So I got lucky at check-in where the south-east asian lady agreed to do a free check-in of my carry on - could not thank her enough including a full bend forward Japanese style - "Domo Arigato" and lucky because everyone else were being asked to pay out 50$ or so.
That on top of the world feeling was short-lived after boarding the flight - the seats were atrociously cramped. The arm-rest was literally a thin strip of real-estate perhaps intentionally made for two folks to have a jostling bout on who can capture that elusive territory - may be a creative pitch to while those 13 hours away. The much hyped up food was a major letdown on the first leg from DC to Dubai - Unsalted Vegetable Biryani with rice and vegetables felt like were "separated for ages" literally. The cold sandwich as a go-between was ok and the breakfast before the landing of cheese omelet was blandly tasteless. They had thick boiled potatoes sprinkled over the omelet with a siding of spinach tucked in the corner. Gave spinach the cold shoulder which it thoroughly deserved. Besides the constant gas emissions from foods rotting in people's stomachs felt like a close brush with Gas Chambers of Auschwitz ...that was for the Jews this was for everyone flying - result was the same - a near genocide. 
So folks who were raving about Emirates food were either fooling around or perhaps have rather awful taste esp when it comes to food. Like I said this was no one-time fluke my wife who traveled 3 weeks earlier had a similar experience.So much for the first leg to Dubai. Dubai itself is a melting pot of Duty-Free shoppers who have a single motive in life before take off and that is to grab whatever they can from Dubai - Pears soap (yes you heard it right), dry fruits, Chocolates - The same Lindt chocs that you get at Costco for 10$ comes for 20$ at DXB with a compelling tag - Duty Free. Burger King joint I must say had a better selection than the ones we find in US. The airport is more like a shopping mall that also by the way allows for takeoffs and landings...the 2 and a half hour lay over was awful after a 13 hour long flight. Second leg was another 2 and a half hour roller coaster with really uncomfy seats but a more decent menu selection with chicken tikka masalas, lamb rogan josh with phirni as a dessert. The last 5 hours of the journey turned out to be extremely exhausting.
They also have a better selection in juices and drinks and the wines are complimentary. May be they have a hidden agenda - Wine will make you forget everything including our horribly squeezed out seats and unceremonious menu selection that tastes awful bland.
So my personal takeaways from this DC-Dubai-Delhi leg is:
Pros: - Eye-pleasing flight attendants (but I will still take the old grumpy stewardesses from United any day just for more comfortable seats and better leg space and a less tiring journey) - Better variety of juices and complimentary drinks - Excellent ICE entertainment system
Cons: - Horrible food for most part - The crammed seats kills the whole mood - 5 hour second leg of the journey from DBX to DEL is over-exhausting esp after a 13 hour ordeal. Would rather take the 14 hour nonstop that United offers as it is less exhausting. - Morning takeoff is odd as you mostly stay awake for most of your journey since your body is still doing US-time. I hardly had an hour of sleep if that. Bottomline - I am done with Emirates unless...unless...there are some throwaway deals that might outweigh everything.
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