Eating on the road: Lounge and plane food from my summer vacation -- part two

 After five amazing and relaxing nights in the Maldives, and some great meals I will review separately, it was back into the air for the next leg of my journey to Bangkok, Thailand, via Singapore.

My first three flights in business were on Aeroplan points, earned thanks to my decade as a frequently-travelling technology journalist (nowadays I mostly earn train and hotel points) but the Maldives to Bangkok trip I paid out of pocket and booked economy on Singapore Airlines.

As one of the top airlines in the world I was looking forward to the trip, even if it would be another redeye to Singapore and an early-morning flight on to Bangkok. But I researched upgrade options and I learned they were often available for purchase a few days out. So I made a point of logging in right when the upgrade window opened and, on my laptop looking out at the ocean in my Maldavian villa, I decided I could justify the price as a once-in-a-lifetime experience (when will I be back here?) and I upgraded both legs to business.

And this business class experience was a step above any other I've experienced. Comfortable lay flat pods, great menus, and warm, friendly and attentive staff that greet you by name. 

But first, they use a private lounge at the airport in Male that was just ok. Very busy, lots of kids running around, food nothing to write home about. No photos taken.

As I settled into my pod I enjoyed a fresh orange juice and looked over the volumnius menu. I had pre-selected my entree, but the drinks selection was quite interesting and abundant. And unlike on Emirates, I was well-rested from my week in the sun and ready to partake.

I ordered a glass of the 2020 Chateau Pey La Tour Reserve Bordeaux which, while only $24 at the SAQ, was excellent and, of course, enjoyed with mixed nuts.

But I couldn't leave it at that, as one other option on the drink menu also caught my attention. I hadn't had one before, but how can you be on Singapore Airlines enroute to Singapore and not try a Singapore Sling?

It was fruity and delicious. And yes, I was double-fisting but hey, I'm on vacation! Also, I wanted to get to bed right after dinner.

Speaking of which, meal service did begin promptly and efficiently for this overnight flight but was still served course by course. As an appetizer, they served a seared pepper-crusted tuna with fennel, crab and togarashi mayonnaise.

I would judge it OK. I'm still not totally sold on tuna. I made little lettuce wrap tuna sandwiches. I was more excited for the main course, and I added ordered the local option: Mee Siam Goreng, or Fried spicy rice vermicelli with prawns, fish cake, chives and lime -- they kindly accommodated my request to hold the hard-boiled egg which I appreciated.

It was a tasty entree, not stellar, but very good. 8/10. They warned me the sauce was spicy, and it did have kick, but it was enjoyable -- though I didn't go to hard to avoid bedtime heartburn. Their bread basket selection was very varied and they came by a few times to top up. I had a few garlic bread. I also enjoyed the sticky date pudding with quenelle of cream and butterscotch sauce.

With dinner complete, I put the bed into lay flat mode and managed a little but of sleep before a sunrise approach into Singapore.

It took quite awhile, and a train, to navigate an airside terminal change at the airport in Singapore. Unfortunately I didn't have time to explore any of the cool airport attractions like the garden or the jewel, but I did have time to try their lounge. Finding the right one took a minute (I didn't have access to the more exclusive First Class one) but eventually I did find the one for business class passengers. 

And wow, made to order noodle bar at breakfast time? Oh, yes please.

After watching a few others go to figure it out, I made my selections and my noodle dish was made to order in front of me. 

I can't use chopsticks so eating some of the bulkier choices with a spoon was a challenges, as was getting the noodles to where they needed to be, but no one here knew me so I slurped without shame. Pretty tasty. A Coke Zero as you see; I found that in Asia it seems like Coke Zero has replaced Diet Coke for the most part as the no-sugar option.

I left the dining area to chill before flight time; it was a very busy lounge for early/mid morning; maybe it was the rush hour I don't know. There were some other buffet and breakfast options but other than the must-try noodles, I was saving space for my next leg.

Which was back on business again for the connection to Bangkok, and in preparing for this flight I saw that it had Book the Cook available, which allows you to pre-order a few days in advance from a much broader menu. 

And while it may seem like a very odd choice for a morning flight, I had to go with their renowned chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce. And, my friends, it did not disappoint, Even my flight attendant approved of my choice.

I know it looks a but out of place on this tray with the breakfast fruit bowl and yogurt, but it was so good. Juicy, flavourful, the peanut sauce was excellent. And so much chicken, oh my god. I enjoyed it while watching The Pit fit the first time, Noah Wylie's not an ER rip off, which was pretty good too.

All in all, a great experience on Singapore Airlines. Definitely my favourite business class experience to date.

After four nights in Bangkok -- again, food to be chronicled separately, it was time to begin the long journey home. The trip home was another Aeroplan redemption, this time in economy. I has wanted to keep going West to make it a true around the world, but Aeroplan was making me go on Air India and I was not down for that.

So I ended up on Eva Air to London with an overnight layover. Managed to get an aisle seat at least for this all daytime, 13 hour flight.  I was in the middle four seat section, and the person on the other aisle and I had the two middle-seats free so that was lucky. In this scenario I like to watch shows on my screen and have the map on the one beside me.

It was a long but reasonable long haul experience. Good IFE and moving map, free wifi, two meals, many drink services, and snacks. First nosh, this rice cracker snack mix.

I didn't snap menu shots so I can't give fulsome menu descriptions. But for lunch there was a seafood salad, a fruit bowl, a chicken/veg/rice thing, and some sort of desert. For an economy meal it was good, and a lot of food.

I mentioned the moving map and WiFi. It was both fun and a bit frightening to watch the moving map and the route projection. We did a very weird deviation over Pakistan and Afghanistan, perhaps avoiding Kashmir? We seemed to deliberately stay South of Russian air space through Central Asia but the rotue projected us right over Crimea and Ukraine, which seemed a questionable choice and led to some concerned Facebook Messenger activity.

Thankfully though, we turned south, hugging the south side of the Black Sea over Turkey before turning North-West over Eastern Europe. A relief to be sure.

As I pondered the possibility of becoming a statistic, they passed out these snacks. It was fine.

Finally, safely over European airspace they served another meal. 

Some kind of chicken stir fry, that fruit bowl again, and bizarrely, a yogurt and a very beat-up croissant. Breakfast vibes from the sides, dinner from the entree. It was tasty enough though. It was probably after midnight to our bodies, but early evening in London. 

Navigating the Queen's Terminal was a bit of a challenge; more specifically, getting to the hotel bus area. But I made it to my airport-adjacent Marriott, checked in and dropped my bag, and navigated a double-decker, the Elizabeth Line and the Tube to Westminster to pay homage to the Mother Parliament and get a Big Ben Selfie.

I reversed the journey, except with an Uber from the nearest train station to my hotel, and collapsed on my bed to sleep.

No hotel or airport food pics, but there were some adventures. I got a free breakfast in the hotel restaurant as a super shiny member, and they had a prix fixe. There was a 10 pound upcharge to the prix fixe listed on the menu for the steak and I got that because, why not, still on vacation. When the bill came they charged me the full price as if I has ordered it a la carte. Raising this with the manager it was taken off, he said the menu was out of date. Well, it's the one you're still giving out though mate. Steak was decent, anyways, and cooked to order.

I filled my bag with duty free snacks to bring home at Heathrow, and had lunch. I remember whatever it was being over priced, you order from an app at your seat, and while the cola was way overpriced apparently free refills aren't a thing in Europe. I think it was some kind of mac and cheese with brisket at a BBQ place; it was fine.

I managed to use my upgrade credits and some cash to get into Premium Economy for my Air Canada flight to Ottawa. It's my third time in Premium Economy and, if you can swing it, it's worth it for long haul. The meals are supposed to be better than economy. In my experience, they're just different. But the seats are more spacious with more leg room and that's the key thing.

This was another daytime flight, leaving London mid afternoon with an evening landing in Ottawa. Again, I didn't snap a menu shot so I don't have exact descriptions here.

But there's that salad dressing again! Went with a lighter entree with the pasta option. It was fine. Desert was interesting. And, of course, a glass of red.

The hotel night to break up the journey home was nice, and I landed back in Ottawa in reasonable shape. And when I got home, discovered my bag had been pilfered. Surpassingly though, what was missing was two bags of Lays chips from Thailand, one squid and one prawn. They didn't take the chili sauce or the mango candies, so I guess it was a baggage thief that was hungry for weird chips. Probably happened when stored overnight at Heathrow. I was only out like a dollar so no big deal, just weird.

Anyways, this concludes my on the move food chronicles from this vacation. Up next, eating in the Maldives.

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Eating on the road: Lounge and plane food from my summer vacation -- part one

 As I prepare to venture to Montreal for a mini-vacation and a good steak frites, it occurs to me I have fallen woefully behind in my food blogging. So to begin catching up, I'd like to recap some of the snacks and meals I enjoyed during my summer vacation, which took me from Ottawa to the Maldives and Singapore, with a bunch of lounges and business class flights. This update will focus on lounges and in-flight meals.

The trip began with a business class train trip from Ottawa to Montreal, as there were better Aeroplan reward options flying out of YUL. And being paranoid about missing flights, I booked a breakfast train to ensure a large buffer (and more time to enjoy the Maple Leaf Lounge in Montreal).

VIA offers the choice of a hot or cold breakfast, although the eggs are inescapable with either choice. I mean, you could escape them, put the point is, egg features prominently in both. I have never gotten the hard but I believe it involves a hard-boiled egg, yogurt and fruit.

I always get the hot option which is some kind of egg dish, usually potatoes and some sort of protein like bacon and sausage, and fruit. Sometimes it's an omelet; egg bites are a regular new feature. For a few years now the bread choice has been a roll with hints of cinnamon which is delicious.

This trip it was a bacon leek quiche with cherry tomatoes and sauteed onions and mushrooms. I was very happy to see this; their quiche is not supper eggy which is a plus for me and the ingredients and crust help mask the eggs for me.

Which brings me to a side note on ketchup, a regular issue for me when it comes to eggs. When I remember I bring ketchup packets if I can, as availability can be hit or miss. They do have ketchup more often than not, but it's back in the galley so if you're being served early in the service, you could have to wait awhile and your food could get cold. I don't expect them to go and get it for me right then, but I'm curious -- if they have it stocked, and they do more than half the time, why isn't it on the cart? You could argue they stock the ketchup for lunch or dinner, but I take the train a lot and I have never seen a lunch or dinner offered that lends itself to ketchup. One of life's mysteries.

Anyway, after an on time arrival at VIA's Dorval station and a free shuttle transfer to the airport, I cleared security, bought an airport ballcap to protect my bald head in the Maldivian sun, and headed to the Maple Leaf Lounge. It was pointed out I was a bit early (I was crazy early) so I was admitted without issue.

Besides the bar not being self-service, I like the YUL International MLL far more than the one in Toronto, which I last visited two years ago on my way to Jordan and Palestine. There was ample appy selection, hot and cold, as well as a made to order pasta bar. And it just seemed to flow more smoothly than the Toronto domestic or international lounges -- Ottawa is also very limited in selection. Also, when it comes to tarmac plane watching, the order is definitely YUL>YOW>YYZ.

Here's a video tour:

While it wasn't a self-service bar they did give me a healthy pour on my rum and diet coke. I samples the various appetizers but the highlight for me was definitely the popcorn chicken bites -- I may have have had a few helpings -- I was there for quite awhile. So long that they ran out of this variety and replaced them with an inferior, more processed popcorn chicken. Note the corn cause I'm healthy like that...

I also ordered a tasty bow tie pasta with olive oil, garlic, bell peppers and mushrooms. Simple but delicious.

After a few hours of plane watching and probably too much popcorn chicken given the meals I had ahead of me, I headed to the gate for the first leg of my flight journey: Air Canada in business from Montreal overnight to Frankfurt.

I settled into my pod and, once airborne, my tablet was set and the service began with a ramekin of warm mixed nuts and a glass of red wine -- I selected a Chateau De Pistray Les Praries Castilllion from France that was delicious. This was the first of many wine and nuts combos, which seems to be a business class staple.

Next I was served my salad. It was fine. It was served with the same oil/balsamic dressing I have had with every salad I have ever been served on a business class flight, and would see twice more before I got my next solid sleep in my Maldivian villa.

But the real star here was the Mediterranean mezze appetizer. Which I guess some people will fine more acceptable than calling it an Arabic mezze. Whatever you call it, it was excellent. Hummus, Loubieh Bi Zeit, Muhammara and  Za'atar seasoned feta. Truly the highlight of this flight.

Next was the entree, which I has pre-ordered online. I had selected the slow braised beef, tomato demi-glace, garlic pappardelle pasta, broccoli and sweet cherry tomato. The other options were chicken, trout and a bean stew.

It was...fine. Cooked properly and all. I have come to the conclusion that I just think I don't care for braising as a beef preparation. Will keep this in mind for future ordering opportunities. 

Stuffed from lounge food and a three course meal, I passed on desert, got changed into more comfortable clothes and tried to get some sleep in my lay flat pod. Which I don't think I did that well at, so I eventually gave up and watched White Lotus until we approached the European coast and they came around with breakfast.

For this meal there was no choice -- just the standard parsley omelet, chicken sausage with parmesan cheese and spinach, roasted potatoes and tomato cumin chutney. Plus a croissant, a fruit bowl and yogurt. 

With the time change it may have been breakfast time out the window and in Frankfurt, but it was not in my stomach. In my stomach, it was still the day before when I had a train breakfast, copious lounge food and, just a few hours before, a three course meal. So I had the fruit and sausage and picked at the rest, mostly leaving the eggs untouched. No disrespect to their breakfast, but I would have no appetite for quite awhile.

After navigating a terminal change and a train ride at Frankfurt airport -- thankfully, no customs checkpoint for transit passengers, I settled into the Emirates lounge. They had the standard breakfast offerings but nothing super impressive, and I passed knowing I had a big lunch ahead of me. After a welcome shower and a Cola Light, I boarded my next flight -- business on an Emirates 777 to their Dubai Hub, where I hoped a much nicer lounge awaited me.

Again, I had pre-ordered my lunch on the Emirates web site as soon as the option was open. I am the sort that scouts menus ahead of any big restaurant meal. And once we were airborne the service began. 

It's the little things that set the Emirates service apart from Air Canada like the large ramekin of butter instead of  a plastic tub, the real salt and pepper shakers, and the metal napkin holder. Just more classy overall. But there's that salad dressing again, hello old friend.

I was still not super-hungry and was pretty tired -- one reason I went with water instead of wine. And I picked at the salad, picking out the olives. But the appetizer of seared scallops on pea puree with microgreens was outstanding -- again, as on Air Canada, the appetizer outshining the main. The scallops were delicious and cooked perfectly. Here's a closer look:

Next came the main, and I had pre-ordered the fish tahta. The flavours were good but it was dry. I was too full any ways, I had a few bites and tapped out and even skipped desert. I felt bad about not fully capitalizing on the full Emirates business experience, but I just had zero appetite at this point, thanks to both fatigue and having had far more to eat already than I usually do.

Of course, there are multiple deserts on an Emirates business flight, even at lunch. So while I passed on the main desert I couldn't pass on the chocolate box, or the strawberry ice cream served later in the flight.

We touched down in Dubai and it was the evening -- at least outside, I had no idea where it was to my body. After a long and circuitous march through Dubai's airport I found my terminal and headed to the flagship Emirates lounge, a visit I had been looking forward to for years after many travel vlogger videos.

The smiles stopped when I got inside. It was, to be honest, disappointing, I have no videos as, frankly, there was nothing with chronicling. Maybe it was the time of day, which I believe was late evening/post dinner. But I walked the length of the huge lounge to find the different regional food stations. But frankly, they all had only slightly different versions of rice/noddle/sauce/veg. It gave off low rent buffet vibes, and there was hardly any protein to be found. Just as well I didn't have an appetite; if I ate anything it left no memory or impression.

After trying to sleep a bit, flight time approached and I made my way to my gate, after picking up some Dubai chocolate at duty free, and boarded by business class flight on Fly Dubai to Maldives. For a low cost carrier, this was a great experience. A lay flat seat that I managed to actually sleep on (two days awake may have helped). 

But first, I began again with wine and nuts -- this time, a Journey's End Huntsman Shiraz from South Africa that was very tasty.

The meal was served all at once which was fine, as I was more than ready for bed at this point. No pre-order, I had the roasted chicken served with baby carrots, charred broccolini, and herbed-mased potatoes in a cream sauce. There's that salad dressing again. And cheese blintzes for desert, with vanilla creme anglaise and cherry compote. The main was hearty and satisfying, and put me properly to sleep.

And with that, it was off to bed before an early morning arrival into the Maldivian capital.

This got long so I'll save part two for another update, including two business flights on Singapore Air and the lounge in Singapore, before returning to the economy life for the journey home from Bangkok.

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Eating in the air: Air Canada's new Jérôme Ferrer, meal box

 Even if I'm not always hungry during the flight, if I'm going cross-country in particular I find a little nosh helps to pass the flight. And I'm a planner, so I will often pre-order my meal when I book my ticket to save a few bucks. This is what led me to have Air Canada's new meal box on a recent flight from Vancouver back to Ottawa that they've developed in partnership with Montreal chef Jérôme Ferrer.

Honestly, by the time the flight came around I had forgotten just what I had ordered, just that I had ordered something. When we settled into our cruising altitude the flight attendant came around w\ith an armful of long, thin boxes and one was for me.

Curious to see what I had ordered, I broke the seal and opened the box -- and was immediately underwhelmed. Inside the box was a vacuum-packed sandwich, a couscous salad and a slice of cranberry load.

The sandwich was not easy to open as there seemed to be no seam but, eventually, I did get the plastic off. And again, underwhelmed. I wish I had the presence of mind to take a photo. It was supposed to be a chicken salad sandwich, but they dolled out the filling so sparingly that the bread to stuff ratio was almost all bread. It was fresh enough but not great at all.

I didn't finish the quinoa salad. It needed more flavour and was just kind of meh.

The standout, surprisingly, was the cranberry loaf. Very tasty with the tart fruit.

All in all, I prefer the regular Air Canada bistro offerings like the cheese and fruit plate or the macaroni and cheese. If I was Jérôme, and I know nothing about him, I would not want to put my name on this. 4/10.

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Trying Air Canada's new Ottawa to Toronto Island service

For years, Porter Airlines has had a lock on the Toronto Island Airport, aka Billy Bishop or YTZ, flying  Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft to points in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. Air Canada's only service from the island was to Montreal.

That changed on Halloween, when Air Canada announced it would run four round-trips daily between the island and Ottawa. I head down to Scarborough for work every few months and usually fly Porter, because it's much easier to fly through the YTZ and get out to the borough than it is to go through Pearson. But if I could build up my Aeroplan points AND have the convenience of the island, that's a win-win.

So, needing to head down to the borough this week, I booked the new Air Canada service. Like Porter, they operate the  Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft on this route under the Air Canada Express banner.

On Thursday, I was on the 8:30 PM departure out of YOW. An Air Canada flight to Pearson leaving a little earlier had a decent size crowd board at the next gate over. My waiting area was empty, but eventually two other people came. Turns our, there would just be three of us on the flight.

The gate agent personally delivered us each new boarding passes as, due to the low passenger count, we had to be seated in the back of the plane for weight and balance. And instead of a booming recorded by zone boarding announcement, she just walked over and invited us each to board at our leisure.

And I was first off the plane...

