Fukuoka Fanfare:

• Singapore Airlines SQ656 Singapore – Fukuoka [Business]
• The Ritz Carlton Fukuoka
• Hotel Oriental Express Fukuoka Nakasu Kawabata
• Lounge Fukuoka
• China Airlines CI111 Fukuoka – Taipei [Economy]
• Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport
• EVA Lounge Safari
• EVA Air BR215 Taipei – Singapore [Royal Laurel Class]

I was super excited for this flight – my first ever EVA and in its iconic Royal Laurel Class!

BR215 Taipei – Singapore (Royal Laurel Class)

• Seat – 08A
• TPE 09:50 – SIN 13:50
• Flight time: 4hr 25min
• Aircraft: Boeing 777-300
• Price: $805 booked on Trip.com after applying a $50 promo code.

Check in was a breeze at Taoyuan Airport as there were no queues at the business class line at all. I tried my luck by asking for a window seat as it wasn’t available for selection online – the staff said she will check and yay I got it!

Taoyuan is a big airport and if you are like me with a B gate, do leave plenty of time to reach there as the walk is no joke, especially when they are plenty of shops to distract you en-route.

Boarding – the boarding gate was packed and calls for boarding were announced by zone numbers instead of class of travel eg Royal Laurel passengers are in Zone 1 and boarding was orderly.

Seat – my seat 8A was a bulkhead window seat in the mini cabin which accorded plenty of privacy + 2 whole windows for views. As far as I understand there is no difference in seat configuration for EVA’s bulkhead (eg extra foot space etc) but its no doubt still a very nice seat for its age! Not too sure about the dull green and brown tones but that’s a minor point in this context.

The seat itself is in shades of brown, with the pillow, wrapped blanket, and headphones already placed on the seat on arrival. The pillow is a good size and firm, but the blanket is more rough than what I would have preferred though functional.

The headphones were EVA branded (Thunder?), and I liked that they have a bright band indicating it has been sanitized. Sound quality was great!

The right side of the seat contains a handle which is lowered by default for ease of getting in and out of the seat but can be lifted up for more privacy / support if need be.

The left of the seat is the console where the charging ports, reading light, remote control, and am open compartment where the printed menu sits.

This console also holds the seat controls where you can either pick from 3 pre-set styles (lie-flat, lounge, and take off/landing) or adjust them individually. I tried all 3 positions and found the lounge pre-set pretty nice to chill in.

The tray is nestled alongside this stretch and can be retrieved without much difficulty – its sort of a tri-fold set up and when fully unpacked offers what I think is one of the biggest and sturdiest tray I’ve used. It also offered a comfortable berth me at this position.

Towards the pointy end of the seat is the IFE monitor which must be stowed for take off and landing, as well as two more open compartments for additional storage which I found quite useful for my small bag. Leg space was also certainly not an issue here for the 1.6m me.

Lastly, to the right side of the bulkhead structure sat the in-flight literature and a pair of slippers which were of decent enough quality.

Soon after arrival, a crew came by to introduce herself and offered a pre-departure drink of either mineral water, sparkling water, and dragon fruit juice. She also asked for my choice of drink after take off, as well as with meal before moving on to the next passenger and I could only think of the orders they have to note for each and every one of us – no mean feat!

I didn’t ask about the lack of alcohol for my pre-departure drink but assumed no alcohol is served on the ground for tax reasons. I eventually opted for the dragonfruit and although not served with nuts, it was super nice!

We were soon on our way up to the skies and the safety video was played – it was done in a kingsmen kind of style which I found rather entertaining.

In-flight Entertainment

And of course again, I forgot to take pictures of the IFE offerings – but I can say the main screen was touch sensitive which made it easy to use, and the movie selection was not too bad although not as vast as KrisWorld for sure.

In-flight Meal

Meal service began about 1hr into the flight with the crew The in-flight meal options were available for viewing on the EVA app prior to flight and you can pre-book your choice of main as well.

Drinks and Alcohol choice are as below:

For my post take-off drink, I chose to go with champagne but it was served lukewarm (alongside nuts) and not to my liking, so I asked for one of their signature cocktail, Evergreen Special, and the non-sweet version (the crew asked if I’d like the sweet version or not) was quite enjoyable.

The appetizer of marinated shrimp salad was then served, a refreshing start to the meal. This was followed by a choice of bread from the basket and I nibbled on a corner of the garlic bread and actually found it great. I had a glass of Chardonnay with it and the pairing worked quite well.

I also noticed that their cutlery is also EVA branded and high quality too.

My main of beef filet then arrived but it was so rare I couldn’t eat it. The attentive crew noticed it and after I explained why, she offered to have it cooked more or get something else for me which was great service recovery. I picked the halibut and it was very good. The same crew further explained that the beef cut was too thick hence the rareness – great initiative I thought.

Dessert of a fruit platter and lemon tart was served, followed by coffee/tea which was a nice ending to the meal.

And because sans carbs, I asked for sparkling water, more nuts and tried their French and Spanish reds later into the flight, both of which were great.

Service

I thought service was great on this flight. The crew I encountered were very nice and they even took the initiative to ask if their pronunciation of my last name in Mandarin was correct. Throughout the flight, they proactively patrolled the aisle and took much initiatives to top up nuts and sparkling water for me, even offering me a last big pour of red within the last hour of the flight as they explained it’ll have to be tossed out anyway thereafter. Why not. haha.

In Summary,

my first EVA business class checked off with great memories and what a way to get myself home from the fun Fukuoka trip! Til next time!