Singapore Airlines First Class to Narita

Singapore Airlines First Class to Tokyo Narita

At T-55 minutes, I headed out for Gate 153.

I arrived at the gate as boarding was about to begin.  I identified myself as SQ First and was immediately escorted to the boarding lane and asked to wait for a few minutes at the top of the jet bridge before the crew was ready.

So nice to be back on board Singapore.   A little dated hard product but a wonderful cabin crew as always.

Oh yeah.

Interesting amenity kit but... a candle?  on a plane?  And just in case anyone was tempted to light it on board, they include a "Do Not Use in Aircraft" note.

Champagne taste comparison.

Showtime, Singapore Style.  But oddly, NO MENU... supposedly "due to Covid".  Say what??  Fortunately I had printed the menu at home before leaving but this was pretty lame.

Singapore has tapped a variety of great chefs from around the world to create a portion on their First Class menu.  At LAX, Singapore uses Suzanne Goin of LA's restos Lucques, A.O.C and Tavern.  I started with one of her dishes, Scallop Aquachile... quick grilled scallop in Mexican style mild spicy lime dressing with cucumber, mizuna leaves and herbs.  It was pretty bland.  Perhaps a less "mild spicy" dressing would have worked better.

Next up was the caviar which Ai forgot to serve first, realizing that as she presented the scallop dish.  Not to worry.

In additon to no menu, there was no wine list.  But I also printed that out at home so I knew what was advertised.  While the Krug and Taittenger were catered, the 2014 Domaine Faiveley Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru was not.  Ai felt bad so insisted that I try all the wines on board.  OMG.

And by that time, it took everything I had just to remember which was which.   Suzanne's Faro and Spinach soup was really, really, good.

And her Spiced Lamb with Tapenade was spectacular.

Come on Singapore, this looks like a bad American or United Business Class cheese plate.

On the other, Suzanne's Warmed California Date Cake was fabulous.

After dinner, Ai made my bed and I slept for a solid 5 hours, waking up with just 3 hours from Narita.   The Dim Sum was excellent... radish cake, pork dumpling, prawn dressing and vegetable dumpling.

Almost there.  Nice scenery on our approach to Narita.

This was my first Singapore flight since Covid.  While the crew was lovely and attentive, and the food excellent for the most part, there was just something off.  The Covid-excuse lack on menus was inexcusable.  And eliminating the advertised $250 Burgundy was disappointing.  Also, despite the cabin showing only 2 of us, two off duty pilots were sitting in the empty middle pair when I boarded.  Hopefully, SQ gets past using Covid as an excuse for cutting costs.

And the Instagram video of my Singapore First LAX-NRT flight.