As mentioned in the previous post, after making the rounds at EVA Air’s lounges in Taoyuan Airport, I stopped by the duty-free shops to pick up a few gifts before heading off to Hong Kong. But there was one more bonus stop before boarding. Although Terminal 2 is very much EVA Air territory, there is actually another Star Alliance lounge here that enjoys a pretty good reputation: the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge.
Like EVA’s lounges, the SilverKris Lounge is located on the mezzanine level. It’s less conspicuous, but the signage makes it easy enough to find.
The lounge occupies a simple rectangular space that you can see end-to-end at a glance.
The semi-open design allows plenty of natural light, which gives the space a pleasant and airy feel. The hot food selection included:
- Kimchi stir-fried pork
- Sweet and sour fried calamari
- Teriyaki chicken
- Steamed vegetables
- Stir-fried vermicelli with assorted vegetables
- Stir-fired napa cabbage with mushroom and tofu skin
- Tea egg
- Bah kut teh
- Pickled chilli chicken soup
The lounge itself isn’t particularly large, but the food spread looked quite respectable. It had been a long time since I’d had bak kut teh, one of Singapore’s signature dishes, so I naturally had to give it a try. It was pretty good. EVA certainly offered a wider variety of food, but when it comes to the lounge hardware, I honestly didn’t feel EVA’s lounges had much of an advantage beyond simply being larger.
Anyway, enough lounge hopping – it was finally time to board.
From both a redemption-cost and through-checking perspective, Cathay Pacific would probably have been the more practical choice. But opportunities to fly a Taiwanese carrier don’t come around every day, so EVA Air it was. I booked the flight using points from Air Canada’s Aeroplan programme, paying 20,000 points plus CAD 60.90 for business class.
The flight from Taipei to Hong Kong is only about 500 miles, but it’s a busy route, so wide-body aircraft are common. Not only was today’s flight operated by a wide-body, it was EVA’s flagship Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, giving me the chance to try the airline’s Royal Laurel Class.
Royal Laurel Class comes in two main configurations:
- Boeing 777: 1-2-1 reverse herringbone seats
- Boeing 787: newer 1-2-1 forward-facing staggered seats
I was fortunate enough to get the 787-10, which is probably the best version of Royal Laurel currently available.
The even-numbered window seats sit closer to the windows and offer noticeably better privacy.
The centre seats don’t differ very much from one another.
The materials and colour palette are excellent, giving the cabin a very premium feel. Of the products I’ve flown recently, the closest comparison would be Virgin Atlantic’s A330neo upper class, which I also enjoyed quite a bit.
The electronic window-dimming controls are a typical 787 feature.
The noise-cancelling headphones felt impressively high-end as well.
I briefly tested the fully flat bed mode, and it was very comfortable despite the short flight.
Even the entertainment screen still had that unmistakable “brand-new aircraft” feel.
That said, the content selection, particularly TV series, felt rather limited. On that front, I actually think China Airlines does a better job.
Let’s take a look at the menu.
I chose the fried pork wok.
The tableware and presentation weren’t quite as refined as what I’d experienced on China Airlines, and the meal itself was perfectly acceptable but ultimately unmemorable.
One thing worth mentioning: complimentary Wi-Fi was available throughout the flight and worked well enough for messaging and normal web browsing.
A funny little incident happened during disembarkation. I suddenly realised my phone was missing. After a brief panic, I used my Garmin’s Find My Phone function and discovered that it had slipped underneath the seat. Having watched the whole episode unfold, one of the flight attendants exclaimed, “That’s so clever!” – a reaction that felt wonderfully and unmistakably Taiwanese.
Comparing the experience with the China Airlines A330 business class I flew previously: service was roughly equal, the food was slightly weaker, but the hard product was on an entirely different level. Admittedly, comparing a brand-new Dreamliner against an older A330 isn’t exactly fair, but even viewed on its own merits, EVA’s Royal Laurel seat remains one of the stronger business-class products in the market today.
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