On food and travel: 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.