QF 642
I omitted to take photos of the Perth J lounge but it was my first time in there since it opened, I've always visited the qantas club before. Decor and layout was very comfortable, with an excellent breakfast and of course quieter than qantas club. Barista coffee is available (and not terrible) and large ovens in the back suggest that pizza might be available later in the day(?). Staff varied between very friendly and a bit surly, but then this is Perth. Bathrooms were very clean and nicely presented.
Boarding was announced in the lounge, we lined up at gate 14 to board and progressed on board the A330-200 quickly. The J cabin was clean and well presented in a 2-3-2 configuration. It was fairly empty with only 12 passengers (including myself and Mr Kirstyoz) out of 42 J seats.
About 40 minutes after take-off we were offered a drink and a mix of nuts and pretzels which were chilled - it would have been nice if they were warm or at least room temperature. The co-pilot announced they expected to land in Sydney 10 minutes early.
Meal service was fairly disorganised, we weren't given menus or asked what we wanted and the FA brought our salad plates over before she had asked us to fold out tables or brought a tablecloth. At that stage I asked for a menu and there were apologies as most others had ordered prior to take off. We were also then offered still or sparkling water.
When the menus came I wanted the pizzette however it was sold out, so I opted for a red curry and coconut soup (small plate) and beef tenderloin with roast vegetable salad, steamed asparagus and aoli (main plate). Mr Kirstyoz ordered the beef too with no starter so no opportunity to taste test another dish (strictly for the purpose of my trip report of course)!
The Birch and Waite balsamic and olive oil dressing for the green salad was delicious, so much so that I'll be shopping for it at home if I can get it. The handcrafted butter by Pepe Saya looked delicious and was a fantastic gourmet touch (nice work Qantas catering) but I declined the sourdough bread so never got to try it. I'm sort of regretting that now.
The red curry and coconut soup was delicious, spicy and creamy without being overwhelming or sickly. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.
As I was eating my soup the FA who was serving the other side of the cabin belatedly took the order of a gentleman in front of me and apologised that several items were not available - things on the other side of the cabin seemed to be running perfectly and it was just one FA working our side (who was lovely even though she was ineffective) that caused some issues with service. The other cabin crew were very good.
The beef was nice although overcooked. It had lots of flavour and was well seasoned. The potatoes were cooked through (they so often seem to be only semi cooked in aircraft meals) and the roasted capsicum was delicious. After we had eaten we were brought tea/coffee cups by the lovely-but-shonky FA and had to hold our plates up to make space for the cups on the table... She promised to come back and left us holding our dishes for several minutes until someone else walking past noticed and took them. I'm not sure what the hurry was to give us cups and saucers as we then waited 10 minutes for the coffee and tea lol.
I chose Maggie beer vanilla bean ice cream for dessert which was delicious. It reminded me of when I was little and used to fly regularly with Continental Airlines from GLA-EWR-TPA and would occasionally get upgraded when travelling with mum thanks to her status. On the long GLA-EWR leg in J they used to serve vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot caramel or chocolate sauce (I always had both). It was the highlight of the journey and a really fond childhood memory so it was nice to have an adult experience that evoked that.
Some people were drinking the (lovely) wine selections however 10am is too early for me. I'd love to hear people's reflections on drinking in the morning when you travel? It's like the normal social conventions are suspended when you're on a flight (for what seems to be quite a lot of people). Not that I'm judging or care either way I'm just curious. I think I'd be sick if I started drinking at 10am, especially when flying long haul. I'd struggle on the other end too, jet lag is enough for me to cope with!
The rest of the flight I sat back and read my book as I'll watch IQ on the next flight when I've got less attention span. Big bonus points to Qantas for having "He Called Me Malala" on the entertainment system as I've been dying to see it!
I omitted to take photos of the Perth J lounge but it was my first time in there since it opened, I've always visited the qantas club before. Decor and layout was very comfortable, with an excellent breakfast and of course quieter than qantas club. Barista coffee is available (and not terrible) and large ovens in the back suggest that pizza might be available later in the day(?). Staff varied between very friendly and a bit surly, but then this is Perth. Bathrooms were very clean and nicely presented.
Boarding was announced in the lounge, we lined up at gate 14 to board and progressed on board the A330-200 quickly. The J cabin was clean and well presented in a 2-3-2 configuration. It was fairly empty with only 12 passengers (including myself and Mr Kirstyoz) out of 42 J seats.
About 40 minutes after take-off we were offered a drink and a mix of nuts and pretzels which were chilled - it would have been nice if they were warm or at least room temperature. The co-pilot announced they expected to land in Sydney 10 minutes early.
Meal service was fairly disorganised, we weren't given menus or asked what we wanted and the FA brought our salad plates over before she had asked us to fold out tables or brought a tablecloth. At that stage I asked for a menu and there were apologies as most others had ordered prior to take off. We were also then offered still or sparkling water.
When the menus came I wanted the pizzette however it was sold out, so I opted for a red curry and coconut soup (small plate) and beef tenderloin with roast vegetable salad, steamed asparagus and aoli (main plate). Mr Kirstyoz ordered the beef too with no starter so no opportunity to taste test another dish (strictly for the purpose of my trip report of course)!
The Birch and Waite balsamic and olive oil dressing for the green salad was delicious, so much so that I'll be shopping for it at home if I can get it. The handcrafted butter by Pepe Saya looked delicious and was a fantastic gourmet touch (nice work Qantas catering) but I declined the sourdough bread so never got to try it. I'm sort of regretting that now.
The red curry and coconut soup was delicious, spicy and creamy without being overwhelming or sickly. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.
As I was eating my soup the FA who was serving the other side of the cabin belatedly took the order of a gentleman in front of me and apologised that several items were not available - things on the other side of the cabin seemed to be running perfectly and it was just one FA working our side (who was lovely even though she was ineffective) that caused some issues with service. The other cabin crew were very good.
The beef was nice although overcooked. It had lots of flavour and was well seasoned. The potatoes were cooked through (they so often seem to be only semi cooked in aircraft meals) and the roasted capsicum was delicious. After we had eaten we were brought tea/coffee cups by the lovely-but-shonky FA and had to hold our plates up to make space for the cups on the table... She promised to come back and left us holding our dishes for several minutes until someone else walking past noticed and took them. I'm not sure what the hurry was to give us cups and saucers as we then waited 10 minutes for the coffee and tea lol.
I chose Maggie beer vanilla bean ice cream for dessert which was delicious. It reminded me of when I was little and used to fly regularly with Continental Airlines from GLA-EWR-TPA and would occasionally get upgraded when travelling with mum thanks to her status. On the long GLA-EWR leg in J they used to serve vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot caramel or chocolate sauce (I always had both). It was the highlight of the journey and a really fond childhood memory so it was nice to have an adult experience that evoked that.
Some people were drinking the (lovely) wine selections however 10am is too early for me. I'd love to hear people's reflections on drinking in the morning when you travel? It's like the normal social conventions are suspended when you're on a flight (for what seems to be quite a lot of people). Not that I'm judging or care either way I'm just curious. I think I'd be sick if I started drinking at 10am, especially when flying long haul. I'd struggle on the other end too, jet lag is enough for me to cope with!
The rest of the flight I sat back and read my book as I'll watch IQ on the next flight when I've got less attention span. Big bonus points to Qantas for having "He Called Me Malala" on the entertainment system as I've been dying to see it!
