Airline Food: The good, the bad and the ugly

[shain]

@chefmd How were the cocktails? I'm flying with United this weekend.

[chefmd]

6 minutes ago, shain said:

@chefmd How were the cocktails? I'm flying with United this weekend.

Really good especially the Smoky negroni.  

[shain]

2 minutes ago, chefmd said:

Really good especially the Smoky negroni.  

 

Thanks! That's good to know, I like a good negroni, never had one with mezcal.

[chefmd]

Flying to Tokyo, there was an option for Asian meal.

 

and regular meal for DH

[chefmd]

2 minutes ago, shain said:

 

Thanks! That's good to know, I like a good negroni, never had one with mezcal.

I like it too.  Also my first time for mezcal and I liked it a lot.  They used Del Maguey Vuda

[chefmd]

On 11/19/2018 at 12:35 AM, ElsieD said:

Nor have I, but then I'm usually in the cheap seats so no access to these clubs/lounges.

My husband travels a lot for work so ve use miles and upgrades to go on vacation.  Especially for long flights.  

[MetsFan5]

Thanks for the info and pictures! EWR is my “Home” airport so I will definitely check the new lounge out. 

 

Your DH’s meal looks really good too. 

[MetsFan5]

Another doozy C/O United. I ate the salad. And then I remembered the romaine recall and really hope I don’t get sick. 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2018 by MetsFan5 (log)

[chefmd]

Flying back home to Washington DC from Tokyo Narita airport.  I had high expectations for ANA lounge, but alas, it was sad looking.  One of the sandwiches was labeled “potato”, it had mashed potatoes between slices of bread.

[chefmd]

United club at Narita had better food by comparison.

 

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, chefmd said:

Flying back home to Washington DC from Tokyo Narita airport.  I had high expectations for ANA lounge, but alas, it was sad looking.  One of the sandwiches was labeled “potato”, it had mashed potatoes between slices of bread.

 

 

 

Kind of a quasi-pierogy, I suppose.

Actually, out in Alberta pierogy pizza is a thing. Mashed potatoes, bacon bits, caramelized onions, etc. I've never had one myself, but I can see how it would work once you get past the actual idea of it.

 

Hmmm. Google tells me this is fairly common in the American midwest, as well, especially around Pittsburgh. So I guess this isn't news to a lot of you.

[LanaZoldberg]

We were pleasantly surprised with the meals served during the flight with Qatar Airlines!

And overall servise was excellent.... 

 

[liamsaunt]

Reporting from further back in the plane 😉  I can say that the food in steerage continues to not be so good.  Here is British Airways to London in "World Traveller Plus" (basically, premium economy).  I ordered an Asian vegetarian meal.  Behold...

 

 

So on the left, well, I am not sure.  It kind of tasted like falafel, but with curry sauce.  To the right, okra and cauliflower curry.  Naan and a random roll.  Dessert was galub jamun.  This meal was basically inedible with way too much salt but I was not hungry having eaten before getting on the plane so no big deal.  

 

On the way back, I switched to a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal out of consideration for the people around me who might not like curry scent.  I did not think of that for the flight over.  Here it is:

 

 

This is the same vegetarian meal they offer in business class, though I am sure it is presented in a nicer way.  It's supposed to be ricotta gnudi.  Note the burned left side.  I saved the calories and made an omelet when I got home 🙂  

[heidih]

I stick to Pringles and G & T ')

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

there are people who do not like the smell of curry ?

 

[blue_dolphin]

12 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Reporting from further back in the plane 😉  I can say that the food in steerage continues to not be so good.  Here is British Airways to London in "World Traveller Plus" (basically, premium economy).  I ordered an Asian vegetarian meal.  Behold...

 

 

This reminds me of a time, back in the '80s, when after traveling to several meetings with colleagues from India, my meal preferences were somehow recorded by several airlines to match my friends':  Hindu Vegetarian.  

Even when traveling on my own, I'd be served that meal and since meals were served on most longer flights, it happened pretty often.  I don't remember ever getting curry though.  It was more often a haphazard mix of the non-meat components of the normal meal plus extra slices of bread, cheese, hard boiled eggs and random pieces of fruit.  

I never  bothered  to call and request the change by phone so that preference followed me for years until sometime in the '90's when it became possible to access that info on websites.  

I think I left it because it was often entertaining to watch the flight attendants walking the aisles looking for the person getting the Hindu meal and never suspecting that it was me, who certainly didn't look the part 

[BeeZee]

Boy, it would be nice to know what the various options would get you on any given flight. I prefer vegetarian, but I don't eat eggs, so that meal option is often a problem for me. Being confined to my seat and surrounded by people having eggs (if a breakfast flight) is my own personal hell. I would welcome the smell of curry.

