Special Meals on QF local/ international Flights

[nlagalle]

This is my first post so here I go. I am vegetarian and like the fact that Qantas brings out the special meals at the start of the meal service. I have never been disappointed with what has been served and generally it looks a lot better than the standard meals.

Welcome to AFF!

 

[fall502]

My wife is fructose intolerant and used to request a gluten free meal.After seeing her meals come out first in economy and that they were better quality than what I was served, I also ordered a special meal. This was quite a few years ago and we have both stopped ordering special meals as the quality and freshness have deteriorated quite badly both in economy and business.

 

[badseed]

I'm vegan and generally the food on QF is fine, apart from the gluten-free 'cake' which tastes like dust. I love getting my meals first.

The best special meal I've had thus far was a few years back on Finnair in J between BKK and HKG. But then everything tastes better sitting in row 1 of an MD-11 ;-)

 

[Kangol]

I always request the fruit platter on domestic flights at meal times - eat something in the lounge, then have the fruit platter as dessert on the plane... win.

Out of interest after reading about it on this thread, I requested the fruit platter tonight and it was great! Consisted of two slices of: pineapple, watermelon, rockmelon and honeydew, two strawberries and two prunes (these seemed quite sweet - soaked in syrup or similar so only had one). Definitely better than the sandwich or light snacks on most of the ~1hr dom flights that I get...

I might try all the other special meals just to see what they're like, after all most of the time I'm full from eating in the lounge...

 

[elbarto]

I've requested the fruit platter several times.. It was pretty good.

My partner used to threaten to change my bookings on BA flights to give me the fruit platter meal. Last year I was flying MAD-LCY in J and looking out the window when the meal service began. While gazing down at Spain I hear "Your fruit platter meal sir". Turning about in shock, thinking she'd actually done it, I discover it was for the person next to me!

 

[Kangol]

Out of interest after reading about it on this thread, I requested the fruit platter tonight and it was great! Consisted of two slices of: pineapple, watermelon, rockmelon and honeydew, two strawberries and two prunes (these seemed quite sweet - soaked in syrup or similar so only had one). Definitely better than the sandwich or light snacks on most of the ~1hr dom flights that I get...

I might try all the other special meals just to see what they're like, after all most of the time I'm full from eating in the lounge...

The fruit platter on the return flight was slightly different, but still nice:

Yes that is a stirrer, second time in 3 days I received it instead of the usual fork/cutlery pack!

 

[boylero]

having recently gone vegan due to health, I find it strange that I cant put it in my profile, having to select special meal for every booking can be hit and miss when flying a lot

 

[mrmerc500]

My travel is mainly coast to coast, with recently qantas flying back from brisbane. To be honest, I'm going to give virgin a try next time as I'm over cous cous and as someone else mentioned, the dusty muffin. The meal onboard was meant to be dinner however was served a vegetarian lunch meal which was served 7 days before on my lunch flight. One of the 2 normal meals was vegetarian also (tasty pasta) which was awesome but I do love getting my meal first however the variety needs to be improved by Q catering. As virgin will shortly be offering free meals, & having just received a virgin credit card I will try them next time. Sorry qantas but your special meals are tasteless and boring.

 

[kw1]

Is there any way i can put in a special meal request on QF thats not one of the standard on the drop down lists? (part from calling QF)

I'm allergic to seafood, I never thought it would be a problem until the other week when in J they were serving salmon or some other fish type thing.

Im scared that if I'm one of the last to be served i'll miss out on a meal - or worse having to resort to a leftover Y meal.

 

[JessicaTam]

Is there any way i can put in a special meal request on QF thats not one of the standard on the drop down lists? (part from calling QF)

I'm allergic to seafood, I never thought it would be a problem until the other week when in J they were serving salmon or some other fish type thing.

Im scared that if I'm one of the last to be served i'll miss out on a meal - or worse having to resort to a leftover Y meal.

Specify a vegatarian meal and you should be fine.

 

[ashleyn]

I want to make a comment but I just know I'm going to get flamed so I won't.

