Round The World and other travels

Flight Log: BA219

London Heathrow (LHR) - Denver (DEN)

After an enjoyable bout of lounge-hopping (see column on right) in Heathrow's T3, currently the airport's oldest surviving terminal and the first place that I ever boarded a plane, it was a long walk to Gate 36. On arrival, we found a single boarding line - what happened to the ability to use the priority lane at any time? - with the process already well underway at T-40mins. Things improved when we stepped aboard the Boeing 747-400 at Door 1L and were shown to seats 1A and 1K - ah, that's better! 1A/K are located right at the front of the 747's 'nose cone'.

Settling into Seat 1A

I had travelled in 1K before, albeit in the previous incarnation of BA's first-class cabin, and knew that these seats gave a partial forward view - or at least, the closest you'll ever get to it. Another upside is that they are close enough to allow two people travelling together to speak without shouting, while they also carry the potential downside that the cabin crew might forget about you when they do a walk-through, as it is all too easy for them to come down one side of the cabin, make a sharp turn at Row 2 and head back out along the other side. Most mind-blowing of all, however, is the knowledge that you are seated well forward of the pilots on the upper deck: wherever that plane goes - okay, apart from during pushback - you get there first! As we waited for departure time, I was offered a glass of champagne, a washbag and a menu booklet, all of which I accepted, as well as a sleeper suit and a newspaper, both of which I declined.

Denver-bound and time for (more) drinkies!

Despite the early start of boarding, we were seven minutes down when we pushed back from the stand - hardly drastic. We managed to get airborne from Runway 27L within 19 minutes, which is not at all bad for Heathrow. Once the cabin crew had been released from their seats to begin the service, I asked for a glass of the Laurent-Perrier champagne and some ice water. Meanwhile, Cabin Service Director Ian came to say hello and hand out US Customs forms, although Bruce and I both remarked that it had been some time since we actually handed one of these in at the other end.

The menu for the main meal was as follows:

LUNCH
Pre-Appetiser		Cheese plate
Antipasti plate featuring Cumbrian air-dried		Lincolnshire Poacher
ham, Cumberland salami, Berkswell cheese, olives and		Wensleydale Blue
sun-dried tomatoes		Somerset Camembert
		Vintage Gouda
Starters
Loch Fyne Kinglas smoked salmon with beetroot pearls,		Fresh fruit
elderflower jelly and Oscietra caviar		A selection of biscuits
		Hotel Chocolat
Warm truffle linguine with chervil crème fraîche and
Parmesan		Champagne
		Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle, Champagne, France
Spring pea and mint velouté		Camel Valley Brut 2013, Cornwall, England
		Jacquart Rosé Mosaïque NV, Champagne, France
Fresh seasonal salad served with your choice of blue
cheese dressing or Dijon mustard dressing		White Wines
		Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2014, Jean-Marc Brocard,
Main courses		Burgundy, France
Seared fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef and braised beef
cheek  with Parmentier potatoes, watercress salad,		Babich Black Label Sauvignon Blanc 2016, Marlborough,
chanterelle mushroom and shallot, and tomato jus		New Zealand
Roasted North Atlantic fillet of cod and king prawns with		Delheim Wild Ferment Chenin Blanc 2016, Stellenbosch,
caper, tomato vinaigrette, hispi cabbage, saffron potato and		South Arica
cauliflower purée
		Red Wines
Barbecue pulled pork on Manoucher bread with crisp		Château Lynch-Moussas 2009, Sème Grand Cru Classé
bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, spiced potato wedges and		Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Moroccan slaw
		Esk Valley Pinot Noir 2016, Marlborough, New Zealand
Smoked hummus, goat's cheese and onion parcel, falafel
and roasted Padrón peppers		Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Shiraz 2015,
		Stellenbosch, South Africa
Warm lemon and thyme corn-fed chicken with a tomato
and asparagus salad, mozzarella in a basil and balsamic		Dessert Wines
dressing		Rustenberg Straw Wine 2016, Coastal Region, South
		Africa
Dessert
Chocolate and caramel cheesecake with pistachio and		Warre's  2000 Colheita Tawny Port
cocoa nib tuile
Warm sticky cherry bread and butter pudding
Vanilla bean ice cream

Orders were taken, tables were set, and soon the main meal service was underway. I recalled reading on frequent-flyer blogs some time ago how the amuse-bouche had been removed from BA's first-class offering during the height of its recent cost-cutting obsession. I believe the first-class bathroom flower disappeared at the same time.   It was good to see that the initial tasty bite had now reappeared, albeit with a new and rather clumsy name. Beginning with that and moving on to the Scottish smoked salmon gave me a good excuse to sample the South African Chenin Blanc. I also had the soup, and paired this with a glass of Albariño, which apparently was being carried as a substitute for the listed Sauvignon Blanc.

Having pre-ordered the cod online, I was happy to stick with this choice. Continuing my tour of the world's white wine regions, I enjoyed it with some of the white Burgundy. I then had the cheese plate with the Bordeaux, some ice cream with a taste of the dessert wine, and finally tried to offset the growing list of alcohol consumption with coffee and a couple of chocolates.

After all that, I noticed that we were already passing the tip of Greenland. Having been forced to listen to a very loud group of passengers further back in the cabin before and during the meal, I sought relief at this point by putting on my headphones and firing up a movie. My choice was right up-to-date: Call Me By Your Name from 2017. I may have dozed for a short time just after the start, but definitely saw most of the film and liked it a lot. By the time it finished, we were passing Hudson Bay with just under three hours left to run. Thankfully, the loud crowd had settled down and fallen asleep by now. I put on another 2017 movie, Darkest Hour. This time I know for a fact that I also fell asleep, because I was woken for Afternoon Tea!

AFTERNOON TEA

Sandwiches

New York deli-style pastrami with whole-grain mustard mayonnaise, Emmental cheese and gherkin

Soft cheese with fresh dill, cucumber and chives

Prawn and avocado with traditional cocktail sauce and mixed salad leaves

Pâtisserie

Chocolate praline fondant

Lemon drizzle

Chocolate and cherry macaron

Scones

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

Beverages

A selection of teas, infusions and coffee

I had all three parts of the offering, together with a pot of my favourite Earl Grey tea, while watching the concluding parts of the movie after a gap of unknown duration. A round of hot towels with about 30 minutes to run effectively signalled the end of cabin service. We flew west right past the airport (which was visible from my windows), then made a U-turn to the left over the city to line up for an east-facing approach. Touchdown came at 1720 local time, and I spotted the Westin hotel (where we were due to spend the night) during the taxi.

This was a well executed flight and overall a good first-class experience. Both Bruce and I enjoyed the food and found the service to be polite, attentive and nicely paced. The only negative had nothing to do with the airline: that loud group of passengers further back in the cabin. While I'm not yet a fully paid-up member of the world-has-gone-to-the-dogs brigade, I thought it was a shame that even in the normally rarefied atmosphere of international first class, some people simply showed no respect at all for anyone outside their own little group.

Date: Sat 31 Mar 2018

Aircraft: Boeing 747-400

Scheduled dep: 1445

Actual departure: 1453

Scheduled arrival: 1735

Actual arrival: 1729

Cabin: First Class

Seat: 1A

Lounge-hopping at Terminal 3

Leaving from T3 gave us the opportunity to bypass the BA lounge on this occasion. We began our pre-flight indulgences in the new Qantas business lounge and moved on to the proven excellence of the Cathay Pacific first class lounge, which had received a makeover since my previous visit. A table-service dim-sum lunch was the highlight.

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