Food at 35,000 ft.

Usually in the Beyond Chicagoland forum, we think of beyond as lateral distance. In this case, I mean vertical.

Of course, there is no such thing as airplane food anymore except in First--but First Class for quite some time now has not been only for the rich, it's for burghers like you and me who work for good companies, and/or who've accrued enough miles to upgrade. Even so, it would make an uninteresting thread if all there was to say about airplane food was how bad it is. It used to be better--but in my (perhaps not widely shared) opinion, it's not bad even now.

I started flying on business in the early seventies, and I worked for a company that flew every employee First Class. On flights from Chicago to the West Coast, the level of food and service seems like a dream to me now. Shrimp cocktails; whole rib roasts of prime beef carved seatside to your liking re thickness, doneness, end or middle; ice cream sundaes made to order seatside, where you specified the number of scoops and their flavors, the kind of sauce, and all the toppings. There wasn't much to complain about! On transoceanic flights in International First, it was just ridiculous--we're talking caviar and lobster.

Well, things have changed, but, old-time comedians' jokes to the contrary, I'm rarely dissatisfied with the food in First Class even now. The aspirations are far more modest, obviously--but within those limited aspirations, the execution is surprisingly good. If lunch on First Class nowadays is an individual-sized pan pizza or a roast beef panini, it's a damn edible pizza or panini. I am always happy to be served a meal on a plane, and I just about always enjoy everything on my tray. To me, it's a miracle that the airlines (or the firms they outsource to) can somehow turn out several hundred thousand meals a day in their ground kitchens and then get those meals onto their various flights at all, let alone do it with competence and a reasonable level of quality--but they do.

All my flying is on American these days, but I assume they're typical. If not, then a special shout-out to American for a job well done, under the circumstances and even regardless of the circumstances!

So, if anyone is interested, here's the thread to talk about both the bad and the good, both the past and the present.

Come on back to steerage some time, and see what it's like for people on standard business travel:

The presence of a single, 1/2oz bag of cocktail mix (mini pretzels, sesame sticks and the like) is supposed to make us feel like we've been pampered. On a full, delayed flight, you may not even be granted a full can of a soft drink.

Continental is a notable exception. They still serve a modest meal or generous snack, such as a sandwich, small candy bar and carrot sticks, on even short hops from O'Hare to Newark. It's been pretty tasty when they do so, too. However, I haven't found that worth their very un-generous 31" seat pitch, which leads to a painful ride every flight and usually requires the guy sitting in front of me to inquire why he can't recline his seat at all (because it requires a new joint in my femur, that's why).

There is a site dedicated to nothing but airline meals of the past and present. There are some interesting pictures posted there. http://www.airlinemeals.net/indexMeals.html

I have a different perspective. I worked for a short time in an in-flight kitchen in my younger days. For three years, I flew every week based out of St. Louis.

Nowadays, food is generally only available in First Class and on nearly all international flight. The last time I saw food was in May on a Mexicana flight that I took. The food was pretty decent.

I have to say that I am happy that food is no longer served on airlines on the shorter flights. Generally, the airlines were unwilling to spend the money necessary to create a menu which would handle the rethermalization process very well and the food was an absolute mess in general.

Also, you never knew what to expect. Was the food going to be edible or not? If I ate before boarding, the food was good. If not, it was always bad. Also, I used to hate having the dirty dishes in front of me for an hour until they were picked up.

When the airline meal went bye-bye for the unwashed masses, terminals started upgrading the food that was available to flyers. I hate to admit it but I enjoy the options at Midway and almost always eat a full meal before boarding (of course, most of my flights are 5-7 pm). When flying out of O'Hare, we usually stop at the local Dominicks and pick up some sandwiches and fruit and that generally works.

I've never enjoyed the food in steerage, so it was no skin off my back that they no longer offer "gratis" food (during a recent flight from HI) - instead they offer to sell you a snack pack consisting of processed carbohydrate snacks and a meat product stick (the flight attendant actually said "meat product stick" - he was funny... and tired... I think it was a slimjim) for $4 and a wrap/salad/sandwich for $5. What IS a pain is not being able to bring my own water bottles onto the plane (I'm not paying $1.50 for dasani in the airport past security). We DID however bring a bag of bahn-mi from the Kihei Ba-Le - and I must say the pork, ginger chicken and chicken bahn-mi that came out to be $3.69 each (buy 5 get 1 free) were awesome and first class can take that to the bank.

riddlemay wrote:ice cream sundaes made to order seatside, where you specified the number of scoops and their flavors, the kind of sauce, and all the toppings.

Not too long ago, American was offering made-to-order ice cream sundaes in First Class -- quite a treat at 35K feet and, IMHO, beats the icing off a gooey, overly-sweet Cinnabon from the gate area!

I remember having some tasty short ribs also on American. And I loved their warm mixed nuts blend -- no peanuts.

I was upgraded last December to a business class flight on SAS to Copenhagen. I was served a well-prepared piece of beef tenderloin (a bit of sear evident on the outside) and the wine service was first rate with some lesser known varietals, such as Albarino and Zweigelt.

A few years ago (pre 9/11) my company shot a video inside the United flight kitchen near O'Hare. I was surprised to see a massive grill full of chicken breasts manned by two cooks training out fresh cooked lunches for United's coach class. I had always assumed that those chicken breasts were some institutional pre-cooked product but, no. They were real chickens. The first-class meals looked even better, with whole beef tenderloins being cooked to very rare, taking into account the on-board cooking and holding time so they wouldn't be a tasteless, leathery mass by the time they were served at flight level 350. The real revelation came when we turned a corner and entered the space that British Airways had leased from United in order to prepare their international first-class meals (coach was purchased from United). Man, what a difference. There were fresh fruit and berries all over the place being turned into fresh fruit platters with a selection of three different cheeses. I didn't see the main courses, but judging by the look of the ingredients in the kitchen, they were probably head and shoulders above any domestic flight food I have ever seen. (I'll admit it, I'm a first-class flier most of the time).

The in-flight kitchens (at least pre 9-11) provided whatever the various airline clients wanted. If the airline wanted 1st rate food, they received it and the like. If the airline needed to fit a price point, the food was less fancy.

As for the food being "pre-fab", most of the food was very 1st rate. Some of the portions were rather tiny - like the typical 3 oz chicken breast - in order to fit the plates that they needed to use. Remember, all food has to fit the rethermalization plates that they use..

My first surprise when I arrived at an in-flight kitchen was the frenetic pace (and volume) of the kitchen. A prep person might produce 450 tossed salads for airline 1 and then move to 1200 orders of coleslaw for the second airline.

Do remember that when you are preparing food for rethermalization, every aspect MUST be considered. For example, you really cannot garnish the food at time of preparation as it will be destroyed (and horrible looking) by reheating.

My purpose for working in the in-flight kitchen was to learn about the systems as we were trying to implement a similar system for a large hospital complex.

On my recent trip to Ireland we took advantage of free biz class on US Airways. The pleasant surprise was that they have retained real chefs (don't ask me, I did not note who, but the name and restaurant seemed real) to think up real dishes. I know this is not new, but the dishes seemed much more creative. No longer meat and potatoes, these were interesting combinations of flavors - one salad had field greens (almost real) with a tiny balsamic vinaigrette bottle you mixed up, crumbles of blue cheese, a swoosh of some chipotle sauce, and a ring of tiny cubes of candied apple or some such encircling the plate.

The combination of flavors was more than a little bit surprising, even adventurous, though the whole thing seemed to be lacking a unifying concept. So I enjoyed it, after a fashion.

Another flight dished up Insalata Caprese (on Mike G's scoring system it was a 1 or 2, but you have to give them another five points for even trying). There was a profusion of large basil leaves that seemed to have been stored in water for a few days, resulting in a problematic texture and less flavor than I would normally expect, but there was enough to give it a real basil flavor. The mozzarela was industrial supermarket quality. The tiny balsamic vinaigrette bottles made another appearance, too. Still, not bad.

The main courses were palatable, as well. Interesting discussion above on preparation, since I found myself going through a calculation based on just that consideration prior to ordering - which of the entrees was most likely to survive the cook/hold/reheat processing in the most appetizing condition. Fish was completely out of the question unless the preparation was poached and I was prepared to accept it being overcooked to a rubbery state. Stews and pastas were the most likely choices. And once I had started going down that road, I watched in amazement as the "steak" was the main choice of my fellow passengers. Do you think this means these people only eat beef, have a pavlovian response to the word steak, or just wanted to get their money's worth by ordering what they deemed to be the most expensive dish? I refuse to believe they found the meat they consumed "good" or "tasty."

The pasta, btw, had that microwave affliction - some parts overcooked, while others were stiff. And the sauce, which I recall as being some sort of ragu that reminded me of the sauce in a commercial beef stroganoff, did not add too much.

There was a time when they had surprisingly good wine on these flights, too, but that time is past. These days the wines remind me of Trader Joe's offerings, which can be good, but usually are mostly just inexpensive and worth every dime.

