Review: Asiana Business Class, Seoul to Hong Kong

After a short stop at the Asiana Business Class Lounge at ICN, I was ready to depart on the flight to my final destination. The flight from ICN-HKG is roughly the equivalent of a domestic flight for us in the US, so it wasn’t a 3-cabin plane. Instead, the A330-300 was a two-cabin plane with an Economy and Business Class. Still, it would win hands down against any domestic flight in the states.

Boarding had already begun as I arrived to the gate, but that just meant the Business Class line was empty. I walked straight in and took the first of two jetways on to the plane (the second was for Economy Class boarding). The layout was a slightly staggered 2-2-2 configuration and the seats were angled lie-flat seats. For those of you that don’t know, that just means that while the seat does recline to become completely flat, it does so at an angle so that your head is resting higher than your feet.

My seat for the relatively short flight from ICN-HKG.

With all those arrows, it almost looks like a MMS diagram!

The seats were pretty comfortable but nothing special. Each seat had power outlets and the standard remote for the in-flight entertainment system. The TV was pretty standard, and there were plenty of movie selections just as there were on the LAX-ICN flight.

The most annoying thing about this flight was how loud the seat was. As you see above, there are tons of buttons and several configurations on how to move your seat around. Pushing any one of these buttons yielded an extremely loud mechanical sound. You could hear the gears turning and it was almost embarassingly loud. It literally sounded like you were deploying your own little landing gear at your seat…THAT’S how loud it was. Needless to say, after I got comfortable I didn’t touch it again unless absolutely necessary.

Now on to the food. Upon boarding I was offered either water or juice. For all the people reading before departure, the flight attendants turned on the overhead lights for them – it’s just one of those service items that sets apart top airlines from the rest. Shortly after takeoff we were presented with brunch menus.

Even though I wasn’t very hungry after eating at the lounge, I decided I couldn’t pass up some free food…even if it was airplane food. I decided on the Stir Fried Beef Ribeye with bulgogi sauce and rice. I’m a big fan of bulgogi, so I was hoping it would be good.

Stir Fried Beef Ribeye, seasoned with bulgogi sauce and served with pak choi, pine nut, and steamed rice

The first plate was ham and a salad. I don’t care for ham so I didn’t bother trying it, and the salad was pretty standard with Italian dressing. Bread came a little later but was nothing to excited about.

The presentation of the main course was a little disappointing compared to the LAX-ICN flight, but I guess I shouldn’t really compare the two since this is considered a short-haul flight. I wasn’t expecting it to be good, and it definitely wasn’t fantastic, but it got the job done. The pieces of ribeye were sliced thinly but packed together, and the bulgogi sauce tastes like it always does. The meal was surprisingly filling, even considering I’d eaten a little just before.

The cheese and crackers were some of the worst I’ve ever had. I’m no cheese connoisseur, but this stuff tasted gross. The grapes had seeds in them which is always a little annoying when you’re not expecting them. It’s pretty hard to be dissatisfied with walnuts and cashews so no complaints there.

Thank goodness my palate was saved with the surprisingly good blueberry chocolate cake. The cake itself is like a yellow/pound cake, and the sauce on it is like a chocolate/blueberry mix. There was also some icing and a mini drop of whipped cream on top – both of which made it taste good without making it too sweet.

We touched down in Hong Kong after what felt like a quick 4 hours. I caught a glimpse of the Thai A380 at HKG, which is always a fun plane to see. After I stood up to gather my things I realized the Business Class cabin was only about 30% full, and the fact that there was no one sitting next to me made for a very comfortable flight. While the food wasn’t amazing, it’s better than anything you’d get on an American carrier and the main course and dessert actually tasted pretty good.

Also note that I booked this flight along with my LAX-ICN flight using my AviancaTaca miles, which you can read about in the Part 2 post if you’re interested. Next up is my review of the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers!