Best in-flight meal you've received?

[Berlin]

Alright- that "Worst in-flight meal" thread persistently stays up on top in this category so I think it's time to ask the opposite too!

I happen to have always loved, loved, loved dining on a plane and even though these days with my more or less weekly trans-Tasmans, I am REALLY over the same dishes over and over again, to me it's still the highlight of any flight. This is especially true in F or J but I am to this day still delighted about the meal service when I'm stuck on the odd trip in Why.

And to begin- my favorite meal ever was an excellent Beef Rossini on Thai First a few years back (sorry, I was too much in indulge mode to take a picture). Since that day I know there's only one acceptable way to serve a dried trough airplane steak- with a nice slice of Fois Gras on top which makes the steak perfectly juicy

 

[RooFlyer]

Loved a chilled pea soup ( just peas, not the hot broth type version) I had on Finnair business once. And their tableware helps the enjoyment.

Also a euro-business breakfast on Lufthansa. Cereal with fresh berries and a little bottle of fresh milk , plus some nice fresh pastries.

Doesn't have to be fancy to be enjoyed and memorable.

 

[Berlin]

Doesn't have to be fancy to be enjoyed and memorable.

I agree, regardless of my love for Fois Gras. Actually, often the nicest dishes are the local ones that some airlines serve. Nice warm German Pretzels on LH come to mind or a really lovely Coq au vin on AF. Same goes for the booze as well- there's many things to be said about LATAM but their Pisco Sour on long hauls is a winner!

 

[Ewing]

This one is going to be tough so I'll split mine into several categories

Best Breakfast

Qantas from MEL-LAX (First). They forgot to load the mushrooms so the lovely FA suggested trying some burrata and grilled vegetables that they had leftover from the main service. It was delicious!



Best Domestic Main Meal

Delta from JFK-LAS (Transcon Business). The burger was fantastic.



Best International Main Meal

This one is tough. I'm going to give it to VA for the roast pork from BNE-ZQN. Pork was deliciously moist and the cracking was perfect.



Best Cheese Plate

I love a good cheese plate. This one is going to Emirates First. I think this might have been AKL-SYD.

 

[Berlin]

This one is going to be tough so I'll split mine into several categories

Best Breakfast

Qantas from MEL-LAX (First). They forgot to load the mushrooms so the lovely FA suggested trying some burrata and grilled vegetables that they had leftover from the main service. It was delicious!

View attachment 159090

Best Domestic Main Meal

Delta from JFK-LAS (Transcon Business). The burger was fantastic.

View attachment 159087

Best International Main Meal

This one is tough. I'm going to give it to VA for the roast pork from BNE-ZQN. Pork was deliciously moist and the cracking was perfect.

View attachment 159089

Best Cheese Plate

I love a good cheese plate. This one is going to Emirates First. I think this might have been AKL-SYD.

View attachment 159088

Totally agree with the cheese plate, even EK’s cheese in J is so much better than Qantas and one of the reasons I miss their Auckland flights badly.

And I’d generally rate Qantas’ breakfast on the long haul. Excellent scrambled eggs, tasty bacon and proper toast. And that also goes for Business as well as First.

Haha, and I love that burger! I also have a soft spot for proper down to Earth American food- I remember one of the best breakfasts ever was a breakfast quesadilla stuffed with neon-coloured orange cheese and smothered in Ranch dressing years back on AA in J. Yum yum yum!

 

[jastel]

A vegemite sandwich in J after 2 weeks of rice and noodles in China.

 

[harvyk]

It's hard to narrow down, I've had loads of good meals in the sky. But I'm thinking these are the winners:

Best breakfast: Waffles in EK F

Best main meal: Roast lamb in EK J

Best dessert: Lemon crêpes in QF J

Best lounge food: Tie between QF FLounge in SYD and EK LHR, although QF lounges in SIN and HKG get honorable mentions.

 

[flyingfan]

I agree on the EK waffles - this was in J:


For savoury, surprisingly I'd go with QF F - tagliolini pasta with spanner crab, garlic, chilli and parsley.

Should also add that (in a small sample size) in domestic J, VA blows QF away - this tasted much better than it looked:

 

[dajop]

I don’t have a picture, but the best eggs I’ve had on a plane was in economy, believe it or not. SQ from SIN to RGN (morning flight, obviously). The eggs (or maybe it was just one, economy afterall) were poached - and cafe style at that - the whites were fully cooked, but light ( not at all rubbery ). and yokes were runny. Served with spinach, sausages and some whitish hollandaise style sauce.

Can’t find the picture, but it was certainly better than any other egg dish I’ve had on an aircraft. But I do prefer poached to other types of egg for brekky. Alas, haven’t seen it since.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

Flying Y, the meals aren't particularly memorable. One however did stand out. About four years ago on a QF flight from Melbourne - Singapore, Duck a l'orange popped up in the pre-order meal options. Sadly i never saw it offered again.

