Short review
Lounge (No1 Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3): 3/5
Cabin: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Food and beverages: 5/5
Pros:
- Excellent service, including personal assistants in both airports
- Enjoyable fine dining experience in the sky
- Free internet throughout the flight
Cons:
- Poor movie selection
- Mediocre first-class lounge in London
Long review
Now it was time to fly back to Jakarta. I have reviewed Garuda Indonesia First Class extensively here when I flew with them from Jakarta to London. This review, therefore, is briefer and focuses on the lounge in London and the services on board.
The flight was GA87 which left London at 21:10 and arrived in Jakarta at 17:30 with a total flight time of 14 hours and 20 minutes. After check-in, a Garuda staff accompanied me to the No1 lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3. The lounge was not that big and it was very full when I came in. This is understandable because passengers can book online and pay to access this lounge. Luckily a room was kept empty for me. The room was rather basic though. It was equipped with a sofa, a couple of chairs, a table and a TV. The TV shockingly did not work because of maintenance. At least it was quiet and the sofa was comfortable.
A lounge staff came to my room and asked what I wanted to eat and drink. I ordered sea bream and risotto verde and red wine. The risotto was incredibly tasty. I was tempted to order another plate, but I did not want to be to full since I wanted to enjoy dinner on the plane.
I also took a shower before my flight to help me relax and sleep on the plane. Luckily I flew in first class, so I didn’t have to queue for a shower room. The shower room was pretty standard, but it was adequate for its purpose.
Boarding was late for about 30 minutes. The lounge also became very quiet when boarding time came. Did all the passengers fly with Garuda Indonesia? I didn’t know. The same staff picked me up and accompanied me to the gate. I noticed that there were six first-class passengers and each had a Garuda staff accompanying him or her. Quite impressive I must say. We were escorted through all the passengers waiting in the crowded waiting room and waited for about 10 minutes right after the boarding gate before being allowed to board the plane.
I settled into my mini suite at 2K, where the menu, pyjamas and amenity kit bag were already in place. The usual pre-flight routine began, including a warm towel, a welcome drink (Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé), macadamia nuts and the slipper service.
Dinner service began soon after take-off and after the plane passed through a bit of turbulence weather. It was quite late for dinner since it was close to 23:00 London time. Now let’s see the wonderful menu in this flight. The ones with asterisk were my choices.
Pre-dining
- Caviar with krupuk, blinis and crème fraiche*
Appetiser
- Beansprouts, fried tofu, and rice cake with peanut sauce (Indonesian ketoprak)*
- Bresaola with leaf lettuce, grilled pineapple and papaya salsa
- Smoked chicken terrine with herbs leaf lettuce, fresh fig and cherry tomato
- Crab cake with vegetable pickle and pineapple sambal
Soup
- Clear chicken soup with meat balls, spiced diced chicken, egg noodles, pak choi and chilli sambal*
- Tomato soup with asparagus and ricotta cheese
Main course
- Beef rendang with steamed jasmine rice, kale curry and green chilli sauce
- Lamb loin with lamb jus, garlic and parmesan risotto
- Chicken breast with roasted nuts, chicken just, tarragon roasted potato and ratatouille
- Salmon herb crusted, cod fish and grilled king prawn with mash potato, fennel and celery cream sauce*
- Ravioli with lemon, peas, spinach, dill cream sauce and cheese
Chef’s cheese board: goat cheese, Shropshire Blue and Cheddar
Dessert
- Strawberry cheese cake with white chocolate and strawberry sauce*
- Chocolate and walnut tart with vanilla ice cream
Dinner was essentially an enjoyable fine dining experience. The dishes were delicious. Probably the presentation of the main dish could be made better. They were also stingy with the portion of the caviar.
The dinner service finished after midnight, so it was time for bed. I asked a flight attendant to convert my seat into a bed while I changed to the pyjamas provided. The bed was comfortable, so I had no problem falling asleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night and felt hungry. I checked the menu and the following light dishes were available:
- Beef satay, chicken satay and fish satay
- Lamb shawarma
- Braised chicken pie with tomato chutney
- Chocolate torte
- Fresh fruit
- Tortilla chips with cheese sauce and tomato salsa
I ordered the chicken pie and also a glass of green bean juice. The chicken pie looked simple, but it was actually delicious. The green bean juice was wonderful as usual. After watching TV a bit and I went back to sleep.
About two hours before landing in Jakarta, breakfast was served. Below was the menu and my choices are asterisked. The portion of the fruit was rather small. The cereal … well tasted like cereal. The fried rice was tasty.
Appetiser
- Fresh fruit*
- Yoghurt
- Cereal*
Main course
- Fried rice with beef satay and fried chicken, peanut sauce, pickle and chilli sambal*
- Bircher muesli with chopped dried apricot and pumpkin seed
- Pancake with blueberry compote, maple syrup and crème fraiche
- Eggs freshly cooked on board anyway you wish
Before landing at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, I, of course, kept the pyjamas, amenity kit bag and the comfortable slippers in my backpack. I must say the slippers are still the best ones out there. They are even better than hotel slippers.
Once the plane was on the gate, six Garuda staff were already waiting in the aerobridge to escort the six first-class passengers. Happily, Dea, the staff who assisted me in my previous first-class flight, was there again. She brought me to the Garuda Indonesia business class lounge since I had another flight to Sydney. Not much to say about the lounge; it was pretty standard. Dea picked me up in the lounge when it was time for boarding and accompanied me to the plane. This plane was an A330-300 and the business class was arranged in 2-2-2 configuration. I was happy to find out that Garuda kept the seat next to me empty. I appreciated their consideration here.
Overall, I was again very satisfied with the service that I experienced in this flight. It was pretty much on par with my previous first-class experience from Jakarta to London that I reviewed here.
