looks yummy!

johnsw1988 Apr 26, 2020 1:25 pm


Originally Posted by luv_flying (Post 31876299)
Thank you for the nice report. Turkish Airlines is one of the few airlines that deliver consistent quality product. The food looks yummy!

Thank you! In general I love their products. Though, service can be hit and miss. That said, TK will still be my airline of choice, especially they offer reasonable J fares from time to time.

hkskyline Apr 27, 2020 3:57 am

TK's catering is indeed superb!

CAPOUNE Apr 27, 2020 9:54 am

Thank you for this nice review!
The food looks great as always with TK!!

johnsw1988 Apr 27, 2020 7:30 pm


Originally Posted by hkskyline (Post 32327806)
TK's catering is indeed superb!

Yes! I agree! Do&Co is the best - and having a flying chef on board is too cool! :-)

Also, I need to figure out their SOP because not every long haul flight served from the cart. I think only flights from/to US use carts. Because my other long haul TK flights between IST and Asia were always "a la carte" type service. Any idea?

johnsw1988 Apr 27, 2020 7:31 pm


Originally Posted by CAPOUNE (Post 32328599)
Thank you for this nice review!
The food looks great as always with TK!!

My pleasure! I really can't wait to be back in the sky so I can review and share more! :-)


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