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Airline Food: The good, the bad and the ugly

David Ross

By David Ross
in Food Traditions & Culture

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liamsaunt

liamsaunt

Posted
Posted

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!

 

IMG_0229.thumb.jpg.ce64b42bb4bcebc1543d1e9661c0071e.jpg

 

IMG_0230.thumb.jpg.518dda3aaaebaaafda81671ea70d9366.jpg

 

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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

 

IMG_0232.thumb.jpg.3bc6498d8433611286195ae38df30dc1.jpg

 

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.

 

IMG_0233.thumb.jpg.ceb8588c014bb2ae353f0406b76d5fcf.jpg

 

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 🙂 

 

IMG_0235.thumb.jpg.5b37da64eabfa5148922d09f17689ee3.jpg

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
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!

 

IMG_0229.thumb.jpg.ce64b42bb4bcebc1543d1e9661c0071e.jpg

 

IMG_0230.thumb.jpg.518dda3aaaebaaafda81671ea70d9366.jpg

 

IMG_0231.thumb.jpg.612665152858db9d92ac107daab7e2e1.jpg

 

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

 

IMG_0232.thumb.jpg.3bc6498d8433611286195ae38df30dc1.jpg

 

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.

 

IMG_0233.thumb.jpg.ceb8588c014bb2ae353f0406b76d5fcf.jpg

 

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 🙂 

 

IMG_0235.thumb.jpg.5b37da64eabfa5148922d09f17689ee3.jpg

 

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

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

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.  

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

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.

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  • 2 weeks later...
liamsaunt

liamsaunt

Posted
Posted

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

 

 

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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.

 

mintwine.thumb.jpg.2431599a95d29a92fcf9f84b81826d31.jpg

 

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

 

mintveggie.thumb.jpg.eaa1d185fd71d0f406c7a70d2b1c1b1c.jpg

 

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."

 

mintsnapper.thumb.jpg.558e3b1d2d9892c03348933a09abbb2d.jpg

 

The best thing was actually the dessert--carrot cake

 

1102768083_mintcarrotcake.thumb.jpg.6385e78cd0d344d57338ea9ce05fb442.jpg

 

Side order of Vieques

 

mintvieques.thumb.jpg.b590904becdb41c4dca10ccd5a301017.jpg

 

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

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 . . .

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
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.

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  • 6 months later...
KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

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.

 

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Vanilla flavored ice cream.

 

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Somewhere over Normandy, France

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
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.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

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

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lemniscate

lemniscate

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, KennethT said:

Currently over Turkey... With some crisps

 

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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.

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

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:

 

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PXL_20221224_074558618.thumb.jpg.275b1c6e317d08172a14ab808cc29627.jpg

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
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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.

 

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There were 2 of these in the box.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

PHL-ATL-OGG and back  on Delta.

 

I was able to get spare ribs on both legs. They do better with in-flight warm-up and can take over cooking.

 

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The dates were nice

 

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"smokehouse" spare rib and a square of potato gratin.  Way overdone on the smoke flavoring

 

 

 

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Mushrooms maybe?  Woody and gross

 

 

 

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Asian-ish spare rib...very nice. Panna cotta with grapes tossed-in, Mystery white stuff in a salad...truly stumped on this.

 

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But the weirdly purple roll was way stale

 

 

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Breakfast bread pudding with tough Hawaiian sausages. I couldn't determine what that yellow stuff is peeking out from behind the roll.

 

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