Airline Food: The Topic

[joey madison]

Having spent an ungodly amount of time on planes lately, I thought I'd chip in my two cents.

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Thanks. The crucial question: What class were you in?

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I was in coach in all cases... except Midwest Airlines, which only has once class, which I suppose is closer to business than coach.

[bottom-dragger]

When I used to commute between San Diego and Dublin  I got in the habit of ordering the kosher meals. They always seem to have been made with a bit more care, although I would not go as far as saying that it was good.

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ick, gak, bleah. i was flying british and two women next to me had ordered kosher. i've had better c-rats and mre's. the meals came packed in tins with a message that said that these meals were good for upto 3 years and were not fresh because the airlines was not able to respond timely to a request for kosher.

i always order the fish when flying out of seattle. no where else.

joe

petersburg, alaska

[wlg]

Re: fish on planes. I used to subscribe to the fish option when there was a choice of specifying ahead of time. That turned out well enough on one flight when they'd neglected to pack a fish meal for coach, and the flight attendant filched me a business class meal of salmon with the fixings. The next time, however, I was served a lump of completely overcooked fish. The fish itself wasn't off-flavored, just absolutely overdone. According to the flight attendant, the temperature of the heating ovens varies from plane to plane, and rarely is a poorly-calibrated oven reported to mainentance. When it is, it is often at the bottom of the priority list for repair before the plane is turned around. Her recommendation was to specify a fruit plate, because that was the toughest thing for anyone to screw up.

[NewYorkTexan]

I think there has been a noticeable decline in the overall quality of airline food over the past three years as the airlines look to squeeze more costs out of the business.

The other day I was bumped from business class on a shanghai to San Francisco flight and experience the most frightening of food experiences. Even in economy you hope to have something that passes for edible eats during this 11 hour flight.

First meal service, chicken (at least that was what it was labeled) in a generic brown sauce served on a bed of undercooked rice. This was accompanied by a wilted lettuce salad and a piece overly sweet sheet cake.

Second meal service consisted of a bowl of Raman noodles and a green banana. It was surreal to watch the attendants going down the aisles with pitchers of boiling water to fill up your Styrofoam bowl. I have nothing against the raman noodles, but these sucked!

third meal service was yogurt and a piece of cardboard masquerading as a danish.

It has been a while since I have flown economy class on international flights, but this meal service was unconscionable. On a side note, the economy plus seats on United gives you plenty of leg room. Thankfully I had time before my connecting flight to get a decent breakfast at Lori's Dinner in the international terminal. Good hasbrowns at the airport...what a nice surprise.

On the outbound flight, the business class meal service was good, unspectacular but good.

Does anyone have experience with the meals available for purchase that several airlines are starting to offer? I have yet to buy one of those meals, but they look like an upgrade over standard meal options on domestic flights.

[spaghetttti]

Finally stateside after a grueling Jakarta- Seoul 6 hour flight + Seoul - Washington, DC 14 hour flight. I'm probably incoherent, but here is one of the more edible meals on coach Korean Air.

[Marlene]

Even in Business class, United Air's food sucked at least on state to state flights. Air Canada is doing better with their business class meals, although they've now instituted a policy of paying for your meals in economy class on flights three hours or less.

I still think my meal on British Airways first class was the best meal I've ever had on any airline.

[rooftop1000]

I havent flown all that much but it has included Al Italia in the early 80s it was ok Peoples Express mid 80s nice "stuffed sandwich" ( baked with opeing in one end of roll) turkey vinaigrett sprouts... but Cayman Air early 90s breakfast...GC to Kennedy swiss cheese omlette blueberry muffin fresh fruit sausage juice or rum punch...damn good

tracey

[Pan]

You actually liked the food on People Express? I'm surprised, because I remember its cheap, no-frills flights as its selling point.

[CharityCase]

Air Canada Domestic Flights in coach (Ottawa - Vancouver, Ottawa-Halifax, Ottawa _ Calgary as examples) are generally ok. Last time I flew I selected a Special Meal when booking my ticket online. Tere's an astounding array of choices both religious and dietary. I opted for Hindu non-Vegetarian. On the way there I was served overcooked salmon and extremely greasy eggplant. On the way back though, I received a fairly good chicken dish...don't recall the details offhand. I had flown Tango and thus was in Coach. For the price of the ticket I thought it was ok.

But...

