Airline Food: The Topic

[Malawry]

Some of these are fascinating. I loved the images from the Concorde, Bangkok Air and of course Japan Air Lines.

[Malawry]

Double trouble post.

Edited January 28, 2004 by Malawry (log)

[Jeffy Boy]

Some of the stuff is just frightening. Canadian airlines are the absolute worst.

No argument that the quality of food on North America has gone down the dumper, but have you BEEN on a flight in the US lately? At least in Canada they still serve something. My last several flights in the US have offered nothing but those little "mystery baked and seasoned dough knobules" in a foil packet.

[Marlene]

Some of the stuff is just frightening. Canadian airlines are the absolute worst.

There is only one airline in Canada Well, ok, there are a couple of smaller regional ones. Air Canada manages to put itself out when flying on an international flight. Some of that food isn't that bad. But on short hauls to the US, I'll just take the dry roasted cashews they offer rather than the "breakfast wrap" whatever that is

Oh and they still use plastic knives in first class on Air Canada, although I did notice on my flight to Chicago, that the plastic knives were of a sturdier variety than the usual white plastic ones

[Singapore]

Oh bugger. I'm flying America West to Vegas next week. Good thing I checked out that site! :::packs the MRE's:::

[Gifted Gourmet]

Ha'aretz article on airline food

Supposedly, airlines now are trying to make their food offerings more passenger friendly and appealing ... catering to individual needs ... they consult name chefs for ideas and appear to be making some effort (probably concerted, but difficult to ascertain) to offer more interesting inflight service.

Some airlines also serve special meals. For instance, El Al offers salt-free meals, meals for diabetes sufferers, dairy-free meals, gluten-free meals for celiac sufferers. A similar variety of special meals is offered on Air Canada.

Your opinion on which airline you have flown that serves excellent meals?

Or simply horrible meals?

Better on flights which are national or international?

The concept of charging extra for meals (after one has purchased a seat at no small expense)?

Of course, economy class is always less interesting foodwise than first or business, a given here ....

I have enjoyed the food service on Virgin Airways the most .. Lufthansa? the least. Continental international service is not half bad really. I live in Delta's homebase so most of my flights are with them, and their food is not good in any respect, in my opinion.

How about you?

Perfect website for airline meals! I especially enjoy the pictures of foods on planes in the 70's, 80', 90's, etc.

It is a marvelously entertaining website (especially the pictures with the customers' ratings and comments for each meal by airline!).

Best when viewed from the safety of one's home and in the proximity to one's own kitchen!

Edited July 5, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[McDuff]

Now, that link was interesting. I'm flying to London on Sept 1, but I still might pull a Craig Claiborne. Do they let smoked salmon through security?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Do they let smoked salmon through security?

If the smoked salmon is:

(a) not actually smoking a Marlboro

(b) if the salmon is not holding any nail clippers

© if the salmon first removes its sneakers

(d) if the salmon shows a picture ID

Answer? Choose one, or all of the above ...

Glad you enjoyed the website!

[wattacetti]

Your opinion on which airline you have flown that serves excellent meals?

Or simply horrible meals?

Better on flights which are national or international?

Let's see… I've flown Air Canada, Lufthansa, EVA, United, and American in the last calendar year.

Forget the US carriers: apart from absolving responsibility for you if something goes wrong, United's idea of a meal from Chicago to San Diego was half a banana. American had drinks.

Air Canada's international service is better than domestic in both business class and economy, and Pacific routes are better than the Atlantic crossing. I've had a very nice duck, shrimp with thai noodles, and filet mignon. Fish seems to be consistently problematic. For domestic, meals are served on longer-haul flights (e.g. Montreal to Vancouver), with the best ones recently being the Calgary-Toronto run (a surprisingly good cold beef salad). Several flights have sandwiches or Swiss Chalet for purchase, though those seem to be mostly the runs to Newfoundland, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Lufthansa code-shares with Air Canada across the Atlantic, and it seems to only do charcuterie within Europe (beer and wine as part of breakfast still doesn't work for me).

EVA: economy-plus and business class are great. Mix of International and Taiwanese cuisine (depending on meal), and quite tasty. They're also quite liberal with the Midori.

[NulloModo]

I have flown on Southwest, United, American, Delta, and possibly a couple others as connectors. None of these have been in any way impressive with regards to food, but at least United had decent personal entertainment options, and offered free Heinekens on a trans-Atlantic flight.

A good friend of mine has flown all of these as well as Air Italia and British Airways. He was apparently very impressed by British Airways, and would rather hitchhike through Europe that step aboard an Air Italia plane again.

I have also heard from friends that Midwest Express is by far the best airline out there right now with regards to how they treat their customers, the accompaniments of the coach section, and the general plane meals.

[mags]

Cathay Pacific is way better than any other carrier I've ever flown.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Cathay Pacific is way better than any other carrier I've ever flown.

Service? Food? Menu?

[mags]

Service is fine, I guess, but hasn't left any impression. The food has been really, REALLY good. Freshly steamed dumplings, six kinds of dim sum for breakfast, menus developed by the restaurant at the Peninsula (a very good HK hotel). I also have a dim memory of a snack of delicious Thai chicken soup. At this point, I mostly don't eat on planes, because the food is so horrible (except for the stuff like Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Mrs. Field's cookies...which I don't want to be eating). Overcooked vegetables, glutinous gravy, sugary salad dressing...unless I'm going to the other side of the planet, I just don't bother. But I'm very glad Cathay is there for when I AM going to the other side of the planet.

[wattacetti]

Cathay Pacific is way better than any other carrier I've ever flown.

Really? I was on a CX flight about 2 years ago and it was not very different than Air Canada. Of the Asian carriers, I'd say that Singapore Airlines and EVA both have CX beat on both meals and service.

