HKG: Cathay Pacific CX810 (Business)
Brunch was more appetising than dinner~
I was undeniably excited about the idea of flying with Cathay Pacific in the Business Class cabin for about 12 hours to Vancouver, Canada from Hong Kong. The airline has revamped its long-haul Business Class dining concept, progressively rolling it out on various destinations since July 2018.
Focusing on variety, each lunch and dinner service offers six main course choices that are smaller in portion size than average. Under the new dining concept, passengers have greater flexibility in choosing the number of courses during their meals.
Welcome Drink
While waiting for the boarding process to be completed, I had one of the two signature drinks called Cathay Delight. The smoothie made of kiwi and coconut milk with a touch of fresh mint leaf was mildly sweet and light on the palate.
Apéritif & Roasted Nuts
I was informed by one of the flight attendants that there was a misprint in the newspaper-like menu booklet. Instead of dessert wine, which I'd actually been looking forward to have, the aircraft was carrying port wine for the entire of last month. I was given a quarter of a glass of the sweet red wine to go with roasted almonds and cashew nuts.
CX Meal #1
Bread
Given a selection of bread, I chose to have two slices of garlic bread. They were aromatic enough for my liking, though could be served at a slightly higher temperature.
Salad - Taste: 7/10
Though not printed in the menu booklet, a small bowl of salad containing leafy greens, cherry tomatoes and olives was provided on the tray. It was of acceptable freshness. I found the balsamic vinaigrette to be thicker than average.
Herb-Marinated Prawns with Edamame and Farro Salad - Taste: 8/10
I read online that the airline would provide up to three appetiser choices, but it turned out that there was only one starter dish available for dinner that day. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the crunchy prawns drizzled with ginger and sesame oil dressing. Pika's advice: For those unfamiliar with farro, take note that it's not a gluten-free grain.
Wok-Fried Seafood in Lobster Broth with Rice - Taste: 7/10
I went for the Cantonese dish featured for the month: simmered prawns, scallops and squid fortified with a splash of Chinese cooking wine. Alas, the excitement was rather quelled as it didn't taste extraordinary, though undoubtedly edible. The deep-fried puffed rice provided a nice textural contrast.
Stir-Fried Pork and Shallot Egg Noodle - Taste: 7.5/10
The dish that reminded me of cart noodle fared slighty better than the flavour of the month. Coming with a mix of lean and fatty pork, the egg noodle tossed in chili tomato sauce was quite springy. Overall, it was quite savoury and only slightly spicy. Accompanying it was a bowl of soy sauce.
Lemon Curd Eton Mess - Taste: 8/10
I learnt something from the flight: Eton mess is an English dessert dish traditionally consisting of strawberries, broken meringue and whipped double cream. Cathay Pacific served a lemony version of it with shortbread crumble and fresh cream topped with raspberry, strawberry and mint. It was refreshingly sweet and sour.
Cheese Plate
Although the presentation could be better, not to mention the chipped plate, the cheese plate comprising taleggio and brie was satisfying. Their saltiness went really well with the sweetness of the cabernet paste. The grapes weren't too fresh though.
Praline
At the end of the meal, a flight attendant carried a box of pralines, from which I took the one with a hexagonal shape.
Beverages
I had a glass of mineral water at first, followed by a mug of milk tea. The latter was a tad disappointing as it wasn't as thick and rich as expected.
Snacks
As I was feeling rather peckish mid-flight, I took a packet of salted caramel from the galley. After having a nice chat with one of the female flight attendants, I requested for a cup of Mövenpick ice cream. Since I was flying to Canada, it was apt to see the airline carrying the maple walnut flavour. There was another flavour available, but I can't remember it now.
Wake Up Juice
I only managed to sleep for two hours at most. When everyone else was being woken up, I was the first one to be served a glass of orange juice.
CX Meal #2
Seasonal Fresh Fruits
The brunch began with a slice of papaya, peach and orange each. All of them were adequately sweet and fresh.
Riccioli with Mushrooms, Broccoli and Pecorino Cheese - Taste: 8.5/10
The best main course that I had onboard was the pasta dish. It came with lots of juicy mushrooms that'd been marinated well, as well as fresh broccoli that were moist. The shavings of the Italian cheese made of sheep's milk lent an invitingly briny taste to the dish.
Dace Fishball Congee and Turnip Cake - Taste: 8/10
I was right for making a guess earlier that there'd be congee served onboard. Topped with ginger slices and spring onions, the congee that came with pretty bouncy homemade dace fishballs were velvety and heart-warming.
Key Lime Pie - Taste: 8/10
The key lime pie, which looked very similar to the Eton mess served during dinner, came together with the riccioli as a set. Both of them practically tasted the same, though the toppings were different.
Beverages
For that boost of caffeine, I had a mug of coffee by Illy, which was enjoyably aromatic. I used one of the two brown sugar blocks.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 7.5/10
Ambience: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
To be searingly honest, I was expecting more in terms of the quality of the food served, but it was by no means bad.
Cathay Pacific
Business Class Cabin
Boeing 777-300ER
*No separate price given as meals are included in the ticket price.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
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