BA107 London → Dubai, First

Check-in and lounge

A little treat for me: an offer for First came up and it was too good to pass up. This was also my first time travelling on my birthday.

After an overnight stay in a nearby hotel, it was an early start to make the most of the Concorde Room, despite it being an almost-afternoon departure. At T5 you can check in any time on the day for a BA flight.

As I was hand luggage only, security would have been a breeze anyway, but the First Wing deposits you straight into the First lounge, with the Concorde Room oddly a lounge within a lounge. The Concorde Room is only open to First Class ticket holders, while the First lounge is also open to those with BA status, who can use the First Wing too.

Then onto breakfast. As it was my birthday, I decided it would be rude not to work my way down the Champagne list with Eggs Royale.

I got a table right next to the Concorde nose cone on display, which made for quite the breakfast companion and was another tick on the avgeek bucket list.

Boarding and the seat

Having sampled a good portion of the fizzy wine available in the Concorde Room, boarding time was fast approaching. As we were departing from the C gates, a quick trip on the people mover was in order.

Being a satellite gate, it was a good opportunity to have a proper look at the larger birds in British Airways’ fleet. But not for too long: boarding was already underway when I reached the gate.

On boarding, the amenity kit and PJs were handed out along with another glass of Champagne. This flight was not long after BA introduced British sparkling wine options, something that has continued, so at first I opted for a Nyetimber. The crew told me it wasn’t all that chilled, so I went for a Laurent-Perrier instead, with the Nyetimber to follow after departure.

It should also be noted that I have found BA a bit hit and miss at checking their iPads for passenger information, something KLM are consistently good at: greeting you by name and recognising your status. That said, this flight was absolutely spot on: I was greeted by name and wished a happy birthday.

Now settled in, it was time for departure.

Food and drink

Once airborne, the Nyetimber 1086 Rosé Brut 2014 made its appearance, and it was excellent. So excellent that I managed to drink the plane dry of it, purely in the interest of supporting British sparkling wine, of course.

From the à la carte menu, the amuse-bouche of Isle of Wight tomatoes, manouri cheese, mustard pickled cucumber and wild rocket pesto came first, followed by the truffled chicken and leek terrine en croûte; I avoided the North Atlantic lobster after a poor experience on Qatar some months prior. For the main I went for the slow braised lamb shank machbous with saffron and pistachio couscous, pomegranate and machbous sauce, which was certainly the standout dish, and finished with warm crêpes Suzette and vanilla ice cream.

Later in the flight I ordered from the light meal menu: the seed-crusted pea and broad bean Scotch egg with piccalilli, then a fish finger butty of North Atlantic cod and tartare sauce in a potato bun, with salt and vinegar crisps.