A few weeks ago I flew from Lyon to Heathrow with The World's Favourite Airline (registered trademark)
When the sarnies were delivered I had a quick nosy and tossed it back into the bag in a huff.
The two people next to me also tossed theirs back in a huff.
I asked the extremely nice member of crew if she was aware of the contents of the sandwich at which point she laughed and said that the crew wouldn't eat it either.
Ah yes, I remember the good old British Rail sandwich. It was never actually full, but was presented with the filling at the front which didnt actually fill the contents of the entire sandwich. The Ham was usually so thin that it must have been sliced by an ex plastic surgeon, and the bread as begining to curl. Mind you when the fresh sandwich was put on at the start of the journey to Glasgow, it had far exceeded its sell by date upon arrival....
Location: The Burrow, N53:48:02 W1:48:57, The Tin Tent - EGBS, EGBO
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I certainly can! Several years ago I flew with Cathay Pacific to Perth via Hong Kong. I had a special meal ordered. When I checked in I found there had been something of a mix-up and the meal hadn't been provided. The supervisor kindly dashed off to Boots and purchased some suitable food then arranged for the remaining meals to be provided as originally requested. Fine, you may think and I was prepared to allow some leeway in what was provided. HOWEVER, I had the same meal served up for the next FIVE meals two outbound and three inbound. It was a concoction of fungi and by the time I returned to the UK I was heartily sick of them. A couple of years later I was on a QF or BA flight to Perth, (sorry I can't remember which) catering provided by - guess who? And guess what they provided for me - that revolting toadstool combination. Oh look, I've just noticed this is my 500th post.
Heard on the radio yesterday that if you are travelling 1st class on virgin Trains, your ticket entitles you to buy sandwiches type A, B or C. But if you are on a 2nd class ticket, you can only buy sandwiches X, Y or Z. Work that one out if you can!1
This is Virgins way of introducing "stearage" class to their new super dooper high speed trains that can only operate at 3/4 speeds .
Unfortunately the First Class standards will use the old BR sandwich as the benchmark figure. ie 3 microns thick ham with curled up bread. This will be served with a hot cup of brown water, by a surly 55 year old waitress with a fag end in her gob.
Stearage class passengers will get the contents of the waste bin from the last visited station , served with water from a puddle. Note: coffee will be served only on rainy days. You will have to get the the food yourself, but watch your selves whilst trying to get back on to the roof of the carriage.
Oddly enough my experience of a dreadful sandwich was on a BA flight too.
Cheese and pickle... 'so what's the problem with that ??' you all ask.
On raisin bread !!!
Horrible it was. One bite convinced me that it would never catch on at the snack bar.
Mind you, Waitrose only seem to have sandwiches which feature an odd mixture like turkey and apricot jam by two in the afternoon. Particularly unappetising on wholemeal bread.
I think I prefer Easyjet for food, ham cheeese and mustard on white bread for a reasonable sum or don't have one and save the money.
unfortunately I can no longer eat sandwiches (wheat/oats/rye/barley are genetic cancer-triggers) BUT ... I was out buying lunch for colleagues not so long ago and one asked me to get a mozzarella and tomato baguette ...
being out of touch with the latest sandwich fads in London I assumed this would be a small affair .. needless to say I was astounded to be presented with:
an ENTIRE french stick ..cut in two..filled with olive oil, herbs, tomatoes (real and sun dried), mozzarella cheese, chopped olives, anchovies) ...
I am a lady of healthy food appetites but even I would have had a major task of eating such a Sandwich of Mass Destruction!!!
The chicken, apricot and grape sandwich doesn't sound too bad to me...
My mum used to pack my lunches in primary school and for a few years of high school and I would have things like cheese and sultanas, cheese and sweet or savoury pickles (not gherkins), chicken and walnuts with cream cheese, shredded carrots with cream cheese and walnuts...lots of stuff, and really quite nice (you just had to keep the chicken cold).