 

[Downwind]

</Rant>

As I am usually towards the front of the whY cabin, my vego meal usually arrives only shortly before the others. I agree with markh that QAN seem to be combining all their special meals into one. I don't want to see another gluten free cake or a stale gluten free bread roll again.

And don't get me started on the dinners that when they are hot are the same thing time and time again.

</End Rant>

OMG!!!! I thought it was just me!!!
Im so over those ghastly heart shaped friands and dried mush they think resembles a vegetarian meal that I politely hand it back and ask if they FA would eat it. The answer is always a resounding NO!.

 

[kw1]

Specify a vegatarian meal and you should be fine.

Thanks for the suggestion JessicaTam,

However, I don’t think I should have to miss out on meat just because I can’t eat seafood, It’s such a common allergy.
QF offers 13 different special meal choices,

Specials meals available:
Child (2-11 years)
Diabetic
Fruit Platter
Gluten Intolerance
Hindu
Infant (0-11 months)
Kosher Meal
Moslem (Halal)
Vegetarian (Asian Indian Style)
Vegetarian (Lacto Ovo)
Vegetarian (Oriental)
Vegetarian (Strict Indian)
Vegan

I wouldn't have thought it would too hard to include non seafood as an option. I’m pretty happy to eat anything that’s given to me onboard (obviously except seafood)

 

[CaviAck]

I wonder if I can order a special meal, take a look at it and then request a regular meal because it's "horrendous". Tempted to do this for my trip to LOTFAP to see how special these special meals are. Can anyone comment on recent QFi diabetic or gluten free offerings on QF11/12?

 

[missafternoondelight]

This is a good example of how it is impossible to please everyone. Can you imagine the whinges QF would get if they attempted to serve special meals (including diabetic meals) after everyone else? I'm betting that among those with special dietary requirements, there is a higher percentage of squeaky wheels... not to mention the potential 'I'm diabetic and had a low due to QF being to slow to serve me my meal." Serving them with the regular meal service might sound like a good idea, but it would probably be somewhat impractical, especially on wide body aircraft. I doubt the extra time it would take to organise would be worth keeping the majority of pax waiting for their meals.

I was vegan up until about 18 months ago, and I LOVED the vegan meals. One of the best things was getting the meal first, and also getting fresh fruit instead of the canned style little tub of fruit salad (on domestic flights this was a mainstay for a while). The quality and variety of meal was better than offered in some restaurants, especially given that vegan menu options are particularly limited.

It is so much more practical having a special combo meal from an efficiency point of view, and also for spares ratio. I imagine there are a couple of spare meals 'just in case' someone forgot to order, and it would be impossible to have a spare of each special meal. Also, can I risk being shot down in flames when suggesting that we should keep it in perspective? It is great that the options are offered at all, when still many restaurants and cafes don't even offer these sort of options. So you get served first, boo hoo. If you don't like it, BYO. Or do what we did in the old days and eat around the bits you shouldn't eat. If there's the risk of anaphylaxis, make sure you bring an epi pen.

 

[daturtle]

I'm allergic to eggs myself. Got sick of the boring masks so I just run the gsuntlet now. Sometimes you eat, other times you're raiding the vending machines on landing (it's always after 9pm when I land in BNE).

 

[JessicaTam]

This is a good example of how it is impossible to please everyone. Can you imagine the whinges QF would get if they attempted to serve special meals (including diabetic meals) after everyone else? I'm betting that among those with special dietary requirements, there is a higher percentage of squeaky wheels... not to mention the potential 'I'm diabetic and had a low due to QF being to slow to serve me my meal." Serving them with the regular meal service might sound like a good idea, but it would probably be somewhat impractical, especially on wide body aircraft. I doubt the extra time it would take to organise would be worth keeping the majority of pax waiting for their meals.

I was vegan up until about 18 months ago, and I LOVED the vegan meals. One of the best things was getting the meal first, and also getting fresh fruit instead of the canned style little tub of fruit salad (on domestic flights this was a mainstay for a while). The quality and variety of meal was better than offered in some restaurants, especially given that vegan menu options are particularly limited.

