Qatar Airways Business & First Class meals

[AuSammy]

Just flew 2 flights J on Qatar ..AMS to DOH on A350 900 and DOH to MEL on QR988 Q Suite..
I had been reading about Qatar business class for months and my expectations were high..
Bot of these flights left me underwelmed and disapointed the food and wine menus looked good
but nothing was fresh .. Bread was cold and old..My steak was cold on both flights , greens burned , Lobster was frozen and caviar service very poor no flavour , Mid flight snacks not available the crew were rude,
There was also no offer to make up my bed... Overall very poor..Sat in 1K..View attachment 498553View attachment 498554View attachment 498555View attachment 498556View attachment 498557View attachment 498558

Despite many many posts on AFF lauding QR, they are inconsistent and can vary from superb to very disappointing like every airline.

I wish they actually measured up to their advertising hype in a consistent manner.

 

[Justinf]

My first experience of QR J a few weeks ago was the same.
Underwhelming leaving MEL, terrific leaving DOH.

 

[RooFlyer]

I see a trend of people being underwhelmed after having high expectations. Perhaps if we had said it’s all a load of cough, the responses would’ve been how good it was!

Anyway, good on people for having given it a go and then happily revert to their former ways. Enjoy the bowls of green leaves .

 

[jase05]

I see a trend of people being underwhelmed after having high expectations. Perhaps if we had said it’s all a load of cough, the responses would’ve been how good it was!

Anyway, good on people for having given it a go and then happily revert to their former ways. Enjoy the bowls of green leaves .

Yeah, I don’t care who the airline is. if the food and service is ordinary I’ll give the.m a whack.
I can honestly say I’ve not had a bad meal on QR in my many flights but I’ve commented before on their staff being ordinary at times and that the wines in the Al Safwa has really dropped off and not acceptable for a F lounge

 

[ols]

10 flights in last two years and no bad meals.
Had to teach them not to put port in cold glasses only issue.
Service is less intuitive than SIA but always friendly.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I see a trend of people being underwhelmed after having high expectations. Perhaps if we had said it’s all a load of cough, the responses would’ve been how good it was!

Anyway, good on people for having given it a go and then happily revert to their former ways. Enjoy the bowls of green leaves .

It’s not an ‘all or nothing’. The food was still ‘ok’. Still got there safely. Managed to snooze (rather than properly ‘sleep’ which was the expectation). Overall it was ok’.

Just QR claim they have the world’s best business class, and set up high expectations. Their fares from Australia reflect that.

There is no measure where QR actually leads or excels - lounges, seats (including bed length), IFE, or catering. You’d need to have the ‘best in class’ across multiple criteria to call yourself ‘world’s best’.

Looking at Qantas international dishes on the relevant thread here on AFF, and comparing it to QR… the main difference is the plating for QR. If you put QFi’s meals on the same plates as QR you’d be hard pressed to be complaining.

Granted, QR has a much more varied menu than QF across their route network, compared to QF’s limited range of a dozen or so that they cycle through.

QR is VFM ex Manila and Jakarta. I’m not sure there’s a measure by which it is ex AU.

 

[RooFlyer]

the wines in the Al Safwa has really dropped off and not acceptable for a F lounge

My first visit to Al Safwa two years ago I had a I think it was $240 a bottle of wine. Last time I think it was $35.

 

[RooFlyer]

the main difference is the plating for QR. If you put QFi’s meals on the same plates as QR you’d be hard pressed to be complaining.

Seriously ? Maybe if you had more than two flights on QR you’d have a better basis for comparison. I’ve had dozens on QR and dozens on QF and on average there is absolutely no comparison at all. I think my dried out spag bol on QF CGK-SYD recently would’ve still been dried out spag bol if it was on a QR plate. A pathetic bowl of Neil’s green leaves would look and taste the same on a QR plate and setting.

Just ignore any of the ‘world’s best’ hype and just sit back and enjoy a ride. Let me tell you - I’m retired and every dollar I spend is one less dollar I’ve got to spend for the rest of my life. Having flown just about every airline in the business between Australia and Europe, I’m not inclined to spend my money on an inferior product. As you know, I’m trying Oman Air shortly and if they’re better than QR well I’ll fly Oman air.

But in the meantime, I’ve booked QR to go from Australia to Europe and back for my next journey after that.

