When we travel to Japan, we usually use Japan Airlines (JAL). I know some people prefer other airlines, but JAL has been good to us… You can read about our past experience in 2015, 2017, and 2019 also. We flew to Japan at the end of the year 2022 and came back after the New Years in 2023 in Premium Economy. The experience with JAL was pretty great this time around as well. We haven’t traveled to Japan due to the pandemic, so when we finally got ourselves on the plane to Japan, we had to celebrate with some Champagne when they brought around the little Japanese snacks. A great way to start off the trip!
It is a long flight to Japan, so we get one full meal, plus some snacks and light fare. The full meal had a choice of Salmon or Beef. I forgot to take a photo of the menu, so I don’t remember exactly what it was…we chose one of each as usual, so that we can try them both. I believe the fish was a Salmon Teriyaki over Rice. It was a nice piece of salmon, cooked thoroughly as a safety precaution, I am sure. I am not a big fan of salmon being cooked well-done, but when it is served on a plane, I will take safety first. The sauce was tangy and sweet, nice teriyaki flavor.
The Beef option was (I believe) Hayashi Rice, or Hashed Beef Rice. You can’t really go wrong with Hayashi Rice. It had a nice sweetness to it, with a nice amount of beef and mushroom.
We get a cup of hot Miso Soup to go with the meal. It doesn’t have many ingredients in it, but it had a strong miso flavor. I heard somewhere that our taste buds or sense of taste does not work as well when you are so high up in the sky, so they need to make the food to be stronger in flavor. The meal also came with some side dishes. Italian Antipasto with mozzarella cheese, artichoke, olives, and tomatoes. It was a nice assortment to wake up your senses. The second one was Turkey Ham with Coleslaw and Egg Salad. All the comfort side dishes in one square plate.
But my favorite side dish has always been the Japanese Soba Noodles. That is the best comfort side dishes to me… And they use the dashi jelly instead of liquid dipping sauce, so it is safer to eat (no splashing of anything on your clothes). The jelly has the dashi flavor packed in there, so it was tasty! And of course, the dessert! I always look forward to getting some Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream. The meal came with the Vanilla flavor, it takes a bit to defrost enough to eat it, but it sure was delicious!
Then, kind of a “late night snack” type of thing they have, which I absolutely love, is their original cup noodle! It is just a fun thing to have, and I never want to miss it. It is called the “UDON de SKY” and I just can’t get enough of it for some reason. The flight attendant will fill it with hot water and bring it to your seat. After a few minutes, it is ready!
I know it is not the best cup noodle in the world, but it is so fun to have one on the plane! It is quite tasty too, a nice little snack to help you relax, as it warms up your body, and fill that tiny little hunger that you started to feel.
We received a light fare before arriving in Tokyo. It was Lox & Bagel with Yogurt. It also came with cream cheese and strawberry jam in case you wanted to have your bagel with them instead. The yogurt brand was something we are very familiar with, so it felt like home.
I decided to have my bagel with smoked salmon, so I piled up the salmon, onion, and tomato slices on it. The bagel was nice and soft, chewy and doughy. The salmon was fresh and quite good. I really enjoyed my Lox & Bagel! Kind of unique item to have on a plane, in my opinion, and it totally worked!
After our glorious vacation in Japan, spending quality time with my family and friends, it was time for us to go back to NYC. We didn’t want to leave, but we had to go back to the real word. It was January of 2023, and the JAL flight was waiting for us with welcoming smile.
The first meal on the plane of the new year was created by the finalist of RED U-35 competition, Chef Donguyen Chilan. She was born in Tokyo and has a Vietnamese restaurant in Hiroshima. RED U-35 competition is “Japan’s largest chef competition to discover young talent for the new era” according to JAL website.
We again chose one of each option, so we can taste both dishes. The first one was Beef Stew with Carrot Rice & Omelet. To me, this sounded better than it tasted. I didn’t get the carrot flavor from the carrot rice, and the beef stew was a-ok. The egg didn’t have much flavor either. It did look great, vibrant color and the concept was nice too. Something that customer of any age would enjoy. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was great.
The second option was Yuzu-flavored Steamed Rice with Chicken & Lotus Root. Now, I must admit, I thought “that doesn’t sound that interesting…” but Chef Chilan proved me wrong here, in a wonderful way! This dish was great!! It was so flavorful, every bite was delicious. It had a nice mix of texture as well, between crunchy and soft ingredients. I could have this every day!
The side dishes were tasty as well. It came with Chilled Minced-shrimp Ball with Ume Plum Paste. It was very plump, which was interesting. It had a good shrimp flavor, and almost like a firm, fluffy ball. Then, we got Sweet Potato with Lemon, which was comforting and refreshing at the same time. The last one was Okra with Mashed Tofu & Sesame. It had a nice flavor as well, and since I really like okra, I enjoyed it. I liked all the side dishes.
The meal came with the dessert, Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream. This time, it was not a regular vanilla flavor, but it was noted as only available on JAL flight. Wow! It was Chocolate Fudge flavor, and I thought it would be all chocolate in the cup, but it was vanilla with chocolate fudge swirl, which was better than I expected.
On the flight back to NYC, we tried some wines in addition to Champagne. Yes, we know how to make the most of our flight! They had Double “O” wines. Double “O” is a collaboration between JAL, Mr. Ohashi, and Mr. Okashi. A special blend of wines for JAL flight. How neat! The white wine is better than the red in my opinion, more well-balanced and with notes of fruits, goes down smooth.
For midnight snack, you know what I had to have… UDON de SKY! Yes! And I do love the cute little kamaboko with a plane design on it. But this time, they had something extra on top of the cup noodle. It was Matcha Tea Milk Bread.
The Matcha Tea Milk Bread is made by Asanoya, and it was sooooo good! It was moist, as if it had some sweet milk spread hiddlen in the bread somewhere. Fluffy and light, with a nice matcha flavor without being bitter. We really loved this bread!
After some movies and sleep, it was almost arrival time! One last meal before we land, provided by “Sky Wellness Kitchen.” It is a “new collaboration menu with Tanita Cafe, with original menus using “chewing” ingredients that activates the brain and nutrients that increases immunity.” The ingredients include Tuna, Scallion, Millet, and Short Pasta. It came with “how to” guide, which tells you how to construct your healthyt meal.
It came with a dessert, Orange Jelly with Nata de Coco. I must say, the boxed meal tasted…healthy. I guess that is what they wanted, so mission accomplished. I wouldn’t say it was tasty or that I want to have it again…but it is great to know how they are trying to support our health on JAL flight. Orange jelly was tasty, I liked the texture of the Nata de coco also.
That was all that we consumed on the JAL flight, in Premium Economy. It was another successful flight. We had a nice, relaxing flight to and from Tokyo. Many thanks to all the flight attendants, pilots, and the chefs behind the menu to make our flight enjoyable and comfortable. Until next time…
JAL – Winter of 2022-2023 to/from NYC to Tokyo