I had a nice surprise flying Aeropostal on a Venezuelan internal flight. On a 26-minute sector we got a ham and cheese roll, the ham and cheese being nice and tasty, a muffin sort of cake, and a plastic tumbler two-thirds full of excellent Brazilian rum. The hosties rushed about a bit though, and the flight crew looked a good bit younger than the DC9.
Had a time in UK, '90, touring on BR. ( cold shudders..) and I believed I'd never have to relive the nightmare.
Sandwiches? How dare they sully the good Earl's memory! Mind you, Victoria station did a wonderful concoction of ham (several microns thicker..) and cheese in a croissant. Mmmmmmmm.
On the rtb, via Singas on SAS, the luvverly Norse maidens were only temporarily devoid of my attention when the trolley disgorged a wonderful chilled smoked salmon, lightly pickled vege medley and warm rolls. Then it was onwards to AKL (and ppl talking English/Strine) and s/thing braised.
Not normally a fan of braised s/things this was melt-in-the-mouth.
What was the reason for being here? Oh, that's right. BR. They must have taken tips from Aeroflot, who allegedly handed out paper bags. One empty and one with your meal. At least they lived in reality.
Garuda Indonesia place high emphasis on serving meals to surprise the unwitting traveller. A meal that was listed on the menu card as Satay Chicken was in fact beef with a sauce that had been prepared using the contents of a long dead animals intestine. Dessert was listed as 'Cake', which covers a multitude of sins. However, the luminous green peice of confectionary that was presented did not inspire me to ingest it. It looked very much like a discarded fuel rod from Sellafield. When the cabin lights were dimmed for landing there was an ominous radioactive glow from the gash bags that now conatined a number of 'Cakes'.
Many years ago I was on an Aeriana Flight from Kabul - there were no seats and we hung on straps. A kind old lady lit a stove and cooked goat & chicken which she shared around. One of my best inflight meals.
I own a Sandwich Bar and the worst one I´ve had to make for customers is a TUNA & MAYONNAISE with BRANSTON PICKLE, so some out there enjoys this stuff........
The quality of sandwiches in the US, both on planes and in airports is now so revolting it should be a national scandal. We were stuck in Memphis for a couple of hours between flights that no longer serve anything beyond micro pretzels ( which themselves are about the same taste as micro chips) We ordered corned beef sandwiches ( that's smoked beef to you Limeys) they turned out to be reheat in the bag soggy buns with tasteless dry meat and a handful of crisps served in an unhygeinic basket by unhygeinic waitress. Two plus a small beer and a sprite came to $34.00 US. Houston was as bad, just the choice was wider, a hundred yards of fast food.
It's not true that you can't get a good meal in the US. We have had loads of great meals there and even some of the family restaurants have great menus and good food so why do they put up with this?
Forty years ago we used to drive to Heathrow for a special meal. Twenty five years ago the full service restaurant at Gatwick was our special treat to ourselves as we flew out on holiday.
I guess as long as we go on accepting garbage they'll go on taking our money for it.
For the past nine months my business partner and I have averaged four QF domestic flights a week. We have learnt to eat before we fly!
The contents of the filled rolls/sandwiches now provided in the infamous QF zoo class cardboard box remain a mystery, and one we do not wish to resolve!
There is also the "mystery" fruit slice/cake that periodically appears in these boxes that resembles a cellophane-wrapped dog turd. It may taste great - however the visual impact of this "thing" puts me off even opening it to find out. I just wonder if anyone has ever eaten it.
I do believe the nutrional value and flavour of the cardboard box exceeds that of the contents.
I hasten to add that QF still do an OK job in Business Class and on some long haul.
Sandwich Of Mass Destruction.
The supervisor kindly dashed off to Boots and purchased some suitable food then arranged for the remaining meals to be provided as originally requested. 
Fine, you may think and I was prepared to allow some leeway in what was provided. HOWEVER, I had the same meal served up for the next FIVE meals two outbound and three inbound.
It was a concoction of fungi and by the time I returned to the UK I was heartily sick of them. 
Doesn't sound too bad to me......
