Thursday, July 23, 2009

Dom Perignon and Caviar in the Sky

Singapore Air First ClassLuxury at 36000 feet over the Pacific Ocean! It is easy to forget you are in a cramped aluminium tube, full of people packed like sardines just behind the curtains. Easy to forget that is, when you are comfortably tucked into the spacious cocoon of Singapore Air's first class cabin. What made my trip particularly enjoyable was the fact that I hadn't even requested an upgrade.

Singapore Airlines First ClassI was flying my usual route from Mumbai to San Francisco via Singapore on business class. I slept through the flight to Singapore and in the morning I realized the flight was going to be late. By the time the flight landed, my connecting flight was already boarding - at the farthest end of the terminal. However, the efficient Singapore Airlines staff had a buggy waiting to transfer me (and another passenger) quickly to the gate. It was in Seoul, where the flight makes a brief halt, that I was upgraded to first - a very pleasant surprise.

Singapore Airlines First Class
Givenchy designed cutlery on Singapore AirlinesSingapore Air's first class cabin is configured like the business class, only four seats in a row. However these seats are are a full 35 inches wide and upholstered in fine-grain leather and mahagony wood. A high-resolution 23 inch LCD TV made movie viewing experience a delight.

Canapes of Chicken and Lamb SatayThey have a choice of Dom Perignon and Krug Grande Cuvee on their menu and I chose the former. As I sipped on the chilled champagne and nibbled on canapes of chicken and lamb satay, they handed out Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kits, Givenchy sleeper suits and suede slippers.

Dom Perignon in the airI watched three episodes of Mad Men back to back over drinks and dinner. I chose from the menu created by Alfred Portale of New York's Gotham Grill. Cauliflower panna cotta with smoked salmon, lemon oil and salmon caviar. This was followed by a pretty good corn chowder with spiced prawns and basil oil. Then came the main course, grilled sirloin in red wine sauce, braised red cabbage, baby carrots, Kenyan beans, and Yukon Gold-blue cheese potatoes.

Salmon and caviar starter
Corn Chowder
Sirloin
TartDessert consisted of a warm frangipani tart with fresh raspberry. This was surprisingly good and after a cup of Royal Darjeeling I dozed off.

With all that royal treatment in the skies, it was no surprise I was particularly well-rested the flight arrived in San Francisco on a lovely, warm day. There was a long line at the immigration but it took only 30 mintues to get through immigration, baggage claim and customs.

Sirloin Soup at Stax Hyatt Regency Mumbai
Dinner buffet at Stax Hyatt Regency Mumbai
Desserts at Stax Hyatt Regency Mumbai
Stax at the Hyatt Regency MumbaiEarlier in Mumbai, I had dined at Stax, the restaurant within Hyatt Regency. While there were just enough items on display, everything I tasted was excellent. The tenderloin-fried onion soup was hot and tasty; I had been feeling a little under the weather and the soup instantly revived me. The tava arbi starter was very interesting too. The Macchi Masala was superb as was the Murgh Lazeez and the Bhuna Pyaz ka Gosht.

14 comments:

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

That's great

China Car Service said...
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GMG said...

Hi Shantanu!
Sorry for the long absence! But don’t you think it was a great vacation; some very busy weeks and just a few days off... ;)
Lucky you!! BA is no longer serving caviar on First; they used to have it on Concorde, no longer flying... I think I'll be moving from Oneworld to Star Alliance... ;))
Meanwhile Blogtrotter is still turning around Iceland waiting for your comments ;) Enjoy and have a fabulous weekend!

beaverboosh said...

Total air luxury!

Anonymous said...
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sameermandve said...

Hi Shantanu,
I have received your Bank of India's dividend warrant. It was posted on your very old address i.e. Veritas Ind Pvt Ltd. Shivajinagar Pune.
Please write me at sameermandve@gmail.com or call 9823365647.

Thanks
Sameer.

Shantanu said...

@Harekrishnaji, GMG, braverboosh: Thank you.

@Spammers: Get outa here!

@Sameer: Thank you for the note. But that letter can't be mine. It probably belongs to another namesake who doesn't work here any more.

Mahesh Narkar said...

Wow, this looks too amazing.. and the choices - Dom Perignon and Grand Cluvee... and the food... you were definitely pampered :-)

Almost makes me want to ask for first dibs on the Ferragamo kit

Good to have you back... now I know I can live/eat vicariously with you in California

Final_transit said...

ooowiee!!

Yuri said...

Why don't you put a like and envy feature for every blog post... like FB

Shantanu said...

@Mahesh: They have regular-sized after shaves, etc., in the kit. Busy with my house moving; moved now but lots of work to do before we can get on with our lives... :)

@Final Transit: Hey, good to see you here again.

@Yuri: :)

Anonymous said...

well, well, and you say you are stressed from attending one meeting after another!!! ;)

Wanna trade places? ;)

I wudnt mind flying first class and dining at Michelin restaurants ! :)

Shantanu said...

@Nikita: Heh!

Chrıs Anton said...

Total air luxury... :D