Taiwan Here I Come!

Right off the announcement of the opening of Japan, Taiwan will open its doors to foreigners without any requirement of quarantine from 13 Oct 2022. Just in time for the school holidays!

During my last transit in Taoyuan International (TPE) en route to US, the airport was empty. But to be fair it was really late in the evening (and early morning) when I reached the airport.

First Leg – SIN TPE

Otsumami is snacks usually enjoyed with a drink. EVA service is very influenced by the Japanese service and serves an otsumami with the drinks. And if you like them, you can mail order them for NT800 for 60 packs.

Here’s something you would not see in other airlines – beef offal noodles. The udon-like noodles were mixed in a braised beef offals sauce. Besides beef offals, there’s the pickled mustard greens and bakchoy.

Very delicious, it reminded me of the Taiwanese beef noodles that I used to eat whenever I visited Taipei.

Second Leg – TPE LAX

The second leg was an 12 hours flight to LAX. Appetisers on EVA have been a hit-or-miss, and this time it was a miss. Smoked salmon with blanched asparagus with foie gras pate with champagne jelly. Not nice as none of the ingredients worked together.

The main course was better; sautéed tiger prawns with a strange looking white sauce that was quite delicious, with simmered mountain yam and really weak looking choysum with a serving of brown rice.

Dessert was a plate of fruits, commercial cheese and dried apricots, and a petite fours of some kind of pastries; All forgettable choices. Served with a side of Tom Cruise on the in-flight entertainment. I watched Top Gun in my youth, and now I watch Mavericks in middle age. And damn, Tom has not aged a bit!

Return Leg – LAX TPE SIN

I think they forgot the sauce.

The main was slightly better, but the abalone was really chewy.

And then the standard dessert, cheese and fruits were served; again nothing spectacular.

The breakfast was not worth waking for.

And the last leg, the lunch was also quite bland.

EVA was a really good airline in terms of value-for-money and excellent service. But the catering needs work.

Flight taken Sep 2022