Unique experiences on airline meals

[Hisham Albakri 0]

I just would like to share with you guys some of my own personal unique experience when it comes to airline meals.

 

1. ADL to SIN on a Qantas B747-200 in November 1983 - I requested for Kosher meal (for those who don't know, this meal is considered 'halal' for those from the Jewish faith). Each meal that was served will come with a standard card that contains specific "do's and don'ts" reminder for a Jew whenever they are away from their familiar surroundings. Amongst the "don'ts" were "Do not forget to read the Torah everyday!" I find this kinda unique ...

 

2. MEL to SIN on a Qantas B747-300 in November 1985 - I requested for Muslim meal. During the flight, both me and my girlfriend (now my wife ) were served a meal that was suitable for those from Islam and Hindu faith. Eliminate all those that Muslim and Hindus cannot eat and we ended up with alfafa sprout sandwich for 'refreshments' before landing at Changi ... and compare this with the juicy looking turkey and ham sandwich the guy sitting next to us was having! Argh!!!

 

3. AMS to KUL on a KLM B747-400 in April 2005 - again, I requested for Muslim meal. During the main meal, the utensils that were provided to me and my sister (who was travelling with me and also requested Muslim meal) were the normal stainless steel ones with the exception of the cutting knife, which was made of plastic! What was KLM thinking of ... muslims with plastic knives on an airplane, dangerous combo huh?!? ... any comments Pieter?!?

[Walter Sim 1]

hmmm, meals. I only have one memorable one.

 

It's i think around year 1999, on Malaysia Airlines B747-400COMBI

KUL-MEL.

 

What i remember was just a fantastic piece of steak, it was tender, juicy, moist. It came with mash potatoes.

 

BEST AIRLINE MEAL I"VE EVER HAD!

 

Back those days there were packets of cheese coming with the tray. But not now...

[Min Chun 0]

hmm..in my memory..theres some wors only..

 

"Sir, chicken or fish?"

"Chicken pls."

"Sorry,no chiken.we left fish only"

Edited December 2, 2005 by Min Chun

[Walter Sim 1]

stupid question..

[Rozhan 0]

Requested for MOML on BA: LHR-LAX-LHR, and what I got was purely vegetarian food, salad and more salad all the way.

 

By the way someone brought up the same issue of plastic knife on KLM while others had metal ones. It was in the papers some time ago. KLM responded that it was not any kind of discrimination, but because metal knives may have been used to cut non-halal food on previous flights and they do not have the facility to 'samak' or cleanse(?) it the proper way. Hence the use of new albeit plastic knife. But they might as well give all plastic cutlery to ensure every flatware and serviceware was clean.

 

Even MAS uses plastic knife but metal spoon and fork on flights to Australia but that is probably due to regulations of Australian authorities.

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Are those plastic knives strong enough to cut my steak??

 

A bit off-topic here but sometimes even metalic (or so they seem to be...) utensils are kinda soft. I and my friends went to a mall foodcourt last year after SPM and when I tried to cut my chicken chop the fork was just plain too soft to be able to use comfortably...the utensils just kowtowed to my chop...

 

And is this possible for MAS to prepare Kosher meal here? I haven't heard any Jews in Malaysia but that doesn't mean there's no Jewish tourists here right?

[KC Sim 2]

My most memorable inflight meal experience is perhaps on Thai's inaugural nonstop BKK-JFK flight . . . in the 17hr flight, one meal was served and the portion so small that I could not even remember what I ate. I thought I was the only person suffering from mulnutrition and was close to dying of hunger. That was until a passenger next to me asked "Am I the only one feeling hungry or are you hungry too?" I was glad to have someone share my hunger - especially when I was never a big eater onboard (mostly preferring something not too heavy).

 

Turned out this passenger next to me was a middle-management TG staff involved in cabin services!!! I could see him visibly swallowing his own drool when I related my dining experiences (plural because there surely was more than one main meal for a 17hr flight) on SIA's inaugural nonstop flight from Singapore to Los Angeles.

