- Tunis TUN - Istanbul IST (Turkish Airlines Business, 737-800) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5504.html
- Istanbul IST - Seoul ICN (Turkish Airlines Business, A340-300) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5519.html
- Seoul ICN - Singapore SIN (Singapore Airlines Business, B777-300ER) [YOU ARE HERE]
- Singapore SIN - Newark EWR (Singapore Airlines Business, A340-500) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5582.html
- New York JFK - Frankfurt FRA (Singapore Airlines Business, A380) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5610.html
- Frankfurt FRA - Vienna VIE (Lufthansa Business, A321) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5613.html
- Vienna VIE - Istanbul SAW (Turkish Airlines Business, 737-800) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5645.html
- Istanbul IST - Tunis TUN (Tunis Air Economy, A320) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5663.html
The Terminal was very airy and light-filled
The SQ check-in counters were still closed
Almost one hour later they opened with two dedicated to Early Check-in
I've was asked for my continuation ticket leaving Singapore because my itinerary had 5 differents tickets.
No fast track in ICN, but at this time there were not too many people and immigration/security check didn't last more than 15 minutes.
I headed to the OZ Business lounge
I'm told that there is a SQ lounge and that my gate is in that satellite; therefore, I should take the Shuttle train to reach it.
They ended up letting me in anyway.
The OZ whale
The lounge was very large, airy, and pleasant with different areas
There was even a piano
Showers
And an area with tables
I found a quiet place with a sofa to crash because I was quite jetlagged
Then I intended to eat a bit
A small salad bar
Hot drinks
Breads and baked goods (a bit weird as it was 1:30pm)
Juices
Soft drinks and beer
Alcohol
Noodles cups
Some sushi
Pretzels, nuts and tacos
And one hot dish : brussels sprouts with tomato sauce
From the time I got to the lounge I saw a lot of cooks coming in and out, crossing in front of the quiet area with trolleys, so I just tried to find a menu and when it was obvious that there wasn't a menu, I decided to wait for the other hot dishes to come out.
But, in fact, nothing came and the brussels sprouts stayed as the only hot dish !
Most people were eating noodle cups
BTW there was not really another choice for a hot dish
I was still believing that something else could be offered later and that was my selection to wait
then
the croissant was dry
The Wifi password
Corporate picture
The cooks were crossing from left to right and right to left in front of my seat without filling my stomach !
I sent a tweet asking why all these cooks are around if it wasn't to prepare food… but never received an answer
I decided to leave and headed to the satellite using the Shuttle train
In the satellite I saw another OZ lounge but didn't stop there! Not again with the cooks' waltz
I stopped only when I was at the entrance of the SQ lounge, where a SQ girl was waiting to greet me
An overview of the lounge beginning with alcohol
Sparkling Cava
Sandwiches
Salads
Cheese and nuts
Cakes
Nachos
Cakes
Samosas and wedges
A soup
Hot dishes
And of course the trendy noodle cups!
Hot drinks
A few tables close to the buffet
The lounge is a long room with spotter unfriendly windows
As I was taking pictures, I was asked by a lounge attendant why I was taking so much pictures
I didn't think she really understood my answer (english ?) but she went away
My selection : really not good
I'm fond of soup but this pumpkin soup was too sweet :(
At the end of the lounge is a charmzone with a free 15 minutes facial massage
Wifi password
A few newspapers
About one hour and half before the ETD I decided to take a shower
and to have a facial massage with these creams : I was told they were sold at 280usd each!!
Not an unforgettable experience even if the masseuse was a very charming young girl
I was feeling a bit hungry so I decided to eat one of these famous noodle cups
Quite disappointing :(
Not even good as the noodle cup I bought in Singapore the following day
I went to the restrooms and it was dirty
The flight was delayed because of the late arrival of the aircraft from San Francisco but I wanted to walk so I headed slowly to the gate
It was almost time to board
9V-SWM, first flight on the 19/02/2008, was the 77W flying to SIN
First class seats
The Business mini cabin
My seat 11K : On each seat was a pillow and a blanket
The Menu
The footrest is much bigger at this row and exit rows: other rows have a kind of shoebox
A Korean Airlines whalejet was following
Take off
A nice SQ girl was taking orders
An oshibori was handed out
Seat control
Eyeshades and some kind of slippers
More champagne
The IFE was switched on
An average choice of music but a large choice of movies
Service began with the satays : good as usual
Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy sauce
and more champagne
I finally found something great to listen
The table was set
The bread selection was not as rich as usual except the garlic bread but it was very dry
Sauternes was my second choice and I was eager to pair it with the foie gras
Duck foie gras with shaved fennel-orange salad, beetroot and mizuna
What a shame…this foie gras doesn't even come close to real foie gras, any paté bought in a supermarket could be better!
