Continued from part 1, after my connection at ICN. Connecting at ICN was a breeze; only consisting of transit security (and definitely not the mess required with US CBP), making a 1-hour connection a breeze.
OZ204
ICN-LAX
Boeing 777-200ER
Seat 4A
January 2, 2015
Unlike the pervious day-time flight, this overnight flight featured the first generation of Asiana's new business class product. This means seats that actually turn into lay-flat surfaces and there is direct aisle access for all passengers. The staggered seating configuration means each seat also had a small table next to the seat, under which the small ottoman for the next passenger was located. I settled into one of the window seats with the seat next to the window (instead of a seat next to the aisle).
The cabin (Click to Enlarge)
The seat with the table (Click to Enlarge)
Legroom + Ottoman (Click to Enlarge)
I was one of the last passengers to board, and immediate upon sitting a flight attendant approached me offering a pre-departure beverage and a selection of Korean and international newspapers. We were soon pushing back from the gate and after a quick taxi were airborne. After the seat belt signs were turned off the flight attendants passed around menus for the flight.
Again the images aren't great, so the menu is presented as text with links to images if you want to see them
Western:
Appetizer
Roasted King Prawn with Couscous and Baby Leaves, Asparagus
Soup
Lentil Soup
Main Courses
Grilled Beef Tenderloin Steak with Red Wine Sauce
-or-
Crumbled Cod Fish with Sepia Risotto
-or-
Chicken stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Vegetable & Champagne Rose Sauce
Cheese
Blue, Saint Andre, Camembert
Dessert
Walnut Carrot Cake
Coffee and Tea Korean:
Starter
Korean Traditional Pan Fried Yam 'Seoyeohyangbyeong'
Korean Rice Porridge with Black Sesame 'Heugimjajuk'
Main Course
Nutritious Korean Cuisine, 'Ssambap'
Steamed Rice Topped with Grilled 'Bulgogi' Beef and *Bean Paste, Wrapped with Various Kinds of Leafy Vegetables
*Bean Paste: Contains various nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts, etc). Those with allergies should be careful
Dessert
Fresh Fruit
Coffee and Tea
Korean Traditional Cookies
Korean Style Mixed Nut & Dried Fruit Brittle and Dried Apple Roulade
Refreshments
Sandwiches, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Ramen, Kimchi Cold Noodles
Snack
Appetizer
Assorted Salad with Caramelized Goat Cheese
Italian Dressing
Main Courses
Korean Braised Chicken 'Dakjjim'
Seasoned with Bulgogi Sauce
Served with Glass Noodle, Vegetable and Steamed Rice
-or-
Grilled Salmon Steak
Served with Hollandaise Sauce and Vegetables
-or-
Korean Rice Porridge with Edible Shoots of a Fatsia and Beef
Dessert
Sweet Potato Cake
Coffee and Tea
The wine menu was identical to the first flight
Wine Menu
Apertifs
Campari
Medium Dry Sherry Sandeman
Spirits
Chivas Regal 18 Years Old Scotch Whisky
Ballantine's 17 Years Old Scotch Whisky
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey
Absolut Vodka
Beefeater Gin
Gognac & Liqueurs
Camus XO
Baileys Irish Cream
Drambuie
Cointreau
Beers
OB, Cass, Hite, Max
Heineken, Beck's Budweiser
Korean Rice Wine 'Makgeolli'
Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Orange, Apple, Tomato Juice
Pineapple, Guava Jiuce
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale
Cocktail
Whisky Sour
Manhattan
Bloody Mary
Mimosa
Screwdriver
Champagne & White Wine
Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne
Joseph Drouhin Saint-Veran Chardonnay 2011
Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay 2011
Red Wine
Chateau du Malleret 2010
Wente Vineyards Reliz Creek Pinot Noir 2010
d'Arenberg Stump Jump Syrah 2012
Dessert Wine
Sandeman 20 Years Old Tawny Port
Sawmill Creek Vidal Icewine 2008
Coffee & Tea
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
Decaffeinated Coffee
Espresso
Cappuccino
Cafe Latte
Earl Grey
Chamomile
Oolong Tea
Ginseng Tea
Green Tea
Jasmine Tea
For dinner I selected the Korean option and requested the western dessert in addition to the Korean dessert if there were any extras available.
