Qantas Business Class meals & menus

[frodo]

The other starters did not sound very bad (potato and carrot soup or goat's cheese salad) but I guess a lot of pax would prefer the Asian option coming out of HKG.

Is that the vegetarian yi mien noodle dish from the lounge. It certainly looked much better then the fish ball and fish cake rice noddle soup I had which I see is more comfort food.

Yup, the yi mien, it was pretty good.

Potato and carrot soup was ok, would have preferred the dumplings though.

 

[Aeryn]

QF167 MEL-CHC

PDB of sparkling wine, sparkling water or OJ.

Cabin manager came introduced himself and asked me and one other passenger behind me (who i also assume had status) if we had a meal preference.

I was in my usual 2C, when service was underway, passenger in 2A was told only chicken was left (all of row 1 chose beef), but i was then served the beef as my order was taken earlier.

2D and 2F were vegetarians who failed to pre-order a special meal so as there were no veggie options on J menu they were given the salad, bread, cheese, choc from J and then the vegetarian pumpkin ravioli from whY.

Menu



Went with beef, was more of a stew thank a stir fry. Decent amount of meat, i didnt eat the rice. I liked the salad but it was chickpea, navy and kidney beans not cannellini beans as advertised.



Ice cream was yum



Coffee and tea and drink top ups offered.

i do think it would have been better to serve lunch a little later (maybe 90mins into flight). 9am depature, take off delayed until 9:30 meal served at 10am (i was still full from breaky), trays all cleared by 10:45.

 

[Gladstone Tim]

QF167 MEL-CHC

PDB of sparkling wine, sparkling water or OJ.

Cabin manager came introduced himself and asked me and one other passenger behind me (who i also assume had status) if we had a meal preference.

I was in my usual 2C, when service was underway, passenger in 2A was told only chicken was left (all of row 1 chose beef), but i was then served the beef as my order was taken earlier.

2D and 2F were vegetarians who failed to pre-order a special meal so as there were no veggie options on J menu they were given the salad, bread, cheese, choc from J and then the vegetarian pumpkin ravioli from whY.

Menu

View attachment 492493

Went with beef, was more of a stew thank a stir fry. Decent amount of meat, i didnt eat the rice. I liked the salad but it was chickpea, navy and kidney beans not cannellini beans as advertised.

View attachment 492494

Ice cream was yum

View attachment 492495

Coffee and tea and drink top ups offered.

i do think it would have been better to serve lunch a little later (maybe 90mins into flight). 9am depature, take off delayed until 9:30 meal served at 10am (i was still full from breaky), trays all cleared by 10:45.

I am partially perplexed that vegetarians wouldn’t stop to think that their dietary preferences might require prior notice to the airline. Sounds like the cabin crew rose to the occasion to meet the need.

 

[anat0l]

I am partially perplexed that vegetarians wouldn’t stop to think that their dietary preferences might require prior notice to the airline. Sounds like the cabin crew rose to the occasion to meet the need.

I think a lot of people have somewhat assumed that QF have always had a vegetarian option in Business Class. In fact, most airlines tend to "always" have a vegetarian option on the menu (even if it is just ravioli and sugo). Some people believe that, of all of the classes of special diets / allergens, catering for vegetarians is a staple and an expectation. Even steakhouses have a vegetarian (not necessarily vegan) dish on the menu (which isn't just the side salad), and nearly everyone expects this is the case, even if you think a vegetarian has no business being in a steakhouse.

QF definitely don't have a vegetarian option at all times on domestic Business, including coast to coast.

Only a few months ago, one of the Trans-Tasman menu options was vegetarian - pumpkin ravioli with a cream sauce. Delicious in theory even if you weren't a vegetarian (though for our resident pumpkin-haters, would be a write off and even worse if you were vegetarian).

The crew did well to make the workaround that they did. I hope the passengers were satisfied, though I wouldn't put it past them to submit a customer service complaint about why there is no vegetarian option on the menu.

 

[anat0l]

QF42 CGK-SYD dep 1950 a/c 332

For context, this flight arrives at around 0700h, and it's only about 7 hours block time; much less actual air time. One of the shorter "overnight from Asia" flights in the QF network (DPS flights are worse).

The menu, which was available in Indonesian and English:

• To Start
  • Roasted tomato soup with chive sour cream
  • Salad of prawns with brown rice, cucumber, chilli, sesame and ginger dressing
  • Balinese chicken skewers with sambal and almond satay sauce
• Main- served with green leaf salad with Neil's vinaigrette
  • Sauteed mushrooms with soft polenta, roasted sweet potatoes and green beans
  • Steamed snapper in banana leaf with sambal, coconut rice, fried bean curd and pickles
  • Roast chicken breast with potato puree, asparagus and coriander salsa
  • Beef bolognese with linguine, cherry tomatoes and parmesan
• To Finish
  • Selection of cheese served with accompaniments
  • Chocolate mousse with lime curd, pomelo and roasted coconut
  • Ice cream
  • Seasonal fruit
  • Homemade chocolates

Service proceeded at pace once we finally got to cruise and the seatbelt sign was turned off. The FA working my side of the J cabin, Chris, was a larger than life Greek who ran his side a bit like it was a Greek cafe in the Athenian suburbs.

