Airline Food: The good, the bad and the ugly

liamsaunt · May 22, 2022

Breakfast on JetBlue Mint. (The flight took off on time! I really, really hope they get it together and fix whatever is going on with them lately because JetBlue is the major domestic line at my airport)

Menu pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the cocktail menu, but you could get them (included in fare). Considering that our flight took off at 6:30AM, that was not happening!

Welcome snack was a (smushed) warm croissant. Husband had an iced cappuccino and I had a sparkling water with mint and cucumber from the non photoed cocktail page

I got the blueberries, avocado toast and yogurt. The syrup on the blueberries was too sweet but when I drained them out of the syrup and mixed them into the non sweetened yogurt they were tasty. I was just grateful for the fresh fruit. The avocado "toast" was actually really spicy! I was surprised. That chili oil was not needed.

Husband was brave and got the french toast and bacon (neither of us were brave enough to try the poached egg haha). He said that it was the best meal he has ever had on a plane, and he flies first and/or business class to Europe regularly for work (well, he did pre-pandemic) so that is saying something. It is still plane food though 🙂

gfweb · May 22, 2022

31 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

Breakfast on JetBlue Mint. (The flight took off on time! I really, really hope they get it together and fix whatever is going on with them lately because JetBlue is the major domestic line at my airport)

Menu pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the cocktail menu, but you could get them (included in fare). Considering that our flight took off at 6:30AM, that was not happening!

Welcome snack was a (smushed) warm croissant. Husband had an iced cappuccino and I had a sparkling water with mint and cucumber from the non photoed cocktail page

I got the blueberries, avocado toast and yogurt. The syrup on the blueberries was too sweet but when I drained them out of the syrup and mixed them into the non sweetened yogurt they were tasty. I was just grateful for the fresh fruit. The avocado "toast" was actually really spicy! I was surprised. That chili oil was not needed.

Husband was brave and got the french toast and bacon (neither of us were brave enough to try the poached egg haha). He said that it was the best meal he has ever had on a plane, and he flies first and/or business class to Europe regularly for work (well, he did pre-pandemic) so that is saying something. It is still plane food though 🙂

That looks way better than the dreck that AA serves lately.

Katie Meadow · May 22, 2022

I'm sure I'm not alone, but until last June we racked up a lot of pandemic miles on our Alaska Air card. They partner now with American, so when we flew last month we found a nonstop American flight from SFO to Charlotte and we used miles to fly first class. Coming and going the meals served to us were inedible. Not worth taking off my mask for. But the seats were comfy, everyone was friendly (okay, the bar is low for that, since my definition of friendly is really "lunatic free"), both flights left on time and I wore my N95 despite new regulations taking effect on the return flight. I made it home Covid free, which is really my goal every time I leave my house.

rotuts · May 22, 2022

@Katie Meadow

"lunatic free" excellent !

Covid free, which is really my goal every time I leave my house.

my standard for some time.

AlaMoi · May 22, 2022

1980 thru 2015 I did an outrageous amount of flying. mostly international.

I often cited my "occupation" as "professional airplane seat tester"

my normal routes were Phila to Frankfurt (Germany) with the odd London/change/Nordic destination or Amsterdam...

during those times, BA was absolutely tops (business class) - creature comfort and food service.

LH was tolerable - but schedules indicated stopping in Boston, and LH never ever got off the ground on time in Boston.

working all day, flying all night, a 2-3-4 hour Boston departure really made arrival behavior miserable....

but - everything has changed. what was true has morphed into legend - what is true: they're all terrible.

kayb · May 23, 2022

Never traveled enough to have much of an opinion on airline food. But I have fond memories of SWA’s peanuts.

liamsaunt · June 6, 2022

Here is the JetBlue Mint menu for the return trip. Options:

I don't know what the welcome snack was--we were not offered anything. Rose and sparkling water pours. Both were unlimited if you wanted.

Lots of fish on the menu, as you can see. I always think fish is an odd choice for airplane meals, but there was no avoiding it. I went with the beet salad, the mahi caesar, and the Jamaican vegetable stew

The stew was extremely sweet and unappealing. I did not eat the mahi on the caesar. The beet salad was pretty good.

Husband got the snapper plus the mahi and the beet salad. He said the mahi on the salad was fine flavor wise but very overcooked. The snapper was "OK."

The best thing was actually the dessert--carrot cake

Side order of Vieques

AlaMoi · June 6, 2022

Fish is actually one of the more better options for airline food, methinks.

since everything on a plane is "reheated" - fish dishes can be "pre-constructed" such that the reheat cooks the fish "perfectly."

example: salmon 'steak' comes out very nice - par-baked, kept at a known temp, reheated at a known temp for a known time . . .

much hard to reheat red meats - and chicken is the worst for reheating to edible . . .

KennethT · June 6, 2022

2 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

Fish is actually one of the more better options for airline food, methinks.

since everything on a plane is "reheated" - fish dishes can be "pre-constructed" such that the reheat cooks the fish "perfectly."

example: salmon 'steak' comes out very nice - par-baked, kept at a known temp, reheated at a known temp for a known time . . .

much hard to reheat red meats - and chicken is the worst for reheating to edible . . .

Interesting - I never thought about it that way. I always assumed that fish would be overcooked...

But, what you're saying reminds me that on several occasions on a couple different airlines (Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways) I had seafood with low expectations but wound up being perfectly cooked.... squid and shrimp... so you might be on to something.

KennethT · December 23, 2022

Currently en route to Penang, Malaysia via Singapore on Singapore Airlines. It's currently 3:30PM NY time but I feel like it's 3AM as it's been a ridiculously stressful week. So much so that basically the first time I've had to research food is by renting wifi on the plane!

Anyway, lunch for me was stir fried chicken with ginger and scallions, served with rice, Chinese broccoli and carrots. "appetizer was a smoked chicken salad with orzo and dill. All quite tasty. A snack of "margherita pizza" is up next.

Vanilla flavored ice cream.

Somewhere over Normandy, France

Duvel · December 23, 2022

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Currently en route to Penang, Malaysia via Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

Lucky, lucky you 🤗

blue_dolphin · December 23, 2022

Bon voyage, @KennethT! I wish you and your wife a fabulous trip and look forward to hearing every food related detail whenever you have time, which I rather hope is when you return home!

JoNorvelleWalker · December 23, 2022

4 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Bon voyage, @KennethT! I wish you and your wife a fabulous trip and look forward to hearing every food related detail whenever you have time, which I rather hope is when you return home!

...and a few non-food related details.

**Shelby** · December 23, 2022

Have a great trip!

KennethT · December 23, 2022

Currently over Turkey... With some crisps

**ElsieD** · December 23, 2022

I'm looking forward to reading about your trip!

KennethT · December 23, 2022

And now for a snack that's a little more local....

Holy crap this was tasty! Dried anchovies, onion, chilli and garlic in a slightly sweet yeast roll.

gfweb · December 23, 2022

@KennethT I'm expecting great things.

KennethT · December 24, 2022

Dinner was served.... Stir fried prawns with yu choi and carrots. Appetizer was a decent smoked salmon with dilled potato salad and a brownie with caramel sauce.

heidih · December 24, 2022

What made me laugh on my Cathay Pacific flight LAX/Hong Kong/Singapore was the cup of noodles open bar. Oh gosh after nice food you might need a top up an hour later - when ya think we'd be sleeping- there was a line

lemniscate · December 24, 2022

15 hours ago, KennethT said:

Currently over Turkey... With some crisps

OK! I love Keogh's chips. I get them at Cost Plus World Market. The crinkled balsamic vinegar are the best to me. Then the sweet chili followed by the sour cream chive ones. There's an onion steak flavor, but I don't think it's amazing. Nice to see as part of your airline food.

KennethT · December 25, 2022

We should land in about an hour, then a 3 hour layover during which we need to go through immigration and get our bags to change airlines to get to Penang. We'll also get dinner, even though we were just served this 20 minutes ago:

KennethT · January 1, 2023

Singapore Airlines Penang to Singapore... Even though the flight is barely an hour long, they felt compelled to offer a snack with a drink. I was surprised to see my old friend Old Chang Kee. The preboxed version isn't nearly as good as what you get at their stand, and personally I'd rather get the prawn or crab nuggets.