QF Catering

[Foreigner]

Is there consistency in catering among QF destinations in major cities like Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, etc? My domestic trips are mostly between SYD and CNS. My experience with special meals on flights is that ex-CNS quality is not as good as those out of SYD. (fare in Qantas clubs is pretty standard.)

 

[samiam]

Is there consistency in catering among QF destinations in major cities like Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, etc? My domestic trips are mostly between SYD and CNS. My experience with special meals on flights is that ex-CNS quality is not as good as those out of SYD. (fare in Qantas clubs is pretty standard.)

No......

 

[The Rok]

I think you will find that on just about every subject Qantas are consistently inconsistent.

 

[mannej]

Just out of curiosity, what companies are responsible for QF Catering?

I guess it depends on location doesn't it.

 

[The Rok]

Just out of curiosity, what companies are responsible for QF Catering?

I guess it depends on location doesn't it.

McDonalds Flight Catering Pty Ltd

 

[LiamR]

Just out of curiosity, what companies are responsible for QF Catering?

I guess it depends on location doesn't it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it QCatering? Qantas' own in house catering department.

 

[mannej]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it QCatering? Qantas' own in house catering department.

I would imagine it is not available at every port though?

 

[Foreigner]

I think you will find that on just about every subject Qantas are consistently inconsistent.

I'll tell you what is consistent on this sector between SYD and CNS: the Weis frozen mango ice cream bar served after meals...consistently the same flavour, served very hard (frozen, of course). I've seen passengers quickly opening the wrappers but get stunned by the hardness of the product. Myself, I leave it on my tray for good 15 minutes before consuming it. Hope Qantas can consider a change of flavour, at least.

 

[elbarto]

I would imagine it is not available at every port though?

Q Catering operates out of CNS, BNE, SYD, PER, MEL and ADL. Outside of these ports it will vary. In CBR they use Alpha, I believe they use Gate Gourmet at LHR and SATS at SIN.

 

[Noob]

Q Catering operates out of CNS, BNE, SYD, PER, MEL and ADL. Outside of these ports it will vary. In CBR they use Alpha, I believe they use Gate Gourmet at LHR and SATS at SIN.

I think you are right, especially in LHR because that is what BA use.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it QCatering? Qantas' own in house catering department.

Best way to ensure consistency

 

[Simo]

IMHO the quality is generally ok.

Sometimes not as fresh as it could be but hey you are at 32 000 feet in the air.

Not a big difference between a CNS flight and then a SYD flight the next night.

 

[ozflier]

I have been surprised at how the offerings in domestic J are getting smaller - I travelled MEL-BNE and BNE-CBR over the last 2 weeks in meal times and left the plane hungry both times.

On the first no dessert and the second, a tiny bit of chicken surrounded by salad was the main course.


Is this part of some economy drive or a new Celebrity Chef prefers the less is better approach or did I just catch flights with abnormal catering?

 

[N860CR]

Back in the day... QF previously used a lot of local companies at regional ports for inflight catering. I know of a bakery/deli in Roma that made sandwhiches for QFLink and a similar setup in Rocky, Gladstone etc etc. I believe these days, however, they just carry multiple packets of chips from BNE

 

[N860CR]

Is this part of some economy drive or a new Celebrity Chef prefers the less is better approach or did I just catch flights with abnormal catering?

I believe they have cut back, especially outside of meal times.

The "snack" service on a 5pm MEL-BNE a few weeks ago was either a cheese plate or soup. That was all :shock: Luckily the bar free-flowing.

 

[ozflier]

I was lucky enough to fly on a snack flight on a Virgin E190 last week ( 1 hr 15 Min ).Thee snack certainly beat the MEL-BNE QF 737-800 dinner service.

Virgin offered a warm croissant with cheese and bacon plus a nice fresh fruit salad and a smoothie type drink. Washed down nicely with a good Margaret River Red.

I was the only pax in business.

With the excellent service and catering I received I suspect it will not be too empty for long.

Having said that - J seats in the Embraer are not much different from Y but you do get two for the price of one .

 

[AirKat]

I am so sick of that mango bar... it must have been circulating for at least a year. Some people don't like mango!

 

[Foreigner]

I am so sick of that mango bar... it must have been circulating for at least a year. Some people don't like mango!

You kidding! More like two years. Prior to that it used to be the magnums.

 

[elbarto]

Sometimes not as fresh as it could be but hey you are at 32 000 feet in the air.

Could it be that the meal was made sometime in advance by Snap Fresh and hence lost some of its freshness?

 

[anat0l]

I have been surprised at how the offerings in domestic J are getting smaller - I travelled MEL-BNE and BNE-CBR over the last 2 weeks in meal times and left the plane hungry both times.

On the first no dessert and the second, a tiny bit of chicken surrounded by salad was the main course.


Is this part of some economy drive or a new Celebrity Chef prefers the less is better approach or did I just catch flights with abnormal catering?

Just flew MEL-BNE J today - dinner service.

Choices were some warm chicken dish or prosciutto salad. I was sitting in row 3 and the chicken must've been popular so I missed out and had to settle for the salad. No big deal, the salad was delicious and given my recent gluttony it was probably the better choice.

Accompaniments were the normal sourdough slice or roll and a sponge cake of cream and jam.

Not sure if the servings are getting smaller, but it was plenty of food anyway IMO. Especially if you chose the warm option, not sure how anyone couldn't be satisfied eating everything on their plate and a beverage and a water and a tea or coffee, unless you were really, really hungry (or a very fit athlete or sportsperson).

Of course, me saying 'plenty of food' is not an invitation to reduce the sizes of the servings!

Plenty of times I will actually go without the bread, but tonight I did eat the bread as I had moderated the amount I had in the lounge beforehand.

Snacks / refreshments aren't usually as substantial as meals, but they're not far off (because you still get bread and something else in the bowl, i.e. side salad or a cake).


AFAIK at least during meal times you should get a main course, bread and a side bowl (of either side salad or dessert, e.g. cake). If you don't get any of those three, then it's abnormal catering. (The culprit is probably the side bowl).

Salads are a funny thing. Sometimes you get little bit of meat / fish and other times not. The overall salad is otherwise appropriately sized IMO. I flew SYD-BNE for dinner and asked for the salad - I got some seasoned chicken with noodles and salad Asian style. Geez that was awfully filling, especially when I downed my requested-half-pour of white wine.