For dessert, i did a status run on Malaysian earlier this year and they offered Gula Melaka Caramel Tart. I am not proud to admit that it was so good that i had two.

 

[MartyMan]

I also pre ordered that Duck a l'orange on QF from Sydney to Honolulu in 2017....definitely best Y meal I've had

 

[kermatu]

One of my best was the Japanese set on SQ in F last year.



But there have been lots across a lot of airlines so pretty hard to choose!

 

[Mattg]

I'm struggling to think of a better meal than the one I had on a Qantas flight from BME to PER in J. The barramundi was fresh and delicious.

The flight attendant informed me that the J catering on this flight was done by the Cable Beach Resort.

 

[sydunipete]

Swiss Business Long Haul in general. I've never had a bad meal and they do a great job of pairing wine with food.

 

[OATEK]

Best Breakfast: there were two main contenders & were both in Y

• Continental to US - hotcakes, bacon etc (1990)
• East West MEL-MQL - bacon & eggs (1986 or there abouts)

Best Lunch:

• AF J CDG-VIE - a prawn salad followed by a cheese plate, washed down with a Sancere Sav Blanc (2015)

Best Dinner: again there were two main contenders, both in Y

• Steak and rosti potatoes on SQ (2008)
• Salmon fillet with asparagus on AY CDG-HEL (2017)

What does it say for the Neil Perrys of this world that most of the best meals have been in Y!!

I have had other good meals such as the prawn dishes on AY, the fabulous beetroot mousse as entree on CX etc, but I can't think of s single memorable meal on QF either in J, Y+ or Y.

 

[Berlin]

What does it say for the Neil Perrys of this world that most of the best meals have been in Y!!

Well, all those great Why meals have been quite a while back when flying Economy on airlines like SQ or EK was still sometimes a joy. My few recent experiences being stuck on a mid-haul flight in cattle class (never have been on a long-haul Y flight in at least 10 years, thank Science for that!) have all been horrific, both in terms of service (Emirates- I am looking at you here!) and also the food.

And in defence of our national airline, Qantas consistently has better meal options than for example BA or LH, to compare to similar legacy carriers. Yes, there are some odd cases when the choice is fish or seafood or kale with kale and another dish with kale but MOST of the time, the meals in J are at least alright and service almost always delightful. I really don’t quite understand why so many Aussies constantly bash poor old Qantas.

And just on the above: Hardky any airline does breakfast as consistently amazingly well as Qantas on the long haul, and not only in F but J as too: Perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs, the only decently properly toasted toast I can recall in the skies, tasty bacon and the likes. Not at all easy to do (as many competitors show) and Qantas nails it, pretty much every single time (not talking about the overnighters from Asia where you get a tiny shameful egg dish- I’m talking about services with proper breakfast). I also recall quite a few excellent dinner dishes on QF- Rockpool’s potato and cabbage casserole is a killer side dish, anything NP touches that contain crumbed Schnitzel is a winner usually and I also recall some great Asian dishes as well as an absolutely amazing Calzone in F just a few years ago (Qantas consistently manages to do “impossible” dishes right on the airplane, no idea how they do it). Oh and something extremely oddly named called a “Duck Shepherds pie” - I always thought the “shepherd” gives it away that it contains sheep but somehow this contained duck. And it was one of the best pies i’ve eaten in all my life! And I could go on and on and on, actually.

 

[clipped_wings]

I've had excellent foil-topped pastas, hot and filling toasties in Y - and impeccably presented rib-eyes with all the trimmings in J. I absolutely love drooling over photos of in-flight meals and reading trip reports of fellow FF's experiences.

I am one of those weirdos that simply don't have a favourite meal - I look forward to the dining experience on every single flight.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love ANY dish that someone else has cooked for me. It always feels like Mother's Day.

 

[RooFlyer]

I have had other good meals such as the prawn dishes on AY, the fabulous beetroot mousse as entree on CX etc, but I can't think of s single memorable meal on QF either in J, Y+ or Y.

Actually, I'll give the poor 'ol Roo a bit of a plug. Sydney to Manila, of all routes, in J, 2013, there was a 'Moroccan' style beef dish, was really delicious & well presented. That was in the days before i took pics of everything on a plane

 

[OATEK]

Actually, I'll give the poor 'ol Roo a bit of a plug. Sydney to Manila, of all routes, in J, 2013, there was a 'Moroccan' style beef dish, was really delicious & well presented. That was in the days before i took pics of everything on a plane

A comment from a legacy traveller re a legacy airline.

 

[maia200]

I also enjoy most airline meals however and in my opinion (yes I was hungry) the beef pie in Business Sydney to Brisbane on Tuesday was excellent.........