 

[RobStrong]

There is no measure where QR actually leads or excels - lounges, seats (including bed length), IFE, or catering. You’d need to have the ‘best in class’ across multiple criteria to call yourself ‘world’s best’.

I have to respectfully but totally disagree with this. I'm Australian working in Africa since 2023 on a roughly 8/2 week basis. On the 2 weeks off I often fly to Australia but have also done Europe, America at times. So I'm flying long haul international 10 to 12 times per year and loads of domestic flights in between. Its a mix of business and economy fares.

For me, Qatar leads and excels on every measure. I can choose any part of the whole experience from how quickly they sort me out if I need to contact them about something, the comfort in the cabin, the amenities provided, the food and I have to say it can really contrast to other airlines. To the point that last time I flew with another airline because going via Doha would have added too many hours (KLM and Delta), I was so disappointed that afterwards I immediately wrote to Qatar to tell them how much of a difference the small things they get right can make.

Sure Qantas staff are friendly and flying in Qantas can be comfortable but as a company they're crooks and in my experience if you ever have to deal with them about an issue with your booking when you're not actually on the plane it's a nightmare. Qatar have always sorted me out with whatever query or change I need to make, and I've done it via phone, the website chat, I even get good help when I just message them on WhatsApp or Instagram.

In recent years ive flown mainly Qatar for international and mainly virgin for domestic but I've also used Emirates, Ethiopian, Air Tanzania, Turkish, KLM, Delta and Air NZ. And I used to use Qantas before they tried to keep thousands of dollars from me in 2023 by not paying a refund. There wasn't anything terrible about the service on the other airlines but Qatar just does every single thing better. They are the best airline. It's a valid claim in my view.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have to respectfully but totally disagree with this. I'm Australian working in Africa since 2023 on a roughly 8/2 week basis. On the 2 weeks off I often fly to Australia but have also done Europe, America at times. So I'm flying long haul international 10 to 12 times per year and loads of domestic flights in between. Its a mix of business and economy fares.

For me, Qatar leads and excels on every measure. I can choose any part of the whole experience from how quickly they sort me out if I need to contact them about something, the comfort in the cabin, the amenities provided, the food and I have to say it can really contrast to other airlines. To the point that last time I flew with another airline because going via Doha would have added too many hours (KLM and Delta), I was so disappointed that afterwards I immediately wrote to Qatar to tell them how much of a difference the small things they get right can make.

Sure Qantas staff are friendly and flying in Qantas can be comfortable but as a company they're crooks and in my experience if you ever have to deal with them about an issue with your booking when you're not actually on the plane it's a nightmare. Qatar have always sorted me out with whatever query or change I need to make, and I've done it via phone, the website chat, I even get good help when I just message them on WhatsApp or Instagram.

In recent years ive flown mainly Qatar for international and mainly virgin for domestic but I've also used Emirates, Ethiopian, Air Tanzania, Turkish, KLM, Delta and Air NZ. And I used to use Qantas before they tried to keep thousands of dollars from me in 2023 by not paying a refund. There wasn't anything terrible about the service on the other airlines but Qatar just does every single thing better. They are the best airline. It's a valid claim in my view.

I guess it is about the comparison. You went from Qatar to KLM/Delta. Which is probably a downgrade.

I went from the Collins Horizon suite to the Qsuite, and from Do&Co catering to QR catering.

So my comparison was setting a very high bar to start. Not helped that the flights immediately followed each other.

 

[RooFlyer]

So my comparison was setting a very high bar to start. Not helped that the flights immediately followed each other.

I can empathise with that. I went from QR to QF

 

[RobStrong]

I guess it is about the comparison. You went from Qatar to KLM/Delta. Which is probably a downgrade.

I went from the Collins Horizon suite to the Qsuite, and from Do&Co catering to QR catering.

So my comparison was setting a very high bar to start. Not helped that the flights immediately followed each other.

That's a fair point. I could be biased because I don't fly business with the other airlines. I fly a mix of economy and business with Qatar. Based on my experience so far if I had to choose an airline to spend 12+ hours in economy it would definitely be Qatar though.

But I am surprised to hear someone say the food in Qatar business isn't excellent. I've always found it excellent, the only issue is the capacity of my stomach.