Back in November 2018, I flew in business class from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing (via Tokyo) with Japanese airline ANA. It was my first experience with the airline, and overall, I was more than pleased with the food and beverage offerings as well as the service.
My first flight from Kuala Lumper to Tokyo offered an extended inflight service, before departure, a choice of juices was provided as well as inflight menus.
KUALA LUMPUR TO TOKYO
After departure, my drink order was taken, and I was offered an amuse-bouche consisting of a marinated prawn with mango salsa, cheese grissino and chicken sate with cocktail sauce.
I opted for Japanese cuisine, which didn’t disappoint.
First up was an impressive tray offering an array of Japanese tastes all served on traditional tableware. The meal consisted of smoked salmon, fishcake and cucumber with salmon roe, grilled asparagus rolled with beef and a Japanese omelette with spinach and crab meat sauce.
The pak choy was served with deep-fried tofu in a soy-based sauce, and some octopus and cucumber in sweet vinegar sauce.
Next up was the steamed white fish in vegetable sauce, served alongside some steamed rice, miso soup and pickles.
Dessert was offered from a trolley wheeled through the cabin, it offered a choice of a marbled cheesecake or cheese and fruits.
The food was excellent, I enjoyed every course; however, I found the dessert service to be a little underwhelming, the cheesecake lacked flavour and was rather mediocre. The service was flawless throughout the flight, the crew were very attentive and even assisted me with my request to see what was on offer in economy class.
After a quick overnight stay in Tokyo, I then flew to Beijing.
TOKYO TO BEIJING
I selected a seat in the last business class cabin of the aircraft and had the entire cabin to myself.
Tokyo to Beijing was a short flight of about three hours; however, the airline still offered pre-departure drinks and provided inflight menus. Here’s a look at the inflight menu which featured a western dessert option created by Pierre Herme from Paris.
After take off my order was taken, and while I waited, I was given my drinks and some crackers that were served in plastic. I opted for the Western option, overall, it was good, but the Japanese menu on the previous flight was more exciting.
The meal was served on one tray due to the flight time, and a decent amount of food was provided. On offer was a Pate en croute and smoked salmon starter, the main was a fillet of beef with Oriental mushroom sauce, some rice flour bread and for dessert a Yoghurt Garance with Cinnamon jelly cubes and Raspberry coulis.
It was great to experience two different flight lengths and see what the airline offers on longer vs shorter flights within Asia. The flight attendant working in my section from Tokyo to Beijing was so friendly and attentive, and she noticed that I was taking a lot of photos and videos. Before we landed, she gave me an ANA keychain to remember the flight, and to this day I still have it on my house keys.
YOUTUBE
Here’s a quick video I put together of the experience:
