Round The World and other travel

Flight Log: BA65

London Heathrow (LHR) - Nairobi (NBO)



Concorde Room relaxation at Heathrow Terminal 5

My latest first-class experience began at the dedicated check-in area at the southern end of Heathrow's Terminal 5. Having completed the required formalities, I passed through South Security and then was waved through the fabled "Millionaires' Door". That's just a nickname, obviously, but it did allow me to circumvent the usual grand tour of the shop-infested terminal and go straight into the Concorde Room, the lounge at British Airways' home base set aside for ticketed first-class passengers. I met Bruce almost immediately; he'd been there for a while and had already eaten. He joined me in a booth so that I might sample the full English breakfast, which turned out to be quite a daunting plateful of food! Thereafter, we relaxed and caught up in the somewhat more open terrace area, prior to taking a transit to the 'C' satellite building, where we found that boarding for our flight was already very much in progress.

The First Class cabin

Boeing 777-200 ready to operate BA65 to Nairobi

This was my second time in BA 'New First', so I already felt quite the expert. The cabin presented a good overall image on this bright, sunny morning, although closer inspection revealed that it fell short of being in pristine condition. My selected pre-departure drinks of champagne and water appeared quickly, and as I stored my jacket and settled down, a succession of subsequent deliveries saw a menu booklet, a bottle of water, a sleeper suit, a pair of slippers and an amenity kit all adding to my growing collection of accoutrements.


Quick two-step guide to getting settled into First Class: 1. Hang jacket in personal wardrobe 2. Relax and imbibe!

I noticed that we had a child in the cabin (3A) and hoped that there would be no significant effect on overall noise levels. The usual flight deck announcement gave the expected flight time as 7hrs 55mins. We left our stand just a little behind schedule and took off at 1037 from Runway 27R.

Once the cabin crew were released from their seats, I had a visit from acting Cabin Manager Craig, who introduced himself in a friendly manner. This was followed by a round of hot towels. Soon thereafter, I was able to enjoy a nice build-up to lunch, in the form of a glass of the Rosé champagne, some ice water and a bowl of mixed nuts. Things took a further step forward when my table was laid and an amuse bouche was served, this being described as 'Japanese-style salmon'. I started up the classic 1969 movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Maggie Smith in fine form and of course, set in Edinburgh.

The full lunch menu was as follows:

LUNCH		WINES
Starters		Champagne
Duck confit terrine with pickled apple purée, carrot, celeriac		Kir Royale cocktail
and grain mustard salad and a beetroot jelly
		Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle
Poached Burford brown egg and asparagus with a chervil
and truffle sauce		Palmer & Co Blanc de Blancs Millésimé 2007

Cream of English celery soup with blue Wensleydale		Taittinger Prestige Rosé NV
cheese and walnuts
		White wines
Fresh seasonal salad with your choice of blue cheese		Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières 2011, Château de la Crée,
dressing or classic vinaigrette		Burgundy, France

Main Courses		Castro Martin Sobre Lias Albariño 2013, Rías Baixas,
Beef and coconut milk stew with coriander rice and okra		Galicia, Spain

Steamed sea trout with marsh samphire, Jersey Royal		Sémillon 2014, Shannon Vineyards, Elgin, South Africa
potatoes with a tomato and cockle salsa, sweet red
peppers and a lemon butter sauce		Red wines
		Château Haut-Bergey 2004, Grand Cru Classé Pessac-
Chicken tikka masala with dal makhani and jeera pilau		Léognan, Bordeaux, France
sauce
		Masút Pinot Noir 2012, Mendocino County, California, USA
Warm salad of seared tiger prawns in parsley and garlic
butter with Mediterranean vegetables and a tomato		Ormanni Chianti Classico DOCG 2010, Tuscany, Italy
dressing
		Dessert wine
Bistro Selection		Rustenberg Straw Wine 2011, Coastal Region, South
Penne pasta in a lemon and chervil cream sauce with		Africa
rocket, spring vegetables and pine nuts
		Port
Braised Moroccan-style lamb slider with tomato relish,		Warre's 1999 Colheita Tawny
baba ghanoush and slaw salad

A selection of biscuits

A selection of cheese and fruit

Desserts
Rhubarb and redcurrant tart with rhubarb compote

Warm chocolate and hazelnut torte

Madagascan vanilla ice cream

Cheese Plate
Somerset Camembert
Old Amsterdam
Pyrenees Pere Toinou
Fourme d'Ambert

Fresh Fruit

Chocolates by Lauden

I had the duck terrine and the celery soup, followed by a delightfully light and colourful tiger prawn salad. (Don't forget that cooked breakfast that I had already wolfed down in the lounge, just a few hours previously!) The South African white provided a pleasing accompaniment to all three dishes, and some ice cream paired with a cappuccino made for a pleasant combination on which to finish. (See pictures in panel on right)

Surprisingly, after all this eating and drinking, it turned out that we had only reached as far as Crete. I went back to 2K for a chat with Bruce at this point, opening with the line: "This is in danger of being a really good flight!" He agreed! The in-flight entertainment system then kept me busy for the main body of the flight. I watched the 2015 movie Ex Machina, followed by a number of episodes from Series 8 of my favourite US sitcom, The Big Bang Theory.

With around 90 minutes still to run, it was time to experience the rather civilised-sounding second meal option, Afternoon Tea. It should come as no surprise to regular readers that I drank Earl Grey.

AFTERNOON TEA

Sandwiches

An individual selection of sandwiches featuring:

Wiltshire ham with grain mustard

Asparagus and red radish with cream cheese

Ploughman's Cheddar cheese with caramelised red onions

Severn and Wye smoked salmon tartare with wasabi mayonnaise

Pâtisserie

Chocolate Opera cake

Vanilla Madeleine

Passion fruit and raspberry tower

Scones

Buttermilk or fruit scones served warm with clotted cream and strawberry preserves

Teas

'The Full English' - English Breakfast

'Thoroughly Minted' - Peppermint infusion

Pure Camomile Infusion

'The Earl' - Earl Grey

'Jasmine Petals and Pearls' - Green Tea with Camomile

'Citrus Ginger Twist' - Ginger infusion

Coffee

Freshly roasted and ground, decaffeinated, espresso or cappuccino

With 30 minutes of flight time remaining, a round of hot towels effectively marked the end of cabin service. We flew to the west of Nairobi Airport and then turned left to land towards the north-east. Touchdown came at 2031 local time and we were parked on-stand by 2040, five minutes ahead of schedule.