First off, aperitif with nuts and corn kernels. Next, the standard J meal trays were distributed. Dressing for the salad was spooned on in a standard serve from a jug rather than given in a small packet or tub. Whole wheat and white bread rolls were available.


The entree of chicken skewers with sambal and nut sauce. Basically a kind of bare rendition of satay with sauce, but it was delicious, even if it doesn't have the normal accompaniments like cucumber, compressed rice cubes or fresh onion. Pickles wouldn't have gone astray.


I went for the snapper main. For those so interested, the "coconut rice" is nasi uduk and the "pickles" is acar. So, here it is:


Notice something a bit off? No rice? Yep, you got it. Not sure what happened to the rice, but given it was late-ish at night, and wanting something a bit light-ish, I didn't inquire further. Instead of nasi uduk, a cube of tempe was on the plate instead. No, tempe is not a replacement for rice, and if people are not so hot about tofu (I am not against tofu at all), they're probably less hot about tempe. The fish did taste nice, though I would prefer it to be more spiced - it probably tasted a bit too subtle for some. The acar was needed, but I prefer it to be crunchy and a bit more sour. Overall, a tasty light dish, but not absolutely hitting your mouth with flavour as such.

Up next was dessert or cheese. Chris was kind enough to be able to provide both (once he checked there was enough to go around). I was surprised that a lot of the cabin asked for ice cream, even if it was just vanilla Haagen-Dasz.


I don't know how others feel, but the glass desserts made by Qantas are real winners. Sure, they are all "puddings" but they are delicious, this one included. I didn't think pomelo would go with chocolate, but it worked really well. I wish the lime curd was a big blob on one side rather than hidden under the chocolate mousse, as it would combine much better with the rest of the dish, viz. lime and coconut is a great combination.

Cheese was cheese, likely not top shelf stuff, but it does the job. One soft, one blue and one cheddar.

I had a half-glass of Lillipilli dessert wine to go with.


The main issue of the flight was that my seat was inoperable. Couldn't tell between the mechanicals jamming or the electronics being shot, but I couldn't recline the seat, and the crew could barely do so manually. And the cabin was full. So I had to get used to sleeping in the standard seating position without recline, which wasn't easy, but I guess it's still easier to do that in a J seat than a Y seat. CSM Darren was most apologetic and couldn't do enough to be both apologetic and ensure my flight was as comfortable as could be, given the circumstances. He proactively suggested compensation and he did what he could to make that happen within his purview. I'll just say that the offer was sufficiently substantial.

I woke up somewhat closer to when breakfast was to be served, which is when CSM Darren had the conversation with me about the ramifications of the faulty seat. While I was there, Chris brought my attention to a brulee cheesecake that one of the crew had brought on board to celebrate the birthday of another crew member. He offered me a slice with coffee; hard to refuse him, as he had been so obliging.


Finally, time for breakfast. Well, whatever you might want to call it. The selection was (aside from standard drinks selection):

• Raisin muffin
• Seasonal fruit plate

Yep, that was it. I guess, in a flippant way, most people don't eat much for breakfast (and some skip it, both on board and on the ground). In a less flippant way, it was a short flight to start with and, time difference aside, it's a very early arrival. Some may argue that QF should have at least one hot option available - maybe this should have been available in lieu of one of the mains - and that's a very valid argument to make. Maybe I was just too tired (not horribly tired due to the lack of reclining seat), but I didn't care too much. Perhaps in hindsight, I should have taken the express option and opted just for a drink (viz. and only woken up 1 hr prior to landing), though it was difficult to get a long period of unfettered sleep in a non-reclining seat.

I beg to think what was offered to the Y pax if this was the breakfast selection in J (maybe it was nothing, or just a muffin or muesli bar and a choice of drink).

The seasonal fruit plate is at least somewhat substantial, and unlike other carriers (even in J), it isn't just a selection of melons:


Maybe because it happens anyway on a flight like this, and/or maybe because of the lack of options offered by Qantas, but a decent chunk of the cabin woke up late just for a drink, and a decent few didn't even ask for any breakfast service at all.

Overall, maybe dinner service could have gone a bit faster, but the crew weren't dawdling. Definitely not a perfect flight by any measure - between the imperfect main and especially the broken seat - but it wasn't all negative. As it stood, I took this flight as it was the only reward option in J (or any class) that I could find and book to return to Australia from Asia and on the date that I wanted, and I don't regret it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Try the cheese selection on Cathay J… makes QF look pretty ‘top shelf’ (on my last flight cathy offered three cheeses… not that you could tell the difference between them, all had the same texture and all completely tasteless).

IIRC, according to the QF policy, there should be a refund of 75% of the fare for an inop seat?