I try to fly biz or first class on transoceanic hauls. The recent domestic first class flights, none of which were too recent, seemed to only offer a larger seat, some lousy, free wine/champagne (though I imagine they do better with mixed drinks) and a meal I would not normally choose to eat. So I have given up wasting money on that.

And for those longer hauls, I really think they need to work on dishes that are suitable for the preparation methods. Steaming bowls of lentil soup come to mind, along with some good, rustic bread and a hunk of cheese. Followed with an apple, a good cookie and maybe a sundae if we are going crazy. Spend the money you save on better wines. That is my advice to the airlines. But I fear the clientele is the problem - those same steak lovers would be up in arms if the food service was restricted to food that held up well to the handling. Their rallying cry might be "I want what I like even if it tastes like crap!"

So maybe it is all hopeless. When I used to enjoy airplane food, there were two contributing factors. Sure, they spent more money on the food, but I also tended to drink a lot on those flights ("free liquor and 8 hours to kill, woowoo!"). Maybe I need more alcohol to suspend my standards once again.

Hey the good news is that airport food has improved to the point that it is clearly superior in every way to what one eats in the plane. On this trip I lived on Smoothies in transit. Extra wheat germ, hold the honey. Quite good.

I've only flown 1st class once, on United and got a nice, but unremarkable salmon salad. It should be noted that I took full advantage of the free beer.

On my 2 most recent flights in the back of United planes I haven't even gotten one of those tiny bags of snacks. The last flight from Newark didn't even have beverage service, and they brought water only to those who requested it repeatedly.

I've had excellent meals on British Airways but my most recent meal was on Alitalia.



The beef was nice and tender, the pasta was al dente and it didn't taste like it had been frozen and reheated repeatedly. The real Italian coffee was a treat too. I should also note that they set-up a self serve bar of free beer and wine in the back. Two college age students sitting next to me drank all night and the steward didn't blink an eye when the both wanted more of the little wine bottles while the rest of us drank our coffee in the morning.

Although I've had a couple of decent meals (in first, long long ago, and on Air France, long ago), I tend to view airplane dining as a primarily defensive activity. In that sense I agree with Jamieson above that the improvement in airport food service-- from plastic food made by International Food Systems to plastic food made by Wolfgang Puck and staffed by International Food Systems-- have made it easier to have tolerable food on airplanes because you simply carry it on yourself. It's still far from a culinary delight (although I did have a genuinely good Cuban sandwich at the Cancun airport last year) but at least you're not bored, hungry and dissatisfied in your seat for X hours after a tiny turkey sandwich served on genuine US Gypsum wallboard with Grey Poupon for condiment (who ever thought turkey and mustard go together?) and a gooey, instant-sugar-rush mixed berry crumble for dessert. You're still bored and dissatisfied, but at least you're not hungry.

Oh, and speaking defensively, god yes, don't order the "steak." It will be mystery meat. Get the chicken, it will be an actual chicken breast, of no flavor whatsoever, but identifiable as such.

kiplog wrote:I've had excellent meals on British Airways but my most recent meal was on Alitalia. The beef was nice and tender, the pasta was al dente and it didn't taste like it had been frozen and reheated repeatedly. The real Italian coffee was a treat too. I should also note that they set-up a self serve bar of free beer and wine in the back...

That's civilisation!

Over the years, the best food Ive gotten has been consistently from European airlines. Air France, Alitalia, BA, Swiss Air and, back in the day, when I travelled very frequently between the States and Belgium, Sabena was pretty good too, certainly better than the American carriers anyway. The very best meals I've had have been from European carriers on flights within Europe... especially memorable is one on AirFrance (Naples to Marseille), one on Alitalia (can't remember the route) and one on -- yes, this is true -- Luxair (Vienna to Luxumbourg). All three were simple: cheese and charcuterie/salume, crudité, real (good) bread, wine, coffee, cognac... no charge for the flammables...

A recent flight on Lufthansa (Hamburg to London) featured a very nice little sandwich and the beer was free.

Boy, did I miss the little bag of Snaxx...

Antonius

A few years ago on a flight a college aged guy sitting next to me whipped out a tupperware container of his Mom's spaghetti.Very garlicky.I wanted to murder him and stuff him in the overhead,but it was already full of the TONS of carry-on crap, people cram in there.

From a recent trip:

Business class on United. Singapore to Hong Kong. I was very happy I upgraded to business... =)

The husband travels to Europe, Dubai, Quatar and throughout the U.S. on business on a pretty regular basis. Usually he's on United (in Business Class when he goes overseas and First Class domestically), but on a recent trip to Scandanavia he was on SAS. He came back raving about the food and the service. First of all, when you order a mixed drink they don't just give you your mixer and your little bottle of liquor, but rather they have full sized liquor bottles on the cart and they actually do mix you a drink. From what he said, it's also a pretty generous pour. He was impressed with the wine service as well and enjoyed his meals.

