Trip Report: JNB-IST
From Johannesburg (JNB), I flew Turkish Airlines to Istanbul (IST). The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the cabin was a flight attendant (FA) pouring pre-flight drinks from a mini bar. Cute!
The seats on Turkish Airlines are the new style ones with the fixed barrier between the rows, so it's nice that when the person in front of you reclines, it doesn't intrude on your space. Unfortunately, these seats don't recline to horizontal like on South African; you're still at an angle.
My favorite aspect about the flight was the meal service - it was really fun. They give you a folder with a pen, so you can mark your breakfast choices on the right hand sheet of paper and give it to a FA before you go to sleep (like hotel room service).
Turkish doesn't give you mixed nuts like United or South African; instead you select a canape from a silver platter! I chose a smoked salmon one, to go with my mimosa-like cocktail garnished with a fruit and mint skewer.
To start, they rolled out the appetizer cart, and you selected which appetizers you want and the FA plates it for you. This picture isn't very elegant, because I wanted to try a little of all 7 appetizers! Favorites were the salmon roulade and the seafood salad. I was expecting Krab salad for some reason, but this seafood salad included mussels, calamari, and shrimp.
Next was the soup course, and third up was the main course. Unfortunately, I had a rather dry piece of grilled tuna. Fourth course is dessert, where again they rolled out the trolley and you could select from ice cream, apple strudel, brownie, Turkish pastries, fruit, and cheese.
After this I gave the FA my table linen and napkin, getting ready for bed. But then I noticed that other passengers still had their tables set! Lo and behold, there was a fifth course - tea, coffee, and "petits desserts." I had a bite-sized fruit tart.
Breakfast came as advertised. After I woke up and brushed my teeth, the FA brought out my breakfast selection, including yogurt, muesli, cheeses, beef ham and smoked turkey (remember, no pork for Turkish), Turkish tea, honey, and fruit. And then the second course came, which was a tasty quiche and potatoes.
I was really entertained throughout the flight by the service! (Sort of reminds me of the "good old days" of transcontinental first class on United, when they had a deli service from the trolley after breakfast and right before landing...hard to think even I can reminisce about the good old days!) The only downside is that it was really late by the time you finished eating the whole 5-course dinner, and lights were on a whole two hours before landing, so not a lot of time to sleep!
