SQ318/319 New Business & Economy Class to London and LHR T2 SilverKris Lounge

[yflyer]

Part of our route that day…



Fresh orchids in the restroom.



Linen napkins to dry your hands…



SQ doesn’t provide an amenity kit in J, but amenities like toothbrushes, shavers, combs and moisturiser etc are all available in the restroom.

[yflyer]

After a good rest, it was time for dinner.

I began with Taittinger champagne…



The first course for the light dinner service was an antipasto plate, comprising smoked duck, air-dried beef, mozzarella cheese and tomato with balsamic dressing.



This really hit the spot…

For my main, I ordered the braised chicken and noodles…



This was comfort food, really, and tasted very good.

Dessert was lemon tart with crème fraiche…a nice way to finish.

[yflyer]

It was still daylight in Europe as we approached our destination…



Window shades were raised as the cabin crew prepared for landing…





A very smooth descent into Heathrow, and an ultra smooth landing at 7.25pm London time…



Not too long a taxi to our gate at Terminal 2 Satellite Building.

From the gate, it was a very long walk to the immigration and arrival area in the main terminal.



With a fast track card provided to F and J pax, I was through UK Border Control very quickly (There was a moderately long queue at border control for Y pax that day, though.)

Baggage reclaim was fairly prompt.

I caught the Heathrow Express train service to London Paddington, and as it was drizzling, I caught a London Black Taxi to my hotel, and was at my hotel just after 9pm, about 90 minutes after landing.

[yflyer]

Overall impressions of my flight?

Once again, SQ delivered the goods: An excellent hard product, flawless cabin service delivered by polished cabin crew. Catering was well up to expectations as well. A varied and tasty menu. The extensive IFE selections and time-based wifi internet were very good too.

Was this flight perfect? No…the Krisworld user interface is harder to use than it should be. Taller passengers may find the angle of the lie-flat bed, and smallish footwell, to be an issue. And of course there is the ongoing debate around the merits of a fold-down J seat, as opposed to one which reclines flat at a push of a button.

Is the new SQ J 2013 seat on the 77WN better than the 2006 J seat on the A380 and 77W? I think it is an incremental improvement. To me, the main advantage the new seat has over the old one is the fact that in seated position, the seat reclines noticeably more, and that the side ledge is more useful than a wider bench.

For comparison purposes, here are a couple of previous TR's on the 2006 J seat on the A380, and on the 77W.

That said, the SQ 2006 J seat on the A380 / 77W remains excellent, and if I had to choose between different flights, I would be happy with either version of the SQ longhaul J seat, and would make the decision based on schedule convenience rather than the seat type.

Next up, a few memorable meals in London, the new SQ Lounge in Heathrow T2, and the flight home on SQ319.

To be continued!

[Hajimbo]

Awesome TR as usual :thumbs: yflyer!

[yflyer]

Awesome TR as usual :thumbs: yflyer!

Thanks, Hajimbo! More coming up...

[9V-SIA]

Nice part 1.

Always felt that SKL should be where KF Gold Lounge is.

I like the natural light & views of the airfield

The seat is very comfortable now and can be used to lounge now wherebin the past I use to convert to bed mode for the whole flight

[Flyerfly]

Excellent TR as usual yflyer !

I will definitely come back for more and more and more !

[yflyer]

Nice part 1.

Always felt that SKL should be where KF Gold Lounge is.

I like the natural light & views of the airfield

The seat is very comfortable now and can be used to lounge now wherebin the past I use to convert to bed mode for the whole flight

Thanks, 9V-SIA!

I've always wondered why SQ seldom takes into account natural light and/or tarmac views when selecting lounge locations.

Agree that the new seat is a lot more comfortable for lounging in!

Excellent TR as usual yflyer !

I will definitely come back for more and more and more !

Thanks, Flyerfly!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

The weather in London was fairly good the week I was there. Although it was occasionally drizzly and windy, the sun came out on several days, and overall the weather was fairly mild.



It was a nice time to visit London. The sights were busy with tourists of all nationalities, including many groups of students on tour.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th birthday in April this year, in good health and as popular as ever, and all manner of merchandise commemorating the occasion were on sale.



Oxford Street was packed, as usual, although the Stormtrooper in the Disney Store there seemed a little confused over exactly which Princess he should be guarding.