Another aspect that sets SAS apart was the fact that they have a small buffet set up in a galley area at non-meal times during the flight with smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, olives, etc. and of course those ever present full size bottles of liquor and mixers.

When he travels to Dubai, he usually flies UAL to Heathrow and then switches to Air Emirates. From having checked out the web site that stevez mentioned at an earlier date, I was expecting him to come back telling me that one of the Iron Chefs had come on board to cook them all dinner. However, I guess that only happens in First Class. Business Class is good, but not great.

I think both the husband and I would agree with riddlemay of the food that you get in First Class. It may be much simpler than it used to be, but at least it's food that looks good and tastes good.

Interesting thread!
Last Summer United made good on a screw-up and upgraded me to a Business Class seat (or was it First?). At any rate, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I'd get a hot lunch. The lunch itself was not so pleasant. I asked for Salmon (IIRC it was that or chicken).

The salmon was cold and hard – overcooked. The avocado was not ripened enough and hard. The best thing I can say about the meal is that the salt and pepper shakers were cute.
I was thrown a bit off balance too by the heavy metal fork in one hand and the gray plastic excuse for a knife in the other. I kept thinking of the person that must have gotten a pat on the back for coming up with the plastic but metal-looking knife that's safe to go in the same tray with the sharp but must-be-harmless metal fork idea.

I have good memories of SAS and a bit on Lufthansa from a long time ago when thanks to my Dad we flew trans-continentally a fair bit. I was a child then, but the best food experience I've ever had was on Aeroflot. This was back during the USSR days and (from what my Father said) it was almost cheaper to fly First class on Aeroflot than economy on most other airlines. At any rate, I distinctly remember that on our flight from either ondon or Frankfurt to Moscow, we were asked what we wanted for dinner and given a choice of Roast Beef, Fish or Poultry. This was about an hour before dinner and there was IIRC one other passenger in FC besides my parents and I – the food was then prepared in the kitchen between the FC and rest of the plane. I am tempted to doubt my recollection that they actually cooked it on board – I'm sure it was at least somewhat precooked. At any rate, we had also been asked how we wanted our roast beef and sure enough, when it was time for the main course, they wheeled out on a cart a huge hunk of beef on a wooden carving board, and cut out a few slices – for my Dad and me. It was quite a show and I think they were quite aware of the big impression it was making on me. This was the main course, I mentioned. That's the course after the appetizer – which was my first exposure to real caviar (as a kid, I'd only seen James Bond wolf down some saying, "Hmm caviar"). I liked it (and had more during our Russian vacation - thanks Dad!)

http://www.airlinemeals.net/

-ramon

JoelF wrote:Continental is a notable exception. They still serve a modest meal or generous snack, such as a sandwich, small candy bar and carrot sticks, on even short hops from O'Hare to Newark. It's been pretty tasty when they do so, too. However, I haven't found that worth their very un-generous 31" seat pitch, which leads to a painful ride every flight and usually requires the guy sitting in front of me to inquire why he can't recline his seat at all (because it requires a new joint in my femur, that's why).

Had a recent flight on Continental from Newark to Indy. They actually gave us real peanuts. I thought they were permanently banned on airplanes. And we thought we were all set as we had emergency row seats. Imagine my disappointment when I found out the E-row seats on that aircraft had no extra legroom.

I've flown SAS as well, and that has been the best wine and food experience of any airline I've flown. Vintage Champagne and surprisingly tasty food. Air Chance or Air France, depending on your experience, comes in second.

Ramon wrote:http://www.airlinemeals.net/

-ramon

^yes this is a must visit for all foodies.... i could spend hours browsing this site

In my travel experience, Singapore Airlines serves the best food in the air. If you're lucky enough to fly Singapore Airlines, you'll know by now that it has been voted (by both industry peers and travellers) to be one of the best airlines in the world. The service is almost always impeccable (think warm towels at the beginning of the flight even for Economy passengers), they also have the widest range of options for entertainment and everyone always has a choice of at least two hot dishes during the flight.

If you're even luckier to fly Business or Firsdt class on Singapore Airlines, they even have a special menu that you can choose from up to 24 hours before the flight over the phone. The program is called "Book the Cook" and their menu changes every season. The luxurious selection includes jumbo scallops in raspberry vinegar sauce with baby vegetables, lobster Thermidor with buttered asparagus, slow-roasted vine-ripened tomato, and saffron rice, and stir-fried chicken and abalone with Chinese greens and steamed rice. The selection depends on the flight's departure city, check it out: S'pore Airlines Book the Cook menu.