 

Another incident relates to a fellow passenger onboard Olympic Airways from Bangkok to Athens in September 2003. She's a strict vegetarian, Greek and living in Australia. He is a pompous flight steward who treats every passenger fairly and dishes out bad service to one and all. Absolutely no favouritism.

 

She : Oh my god, there's a chicken in my food! (Gently taps passing steward)

He : (Lifts tin foil, identified dead chicken, grabs the main course and saunters away)

She : (muttering to herself) Does that mean I get to eat nothing?

 

The flight steward came back with a replacement that clearly indicates "Vegetarian" with the TG logo (guess it was prepared in BKK and uplifted there)

 

He : (Still says nothing but just dumped the food onto her tray and sauntered off)

She : (Tears off foil) Oh my god, there is still a chicken in my food (and showed it to me . . . true enough, a piece of chicken was resting serenely in the rice). She then pressed the call button.

He : Now what?

She : There's still a chicken in my vegetarian meal.

He : (lifted foil and confirmed chicken was real) It's not my fault. See! (pointing to label on tin foil) It says vegetarian. (Grabs main course and sauntered off).

 

Poor lady got nothing back even as flight steward passed several more times. And mind me, beyond that portion of food that was taken away, Olympic dumps very little else on the tray (could not bring myself to use the word "serve" because OA simply wasn't keen on serving its passengers).

 

Needless to say, my return flight was equally horrible and I swore myself off ever flying OA again. A pity because one of the airline logo that left the deepest imprint on me as a child was Olympic Airways passing through Paya Lebar Airport enroute to Sydney. Such a beautiful livery . . . without the service to match.

 

Airline food used to be a lot better. In November 1981 when I flew SIN-CMB-DXB-ZRH on Singapore Airlines in Economy Class, the main course I chose out of three options was sweet sour lobster on the SIN-CMB sector. It was so good that today, 24 years later, I could still remember how juicy it was.

 

Airlines and flight kitchens worldwide just do not invest enough effort in making vegetarian meals interesting and appetising. Most resort to just packing as much greens onto one tray and label it vegetarian.

 

KC Sim

[Walter Sim 1]

Agree there Mr KC.

 

They seem to overdone salads in Vege meals without really making a twist out of veges. Which potrays the blandness in Vegetarian MEals.

[Pieter C. 5]

By the way someone brought up the same issue of plastic knife on KLM while others had metal ones. It was in the papers some time ago. KLM responded that it was not any kind of discrimination, but because metal knives may have been used to cut non-halal food on previous flights and they do not have the facility to 'samak' or cleanse(?) it the proper way. Hence the use of new albeit plastic knife. But they might as well give all plastic cutlery to ensure every flatware and serviceware was clean.

 

Think this is correct: I was gonna say that as well, but you beat me there

 

 

Are those plastic knives strong enough to cut my steak??

 

Personally, have found the plastic knives sharper than the metal ones most of the time

[Jamie H 0]

One particular memorable experience back in 2000 onboard LaudaAir btw VIE-KUL-VIE in what was probably the best inflight Y class meal in the history of all Y class meals.

 

One of the main course was steak accompanied by grilled veg in some sauce which I swear, felt as if it was out of a Michelin-rated restaurant; all courses were served in well-designed triangular shaped casseroles; buns and rolls were freshly baked on board and served in a basket and each tray had a mini bottle of red wine to accompany each meal.

 

If it werent for the crap 31" seat pitch and 3-4-3 arrangement in Lauda's 777s, it felt as if I was dining in First or Business class.

 

People speak highly of the food in MH, SQ, EK etc.....but imho, that particular experience in Lauda was heaps better than either of these biggies.

 

[Sing Yew 1]

 

One particular memorable experience back in 2000 onboard LaudaAir btw VIE-KUL-VIE in what was probably the best inflight Y class meal in the history of all Y class meals.

 

One of the main course was steak accompanied by grilled veg in some sauce which I swear, felt as if it was out of a Michelin-rated restaurant; all courses were served in well-designed triangular shaped casseroles; buns and rolls were freshly baked on board and served in a basket and each tray had a mini bottle of red wine to accompany each meal.

