On food and travel: February 2013

February 24, 2013

Turkish Airlines Brussels-Istanbul return in business

Turkish Airlines TK 1938

Thursday 14 Feb 2013

Brussels (BRU) - Istanbul (IST) 1140-1600

Duration 3:20

Class: D Business

Airbus A321

Upon entering the plane, the crew did not bother to greet me or check my boarding pass. No one offered to take my jacket; actually I think one of the flight attendants remembered quite late and walked around as the plane began taxiing to pick up the jackets of business passengers.

In business, only 5 of the 16 seats were occupied. The seats were very comfortable for a 3h20 flight with sufficient legroom. Judging by the interior, the aircraft seemed to be quite new.

Before taxiing, they offered some welcome drinks. I took the lemonade.

Along with the drinks they distributed some hazelnuts and dried apricots. Guess where these nuts were grown ?

Here's the lunch menu:

Since it was February 14th, heart-shaped chocolates were distributed.

My food tray - the grilled chicken and shrimps appetizer was good, while the Shepherd salad was composed of some old diced cucumbers. I enjoyed the lemon juice & olive oil dressing.

I wanted to have the pasta dish but the "Flying Chef" (i.e. a friendly lad who looked funny in his white hat) explained that they had only 2 servings that had already been ordered (and we were only 5 business class passengers!). Instead I picked the Turkish style grilled beef fillet with creamy eggplant purée, tomato and green pepper, rice.

The off-season tomato had barely any taste. Yet, the grilled beef, pepper and eggplant purée did complement each other quite well. For dessert, the mousse cake was quite a disappointment - I couln't help but wonder if the same dessert was offered in economy.

Turkish Airlines TK 1941

Fri 22 Feb 2013
Istanbul (IST) - Brussels (BRU) 1910-2145
Duration 3:35
D Business
Airbus A319 (planned) / A320-200 (actual)

I walked into an old plane that was in dire need of an interior refurbishment. The plane was supposed to be an A319 but the onboard documentation indicated A320-200. The business class area was a disaster compared to the one on the A321 from Brussels to Istanbul. The seats were old and slightly bigger than in economy thanks to the unused middle seat. The toilet in front was old and needed some serious cleaning.

The good news is that out of the 4 flights as part of this trip, this is the only time I received a smile from a flight attendant when I entered the plane. Welcome drinks were served before departure.

Here's the bread selection, exactly the same as on previous flights. The focaccia and whole-grain breads were good, while the Turkish bread with sesame was a tad too hard each time I tried.

Grilled lamb chops. Nice!

This post is part of the following series:
Flying Turkish Airlines from Brussels to Africa

Brussels Airlines lounge at Brussels Airport
Brussels-Istanbul flights return
Istanbul-Niamey flights return
Turkish Airlines CIP lounge at Istanbul airport
TourIstanbul complimentary Istanbul tour between connecting flights

Brussels Airlines Star Alliance Lounge - Brussels Airport Pier B

Brussels Airlines Lounge @ Brussels Airport Pier B at 11:30 a.m on Thursday 14 February.

The lounge is also used by other Star Alliance passengers (I was flying with Turkish to Istanbul). While I was there, I saw some Etihad passengers, which is quite surprising since Etihad is not currently a member of Star (or any airline alliance for that matter) and also because its partner Jet Airways has its own lounge at Brussels Airport's Pier B.

Here's the entrance and reception area

They have a small computer room at the end (the orange walls). The best seats, in my opinion, are those with a view of the 25L runway.

Let's have a look at the catering: tea, coffee, soup

Pastries, jams, Nutella

A fridge with drinks and cold snacks

Here's a closer look at the food selection, from top to bottom:
- Fruits
- Sandwiches (salmon, cheese, chicken)
- Butter, cheeses (Rondelé, Port Salut, Vache qui Rit, Babybel, Camembert), yogurt
- Olives, salami, ham sandwich.

Bread, nibbles and spirits

Newspapers - the selection of international titles was rather limited (only one FT, one IHT and a Turkish paper)

Before a medium-haul flight lasting less than 4 hours, as was my case, Brussels Airlines' business lounge at BRU Pier B is an OK lounge. I had some drinks and snacks while using the reasonably fast WiFi and watching the planes taxiing outside. It's small, so it might get crowded at peak times. There was no hot food, but for me the snacks were fine. My only gripe was the absence of toilets - one has to exit the lounge and walk down the corridor and use the restroom which looked quite tired (the same as those by the gates downstairs). Before a long-haul or connecting flight, however, one would expect a more comfortable lounge with serious food options and better amenities, like showers and reclining chairs.

