Trader Vic’s Mai Tai on United Hawaiian Flights

Okay, so it’s not like United installed a Trader Vic’s in the plane’s galley. Rather, they merely loaded his famous mai tai mix onto the beverage cart. But what mighty good mai tai it is. On flights between the mainland and the Islands, you can order one or three of this to get your mood right.

I have always found it difficult to describe a good mai tai. It has the tanginess of lime and the sweetness of orange, with layers upon layers of softness, subtleness, and sensuousness. But I never felt it tasted anything tropical--something you would naturally expect from a drink that instantly conjures up images of palm trees swaying along the white sands of Waikiki.

Wall Street Journal columnist Eric Felten wrote, the mai tai is not native to Oahu but rather Oakland, home of the original Trader Vic’s. The cocktail’s association with the Islands is purely marketing genius. While many people wrongly assume it as a concoction of tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, and papaya, the real culprits are sugar, lime, orange curacao, and an almond flavored syrup called orgeat. A good jigger of dark rum is also key.

I presume it’s the orgeat that had baffled me in the past. The nutty flavor, slightly suggestive of marzipan, and the taste of citrus make for an unusual combination. And indeed, there is nothing tropical about a real mai tai. Almond, a relative of peach, is not a tropical fruit, as are neither lime nor orange. In that regard, mai tai may be more of a quintessential California drink, because all of these these fruits grow abundantly here.

But that’s just academics. The reality is, when you go to Hawaii, you have a mai tai--a sensuous concoction of fruits, nuts, and sugar. Cool, cosmopolitan, a classic.

United BOB: Trader Vic's Turkey Sandwich

After working in Washington for the week, my trip home started with a two hour air traffic delay at Dulles Airport. A line of thunderstorms up and down the Appalachians halted all westbound traffic. Our flight was packed, as everyone wanted an early start to the Labor Day weekend. My upgrade did not clear, but I was able to score an exit row seat so in the least I had decent leg room to stretch out and squeeze in a few more hours of work. As well, I enjoyed a nice meal that I assembled for myself.

Dinner in coach is nothing romantic these days. Free hot meals are gone, unless you are flying Continental, so you are left to your own devices. My meal today started with beer and pretzels from the beverage cart. I chose Heineken instead of Miller Genuine Draft, which I generally get. The flight attendant was nice to offer it to me free, waiving off the “beverage voucher” I had in hand.

I then bought one of those buy-on-board food items, lovingly termed “BOB” on flyertalk. I chose the Mesquite Turkey Sandwich, designed by Trader Vic’s. It was described in the inflight magazine this way: “Mesquite turkey breast topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, iceberg lettuce, and a Dijon mustard/mayonnaise, served on an Asiago roll.”

The sandwich had a nice, fresh taste, not overpowering in anyway, the least of which is the smoke. I would have preferred a smokier flavor in the turkey, but for $5 can you really complain? The Asiago roll had a delectably firm texture to it, which was nice when compared to the many soggy sandwiches I had had in the past.

I saved half a can of the Heineken to drink with the sandwich. Beer and smoked turkey are a good match for each other. Maybe a pinot noir would have worked well, too, but they didn't have that on the beverage cart—only your popular cabernet.

Just as I finished the sandwich, a flight attendant came by with coffee—perfect timing. United has served Starbucks onboard for at least ten years and running. I took my coffee black. What blend was it? I don’t know, but it was smooth and eminently drinkable. For a Strabucks Skeptic like me, that’s a compliment.

For dessert, I brought out of my carry-on bag a red apple and package of Walker’s chocolate cookies filched from the Red Carpet Club. The apple was surprisingly juicy and crunchy—surprising because apples are generally terrible in the summer because they are not fresh but holdovers from last season. It’s almost Labor Day—are apples coming in season already?

B Plus for explus: Denver to Memphis in a CR7

This was my first time flying in an explus aircraft, United Express’s 66-seat regional jet fitted with six first class seats. Since its introduction in 2004, I have not had the opportunity to travel to a city served by explus. Until now. I flew from Denver to Memphis on my way to the Mississippi Delta.

I have always enjoyed United’s marketing of explus. The illustrated ads are especially appealing, like the one showing passengers sitting on a big butterfly flittering around the sky. The message of the ad is simple: flying can still be fun and fanciful. Never mind the lost bags, air traffic delays, and being packed like sardines to the back of the plane. This regional jet flight is unlike any other.

Oh really. But I try not to be that skeptical as I stepped into the CRJ-700 for the first time. I had the “A” seat in Row 1, which I liked immediately because there was so much leg- and headroom. I say headroom because the older CRJ-200s, which are built out of the same fuselage but with the floor set higher, feel more cramped even to a 5’8” short guy like me.

And having first class was definitely nice. There was even a light meal despite the fact that the galley is not equipped with an oven. Once we reached cruising altitude, the flight attendant came through first with a beverage, and then went back to prepare the snack box. I liked how the contents were arranged like a bouquet.