Hot towels are always the best (Click to Enlarge)
While waiting for the meal service to begin, I fired up the on-demand entertainment (which is a considerable improvement over the previous flight with looping entertainment), though unfortunately most of the movie options were the same as the previous flight. The table was quickly set with orange juice and champagne.
Entertainment interface and table setting (Click to Enlarge)
I probably should have watched it for the humor (Click to Enlarge)
The pan-fried yam starter was an interesting combination of flavors, as it is actually served chilled. I'm not sure if I would describe it as more than just interesting.
Pan-fried yam starter (Click to Enlarge)
The second starter, the black sesame rice porridge, was a lot different than what I had expected-I was expecting a thick porridge with rice, instead of a thin porridge. Nonetheless, it was quite delicious without the sesame flavor dominating.
Black sesame porridge starter (Click to Enlarge)
Soon after the Ssambap main was brought out on a tray with soup, kimchi, and dried fish sides. I wasn't completely sure what I was doing with this, but I just stuffed things into the leafy vegetables and went to town on it. Regardless of whether or not I was eating the dish correctly or not, it was quite delicious.
Ssambap main (Click to Enlarge)
Attempt at eating (Click to Enlarge)
Unsurprisingly at this point I was already starting to feel quite full, but the fruits appeared and I kept going. The fruit was fine, but wasn't as fresh as it was on the first flight.
Fruit course (Click to Enlarge)
I was delighted to hear from the flight attendant that there would be a western dessert to go with my Korean dessert, and I had both with some ginseng tea brewed on the dessert cart. I was a huge fan of the Korean desserts, though the brittle was a little harder than I would have liked it to be. The carrot cake lacked a little bit of flavor, though I did appreciate that it wasn't too heavy like most carrot cakes tend to be. The great meal was concluded with another hot towel.
Korean and western desert with ginseng tea (Click to Enlarge)
Throughout the service the crew were once again very proactive, offering top-ups of champagne and other drinks. However the crew wasn't quite as warm as the previous crew, with some of the service a little robotic. The refilling of champagne guaranteed that I, as a one-shot wonder sleepy drunk, would quickly pass out after the service. After visiting the lavatory and downing a bottle of water that had been placed at my seat in the meantime, I put the seat into the lie-flat bed mode and proceeded to fall asleep for four and a half hours, setting a new record of uninterrupted sleep on an airplane by three and a half hours. The seat was more than adequate as a bed, though I can see how taller people and those with wider shoulders could run into some issues.
Lavatory with amenities (Click to Enlarge)
Going to sleep somewhere near Japan (Click to Enlarge)
After waking up from my long nap I found another water bottle at my seat and drank the entire thing. Empty bottles were quickly replaced and I probably drank about three bottles of water in a half-hour span. Unfortunately the cabin was a little warm so I had difficulty falling back asleep. Perhaps I should have had some more wine to help me fall back asleep.
Two hours before landing the cabin lights turned on in preparation of the snack service. Hot towels were passed around dishes arrived soon after.
Table setup with guava and orange juice (Click to Enlarge)
The salad arrived first, and was alright. I liked the dressing on the plate much better than the packaged Italian dressing that came with the salad.
Salad (Click to Enlarge)
For the main I selected the porridge, as it is pretty hard to mess up porridge (and it's always good comfort food), and came with pickled turnip. Needless to say this was gone in an instant.
Porridge with fatsia shoots and beef (Click to Enlarge)
The sweet potato cake was served with a cup of oolong tea brewed from the cart. What's nice about Asian desserts in general is that they tend to be very light and easy on the sugar, and this was a great finish to the meal. The service concluded with one last hot towel before descending into LAX.
Sweet potato cake and oolong tea (Click to Enlarge)
After arriving at LAX, the flight attendants held back the economy class passengers and let all of the business class passengers depart through the door between business and economy. Unfortunately that meant my brief time with Asiana came to an end, but overall I was very impressed with the airline. I would have to say that this was one of my top flight experiences, as the staff and food are quite excellent and the traveller experience is superior to that of US-based carriers. Of course this might be skewed from the viewpoint of flying international long-haul business class, but I highly doubt that US-based carriers treat their business class passengers anywhere near that level.
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