Beijing, China (PEK) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
11:25 am Lufthansa 0721, Boeing 747, First Class, Seats 81C, 81A
Scheduled Flight time: 10h 10m

This was my best Lufthansa flight out of my four long-haul First Class segments – best food, best service, I didn’t sleep on the flight but the ten hours just flew by.

We had a 10 minute departure delay which the captain came on to tell us “was not because of the new terminal.” Rather, a checked-in passenger didn’t board and they had to offload bags.

Load in F was 5/16, and this time we had a wonderful crew eager to provide service and quick with every request.

In fact, they were happy to adjust the speed of each course or provide things whenever you wished. The man seated in row 82 took his first meal about 4 hours in. That may not seem worth mentioning, but the earlier two long haul Lufthansa First segments that would have felt like quite an imposition on the crew.

Menus, pajamas, and amenity kits were handed out. This was my 3rd set of Lufthansa PJs this trip, figuring I’m pretty well set on Lufthansa stuff for awhile.
Shortly after takeoff the canapé was served, a teriyaki beef roll.

I spent some time working on this trip report and watched National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It has been on many many flights, but I’ve still never watched it. It’s actually my first time watching any inflight entertainment, other than a route map, this whole trip. Didn’t finish the movie, though, so I may fast forward an hour in on my FRA-IAD flight tomorrow.

The featured chef was Zhang Zai-Ping of the Pudong Shangri-La.

Incidentally, this was the only flight on which we were served all three non-caviar appetizers on the three-tiered appetizer tray. All other flights the appetizers were pre-plated and placed on the appetizer trays, but those trays were left on the cart and each appetizer that we were interested in was served individually.

I know the change in standard practice to the three-tiered trays is controversial, to me it’s just different rather than better or worse. The tiers trays are kinda cool, actually.

The spare ribs were some of the best plane food I’ve ever tasted, they were really good and flavorful.

LunchChoice of Hors d’oeuvres Caviar with the traditional Garnishes Drunken chicken with Sauce and Asparagus Spears Chinese Vermicelli Salad with marinated Crab Claw Mozzarella Cheese Ball with fresh Basil and Pesto Sauce Salad or Soup Mixed Lettuce Salad Presented with Dressing Asparagus Cream Soup with Bread Croutons and chopped Parsley, whipped Cream Choice of Main Courses Roasted Tenderloin of Beef with Jus, Mushroom Confit, Gratin Potatoes, turned Carrots and green Asparagus Spears Pan fried Turbot served with Cream Sauce, turned Carrots, Rigatoni Pasta and Ratatouille Bowtie Pasta with Tomato and Pesto Sauce, Olives and Parmasan Wu Xi Spare Ribs with Sauce, steamed Rice and Cabbage Roll with Mushroom, Asparagus Spears, Chili and Soy Sauce Selection of Cheese and Dessert Danish Blue, Cheddar, Brie, Gruyere, Goat Cheese garnished with grapes Five Spices Chocolate Cake with Apricot Chilled Mango Pudding with whipped Cream Specialty Dessert Wines

A mid-flight snack was served, followed by dinner.

DinnerHor d’oeuvres Turkey and Asparagus Roll with Cherry Kalamata Olive Potato Terrine with Crab Meat Five Spiced braised Beef Shank Entrees Sauteed Shrimps with Pine Nuts, Rice and mixed Chinese Vegetables Siew Mai, Har Kau and Tou Mio Dumplings with Carrot Flower, Cabbage Leaf, Soy and Chili Sauce Dessert Apple Mille Feuille with Pistachio Fresh Fruit

We arrived right on-time… so far 6 flights and not a single delay worth mentioning.

Since we had eaten so much on the flight, really the best food so far of our 3 Lufthansa long-haul First segments, we decided to forgo the First Class lounge on arrival and head over to our hotel. Sure, we had 22 hours or so in Frankfurt but we really just wanted to relax, chill out, and watch some movies or such after freshening up.