Nothing could compare to The Malaysian Airlines Flight I took a few years ago (someone else here had taken the same route: L.A. to Taipei to Kuala Lumpur). The morning Dim Sum, the superb tempura. Really, an excellent meal with excellent service, and considering it was the most affordable flight for me from Vancouver to India!

[rajsuman]

There was a time when I used to love air-travel, but travelling with small children has changed that. Now the only thing I look forward to are the meals. They may be bad, they may be good - the fun part is the anticipation. I know this site will be of interest to quite a few of you :

http://www.airlinemeals.net/index.html

Suman

[Palladion]

Usually, I have fun anticipating just how bad the airline meal is going to be. Wondering whether or not it will be truky able to reach a new low, or whether it will merely be terrible.

Though I must say I was rather impressed with the dinner served on a Thai Airways international flight on which I flew.

------

Alex Parker

[Chris Amirault]

Having had a previous job that required long international flights, I can tell you that coach=bad food and wine and business- or first-class=quite good food and wine. If you've had both, you know what I mean....

[spaghetttti]

I know what you mean. However, although Business Class in Singapore Airlines was lovely, SQ served quite alright in Coach as well.

[Gastro888]

Airline food in the coach section normally bites the big one, however, British Airways isn't too bad. Neither is Cathay Pacific. My friend who's been in first class on BA says the food's quite good in that section. When I get my sugar daddy, I'll know for sure!

The worse food I've ever had was on Air China (the offical government airline of China, natch). Oh.My.God. Or more appropriately: Ai-friggin'-ya!!!! It was terrible. This unidentifiable brown meat glop atop of mushy rice with some limp pickles on the side. Great way to usher in my mom's first trip back home!

[Dani Mc]

I gave up on airline food long ago. I bring trail mix to nibble on whenever I'm jostled out of my free booze coma. There is just no reason to stay awake on an international flight.

Having said that, the times I've been upgraded, I do make a point to try to stay awake for the meal. Best Meal Ever was in first on BA. Nice menu to choose from, and you can order whenever you like.

[Jammin]

i've read a lot of your opinions on fish meals on planes and i absolutely would agree. so, here's my question.

what are your experiences with SUSHI on your (presumably asia) flights? business or coach? go for it or keep away?

[*Deborah*]

I seldom fly any more, but two years ago I went First on a UA/AC codeshare (on United) Vancouver/LAX and I have no recollection of the food service (snack, I think), since they happily poured me about 8 fingers of bourbon in two drinks. Happily I was not driving at the other end.

The return flight was on AC and kind of meh IIRC; of course it's not usually as much fun coming home regardless. What really cheesed me off was that I had to pay for my liquor at the United lounge at LAX pre-flight. I'm not accustomed to that at Business Class lounges. I find on Air Canada "Executive First" that you get lots of shrimp, and decent food...I mean I don't fly to eat or anything, but I can stand it. There is usally an acceptable selection of wine/liquor, as well.

A year ago, I flew AC Executive First Vancouver/LHR, and that was something else! It was my first video-on-demand experience, which was fun. My seatmate was a lovely lovely older gentleman who told me about piloting for AC after the (Second World) War and we both had a very nice Bordeaux, and lots of it. Dinner was also more than edible, which I never expect although always hope for. IIRC, there was a nice piece of beef and some noodles, nicely prepared.

Upon arrival, I had a few hours to kill before my flight on to Dublin, and had a shower and a cuppa and some yogourt in the arrivals lounge, which was a lovesome thing indeed. The service (?) on Ryanair to Dublin was....a little different. I think they tossed us a pop; of course it's a short flight.

My flight home afterward was on Lufthansa. I have had good and mediocre experiences on LH in Business; I find the cabin crew treat you much much better if you toss a little Hochdeutsch their way. I made the mistake, when checking in at LHR, of not speaking German to the snippy Fraülein, and didn't notice till afterwards that she had moved my (reserved but frequent flyer miles) seat from the front of Business (since I had a short connection at Frankfurt) to the very last row, where the seat didn't even recline. Business was less than half full. Teach me to check in before coffee.

The flight from Frankfurt to Vancouver featured their brand-new (that was the first flight on that route, I think) lie-down beds with a little privacy screen, cute amenity pack (although I had too much to carry to bring it with me, which I normally love to do), and decent food again. It was not as good as the Air Canada flight out, though, as I find I can't remember a thing about it. Our video screens were not working properly, but I was so tired that I slept much of the flight, and thank God for my iPod. From their website, Lufthansa like so many airlines has been consulting with known chefs to make a nice food and wine experience for their Business (and especially First) passengers. But I suppose I am spoiled. Still, anything that tastes of more than cardboard is welcome on an airplane. Lufthansa also serves a lot of seafood in Business; almost always shrimp and smoked salmon, in my experience. I try not to eat too much salt on a flight, but sometimes the menu defeats me.

