I'd say the Mk4s were spot on, as they had that swapover point halfway down. It was 2+1, then 1+1 (with a seat on each side of the table), then 1+2 for the rest. You could book a single seat on the 'shaded' side of the train whichever way you travelled. My favourites were always the 1+1 seats as you could have your bag next to you on the floor but still out of everyone's way.
My favourite was also the tables for two in the 1-1 middle of the mk4. They always seemed to get occupied first!
I think the pendolinos have the seating mix about right. For the leisure market, most 1st class passengers travel in pairs especially on Fridays and weekends. We've often had trouble trying to get a table for two even on an extendalino.
The Azuma is rubbish for couples due to the lack of tables for two. It's probably the worst designed intercity 1st class carriage to date. One of the reasons my wife and I travel 1st (apart from the meal) is to sit together in comfy seats without anyone else at our table. The Azuma layout really puts us off travelling with LNER. I do hope they fix it.
As others have said, I've always found the Glasgow based WCML catering crew to be the friendliest and most generous 1st class hosts on the network. It certainly doesn't go unnoticed!
I've been given a pot of tea (one of those small metal things that holds 2 or 3 cups) on Virgin before.
Yes, I was given one of those a few years ago. I think they may only hand them out on quieter services.
I wonder if Avanti will improve the 1st class offering to help differentiate it from this new 'standard premium' offering. I've found the meals have been getting smaller and smaller recently especially with the pre-covid downgrading of Friday dinner service.