Thanks to my extra long flight(s) between Chicago and Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific First Class, I have split out this separate post featuring the meal service I experienced onboard.
About to enjoy the first course.
The dining experience onboard was the best I have experienced in the air. It certainly helped that my wife and I were the only 2 passengers in the first class cabin. The flight attendants encouraged us to dine together. This was accomplished by adding a table extension, and I sat on the ottoman so we faced each other for the first meal. The seats themselves are wide enough so 2 people could sit together, but that would be a little tight for dining.
First the menus:
Wine list (I did not type up the description of each item, let me know if interested)
Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée Champagne
White Wines Estancia Reserve Monterrey Chardonnay 2007
Vincent Giradin Puligny-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes 2008
Red Wines Kalleske Greenock Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008
Finca El Origen Gran Reserva Malbec 2009
Château Lynch Bages 2004, Grand Cru Classé Pauillac 5th Growth
Port Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port
Apertifs and Cocktails
Campari * Martini Rosso * Martini Extra Dry * Tio Pepe Sherry * Harveys Bristol Creme Sweet Sherry * Tanqueray Ten Gin * Bacardi Rum * Belvedere Vodka * Bloody Mary * Screwdriver
Whiskies Chivas Regal 12 Years Old * Johnnie Walker Blue Label * Canadian Club * Gentleman Jack Bourbon * MaCallan 17 Fine Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Cognac Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition
Liqueurs Cointreau * Drambuie * Kahlua * Bailey’s Irish Cream
Beer International Selection
Signature Drinks Cathay Delight * Pacific Sunrise
It is our pleasure to welcome you on board Cathay Pacific
Your First Class menu today offers a carefully selected variety of fresh, seasonal dishes, together with an award-winning selection of fine wines and beverages. We are pleased to offer you a choice of authentic Chinese favourites or contemporary international cuisine – please feel free to discuss your preferences with the cabin crew. They are more than happy to serve your meal at any time.
We hope you enjoy your flight, and should you need anything at all to make your flight more comfortable, our cabin crew will be delighted to assist.
Dinner
Caviar and Fine Smoked Salmon
International Favourites
- Fennel and apple soup
- Mesclun salad with kind crab, tear drop tomatoes, cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette
- Grilled U.S. Wagyu beef tenderloin with red wine sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes, asparagus and baby carrots
or
- Linguine Pasta with garlic basil oil, sun-dried tomato, asparagus, shiitake mushroom and Parmesan cheese
Chinese Favourites
- Doubled boiled conch and mushroom soup
- Cold plate – marinated gluten with cucumber
- Kung po chicken
or
- Pan-fried sea bass with sweet wine sauce served with steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried mixed vegetables
Cheese and Dessert
- Camembert, Yellow Cheddar, Danish Blue, Herb Goat Cheese
- Seasonal fresh berries with cream
- Bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce
- Black sesame sweet soup
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Snacks
- Wontons in noodle soup
- Chicago spinach and feta cheese pizza
- Grilled chicken breast with Brie, chipotle mayonnaise and pesto on sour dough bread with mesclun salad
- Hot pot rice with minced pork patty, water chestnut and mushroom, served with chicken broth
- Häagen-Dazs Ice cream
Refreshment
Starter
- Fresh seasonal fruit
Main Courses
- Herb crusted guinea hen paillard with Madiera sauce, creamy Parmesan polenta, asparagus and patty pan squash
- Stir-fried beef with mixed peppers, steamed jasmine rice, pak choy, mushrooms and carrots
- Cheese tortellini with creamy tomato sauce and grilled peppers
Dessert
- Raspberry mousse cake with chocolate whipped cream
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Drink list
Juices
- orange, apple, tomato
Soft Drinks
- Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
Coffees
- freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, and caffè latte regular or decaffeinated
Teas
- Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqi supreme Ti Guan Yin, Japanese, Hong Kong style milk tea, organic selection: English breakfast, camomile, earl grey and peppermint
Hot Chocolate
As I mentioned in my review of flight CX807, We waited a while to eat. Once we were ready, we eventually moved to seat 2A the opposite side of the cabin to dine since the table extension was not working properly in my wife’s seat 2K.
Personalized note from the in flight manager and the flight attendants in First Class.
Let’s eat
First up for me was the caviar and smoked salmon
My wife had the Fennel and apple soup. Starters were served with bread basket.
The Mesclun salad
Conch and mushroom soup from the Chinese menu, nothing special
The linguine that my wife ordered, it was excellent.
The Sea bass entree. Good, not great.
Waygu beef entree. This was very good and I actually ate it all unlike most other options.
For dessert: berries and cream…
…and bread pudding with ice cream
Drinks
As for the drinks, it was nice to have the high quality booze on board, so the Belvedere was great for cocktails. I’m not a scotch drinker, but was almost tempted by Johnny Walker Blue. I’m normally not much of a champagne drinker, but Krug was very good. I also enjoyed the Kalleske Shiraz with my steak. Just so no one thinks I drank the entire time, I want to remind you that as with the meals, I tried various things, but I didn’t have very much of any one item.
Finally, I had some Japanese tea to top off a great meal.
I eventually went back to my seat and was served pralines while I finished my tea
This flight was diverted, as I mentioned in my review of the flight. After all the food from the main meal, I was not hungry for a while. I did eventually take advantage of the snack service, and had a deep dish pizza which was decent, and certainly better than the deep dish pies that sit on the hot plates for hours at O’Hare.
“Chicago spinach and feta cheese pizza”
Just prior to our landing in Tokyo, the flight attendants offered to begin heating something in case we wanted to eat after departure. I declined at this time, but soon after we were on our way to Hong Kong, I decided to eat a little bit, I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I had the new crew make me something. Due to the long delay, there were a few new items catered at Haneda, so I actually had a few things that weren’t on the menu.
Shrimp salad with salmon roe
Herb crusted guinea hen paillard with Madiera sauce
Final thoughts
All in all, food was quite good. I have heard mixed reviews about the food on Cathay Pacific. On this flight, I thought the western options were very good, and the Chinese options were fine. The in flight service was excellent. The crew was not obtrusive at all, but were quick to reply if a request was made, or if the call button was pressed.
More information on the flight itself is in my full review of my flight in Cathay Pacific First Class between Chicago and Hong Kong. Up next is a review of my stay at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