I was curious to see if they'd match the Porter onboard service. While I'll have to wait for the flight back to see if they're offering wine, for the breakfast flight they did have the snack basket, and I was encouraged to take all I would like. No problem with my Diet Coke either -- full can for the win. Love the Biscoffs. Good bar was tasty. Packaged croissant so-so.

Breakfast of champions

Two flight attendants for the three passengers, and we both left and arrived early. Very bumpy descending through the clouds on the approach, as it often is flying into the island, but once below the layer the landing was smooth.

The Town of Trenton and CFB Trenton

All in all it was what I hoped for -- Porter with Aeroplan points (wasn't that supposed to happen though?). I'm sitting on 200k+ from my IT journalism days, so happy to consolidate. They'll be my regular for this route, as long as they operate it -- with passenger loads like this, it may not last long...

UPDATE: My afternoon snack selection during the return flight, which had a pax count of 10 or so.

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More belated political musings

I write this from Arizona, where I've been attending a work conference this week in the Phoenix area. I'm staying through the weekend to see some hockey, as the Coyotes play their home opener vs. the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. The old Jets vs. the new Jets, should be fun. And Monday, it's off to Ottawa to cover another conference, so busy times. And another offering of random thoughts on happenings political.

* I find this NDP ethics complaint against Lisa Raitt a little puzzling, as I'm having a hard time seeing Air Canada's CEO logging into the reservations system and upgrading cabinet ministers in the hope a larger seat and a cheese plate will influence labour policy. If they have documents, I'd love to see them. A gate agent doing a battlefield upgrade, I could see, although I doubt the unionized gate agents are fans of the minister these days. But the CEO? And to what end? They couldn't have a more pro Air Canada government, whether its on labour or landing slots. I'm more astounded a cabinet minsiter's staff booked her into economy in the first place. Besides, she must have enough e-upgrade credits already. Super elite!

* Were I Tom Mulcair, I'd stop whining about Quebec memberships. Because every time he opens his would to complain about the lack of NDP members in the province, it reminds me he was the guy responsible for building the party in the province and apparently, he didn't do a very good job of it. Which doesn't bode well for his ability to organize a successful leadership run. It's more obvious the NDP's surge was all about Layton, and not so much the diligent work of his Quebec lieutenant. (Which isn't to say they can't hold it without Jack, but that's another story) He'd be better sticking to some of this policy stuff, where I find myself thinking he sounds almost reasonable.

* Remember when I asked if anyone would stand up for equality of parliamentary representation? As I feared the answer, apparently, is no one.

Fears of a Quebec backlash have delayed the Harper government’s plan to give the growing parts of Canada a larger share of seats in the House of Commons.

As a result, the changes the Tories promised in the spring campaign may not be in place in time for the 2015 election, leaving millions of voters once again underrepresented in Parliament.

So none of the major parties, it seems, is willing to stand up for basic math and principle in a matter as fundamental as our parliamentary representation. That's sad, and also sadly unsurprising.

* Our generous R&D tax credits are a competitive advantage; the piece of the puzzle we're missing is assistance with commercialization. We should invest there. If that's that they mean by direct subsidies, then ok. But I don't want to see the government trying to pick winners and losers. Support un-directed research, then help it get from the lab to the marketplace. That's the way to grow a 21st century economy.

* The Conservatives are zealous in their respect for areas of provincial jurisdiction:

Despite these initiatives and studies that link school food to increased success in the classroom, Canada is unlikely to shed its title as the only G8 country without a national meal program. The federal government says it has no plans to take on school food.

“We see education very clearly as a provincial/territorial jurisdiction, so it's nothing that's being considered by our government at this point in time,” said Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

Except when it's an issue they actually care about:

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, who announced Tuesday that Ottawa is plowing nearly $30-million into the 1812-1814 conflict’s bicentennial, says he wants to sharpen efforts to teach Canada about its past.

“In only four of Canada’s 10 provinces are students required to take history before they graduate from high school,” he said. “I think that’s a sadly low number so I want to work on improving that.”

The Harper government will feed students ciriculum changes, but not a healthy lunch. I'll leave it to them to explain the jurisdictional nuance that reconciles those positions.

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