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I'm taking my first overseas trip after the end of my self-imposed travel ban, and our first destination is Tokyo. As we were flying JAL today, we got access to the
Qantas Lounge at the Hong Kong International Airport and checked it out for the first time. I had done a quick search online as we headed to the airport, and there was something I was really looking forward to.
Unfortunately, the bar only serves up
char siu rice (叉燒飯) and other main dishes after 4 p.m., so we were visiting just a tad early for this.
But wait! There's a dim sum cart being pushed around in the lounge! I've never seen that, even in the Cathay Pacific Lounge! I was pretty excited about this, and learned that they offer 2 options daily - one savory and one sweet.
Siu mai (燒賣)
Mushroom bun
There was also a buffet with a ton of options to choose from - including 10 savory dishes in addition to desserts. So I picked up a small plate to try them out.
My plate included
Malaysian sambal chicken,
sauteed French beans, artichoke, carrot, baby corn, and semi-dried tomatoes, as well as
stir-fried silver needle noodles.
Signature caramel cheesecake - this was pretty decent.
The selection of wines at the bar was pretty good, and I think there were six choices each for reds and bubbly/white/rosé:
2023 Peter Lehmann Portrait Riesling - nice and a little toasty on the nose with flint. Good acidity on the palate.
2022 Warburn Estate Rumours Pink Moscato - fruity on the nose. Slightly sparkling and sweet on the palate.
2020 Brickfielder Shiraz Regional Icons W. Colton - classic Aussie shiraz profile, with vanilla, tons of coconut butter, and strawberries.
It's been years since I last flew in Business Class on JAL, so I was really looking forward to my inflight meal. OF COURSE I chose the Japanese option, which looked pretty good!
There were 6 different small dishes to start with:
Simmered taro with bottarga, shrimp (里芋からすみ和え 海老) - love the
bottarga (唐墨).
Vinegared radish and salmon ball, sweet black soybeans (大根酢サーモン手毬 黒豆) - the pickled radish was crunchy and the salmon was smoky.
Sea bream and vegetables with egg sauce, salmon roe (鯛と野菜の玉子とじ いくら) - both the sea bream and the egg were bland, so the salmon roe was much needed for some salt.
Spinach and jellyfish salad with tofu dressing (クラゲとほうれん草の白和え) - this was good.
Grilled beef with Japanese 'ponzu' sauce, bell pepper (牛肉こしょう焼 パプリカ ポン酢おろし) - the beef was served cold but nevertheless tender.
Simmered vegetables, Kouya-tofu and shrimp ball (焚き合せ: 大根 人参 高野豆腐 海老丸) - too bad the piece of Kouya-tofu (高野豆腐) was on the small side, but the mustard on the side was great with the konjac (蒟蒻).
There were two parts to the
dainomono (台の物):
Grilled red sea bream (鯛若狭焼き) - this was OK.
Simmered pork 'akabononi' (豚肉あけぼの煮) - the pork was very tender, and very tasty with the relish of diced tomatoes and onions.
Steamed rice (ご飯)
I chose to skip the ice cream, as I'd had enough food by now.
Kudokijozu Junmai Daiginjo Yamadanishiki (くどき上手 純米大吟醸 山田錦) - really sweet on the nose with starchy rice and banana. The alcohol seemed more obvious, but was it because I'm drinking this in the air? Or is this naturally more dry mid-palate all the way to the finish?
After landing, it didn't take us long to reach and check-in to
Hotel Metropolitan Edmont. There's a
FamilyMart right across the street, so of course we were there immediately after dropping off our luggage.
Our tradition is to grab some of the iconic
Famichiki (ファミチキ) as our very first bite after arriving in Japan. Tonight we took both the
"regular" as well as the
sweet and spicy
As it turned out, we weren't starving like we thought we'd be, thanks to the tasty meal we had on our flight. So we stayed in our room and called it a night instead of venturing out in the neighborhood in search for late night eats. I guess the hours of research I did wasn't necessary after all...
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