It was a totally tasteless mousse :(
My main meal choice
Roasted halibut with potato gnocchi, broccoli, green peas and wild mushroom a la Grecque
The show must go on, even after a bad start, but in fact it was still a disappointment : the green peas and the broccoli tasted like frozen vegetables that had just been boiled.
The rubber mushrooms and the tasteless knorr-like sauce couldn't save the flavourless fish!
I prefered to forget the potato gnocchi that stuck to the teeth.
So I asked for another main…
Korean style grilled short rib of beef, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
Not great but good, especially the beef.
Listening to David Bowie while waiting for the dessert
The service was not as great as usual: two SQ girls were taking care of me but one of them seemed a bit lost
She never addressed me by my name, she brought me white wine instead of Sauternes when I asked for a refill
She brought me the dessert when I was waiting for my second main (she has been rebuffed by her colleague)
Speaking about my second meal : the flight attendant was taken aback by my request, she mumbled that she had to ask her colleague.
By the way, it was the same reaction when I asked the purser for a second dessert because I hadn't been given the choice for the first
He mumbled me that they didn't have any more just as her colleague was just bringing it to me!
I was just given an ice cream as dessert without anyone asking me for my choice.
Haagen Dasz strawberry ice cream with mixed berries coulis
The ice cream was insipid and too hard : I had to look at the menu to guess the flavour :(
At least it was not served in the original plastic cup like a lot of companies are doing
So I asked for the cake I intended to have when the cheese and fruits trolley came
Chocolate and orange cake
It turned out to be great! not too sweet with a nice balance between chocolate and orange
I had to refrain myself from asking for a second one ;)
Gourmet coffees & selection of fine teas, with pralines
Only the latter for me
Then I turned my seat into a bed to have some rest
Undoubtedly the best business bed in the air
I'm quite bulky but I felt perfectly at ease in any position
After a nap the descent was starting
Soft landing with the delay partly recovered
Train to go to the main terminal
Immigration was a breeze except that the agent was a little grumpy not finding a space on my passport to stamp it
And let's go to the ground tranport desk because there wasn't public transportation at this time
Incheon is a very pretty airport. OMG, I want that model of the OZ A380...it's huuuge! The OZ is gorgeous; I'm surprised about the lack of choice of hot dishes. Brussels sprouts before a flight isn't a very good idea...makes people farty, LOL. The Charmzone sounds more like a massage place in Thailand than in a lounge ^^ Yay Ellie Goulding! Always a good choice. Shame about the foie gras. How funny that the FAs were taken aback by your requests for another dish...I'm sure it's not that rare. You would think that they are used to it. Maybe they wanted to eat the leftover J class dishes and you took it from them, LOL. I mean, you must've been really hungry since you didn't get to eat up the lounges like you normally do, LOL. They knew you were coming so they hid the hot dishes from you :-)
Thanks for taking us along on another enjoyable ride. ICN is considered one of the best airports in the world from what I've read and I can't wait to experience it soon.
The OZ lounge looks very nice, but the catering does not seem up to par with other Asian lounges, especially when you consider that this is a hub for OZ. As for the tacos, I think you mean nachos. Nachos with cheese or salsa are very common in the U.S. but I did not expect them to be that popular in Asia. I wonder if the large U.S. military presence there has had any influence and introduced some Americanization into the culture.
Brussels sprouts as the only hot dish is revolting, and the waltz of the cooks with their food trolleys feels like a foreplay gone wrong. How disappointing!
I'm surprised to read about the service on SQ. There was more than one faux pas here with their failure to address you by name and the second main dish and dessert confusion. It must have been embarrassing for the purser after telling you that there was no more dessert and then having the colleague bring you one right afterwards.
I would imagine that you are not the first passenger in J to ask for a second meal nor the last one. Were you able to reserve a meal through Book the Cook? I ordered a Hainanese chicken rice and plan to request a second meal on my flight just to sample another dish. I am not planning to eat both dishes entirely, just take a few nibbles. I'm not a glutton ;)
Sorry to hear about the lackluster meal. How can you go wrong with foie gras? Not to mention a simple Mediterranean dish with sauteed vegetables. That does not bode well with the catering out of ICN. I thought that Haagen Dasz ice creams were pretty infallible. So much for consistency I guess.
Hope the rest of your SQ flights are better and that this one was just the exception.