I recently used some "about to expire" certificates to upgrade to first class back from LA to O'Hare on Untied. Wow, really nice food!

I had a lovely plate - garlic shrimp over a fresh salad, we got warm cookies and milk (and my favorite warmed mixed nuts). If I'd wanted, they had what looked like a few decent wines open.

Much better than I had expected.

Last month I flew to Cyprus via Heathrow. The food out was just awful, I won't mention the airline. But from London to Larnica BritAir put on a genuine fry-up for brekkers. Damn, down to the back bacon and fried tomato. Took a guy back, it did. And the toast was appropriately cold.

I must say that I enjoyed it.

Geo

Last summer, we vacationed in Italy. The only truly bad Italian food we had was on Alitalia. I'll walk before flying that airline again.

marias23 wrote:In my travel experience, Singapore Airlines serves the best food in the air.

Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to fly Singapore Airlines. However, I will say that my best food memory by far is on Thai Airways, first time I flew to Nepal. We had a fish curry--this is in steerage--that was absolutely top-notch. I no longer recall the details of the rest of the meal, sadly. But I remember that the food overall was excellent and the service really wonderful as well. I also remember thinking that for an international flight it would have helped if the flight attendants (and there were far more of them than I've ever seen before or since) had spent more time learning English. The desire to please was genuine, the language just got in the way sometimes.

Sadly, the last trip to Nepal was the other direction and Qatar Airlines does not have food to rival Thai Airways. In fact, as I think about it, I recall absolutely nothing about the food.

American usually serves competent food. The mushroom pizza is the only thing in the regular menu rotation that approaches inedibility. Avoid it at all costs.

Due to a quirk in American's routes, the last leg for me back to Reno-Tahoe usually involves a night flight on a cramped Dehavilland turboprop operated by Horizon Air. The hell-on-earth that is LAX and the ever-turbulent flight over the Sierras is slightly ameliorated by the complimentary microbrew (or wine) served on board. It's always different and always good.

sazerac wrote:Interesting thread!

That's the course after the appetizer – which was my first exposure to real caviar (as a kid, I'd only seen James Bond wolf down some saying, "Hmm caviar"). I liked it (and had more during our Russian vacation - thanks Dad!)

I flew Aeroflot first class from Moscow to Paris in 1969, and it was memorable for many reasons. First, they gathered us all in the terminal, herded us into the airplane and left. I think we were one hour early, but they knew who we all were, and that we were all there.

The unlimited caviar and champagne also left their mark, and I do not remember any more of the food service. But, at 14, I was hooked.

My Grandmother, who was my host on this expedition, flew all the way back to Paris with her of dirty dishes. Every few minutes they would stop by and ask her "Are you finish?" and she would say no. I finally asked her why she was keeping her plate, and she said, "Oh you think they want to know if I am finished?" See, we had been in Helsinki the previous week, Grandma had knocked back a few glasses and she was confused...

This is the same woman who thought she had swallowed her dentures on the train from St. Petersburg to Moscow (she left them in the bathroom and they were waiting for us in her hotel room when we got there - being spied on has its benefits). In retrospect, Grandma may have been tippling quite a bit more than I noticed back then.

Over the years, the best food Ive gotten has been consistently from European airlines.

I used to think that was true, Tony, but I am not convinced of it any more. I do believe the Asian carriers tend to do better, in part because they serve a lot more foods that do store well (cold dishes for instance) and also because they seem to be dedicated in every way to giving the best quality of service, but I have not found much difference between the US and European carriers in the last 10 years and more.

And since I originally posted to this thread, I have had an experience with United that has convinced me to never do busines with them again. Good friends who travel a lot more than I do these days had told me to switch to American for a few years, but this pushed me over the line. Grumpy service, uncomfortable planes I can deal with, but incompetence and an apparent complete lack of any interest in helping me in any way are things I do not need to deal with.

Rant over.

So now I go Southwest by preference - I like the planes, I like the people, and I have always found them to be knowledgable and helpful. And the fares are usually pretty good, too. The food, of course, is not really food, though I am amused by the little processed food lunchboxes they provide on long hauls.

Funny that no one has yet mentioned Midwest. Maybe bcz they fly mostly out of Milwaukee and Kansas City. Wonderful airline, wonderful people, first-class seating throughout.

Basically, the only food is the pair of freshly-baked chocolate-chip cookies we each eagerly receive.

Hey, it ain't much, guantity-wise; but quality-wise it's awfully good. Makes the whole plane smell good, too.

Geo