What Airline Has The Best In-Flight Food?
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the best I've had in cattle class has to be Gulf Air over the past 10 years. I've done about 5 Uk-far east with them, and never had a bad meal. Even the wife, who doesn't like spicy food rates them higher than anyone else. 
I assume the first / upper / business is better on most airlines though. One trip to Qatar with Qatar Air only served one meal in first, started just after takeoff and finished on the descent. About 14 courses I think.
The worst is, without a doubt, BA chicken mayo (white gloopy mess with chicken lumps) or equivalents on the all day deli flying back to LHR from ABZ. How can they be so consistently bad?
I assume the first / upper / business is better on most airlines though. One trip to Qatar with Qatar Air only served one meal in first, started just after takeoff and finished on the descent. About 14 courses I think.
The worst is, without a doubt, BA chicken mayo (white gloopy mess with chicken lumps) or equivalents on the all day deli flying back to LHR from ABZ. How can they be so consistently bad?
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BAE 146
I thought you faithfully promised me that you do not have thing about in-flight food, and here you are at it again.
Are you sure you don't want to be a chef instead of a pilot ?
robmac
I thought you faithfully promised me that you do not have thing about in-flight food, and here you are at it again.
Are you sure you don't want to be a chef instead of a pilot ?
robmac
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Answer=42
Have to agree out of the over 50 airlines I've used AF hold up well on food, but so do BA long haul, and the CX, SQ, Thai you mentioned.
Now comfort is something else - that goes to BA in Business (only flat - flat beds)
Now comfort is something else - that goes to BA in Business (only flat - flat beds)
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Best thing to do when flying economy long-haul out of LHR is pick up three of those water/sandwich/chocolate meal-deals from Boots.
That gives you 2-3 litres of water for the flight, some sandwiches to suppliment the in flight un-haute-cuisine, and some European chocolate for chintzy gifts at your destination.
Doesn't cost more than £5-10, well worth it.
I remember the days you used to get filet steak in BA economy long-haul. How times have changed.
Er, forgot, best food.
Well in economy class none are to write home about, but they all adequate. Which is the worst? As somebody above said it depends on where you are departing from, and your dietary constituition. I've only ever had two which I could not get past the first bite. That was on BA out of London and UA out of Taipei.
That gives you 2-3 litres of water for the flight, some sandwiches to suppliment the in flight un-haute-cuisine, and some European chocolate for chintzy gifts at your destination.
Doesn't cost more than £5-10, well worth it.
I remember the days you used to get filet steak in BA economy long-haul. How times have changed.
Er, forgot, best food.
Well in economy class none are to write home about, but they all adequate. Which is the worst? As somebody above said it depends on where you are departing from, and your dietary constituition. I've only ever had two which I could not get past the first bite. That was on BA out of London and UA out of Taipei.
Too mean to buy a long personal title
slim_slag: Best thing to do when flying economy long-haul out of LHR is pick up three of those water/sandwich/chocolate meal-deals from Boots.
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bmi longhaul economy meals are pretty good (or at least were MAN-IAD-MAN in April '02). BA aren't too bad in economy, but had as nice a steak as I've ever had in their Business class LHR-YYZ in Jan '03. Shame the BA miles ran out after that trip!
European short haul with LH, if you're in economy and the flight is around an hour, you can experience the joys of the infamous Lufthansakäsebrötchen (cheese bun). Sometimes it's smoked salmon or ham, or it could be some unidentifiable flying object which bears little resemblance to chicken or turkey... On LHR-MUC which is a bit longer, you get quite a tasty small salad. But in Business Class the food is really quite fine. On LHR-FRA last week it was very good; the sweet was someting like a Schwarzwald Kirschtorte in what I thought was a waxed container about the size of a demi-tasse coffee cup. But it wasn't - it was actually entirely made of white chocolate - trotters in the trough for yours truly!!!
Paxing All Over The World
the infamous Lufthansakäsebrötchen
18 months of LHR ~ MUC in Y. Even when I was 'Silver', I was not upgraded even once.
I also think AIR 2000 food has gone from very good (a few years ago) to poor now ---used to have a little menu and sweets on take off etc-- now just bland and basic!!
Flew JMC last Oct to Cyprus( now TCX) and food was very good !BA food when we went to Jamaica in 1999 wasalso very good--have not ever had a prob with GB Airways theirs is good as well!
Flew JMC last Oct to Cyprus( now TCX) and food was very good !BA food when we went to Jamaica in 1999 wasalso very good--have not ever had a prob with GB Airways theirs is good as well!
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Interesting, but pointless ..
As long as your impression of what is delicious is radically different from mine, this thread doesn't really make sense. People do have different taste, witnessed by the fact that hardly anyone outside the UK finds curries even remotely interesting. Apart from Indians perhaps.
Someone here said that AF was by far the best, and only a few lines further down another contributor claims AF is the worst you could ever have. Other contributors are quick to point out that food onboard all US carriers is crap. Well, I've flown UAL BRU-IAD-MIA and back and frankly found the food to be pretty much up to standard for C-class airline catering. In fact, the sandwhich thing they served MIA-IAD was outright delicious. To my taste buds anyway ....
Furthermore, unless you've had the displeasure of flying all airlines in the world, how would you know which serves the best food?