[gfweb]

On American you can pick your meal within 30 days of the flight

[rotuts]

I havent benn on a in a long long time

 

I don't miss it at all , esp now w the check in etc

 

most often for the last several years it was SW , and I brought my own sandwiches etc on board

 

I didn't mind , as the fares were so much cheaper than United / AA from BOS to SFO and detour.

 

this topic brought back fond memories :

 

I used to fly standby all the time from SFO to BOS.   

 

I never got bumped.   and I figured out how to get an actual seat by cheek in time.  w legroom.

 

the meals were Chicken or Beef , and the beef was filet mignon , green beans and a potato item.

 

from time to time , they had extra meals.  these were the Vietnam war days.  

 

people , younger , began treating the uniformed Marines a little huffily.  

 

 This I found to be misguided.  this is not a political statement

 

if you are that age group , and male , you will undertand that at the first lottery , my SS number turned out to be  4.

 

the Uniformed Marines got any extra meals from the United stewardess .  

 

I was of course , in cattle but it was much better back then  you can't imagine the tons of stuff I

 

Carried On , and the stewardess's help me cram it all in the overheads !

 

then I began to get an extra filet  from time to time.

 

the college unmniform at that time for me , in the Cold East

 

was an old Navy PeaCoat that you carefully selected near a Navy Base as they were sold by 

 

Ex-Navy Enlisted men.  they were to die for  ( no pun there ) and there were several Navy Bases in the Bay Area

 

maybe the stewardess 's saw me shovel my PeaCoat in the overhead bin.  can't say

 

I had a second Filet Mignon  3 out of my 6 trips a year   for the last two years of college

 

I didn't mind at all.

 

Though no young, but amusing,  Pinot Noir was offered.

 

and I still have that PeaCoat

 

BTW  I still have my Father's long Navy Winter Officers coat from WWII.  with real heavy brass USNavy buttons.

 

very little wear.  he served in the Pacific  for 4 years.

 

the Dept of the Navy , and esp the Marines  know a lot about " Fancy Dress "  for sure.

Edited December 12, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Boy, it would be nice to know what the various options would get you on any given flight. I prefer vegetarian, but I don't eat eggs, so that meal option is often a problem for me. Being confined to my seat and surrounded by people having eggs (if a breakfast flight) is my own personal hell. I would welcome the smell of curry.

 

Most of the airlines list the options on their websites, like this one on United. And if you google the name of the meal and the airline name, you can usually find a bunch of photos.

None of that is going to help keep the eggs away from your seat mates though 

Edited December 12, 2018 by blue_dolphin
forgot link (log)

[kayb]

I generally fly Southwest, and don't have nearly the occasion to fly as I once did. But I became quite a connoisseur of peanuts and pretzels!

 

I also discovered that (a) Starbucks has the best yogurt/fruit/granola parfait in most airports; (b) Paschal's in the departure area and in C Concourse in Atlanta is the best airport restaurant extant, followed by O'Brycki's at BWI and Pappadeux at Houston Bush. Nuts on Clark at Midway is the best snack shop.

[David Ross]

I've mentioned before that I worked in management for 28 years at Horizon Air which is the regional sister carrier of Alaska Airlines.  One thing we always prided our service on was that we served complimentary micro-brews with a focus on Pacific Northwest breweries.  Well I've been gone for three years now and I no longer fly but I saw on their website that they are serving the Ninkasi Ale right now on Horizon.  I'd say that's a pretty decent service for a regional flight along with the requisite bag of snack mix.

 

[David Ross]

Horizon Air was also the first airline to serve Starbucks.  Way back in the late 1980's, this fellow named Howard Schultz was starting a coffee company in Seattle and since we were a Seattle based company we linked up with Howard to serve his coffee onboard.  And we also served it free in the boarding areas.  I remember they had strict brewing standards for the coffee.  Passengers loved it from the start, especially since it was a Seattle company.  At the time every corner of your town wasn't bordered with drive in coffee stands.  Well we all know how the story of Starbucks has unfolded.  I love that piece of history.  But I don't love working in that stressful business!

[heidih]

I rarely fly. When I did the odd 5 day jaunt to Singapore on Cathay Pacific I admired the thoughtful food pesentation but what cracked me up completely was after the lights were dimmed you coud go and heat a Cup O' Noodles. I think many passengers found that the most comforting. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 hours ago, rotuts said:

I havent benn on a in a long long time

 

...

 

BTW  I still have my Father's long Navy Winter Officers coat from WWII.  with real heavy brass USNavy buttons.

 

very little wear.  he served in the Pacific  for 4 years.

 

the Dept of the Navy , and esp the Marines  know a lot about " Fancy Dress "  for sure.

 

 

Having not much to do with food except that I heard the story at a retirement party at the Institute where I once worked:

 

The honored retiree recounted how he first came to the US from Germany.  He had been told the weather in NY was cold.  He disembarked from the plane in the middle of a NY summer wearing his father's army issued coat from fighting on the Russian front.