I normally do not like pre-prepared foods, but some of the stuff in the snack box was pretty tasty. The pretzel sticks dipped in honey-mustard were delightful, especially the punch from the mustard seeds. I am more surprised by the tinned pasta salad. Whether or not the fact that it was manufactured in France made any difference, the pasta was neither soggy nor oily, and the flavors of the mushrooms, olives, beans and herbs all tasted distinct and vibrant.

It’s not a mainline jet, but flying on thinner routes, explus gets a B Plus.

Lost in Transition -- A Sleepy Transcon Flight

I finished my business at Book Expo on Saturday afternoon, so I spent that evening hanging out with friends in the Meat Packing district. Evening turned into night, and then it was the morning. We drained the Absolut, Maker’s Mark, and a cheap bottle of Brut. At 4, the music was still loud, but because my flight to L.A. left at 7, I had to get to JFK.

This was my first time in Pennsylvania Station during the wee hours in the middle of the weekend. I was surprised to find so much traffic still going on. On the L.I.R.R. level of the train station, I joined other bleary-eyed “B&T crowd” beneath the departure board, waiting for the track number to post.

These days, New York simply feels like a more congenial city compared to how it was the first time I visited, 20 years ago. I got a sense of that when the young person sitting next to me on the floor politely warned me right before throwing up the evening's take of booze and beer. And as reassurance that New York is indeed a friendlier place, a passerby quickly came over with a stack of paper towels from the janitor’s cart. I helped clean up the mess, and then parted our ways as I boarded my train for Jamaica. Even though this was early June and there were still three weeks left of spring, it already felt like summer in the city.

My flight to L.A. this time felt special because it carried a lot of publishing people going home from Book Expo. I noticed quite a few familiar faces as I walked down the aisle to claim my seat. But why did we all take such an early flight, at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, instead of later on? We Angelenos think alike--after a week in New York, we could not wait to get home.

Once I settled into my seat, the adrenaline that carried me through the night was drained completely out of me. Even before we took off, I was out like Maccabees’ lamp on the ninth night. I did manage to snap a photo of the passenger cabin while we were still at the gate. It shows the huuuge amount of legroom I had. For those in the know, it was Row 9, with no need to elaborate further.

That was all I remembered from the flight, because I slept nearly the entire way. I did wake up for breakfast, but I don't remember much of what I ate. Instead, I have this menu below to go back on.

(from the menu)

Featured Cocktails

Bellini

Lots of places serve this famous drink, but few use the correct ingredients-light sparkling wine and white peach puree. But that's exactly what we've done, so give this refresher a try!

Kir Royale

The Kir Royale is a contemporary cocktail mixing Cassis with Champagne for a delightfully rich and effervescent drink.

Main Course

Florentine quiche with Hollandaise sauce

Sautéed turkey sausage, Canadian bacon and silver dollar potatoes with fresh seasonal fruit.

Prior To Arrival

Turkey and roast beef deli plate

Cheddar cheese, grapes and vegetable crudité with ranch dressing.
Walker’s Chocolate chip cookies

Oh Boy! The Obento Meal

I always order the obento when flying into or out of Japan. For me, this is the only airline meal worth anticipating for. Alas, the quality of United’s in-flight catering has declined a lot during those years in bankruptcy. I remember the first time I had the obento, back in 2000. The entrée was meticulously prepared, and very tasty. What I liked the most was the piece of wagashi for dessert, the traditional tea sweet made from mashed white beans. This time, my obento had some misses, but was still quite good.

The appetizer course, which came in a small elongated box, contained the following: tuna with wasabi sauce, smoked salmon egg roll, pumpkin cake with red beans, baked chicken with pine seeds, braised beef, and fine white noodle (somen) topped with deep fried eggplant. All the ingredients were fresh and representative of late spring, with summer approaching just around the corner.

The main course came in a larger square box. I first tried the boiled shrimp (sunomono), which is served like shrimp cocktail—not very exciting. The entrée was a filet of yellowtail (buri) teriyaki, served with fresh ginger, broiled tofu, simmered shiitake mushrooms and carrots. Not only was the fish a bit dry, the classic symptom of overcooking, I felt the teriyaki sauce had too much mirin, which made the dish too sweet for my taste and overpowered the fish’s subtle flavors. Either that, or the chef was deliberately masking the less than top quality fish they had to work with. I finished the meal with steamed rice and pickles.

The obento of 2006 no longer served wagashi for dessert. Instead, I got a slice of lousy Eli’s hazelnut cheesecake. I never understood why Eli’s was so popular to begin with, and mixing a traditional Japanese meal with a western dessert is just plane cheesy. A definite thumbs down on that.

After all the dishes were cleared, the flight attendant brought me a nice hot cup of green tea. I had with me a couple of fresh lichi left over from a bunch I had bought in Taipei. I took them onboard specifically to eat after dinner. In my book, this is always the perfect way to end a dinner.