[Alex]

I have also heard from friends that Midwest Express is by far the best airline out there right now with regards to how they treat their customers, the accompaniments of the coach section, and the general plane meals.

That may well be true for their regular flights, but they've gotten chintzier on their Midwest Connect (i.e., smaller market) flights: No more warm chocolate chip cookies!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Speaking of chintzier, I was appalled when Delta Airlines, due to financial considerations, eliminated the iceberg lettuce leaf from their sandwiches to save money ... didn't hit me until, at 70,00 feet, my sandwich seemed "empty" ...

[Alex]

Speaking of chintzier, I was appalled when Delta Airlines, due to financial considerations, eliminated the iceberg lettuce leaf from their sandwiches to save money ... didn't hit me until, at 70,00 feet, my sandwich seemed "empty" ...

70,000?! I wanna be on that plane!

[mags]

Cathay Pacific is way better than any other carrier I've ever flown.

Really? I was on a CX flight about 2 years ago and it was not very different than Air Canada. Of the Asian carriers, I'd say that Singapore Airlines and EVA both have CX beat on both meals and service.

I've been very happy with the food on Cathay, and also on Dragon Air, which they own. But I've heard really good things about the food on Singapore Air, though I've never flown with them.

[Susan G]

Singapore Airlines has great food - the garlic prawns in coach class stand out memorably - and plenty of snacks.

I recently flew American Airlines coach class from Chicago to Rome eastbound, and business class westbound, and I was shocked! shocked! at how different the amount and quality of food is between the two classes.

Business class gets appoximately five times the *amount* of food coach class does.

When my coach class dinner "meal" was two ounces of chicken in gravy over oily noodles, two ounces of limp green beans, a hard roll and margerine, and a small square of tiramisu and a beverage.............dinner in business class had port,(gratis), amuse gueles, a cheese course with fig jam, very fresh fruit salad, salmon filet with lemon pepper, warmed rolls passed every fifteen minutes, etc.......and then hot fudge sundaes made by your chair.

I tell ya, it made me very "class" concious!

[mags]

That may be the difference. I've only ever flown Cathay busy class.

I remember the first time an editor called me and wanted me to go to Asia for a story. I said "I have two words for you: Business Class." He thought I wanted the free booze, but what I really wanted was the footrest.

[Brad Ballinger]

To make a generalization (but one that has some basis in fact), if you fly coach, forget about good food. The good stuff is in business class and first class. And that's who the airlines are trying to please with their menus. They don't care what the passenger in coach thinks about the food.

[beans]

This thread may be of some interest.

[enrevanche]

Once, and once only, I flew first class to Europe. I was bumped from coach on an overbooked flight, and missed the next one too through a series of snafus at the airport, and a sympathetic airline representative hooked me up with a great seat on the next available flight.

It was an Air France flight to Paris, and the food and service were just spectacular. It started with dry champagne while we were still on the runway, and it just got better from there.

I would never pay with my own money for a first class seat, though. The cost difference between first class and coach would buy me ten great meals in Paris (for example) and a few bottles of wine besides. I can put up with some discomfort and unpleasantness for eight hours or so for that kind of money, and clearly that's what most airlines deliver these days to their coach passengers.

[Busboy]

Once, and once only, I flew first class to Europe. I was bumped from coach on an overbooked flight, and missed the next one too through a series of snafus at the airport, and a sympathetic airline representative hooked me up with a great seat on the next available flight.

It was an Air France flight to Paris, and the food and service were just spectacular. It started with dry champagne while we were still on the runway, and it just got better from there.

I would never pay with my own money for a first class seat, though. The cost difference between first class and coach would buy me ten great meals in Paris (for example) and a few bottles of wine besides. I can put up with some discomfort and unpleasantness for eight hours or so for that kind of money, and clearly that's what most airlines deliver these days to their coach passengers.

I've had the good fortune to fly business class -- "espace d'affaires" -- on Air France recently and it's a very different way of airline dining. It starts with the two kinds of champagne in the business class lounge -- pink or white -- and ends with a cheese course featuring real French cheese. Not everything is perfect, but you can use your experience to steer away from obvious losers -- fish, say - and stick to what looks likely to transport best. Of course, there are three or four types of red and white wine and, on the U.S.-bound flights they just leave a bottle of champagne open in the galley so you can help yourself. Last time I flew AF, my wife looked at me on the connecting flight to Nice and said, with mock dismay, "foie gras again?"

AF has a code-sharing arrangement with Delta and I caught thaqt flight once. The meal prepared in the U.S. for the France-bound flight was unimpressive, right down to the mystery cheese at the end, but the Paris-based caterer did a reasonably impresssive job. Domestically, I think Delta's most important recent innovation has been to stop serving food on flights less than -- I don't know, nine hours? -- thus sparing passengers the pain of eating it.

Olympic Airline's food sucks, but then, they're about to go under.

When I'm spending my own money for a long flight across the ocean, my favorite thing to eat for dinner is an Ambien, which knocks you out until you get to Europe, where a decent meal can almost always be found.

[enrevanche -- looked for you Friday night at the Village Vanguard, but you must have been at another club....]

[Schneier]

To make a generalization (but one that has some basis in fact), if you fly coach, forget about good food. The good stuff is in business class and first class. And that's who the airlines are trying to please with their menus. They don't care what the passenger in coach thinks about the food.

Agreed. If you're flying Coach, bring your own food.

On American carriers, Business Class is what Coach used to be. I fly Business Class across the oceans a lot, and while the food is never very good it's rarely actively bad. And there is enough to make a meal. First class can be very nice on American carriers.

Asian carriers serve far better food in all classes, and some European carriers are also pretty good. I've flown British Air business class on long flights, and was not impressed.

Face it, you're not there for the food. You know it, and they know it.

Bruce