Leaving Lebanon for London, I remember enjoying five short hours onboard British Airways' Airbus. It started well, ended well and made me count the hours until I could enjoy their lunchtime trip back to Beirut.
British Airways' Business Class is good for the price paid and services offered. The best part is the single seat for solo travelers as well as the gifts, drinks and goodies offered continuously as the plane cruises along.
The first review was very detailed and I invite you to read it and allow me to enjoy my trip back with fewer details this time. I rarely watch a movie and normally spend my time writing, but I decided to enjoy the 17 inch screen this time, the excellent sound system and the reclining seat.
The trip started with a glass of champagne and the distribution of the amenities bag while we waited to pull away from the parking space. You can't but notice the staff's welcoming attitude and smiles. They are fun and full of life - at least they make you feel that way.
Voila, now that the movie was playing, the plane taxied towards the runway and was waiting to have a closer look at the menu.
Hot towels were distributed as we approached cruising altitude before the drinks were distributed. I started with Taittinger brut and moved to the rosé champagne of Castelnau.
For dinner I chose to have the Crayfish cocktail with mango purée, beetroot and a celery cress salad, followed by the beef and tomato stew with vermicelli rice, grilled red and green peppers with courgette and aubergine. A ruby orange torte with butter chocolate sauce followed. Somerset Camembert and Barber's cheese with fig relish, biscuits and fruits finished the meal off.
The salad was composed of fresh greens, mini yellow cherry tomatoes and lots of watermelon seeds that added finesse and crunch. The lemon vinaigrette makes it perfect. With that I got bread, lots of it, slightly warmed and fresh. The best of all was the olive oil focaccia, I enjoyed it like you savor a cake. The whole wheat one has aromas that are incredible.
Wow! The crayfish cocktail was amazing. A mix of crayfish prepared in a cylinder with a bit of mayonnaise next to mango purée on the side. That's good, that's really good especially considering that it's plane food.
Tender meat, hot rice cooked to perfection, a mix of bell peppers cut in squares and grilled until melting with potatoes and green beans in red sauce. That's a very good hot meal. Today's meal was one of the best I had on a plane. It's not sophisticated and up to a started chef like Air France, but it's simple and enjoyable. It felt like a homemade ragout.
PS: Why should one choose between dessert and cheese? I want both.
Dessert followed, and I enjoyed a good movie with stereo sound while we waited to reach Beirut.