 

If it werent for the crap 31" seat pitch and 3-4-3 arrangement in Lauda's 777s, it felt as if I was dining in First or Business class.

 

People speak highly of the food in MH, SQ, EK etc.....but imho, that particular experience in Lauda was heaps better than either of these biggies.

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Have to agree with you that Lauda meals are excellent.

[Isaac 0]

If it werent for the crap 31" seat pitch and 3-4-3 arrangement in Lauda's 777s, it felt as if I was dining in First or Business class.

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Their newest 772 in service now got 34" of pitch in EY (all are 3-4-3, unlike the two older 772 OS got which got 3-3-3 in the 1st EY cabin & 3-4-3 in the 2nd EY cabin with 31" of pitch)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Sure, should try OS next time between VIE-KUL v.v. : thanks for the tip

[Sing Yew 1]

Sure, should try OS next time between VIE-KUL v.v. : thanks for the tip 

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Pieter, do remember that all the rave reviews about their catering were during the Lauda Air (NG) era and not OS, so they may not have kept the same caterer i.e. Do & Co.

 

 

[Hisham Albakri 0]

Pieter, do remember that all the rave reviews about their catering were during the Lauda Air (NG) era and not OS, so they may not have kept the same caterer i.e. Do & Co.

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I know for a fact that Lauda double caters from KUL for their flights from KUL to Australia and back to KUL. I was advised so by Lauda's reservation personnel in KL when I flew return to MEL in 2002 and to SYD in 2003. On both occasions I requested for Muslim meal but was advised that meals onboard Lauda are halal as all meals into and out of Australia are catered from Malaysian caterers in KL. I'm not so sure of the VIE sector though, and also now that Lauda's operations into and out of KUL are taken over by Austrian. The lasagne I had for dinner on the SYD to KUL flight in 2003 was indeed delicious and hard to imagine that it was cooked by Malaysians

 

Apparently, meals served onboard KLM in the KUL to AMS sector is also halal. During my flight in April this year, I requested for Muslim meal but was served the normal meal onboard. When I queried, the FA replied, "Sir, meals served out of Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are all 'ayay'!" It took me a while to figure out that 'ayay' was actually 'halal'

 

[Jamie H 0]

Hisham,

 

I can confirm that at that point, barring the bottle of red wine for everyone, the food in the VIE-KUL vv sector was halal. I sort of vaguely remember that there was a small paragraph in the front page of the menu which stated that because that particular flight was a code-share with MH, all food served onboard were halal.

 

Pieter,

 

Agree with Sing Yew. Dont know whether OS have Do & Co as their caterers, so the quality may be different now.

 

[Rozhan 0]

Based on JAL's menu KUL-Narita, all food items are halal as well.

[Pieter C. 5]

Pieter,

Agree with Sing Yew. Dont know whether OS have Do & Co as their caterers, so the quality may be different now.

 

Still reason to "try" them, also, because I've NEVER flown on the Tripple Seven

 

[Jamie H 0]

Their newest 772 in service now got 34" of pitch in EY (all are 3-4-3, unlike the two older 772 OS got which got 3-3-3 in the 1st EY cabin & 3-4-3 in the 2nd EY cabin with 31" of pitch)

 

I know....unfortunately I was unlucky enough to be in the hind cabin in both sectors......and to make things worse, both flights were packed to the brim.. I presume these flights are still doing well considering OS now flies 6 weekly btw VIE-SYD (it was 3 weekly then)

 

[Sing Yew 1]

I know....unfortunately I was unlucky enough to be in the hind cabin in both sectors......and to make things worse, both flights were packed to the brim.. I presume these flights are still doing well considering OS now flies 6 weekly btw VIE-SYD (it was 3 weekly then)

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All my Lauda flights have always been packed to the brim.

 

[Sim Lim Shen 0]

And is this possible for MAS to prepare Kosher meal here? I haven't heard any Jews in Malaysia but that doesn't mean there's no Jewish tourists here right?