This post is part of the following series:
Flying Turkish Airlines from Brussels to Africa

Flying Turkish Airlines from Brussels to Africa

Turkish Airlines is rapidly expanding its African network. Until recently, there were only 2 options for flying from Brussels to several West African capitals not covered by Brussels Airlines: either Air France or Royal Air Maroc.

Last time I flew Air France to Africa, my flight departure from Paris CDG was delayed by 6 hours because of a strike. Also, it is a real pain to carry one's baggage from Brussels Midi Station all the way to the check-in counters at CDG airport. Royal Air Maroc, while much cheaper than Air France, had inconvenient flight times with long stopovers at Casablanca airport.

The last time I flew Turkish Airlines in 2004 I was not impressed at all. Since then they've been winning some Skytrax awards and they have launched several well publicized marketing campaigns. Turkish Airlines began direct flights to Niamey, Niger in December 2012 and I decided to try them again for a flight this February.

Here's the full report:

The pros of flying to West Africa with TK in a nutshell:

Significant price difference (in my case 1,500 EUR cheaper than Air France)
Excellent lounge at Istanbul airport
Pretty good food
Check-in of luggage directly at Brussels Airport
One gets to avoid Air France and/or Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. In other words, no savage strikes!
Their modern fleet except * below

And the cons:

Service level of Turkish Airlines crew - most were unsympathetic and service was inconsistent. Some were obviously uncomfortable speaking English. They seriously need to improve recruitment and training standards!
Flying eastwards to Istanbul then backtracking to West Africa does add some extra hours to one's journey
Mentality - before take-off Turkish "friends" of the crew get upgraded to business class, while some hopeful others were trying to become "friends". The airline has obviously grown too fast without an accompanying cultural change
The seats on the African flights do not become flat enough for such flight durations
On-board beverage selection, especially on the Africa flights. And there are much better welcome drinks than super sweet lemonades and strawberry flavored syrups...
Having to use Brussels Airlines' lounge in Brussels
TourIstanbul - this should have been above among the advantages, but turned out to be a waste of my time
No miles were credited and since the Miles& More web site did not recognize NIM among the airports, I had to send several e-mails and mail all by boarding passes and tickets to Germany. UPDATE April 2013: finally received the miles after 1,5 month
* The dirty and old aircraft on my flight back to Brussels

February 10, 2013

Zaytinya Mezze Restaurant - Washington, D.C.

Zaytinya Eastern Mediterranean restaurant by Spanish chef José Andrés. His Minibar restaurant, with a fixed menu priced at $225 per person, is one of the toughest reservations to have in DC. We decided to pick between Zaytinya and Jaleo Tapas for lunch.

Puffed flatbreads served with some olive oil and pomegranate syrup

Grape leaves dolmades - grape leaves with rice, tomato, fennel, pine nuts, golden raisins, served with labneh (strained yogurt)

Baba Ghanouge - fire-roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic

Santorini Fava and Squash soup - purée of yellow split pea and butternut squash, sultans, marinated mushrooms

Garides Me Anitho - sautéed shrimps, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice

Spanakopita - House-made phyllo, spinach, feta cheese

Turkish Delight - walnut ice cream, yogurt mousse, honey geleé, orange-caramel sauce, caramelized pine nuts

The check

What a lovely lunch!

Zaytinya
http://www.zaytinya.com/

February 9, 2013

Ben's Chili Bowl - Washington, D.C.

We decided to have breakfast at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl located on U Street.

It was too early to try the famous chili. We shared a "Salmon cake breakfast" which included 2 salmon cakes, home fries, scrambled eggs and a pancake. The waitress was nice and divided up the meal into 4 plates for us.

Ben's Chili Bowl
Washington, D.C.
http://benschilibowl.com/

February 3, 2013

Tortilla Cafe - Washington, D.C.

Tortilla Cafe proposes cuisine from El Salvador and Mexico.

Pupusa (handmade corn tortilla filled with cheese) served with some cabbage salad

Beef fajitas with refried beans and plantains. All fajita dishes are served with salsa, guacomole, sour cream, and flour tortillas.

Shrimp fajitas with black beans and yucca.

Tortilla Cafe
Washington, D.C.
http://www.tortillacafe.com/

36 hours in Washington D.C.

We spent 36 hours in DC. Foodie highlights include trying Salvadoran pupusa at Tortilla Cafe, breakfast at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl and a Mediterranean mezze lunch at Zaytinya.

Snapshots from Washington D.C.

Library of Congress - Jefferson building