EVA Air Business Class Boeing 777-300ER Taipei to Bangkok Review

Welcome to the second part of my recent birthday vacation trip to Thailand on EVA (pronounced “E-V-A”) Air Royal Laurel Business Class. This review covers the second segment from Taipei, Taiwan to Bangkok, Thailand on EVA Air’s Boeing 777-300ER. You can read my review of the first segment EVA Air Boeing 777-300ER Business Class Toronto to Taipei Review here.

When I booked this Aeroplan award redemption there was also the option of flying with Thai Airways on this segment. Although I like Thai Airways, the layover in Taipei would’ve been a little shorter. Being able to try their business class would’ve been great, but for simplicity of seat selection and flying with the same carrier, I decided to stick with EVA Air.

My EVA Air Business Class Boeing 777-300ER Taipei to Bangkok review starts off with the EVA Air lounge which is located in the middle of the terminal on the upper level. On the upper level is also a food court as well as lounges for China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Plaza Premium and several others. I had an overnight flight so I arrived at 5 am.

The EVA Air Lounge has two lounges – The Infinity and The Star. The Infinity is for EVA Air’s Royal Laurel Business Class (which is covered in this review) and Premium Laurel Premium Economy passengers. I had been given a lounge pass for this back in Toronto when I first checked in.

My EVA Air lounge pass said I had access to The Infinity but I later found out I had a choice of either lounge if I wanted to choose. As you can see there’s plenty of seating.

The centerpiece is the disco tree. Looking at it now it makes me think of a less impressive version of Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.

Having just come from a 16-hour flight I really wanted a shower. You can request a shower reservation at the entrance front desk. The staff will take your boarding pass and give you a pager when a shower room is available. In my case I waited about 15 minutes. The shower rooms include a sink, shower, toilet, hairdryer and amenities.

Every shower gets cleaned immediately after someone uses it so there were fresh amenities laid out for me. I took what I needed for my shower and threw everything else into my suitcase. 

There was plenty of room to comfortably change and shower without ever feeling like you were going to crash into something.

Now refreshed, I headed over to the lounge food and drinks which is everyone’s favourite part of any lounge. First thing I made myself a latte.

Soft drinks, juices, canned coffee and beer. I liked how there were mini-can options and now that I was in Asia, I had drink options not available at home.

Open bar. I have no idea if there are any set hours for the open bar but it was freely available at 6 am.

The hot food station included roasted potatoes, sausages and scrambled eggs.

Cheese and mushroom polenta, roasted mixed vegetables and chicken meatballs.

Beancurd steamed rice, braised mixed vegetables and sautéed tofu.

Since this was Taiwan, there was also dim sum available which included custard buns, pork buns and char siu (barbecue pork) buns. There was also steamed sweet potatoes, won ton dumplings and soup, congee with assorted toppings, salad bar, bread and jams, yogurts and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Overall, there was much more food available in this lounge compared to the Maple Leaf Lounge in Toronto.

My latte and raspberry vanilla ice cream. I didn’t want to eat too much since I would be having a full meal on the flight, but I did end up getting a plate of eggs, chicken meatballs, sautéed tofu and char siu bun. I almost wished I didn’t have the flight because the infinity lounge food was good and I wanted more.

When it was time for boarding I departed The Infinity lounge and briskly walked to my gate. It was 7 am at this time and Taipei Taoyuan Airport was fully awake. TPE is a huge airport with two terminals and a third currently under construction. Many of the gates and waiting areas are themed like a Chinese pagoda, movie theatre, race track dance club or Hello Kitty.

Upon reaching my gate, I again had the benefit of Zone 1 priority boarding after the elderly, disabled and children. This didn’t appear to be a full flight and I was ushered onboard without any wait. The plane was another Boeing 777-300ER so I was expecting the seat and service to be just as good on this leg.

Business class on this route uses a reverse herringbone seat layout and fully reclining chairs. These are also known as pods thanks to the enclosed privacy they offer passengers. All seats have direct access to the aisle, while the seats in the middle rows allow you to talk to your companion beside you or you can pull up the barrier in-between for privacy.A pillow and noise cancelling headphones were waiting for me at my seat.

Here’s the seat in the fully reclined position. You can ask for a mattress like I did during my first segment. I was fully awake at this time and the flight was 4 hours so didn’t bother. 

Instead, I just watched shows and played games on my iPad the entire flight. I really like the colours EVA Air uses for their Royal Laurel Business Class. The mix of greens makes it feel like being in a forest. I also love the lemonade welcome drink and hot towel refresher.

There were only 6 passengers in the business class rear cabin on this flight. That was a bit surprising but since this was a short-haul flight, maybe people didn’t want to spend that much money (or points) on their seats.

For the breakfast meal, I chose Din Tai Fung’s stewed beef shank with noodle soup. This was accompanied by traditional delicatessens, though not catered by Din Tai Fung, which turned out to be crab meat with asparagus and poached chicken with spicy cucumbers. For reference, Din Tai Fung is one of Taiwan’s most famous restaurants.

The poached chicken was incredibly good.

The full meal course. I had been really looking forward to the beef noodle soup as I’ve never been to any Din Tai Fung restaurant before, but the noodles were too soft for my liking. The chicken however turned out to be a surprise hit.

A few hours later I landed in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Unlike EVA Air’s long-haul flights, there’s no amenity kit given to business class passengers on short-haul flights. End to end, my EVA Air Business Class Boeing 777-300ER Taipei to Bangkok review is positive. This was a great experience on this segment from the EVA Air The Infinity Lounge to the EVA Air business class seat and meal. 

Now check out the reviews for Emirates A380 First Class Dubai to Toronto and EgyptAir 777-300ER Business Class Toronto to Cairo.