But just to contravene myself completly I'll add a bit to the pot:
All this is from C-class
Europe - For variety SK. BA sucks. OA manages to serve hot breakkie on a 45 minute flight, and that's rather impressive. LH is dull, but OS usually serves a rather nice plate on + 1.5 hour flights. AZ was a disappointment, but still quite allright. FI (which is Icelandair by the way) was by far the best I've ever had, and the wine list very impressive.
Intercont. - As stated above, I found UA quite good. Not as good as SA though, but that might be because of the Pinotage that followed the food. SR used to be very good, haven't flown them in a while. TG is nice, if you fancy asian food which I don't so really not to my liking. AF is very, very good in my opinion but then again I quite fancy french cuisine.
Domestic US
Only ever tried UA, and that was quite good. Flew AA to PTY from MIA on monkey where you couldn't say anything bad about the food ... they didn't serve any
Intra-Asia
Don't like asian food. Some people find do and praise TG, SQ and CX.
Never had a memorable meal onboard a charter. That includes DM, OY and NB ..... and I belive that's about all the carriers I can remember having pax'd on.
Someone here said that AF was by far the best, and only a few lines further down another contributor claims AF is the worst you could ever have. Other contributors are quick to point out that food onboard all US carriers is crap. Well, I've flown UAL BRU-IAD-MIA and back and frankly found the food to be pretty much up to standard for C-class airline catering. In fact, the sandwhich thing they served MIA-IAD was outright delicious. To my taste buds anyway ....
Furthermore, unless you've had the displeasure of flying all airlines in the world, how would you know which serves the best food?
But just to contravene myself completly I'll add a bit to the pot:
All this is from C-class
Europe - For variety SK. BA sucks. OA manages to serve hot breakkie on a 45 minute flight, and that's rather impressive. LH is dull, but OS usually serves a rather nice plate on + 1.5 hour flights. AZ was a disappointment, but still quite allright. FI (which is Icelandair by the way) was by far the best I've ever had, and the wine list very impressive.
Intercont. - As stated above, I found UA quite good. Not as good as SA though, but that might be because of the Pinotage that followed the food. SR used to be very good, haven't flown them in a while. TG is nice, if you fancy asian food which I don't so really not to my liking. AF is very, very good in my opinion but then again I quite fancy french cuisine.
Domestic US
Only ever tried UA, and that was quite good. Flew AA to PTY from MIA on monkey where you couldn't say anything bad about the food ... they didn't serve any
Intra-Asia
Don't like asian food. Some people find do and praise TG, SQ and CX.
Never had a memorable meal onboard a charter. That includes DM, OY and NB ..... and I belive that's about all the carriers I can remember having pax'd on.
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Hi,
Charley B, yes I agree. Most of the UK charter airlines had menu's after take off and sweets were given when you boarded the aircraft. I don't think any of them do that anymore
.
BAe 146-100
Charley B, yes I agree. Most of the UK charter airlines had menu's after take off and sweets were given when you boarded the aircraft. I don't think any of them do that anymore
. BAe 146-100
Paxing All Over The World
Having just 'enjoyed' BA long haul in Y ... I was on a 772 EWR~LHR, daylight dep at 08:00.
Brunch was "Chicken or Egg?" ... I managed not to ask the hostie which came first.
I chose chicken and it was fine. BUT the 'refreshment' before landing was something that LH could take pride in. I ate the ham and ignored the hard, tastless roll.
Also, the sachet with the plastic 'cutlery' and napkin ... no longer has sugar in it. So you have to call the hostie back. ALSO, they no longer supply a moist paper thingy in a foil sachet to wipe your hands and face. Gee - I bet that's saving them a bundle.
Fortunately, I had a left over one from the last time I was in LH Biz. Since that was over 2.5 years, I thought it might have dried out, but there are some things the Germans do very well!!! The towel was as fresh and useful as you might want. Vorsprung durch ...
Brunch was "Chicken or Egg?" ... I managed not to ask the hostie which came first.
I chose chicken and it was fine. BUT the 'refreshment' before landing was something that LH could take pride in. I ate the ham and ignored the hard, tastless roll.
Also, the sachet with the plastic 'cutlery' and napkin ... no longer has sugar in it. So you have to call the hostie back. ALSO, they no longer supply a moist paper thingy in a foil sachet to wipe your hands and face. Gee - I bet that's saving them a bundle.
Fortunately, I had a left over one from the last time I was in LH Biz. Since that was over 2.5 years, I thought it might have dried out, but there are some things the Germans do very well!!! The towel was as fresh and useful as you might want. Vorsprung durch ...
I was also pleasantly surprised to have the use of real metal cutlery on a recent business class flight. Shock horror! So much better than the damn plastic things. Shan't say which airline it was with (not LH) in case some ne'er do well is reading this....
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Swiss gets my vote for best food - the meal was good (same sort of standard as BA world traveller) and they also gave out cheeses after the meal, and swiss chocolate! The coffee was the best I've had on board, too.
Worst food on board was continental. Asked for vegetarian and got... mixed lettuce with cheese cubes. I'm not keen on the US airlines coffee in general - like gas station coffee (slightly brownish water).
Worst food on board was continental. Asked for vegetarian and got... mixed lettuce with cheese cubes. I'm not keen on the US airlines coffee in general - like gas station coffee (slightly brownish water).