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MH serves Kosher meal. I once learned this from another forum that the meal came from caterers based in either Bangkok or Singapore.

[Sandeep G 1]

QF 77 PER-SIN (2000) B767-300

The aircraft was 60% full, I was sitting toward the rear with no pax in my entire row. The meal to be served was brunch. I was starving.. stomach grumbling.. needed some food.. will always go for Asian selection.. mmm apparently its some sorta Fried Noodles.. should be ok, how can you stuff up fried mee, right?!? Stewardess (Age >60*) approaching.. smell of food growing in cabin.. people in front happily munching away.. finally! My turn!!.. bypassed.. she went pass me.. and didn't realise.. confusion.. do I get up and say "excuse me, Ma'am!?"... eee.. stomach now angry... meals served to around 10 pax sitting behind me.. Push call button... stewardess comes... she says:

 

Stewardess: Sir, you'll have to wait we're doing the meal service now! (Starts to turn and walk away)

Me: WAIIITT... I have no meal...

Stewardess: (Confused) I beg your pardon, sir.. oh dear. Just a tick!

Me: Ok! (stomach now grumbling in a happy way, tastebuds waiting for a scrumptious meal.. anything will be scrumptious now.. I'm so hungry!)

 

5 mins later: Trolley arrives at my row, she opens the trolley and has a puzzled look on her face..

 

Stewardess: hmmmmm...

 

Walks away with trolley... stomach now crying in anguish... getting frustrated now..

 

Senior purser arrives at my row..

 

Purser: I'm sorry sir, it would appear that there is no more meals on board...

Me: ........

Purser: Can I interest you in a banana, Sir?

Me: ........

Purser: I'm sorry, but its all we have to offer!

Me: (I unbuckle my seatbelt, stand up and look around at the somewhat empty cabin..) How can there be no more meals left???

Purser: Some gentlemen in the forward cabin requested they have two meals since the plane was empty, and we complied as we were under the impression that there were enough spare meals to cover remaining passengers.. I'm afraid there was a lack of foresight sir..

Me: You bet there was.. so what do I have to eat then?

Purser: A banana or two sir...

Me: You're kidding me right..

Purser: No sir.

Me: What about a biz-class meal?

Purser: Against company regulations sir...

Me: But, surely under the circumstances?? I've paid for this service, how can you not have a meal for me?

Purser: As i said sir, my sincere apologies and it was due to a lack of foresight.

Me: I'll just have some Coke and peanuts please.

Purser: Certainly sir.

 

5 mins later:

Purser: I'm terribly sorry sir, we have no more peanuts!

me: .......

after 30 second pause and a stare at the seatback in front of me i replied: I'm ok, don't worry.

Purser: Thank You, Sir! (off he went never to be seen again)

 

5 hours with no breakfast in the morning, anticipating a meal on board and not receiving anything is absolutely no fun!!!

 

I swore off Qantas from that day.. but i flew them this year to give their A330s a go to SIN. They had meals, but it would appear that all asian meals are some form of meat or seafood marinaded and 'stir-fried' with 'oriental vegetables', 'fragrant jasmine rice', and 'hoi-sin' sauce... The meal was crap!

 

I only like their salads! but after the landing, with 3 go-arounds at Perth in completely fine weather, a very hard landing, with two tyre deflations as a result, I will never ever ever fly QF again. My gf flew on Monday in Biz class.. her comment: OVERRATED!

[Walter Sim 1]

ouch, that hurts Sandeep.

Woudlnt like to be in your position...

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Sandeep:

 

"against company regulations" ??!!

 

wtf: it was THEIR mistake and they should have handled it better, even after admitting serving another passenger TWO meals !!! and........how can you ran out of peanuts !!!

 

talking about good PR (this would DEFINITELY do it for me: never again that airline)

 

still cannot believe this happened to you, Sandeep...gggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

(yet, they kept calling you SIR )

[Imran K. 0]

Sandeep...

 

If i were you bro..i would've tibai'd them there and then...

 

I mean...how the hell can u run out of meals...i just cant seem to fathom that possibility....