Short review
Lounge (British Airways Lounge in Singapore): 4.5/5
Cabin: 2.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Food and beverages: 3.5/5
Pros:
- Enjoyable British Airways Lounge in Singapore
Cons:
- Dense business class configuration (8 in one row)
- Poor presentation of dishes
Long review
Previously I arrived in Singapore with Finnair AY81 at about 16:15 (review is here). My next flight was British Airways BA15 B777-300ER, scheduled to leave Singapore at 19:20 and to arrive in Sydney, Australia at 05:05, with a total flight duration of about 7.5 hours. As such, I had about 2.5 hours to spend in the Changi International Airport. I went directly to the British Airways Lounge located in Terminal 1. I liked the design of the entrance, which featured purple lighting and elegant artworks. A lounge staff warmly welcomed me to the lounge. I also requested her to change my seat to a window seat, which she did very efficiently. In fact, she gave me a seat where the seat next to it was empty.
The lounge was actually quite large. It was an open plan lounge as usual, but it was clearly sectioned to accommodate dining, relaxing, and working. I liked its interior architecture. Rather posh, while contemporary and definitely British with a touch of Asia here and there. Power points were widely available, handy for charging your devices.
The food and drink options were very good. I enjoyed my yellow rice with butter chicken, satay and vegetables. The dessert options included mini desserts in small glasses, fresh fruit, and cheeses.
After a long 11-hour flight from Finland, I decided to take a shower to refresh myself. The shower room and amenities were good. I loved the shower itself because it has three options: waterfall, rainfall, and conventional showerhead.
Now let’s continue with the in-flight experience. The business class or Club World cabin in British Airways adopted a dense configuration of 2-4-2, where 4 seats face forwards and the remaining face backwards. I didn’t like it because the seat is quite narrow. The older version of the seats was worse because some seats did not have direct access to the isle.
An instruction to operate the seat was provided, which was useful for me since I think it was not really intuitive. The seat could be converted into a fully flat bed.
The photo below was taken when I sat down on my window seat. Luckily the seat next to me was empty, otherwise I could clearly see the passenger sat opposite me. You also can see my welcome drink, champagne as usual, on the table.
There was a big storage near my feet. You also can see a power point and a USB outlet above the storage.
The photo below shows the monitor when it was extended. It was rather small. The monitor had to be stowed away during take-off and landing, thus it is impossible to watch movies continuously.
The amenity bag was unique and shaped like a pouch. I like the plane patterns on it though.
The menu in this flight is shown below. As usual, my selections are asterisked.
Dinner
Starters
- Crab and mango salad with cashews and Thai chilli dressing
- Carpaccio of portobello mushroom with grilled artichokes, Pecorino cheese and balsamic vinaigrette*
Salad
- Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette*
Main
- Grilled grass-fed Australian beef tenderloin with Choron sauce, roasted new potatoes, asparagus and parsnips*
- Oven-baked cod fillet with Thai red curry sauce and steamed rice
- Spinach and ricotta ravioli with tomato relish and cherry tomatoes
- Chilled main course salad of king prawns with green soba noodles and lemongrass dressing
Dessert
- Eton mess cake with fresh strawberry*
- Roquefort and Brie cheese served with crackers
- A selection of whole fresh fruit
- Tea, coffee and chocolates
Breakfast
Starters
- Chilled fruit juice
- An energising fruit smoothie
- Fresh fruit*
- Bircher muesli with strawberry
Bakery
- Scrambled egg, bacon, tomato chutney, and Emmental on homemade ciabatta*
- A selection of warm breads and breakfast pastries
A small bag of mixed nuts was distributed immediately after take-off. It’s rather sad that they did not serve them in a small bowl. Dinner service also began very soon afterwards, which was very important due to the relative short flight time. The light was dimmed during the dinner service, probably to accommodate passengers who chose to skip dinner and sleep.
The starter, carpaccio of portobello mushroom with grilled artichokes, Pecorino cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette, was served together with the salad. Were they in a rush or something? Presentation was rather messy, but the taste was nice.
The presentation of the main, the grilled grass-fed Australian beef tenderloin, was not any better either. However, once again, it was actually delicious. The beef was tender and juicy.
Lastly, the Eton mess cake was served. Ironically it was the best presented dish even though it’s called a ‘mess’. A good dessert to end the dinner.
I went to sleep right after dinner. After a short sleep, I was woken up for breakfast. It started with a cup of hot tea (I definitely needed this one), a bowl of fresh fruit, and a piece of croissant (I could have taken more breads just to be clear).
The next dish was the scrambled egg, bacon, tomato chutney, and Emmental on homemade ciabatta. It was nice, but the presentation was a bit dreadful, which was perhaps a common theme in this flight. Having said so, probably they couldn’t do much for this kind of food in terms of its presentation. It was surprisingly tasty, even though I was skeptical at first.
Soon we landed safely in Sydney, which marked the end of my long trip to Finland. The British Airways lounge in Singapore was very good. The in-flight experience, however, was rather disappointing. The seat was arguably the worst among business class seats in wide-body planes due to its dense and awkward configuration. The screen was small and had to be stowed during take-off and landing, thus passengers were not able to enjoy the entertainment system continuously. When it comes to the dining experience, the dishes themselves were delicious, but their presentation was pedestrian.