I forgot to mention that I had my disappointment with SQ as well. I visited a few airline's sales offices to get some promotional stuff and confirm some reservations. Yes, I could have done that over the phone and through the computer, but I still think face to face contact is compelling and that gives me the excuse to acquire some souvenirs.
Anyways, OZ gave me a nice ceramic mug in a box, CX offered me chocolates while I waited in the lobby handed me a luggage tag and pen, but SQ nothing, nada, rien. I also emailed SQ and no answer so far. Is this the airline that everyone raves about and supposedly is the best in the world?
I think SQ has been under financial pressure over the past few years with the stiff competition from the ME3, especially on the Kangaroo Route that used to be their bread and butter. From reading reports over the years SQ, although still an excellent airline by any standards, seems to be less and less awe-inspiring than they once were. I also think that the introduction of A380s is also to blame, somewhat like the introduction of 747s hurt PanAm's reputation in the 70s.
A good report, I've never flown SQ before and maybe this is why I feel this way but I wasn't too impressed with this flight. Your previous flight seemed much much better to me :) I hope the SIN-EWR flight will be better ;)
Thanks for this FR.
The Asiana lounge would be a great one with a better food offering, as its library feeling is quite nice...
A disapointing meal on SQ in C? I wouldn't have thought it to be possible!
I hope the following looooong flight was better.
Asiana Lounge is very nice but with a very poor meal offer,
except if you are a noodle fan :)
Very confortable SQ business seat
Except few détails a very nice flight
Thanks for this report !
Thanks 007 for this new report,
ICN seems to be a pleasant airport, but as you said Asiana fails to impress with that lounge, maybe you were not at the right time (still not an escuse).
Regarding the SQ lounge, I found the alcohol selection stingy with the CAVA iso Champagne, food selection is not plentiful yet sufficient.
Shower is nice
SQ cabin is always impressive and feels so roomy
Nice picture of the KE A380 by night
Do you have any picture of the menu?
Satay looks tasty and better presented than on MH
Shame for the foie gras, it doesn't look like whole foie gras for sure.
Neatly presented fish, (I don't like broccoli though) but the beef seems better.
Clearly an unaceptable set of crew during the service, and far from what you can expect from SQ!
Nice seat in bed mode, will it make more sense to sleep upside down (with the head on the ottoman) for the first rows?
All in all an OK flight but I am let-down by the lounges and catering.
I forgot the menu but it's added now
Thanks for the report!
Looks like you lost the SQ lottery ;) Surprising for foie gras, I'll go for a mistake, it can't be mistaken for foie gras indeed. I got foie gras once on SQ and it didn't look like this. Instead of tweeter OZ about the food, why didn't you talk to the staff lol
Am surprised there is no soju at the SQ lounge, only western spirits.
At least you got 2 main course while on some French airlines you don't even get your first choice.
Bon voyage ! Look forward to reading your next FR !
A disapointing experience may be the title of your report.
Was it the wrong day to have a meal on board SQ but it looks (and tastes) very different to Durian's many experiences.
Hope the service and the catering improve during the flight to come.
The OZ lounge looks cosy but the food offer is miles away from TK's in IST.
Thank you for sharing.
Read from you soon.
Thanks for this really good FR but I can't wait for the next ^^ !
Beautiful First and J cabin in this 77W ! And awesome catering, of course, this is SQ ^^
Thanks for great FR with, according to your experience, lot of disappointments
It looks like a great flight that receives poor grades because expectations were really high. It's SQ and everything should be perfect, so when it's not...but imaging receiving this from AA ;)
The lounges are nothing to talk about...strange because both OZ and SQ are high quality airlines and ICN is really a place where they could express themselves (one of the few airports you're glad to be Skyteam Elite+ ^^)
That IS cuisine : they made foie gras from an anorexic duck !! Put butter on that and you get rillettes ^^ More seriously, SQ is doing a great job that we can't get from our French point of view. I know well Korean people and their food habits, and SQ has delivered something they really like...a touch of exotic (foie gras) but to their taste (no fat, no strong taste but chilis), a first tasteless meal, then Korean with kimchi and panch'an. Trust me, they did good ;)
As for the confort, SQ delivers : you must be sleeping great in these beds as I never saw one of your FR end so abruptly ;)
Get ready for SQ22 :)
Foie gras from an anorexic duck : I love it !!! And may I ask the permission to quote it airborne, every time I am offered poor quality foie gras? ;;))
Thanks for the cultural explanation but they should specify that it's korean foie gras
you must be sleeping great in these beds as I never saw one of your FR end so abruptly ;)
1)That's correct : these seats are IMO the best business seats in that configuration (large footrest)
2)There was nothing more to eat !
imagine *