Text 33848, 97 rader
Skriven 2015-11-30 15:34:26 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: out of there 590
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While we were milling about I spotted my friends Fredd and Kathy,
who turned out to right across the aisle from me in 1DF.

The seats were quite decent, a bit clunky and old-style but more
than accessible, with a footrest affixed to the wall in front,
folded up but ready for use. A peculiarity - no air vents; one 
reading gooseneck and three overhead lights per seat.

Pretty good service by the cabin crew, and they brightened right up 
when I attempted to speak French to them.

The entertainment was iPad based; I got two hours of Classicalish
mix that included the whole Full Moon and Empty Arms concerto, a
piece of which I am very fond.

Amuse bouche
Mediterranean shrimp verrine

 A couple fairly firm little shrimp with tomatoes in a greenish-
 tasting and slightly sour sauce, served in a cheap lowball glass.

Starter
Smoked salmon with chive sauce and finely shredded duck

 Odd combo, the ingredients pretty good but not as a couple
 salmon slice paired with a blob of duck sort of rillette -
 I didn't see the point of this latter, which  tasted sort 
 of like pork anyway. The accompaniment was cold squidgy 
 pancakes.

Salad
Fresh seasonal salad

 These rather ordinary greens came with an (one) excellent
 yellow cherry tomato. The balsamic vinaigrette came in a
 little bottle, the vinegar balling up into artistic shapes
 that I unsuccessfully tried to capture with Annie's camera.

Main
Beef tenderloin with Bordelaise tarragon sauce, scalloped potatoes,
buttered French green beans and red onions
or
Chicken with coconut and curry sauce, basmati rice with broad beans
and dill, stir-fried pumpkin
or
Risotto with green asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese

 Orders were taken back to front. By the time they got to row 1,
 they'd sold out of the chicken, leaving a risotto and a beef
 dish. The mediocre mushy green beans were the best part of the
 plate, which also included a bizarrely overcooked and tough piece
 of unidentifiable meat and a potato gratin that tasted as though 
 it had ground-up old shoes in it.

Cheese
Brie and Comte

 Both very young and somewhat tasteless, but that's not
 necessarily a bad thing.

Dessert
Red fruit Dacquoise cake
Macadamia nut or summer berries
Haagen-Dazs ice cream

 This was a slightly coarse gateau of raspberries and hazelnuts
 with cream; it was quite decent. I've not had either macadamia
 nut or summer berries Haagen-Dazs and might have wanted to try
 one or both, but my pills were up in the overhead, so that was
 too much trouble.

Afternoon snack
Fresh fruit tartare with mango
Yoghurt, assorted mini savoury snacks
Selection of macarons by the Parisian
Salon de the Laduree

 The fruit were tart and fresh-tasting although a bit slimy. I
 passed on the yogurt. The snacks included a liver paste 
 sandwichette on multigrain, fairly yummy, a fromage frais and
 dried tomato arrangement on a round of white bread, strange,
 and a round of synthetic foie gras in a sweet-spice-bread cup,
 very strange. About this last, the catering kitchen had got
 the foie gras texture right, but the flavor was smoky and
 peculiar, and I don't know if any ducks were harmed in the
 manufacture of this product.

 The promised Laduree macaroons arrived - vanilla pecan and
 cassis violet; both tooth-killing sweet but of canonic
 texture and actually pretty delicious.

The ride was enlivened with some episodes of substantial bumpiness
and later by a medical emergency that got us priority in landing
but required us to sit down while they evacuated the person in
question and the about ten people traveling with her.
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