I am heading back to LA next month on Air Canada, and returning on Alaska Air from Palm Springs; my fingers are crossed that it will be First, and I will make a note of the meal service (if there is any ) and report back.

[Vancouver]

what are your experiences with SUSHI on your (presumably asia) flights?  business or coach?  go for it or keep away?

I've had decent sushi on JAL when departing from Tokyo to Vancouver in business class. JAL to Tokyo generally doesn't offer it at all.

Had very good sushi Kansai style pressed sushi on Cathay pacific from of all places Seoul to Taipei in first class. That was a surprise - particularly for such a short flight. Apparently the plane started off in Osaka, flew to Taipei, then flew to Seoul, and then was returning. Cathay also has had good sushi (for an airline) on the Hong Kong to London and Hong Kong to Vancouver routes in first class. They frequently have complementary sashimi and sushi in the Wing Lounge in Hong Kong as well. But I tend towards their noodle soups there, which are a bit better.

Have fun!

[Vancouver]

By the way - I was reminded by reading over this thread of my worst airline food experience as well. It was an Aeroflot red-eye flight from Moscow, Russia to Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The plane had a broken galley, so they improvised and took roasted chickens and ripped them apart and placed chunks into a plastic bag with a hunk of bread. The flight attendant walked down the aisle carrying about 10 bags in each hand and just dropped one on each person's lap. Luck of the draw I actually got a chicken thigh. The person sitting next to me got the neck with almost no meat. The 2nd time they came around with the non-disposable water glasses I realized that they probably hadn't been washed. Joy joy joy!

Cheers!

[jrichman]

A great website for airline food is http://airlinemeals.net/index.html

Enjoy!

[sarah w]

Found this website earlier, thought you may fine it interesting

http://www.airlinemeals.net/

Cheers

Sarah

[Pontormo]

This is terrific!

I am not sure if there has been a discussion of the topic before, so please add a link to an earlier thread if there is one.

However, does anyone have a story about a memorable meal served on an airplane?

Does anyone make or assemble special treats or meals to bring on board when the prospect of peanuts does thrill, or when the flight is very long and chocolate and a great novel, for example, seems like a good idea?

[Grub]

There's an airline named after a Formula-1 driver, who was horribly disfigured in a crash -- Alda-, Aldan Air, something -- I don't recall (it just kinda struck me that it didn't really inspire confidence in me, to be flying on an airline run/operated/named after a guy who wound his car around a flagpole and ended up looking like the Extra Crispy Kentucky Fried Elephant Man, ya know? Oh, but I digress...)

I caught a flight with them from Germany to Austria, and boya, they had some fancy food there. This was business-class -- which isn't at all like US business-class of course (same seats, just different colors), but the food is different from coach (or Euroclass or whatever it was called).

The flight was a very short one, so it wasn't much more than a snack. But it was very artistic and elegant.

Other than that, I've always wanted to bring along a giant, economy, family-sized gargantuan bag of pretzels on a short flight where everyone gets a free soda and a stupidly small bag of pretzels... I'd not eat my mini bag of pretzels at all -- perhaps someone would ask if I was gonna eat my pretzels, and I'd say nope. Then someone else would eat my mini bag of pretzels. And then after everyone's done eating their pretzels -- and they're prying out the last fragments, and salt crystals from the bag, and some of them have ripped open their bags and started licking the insides to get at the last itty bitty pieces -- then, I'd take my giant bag of pretzels out from the overhead compartment, and start stuffing my face with 'em, like fistfulls of pretzels, pieces of pretzels going everywhere. I envision myself making oink-oink sounds while gorging on pretzels, rolling my eyes and groaning, like it's the best meal I've ever had.

That's what I wanna do. I ain't dared to do it yet, tho.

[Cucina]

Check out this blog of a guy trying to rack up frequent flyer miles on Air Canada.. Includes airline food reviews along with a few pics of favorites like the fruit plate and the pot roast.

[lesfen]

Found this website earlier, thought you may fine it interesting

http://www.airlinemeals.net/

Cheers

Sarah

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Wow... this is addictive.