It must have been a slow news week because the Evening Standard, the ubiquitous free newspaper that is handed out outside tube stations and street corners had this on their front page…



Lightning striking a plane? Move along folks, nothing to see here…this happens all the time. My favourite quote on this topic comes from the pilot on my flight SQ407 on a stormy, turbulent flight out of Delhi several years ago: “Ladies and gentlemen, our aircraft was just struck by lightning, but everything seems to be working fine…”.

[yflyer]

It was a very hectic work week, but on a couple of evenings, my colleagues and I headed out for very memorable meals.

Our first stop was Andina, a modern, stylish take on Peruvian cuisine, in Shoreditch. My local colleagues told me that Shoreditch was a hip, trendy and creative part of London -- I took their word for it, because “hip” or “trendy” isn’t exactly something I am attuned too.



This was a brightly decorated restaurant with several dining areas, and it was packed.



The restaurant was so full that they opened their private dining room, the Music Room, to restaurant patrons and we shared one of the tables there with another party.



A very well mixed Pisco Sour, Peru’s national drink, to begin…



Crunchy corn and plantain chips…



The corn had great crunch and a deep smoky flavour…

[yflyer]

The menu in Andina was perfect for sharing plates. Some of the dishes we shared…

A variety of very fresh seafood and fish ceviches and salads…



Quinoa was a popular ingredient…



Assorted fresh seaweed…



Tuna ceviche...



And a procession of spectacularly delicious street food and grilled plates…

Marinated grilled fillet steak…



Pan seared duck magret…



Crispy roast pork belly…



Lamb sweetbreads…



Octopus…



Mussels and seafood in a rich and spicy rice and prawn bisque…

[yflyer]

To go with the food, we shared a bottle of Chilean red wine…



We shared Picarones doughnuts and a bowl of mango cream for dessert…



All in all, a stunning selection of small plates inspired by Peruvian cuisine and the Andes. I doubt your typical Peruvian dines like this on a day-to-day basis, but I think the flavours and inspiration of Peruvian cuisine came through.

A wonderful dinner and a great place to unwind and enjoy a meal with a group of friends at the end of the day.

[yflyer]

Later in the week, we headed to the Jugged Hare, a gastropub near the Barbican Centre...

This restaurant specialises in meat and game dishes, grounded in English country and hunting traditions, but taken to an extreme level, with an apparently unstated objective of shock and awe when it comes to creating dishes out of animals, and parts of animals, not commonly found on restaurant menus.

This restaurant isn’t for everyone. For example, if you are a vegetarian, stay clear…stay WELL clear.

You get a sense of this restaurant’s priorities when you set foot in the door. There are stuffed and mounted animals everywhere in the bar area. Deer, hare, fowl, pigeons, all manner of traditional British game.





Thankfully, the mounted animal heads are mainly in the bar area, and are less visible in the main restaurant dining room.

The menu for the day.



There is exactly one vegetarian dish. A one word entry “Vegetarian”. Anyone who orders that probably wandered into the restaurant by mistake.

And the daily specials…



We began with several starters to share.



Devilled whitebait…



Croquettes…one of this is black pudding, the other is squirrel and bacon…I can’t remember which was which…



Do they really eat squirrel in the UK, you ask?

Apparently they do…

…although it probably lags far behind chicken tikka masala in popularity…

Back on (slightly) more familiar territory, we had rabbit and crayfish terrine next…



…and then duck hearts and livers on toast…



Spiced goat scotch eggs, with mint sauce…



Nettle soup with goat’s cheese…

[yflyer]

For our man courses, my colleagues had pie and some very impressive looking steaks, which would not have looked out of place in a classic Chicago or New York steak house.

But why come all the way here for steak? I chose something a little less ordinary: the mock turtle stew…



This is served in an earthenware jug, along with mash and vegetables, which you can scoop onto plates to share, or eat as a meal for one…



This mock turtle stew was made from some or all of the following: beef/veal tongue, brains, cheek, jowl, hoof, meatballs and blood sausage. None of which I could actually identify in the stew…nevertheless it tasted very good!

And spotted on the kitchen the counter, a whole roasted suckling pig, which could feed four or more…



After a meal like that, we had hardly enough space for dessert but we perservered…



A selection of delicious soft and hard cheeses from Somerset, Berkshire, Suffolk and Snowdonia…



…and cornflake ice cream…



Apart from the main dining room, there is a private dining room on the basement level, with a huge square table, decorated in a style that could pass for a Game of Thrones set.

A very memorable meal, full of unexpected twists and turns, with each dish prepared with conviction, made from carefully selected ingredients, all absolutely delicious.