Review: British Airways Club World business class, London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur (Part 2)

This is part two of our review of British Airways Club World from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur.

Part 1 of this BA business class flight review can be found here.

Food and drink

Dinner was served fairly quickly. For a starter I chose feta cheese with pomegranate, watermelon and mint yogurt dressing. It came with a seasonal salad. The other choice was smoked salmon.

As you can see from the photo, what arrived was not what I ordered. The gentleman that served me hadn’t noticed so when I asked him which dish I had been given (as it didn’t appear to be on the menu) he seemed just as surprised as I was!

In fact he couldn’t tell me what it was and apologetically explained there must have been a mix up with the caterer. It looked like a vegan option with broad beans instead of cheese. On further investigation it seemed there were no feta cheese starters onboard. Confusion over, I tucked in anyway and it was very nice with fresh ingredients used throughout.

For my main I ordered chicken in ginger and soy sauce with rice, broccoli and enoki mushrooms.

This was tasty and not overcooked. Other options were braised beef with chantenay carrots and new potato, penne pasta with mozzarella and tomato and a chilled Niçoise salad with Burfiord egg and tiger prawns. Generally I felt the selection of mains to be underwhelming even though I enjoyed my choice.

Dessert was a chocolate and hazelnut tart with mascarpone cream. It was simple but acceptable. Fresh fruit or Camembert cheese with spiced mulled apple jelly and biscuits were the other choices.

I also swapped champagnes and moved on to the Castelnau Brut Rosé NV, another bottle that retails around the £30 mark. I preferred it to the Canard-Duchene selection from earlier but won’t be rushing out to buy a bottle of either anytime soon.

I didn’t try any of the wines on offer. These were: white – a Spanish Albariño 2017 and an Australian Chardonnay 2016, red – a Portugese Cottas 2015 and a USA Cartlidge & Browne Pinot Noir 2015. Spirits included Tanqueray gin, Ciroc vodka and Johnnie Walker Black.

For those who feel peckish in the night there is the Club Kitchen in the galley where you can help yourself to snacks, biscuits and chocolate.  I never saw this myself – Rob says that it has gone downhill over the years but is handy for feeding small children.

By now it was getting late so it was time to set up my fully flat bed. The White Company bedding was presented in a square black bag. There was a mattress cover, grey quilt and blanket.

The bed was simple to set up with the push of a button.

and

I was concerned the bed may feel too narrow but it was fine. Lengthwise I was able to stretch out as much as I wanted. At 5’9”, my toes could just touch the end of the bed if I really stretched.

I was comfortable and the quilt kept me warm enough that I didn’t need the blanket. I don’t normally sleep that well on flights so was surprised to wake to the sounds of flight attendants serving breakfast some five hours later.

Breakfast consisted of a passion fruit and mango smoothie, fresh fruit and a warm fruit pastry. All were very good. You could also choose fruit muesli with apple compote and vanilla yogurt.

This was followed by a traditional mixed grill of scrambled eggs, grilled turkey rasher, chicken sausage, tomato, mushrooms and hash brown potatoes. I regretted choosing this as it was soggy and not enjoyable.

Other dishes available were shrimp congee, a smoked tomato and cheese toasted sandwich with scrambled egg and a continental breakfast with smoked salmon, roast beef, turkey breast and cheese.

Conclusion

I should mention the service. I felt well looked after throughout the flight. All the attendants were friendly, polite and efficient. They don’t have the same relaxed, outgoing manner as Virgin Atlantic crew but perhaps this is more BA’s doing than anything else.

Overall, I was happy but not especially impressed with my Club World experience. Nothing throughout the experience surprised me or exceeded my expectations. The seat / bed was comfortable, the IFE was excellent and the service was at least what you should expect.

However the food menu was uninspiring and the dishes I had ranged from very good to poor. There was also no wifi which may be important to some, particularly on a long flight such as this.

I didn’t walk off the plane thinking never again but its very unlikely I would consider paying cash for a Club World ticket in future. That is unless there is a very, very good sale on.

I was due to fly home in business with Qatar Airways, for the first time, so this would give me a great opportunity to compare the two.  That review will follow after I tell you about my regional trips on Malaysia Airlines.

As an Avios redemption, my one-way Club World flight to Kuala Lumpur cost 87,500 Avios (off-peak, peak is 105,000 Avios) and – if I booked today following the recent increase – £377 in taxes and charges.

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