QF863 OOL/SYD 737-800 Business dep 1305h
Seat 1A. Load in J was 11/12. I was lucky to have the only spare seat next to me
Aircraft was a BSI, with the red claret leather Business seat all with personal IFE.
Service was billed as lunch. CSM did lunch from the cart.
I opted for the barramundi with garam masala sauce. The other option was Cuban beef stew.
The barramundi arrived and smelled great. It was served on a bed of egg noodles and some steamed sugar snap peas. The noodles were a bit dry-chewy in places (particularly the parts not covered by the fish) and the sugar snap peas were maybe
slightly overcooked (not mush, but hasn't got the complete snap of nice blanched peas). The barramundi was fantastic. Cooking barramundi so that it's moist and tasty is not easy on the ground, let alone in the air! But it was cooked spot on and tasted great.
Given that these dishes are prepared to instruction, I wouldn't be confident that if I selected this option again, the fish would come out just as well as this time. But that's a risk I'm prepared to take because the dish tasted so good. Purists will say there isn't enough spice in the garam masala. However, the taste was there and added character to the fish. The Cuban beef appeared to be served with rice and vegetables.
Generous fish serving went down nicely with a swig of Sauvignon Blanc from Teusner wine estate, South Australia. Also present was warm bakery with the requisite Lurpak butter (spreadable), a bottle of water and passionfruit syrup cake, shaped in a love heart (must be February). Cake was moist and really good.
CSM was brilliant. He looked and sounded a bit like he learned from The Godfather (bit of a throaty voice), but a good man who made good conversation, came back through the cabin to keep wines topped up and offer coffee, tea or other beverages. Reminds me why I fly Qantas. This post reminds me I need to file a message of compliment for the CSM.