It is so much more practical having a special combo meal from an efficiency point of view, and also for spares ratio. I imagine there are a couple of spare meals 'just in case' someone forgot to order, and it would be impossible to have a spare of each special meal. Also, can I risk being shot down in flames when suggesting that we should keep it in perspective? It is great that the options are offered at all, when still many restaurants and cafes don't even offer these sort of options. So you get served first, boo hoo. If you don't like it, BYO. Or do what we did in the old days and eat around the bits you shouldn't eat. If there's the risk of anaphylaxis, make sure you bring an epi pen.

I appreciate there are economies of scale and efficiencies when it comes to supplying specific meals, however there is very little variety. Regular meals are rotated quite often, but not the special ones.

The FAs are usually quite sympathetic when I decline the heart shaped cake and replace it with something more palatable.

incidentally, an epi-pen provides temporary relief, it is not a remedy.

Kw1, I missed the point of your question and you will have to ring QF and ask them otherwise go vego for the flight. I eat poultry but don't risk that not being offered by choosing VGML (which also avoids nuts).

Ashleyn, go on, we don't bite - well I don't

 

[Downwind]

This is a good example of how it is impossible to please everyone. Can you imagine the whinges QF would get if they attempted to serve special meals (including diabetic meals) after everyone else? I'm betting that among those with special dietary requirements, there is a higher percentage of squeaky wheels... not to mention the potential 'I'm diabetic and had a low due to QF being to slow to serve me my meal." Serving them with the regular meal service might sound like a good idea, but it would probably be somewhat impractical, especially on wide body aircraft. I doubt the extra time it would take to organise would be worth keeping the majority of pax waiting for their meals.

I was vegan up until about 18 months ago, and I LOVED the vegan meals. One of the best things was getting the meal first, and also getting fresh fruit instead of the canned style little tub of fruit salad (on domestic flights this was a mainstay for a while). The quality and variety of meal was better than offered in some restaurants, especially given that vegan menu options are particularly limited.

It is so much more practical having a special combo meal from an efficiency point of view, and also for spares ratio. I imagine there are a couple of spare meals 'just in case' someone forgot to order, and it would be impossible to have a spare of each special meal. Also, can I risk being shot down in flames when suggesting that we should keep it in perspective? It is great that the options are offered at all, when still many restaurants and cafes don't even offer these sort of options. So you get served first, boo hoo. If you don't like it, BYO. Or do what we did in the old days and eat around the bits you shouldn't eat. If there's the risk of anaphylaxis, make sure you bring an epi pen.

I get what you're saying and agree with most of it in principle. However, it is Qantas that offers special meals (of types others have already listed), it is not passengers demanding them (despite some on here asking for no seafood meals etc). I personally don't like the taste of egg yolks, never have, never will. I'm not allergic to them, but that's why I order a vegetarian meal. If Qantas can change the regular meals, why shouldn't they change the special ones too? I mean, they apparently did survey on bread rolls and stopped handing them out for a while and yet those ghastly love heart shaped friand things, that are no doubt quite expensive and taste like dirt, continue to be dished out and have been for many years. It's also annoying to get exactly the same dinner meal for about 2 years straight. But your last point about anaphylaxis and an epi pen.... Are you kidding me?? That is dangerous, stupid and downright irresponsible. I hope you'd be prepared to pay the diversion costs because of your nut allergy!

 

[Shelf]

Thanks for the suggestion JessicaTam,

However, I don’t think I should have to miss out on meat just because I can’t eat seafood, It’s such a common allergy.
QF offers 13 different special meal choices,

Specials meals available:
Child (2-11 years)
Diabetic
Fruit Platter
Gluten Intolerance
Hindu
Infant (0-11 months)
Kosher Meal
Moslem (Halal)
Vegetarian (Asian Indian Style)
Vegetarian (Lacto Ovo)
Vegetarian (Oriental)
Vegetarian (Strict Indian)
Vegan

I wouldn't have thought it would too hard to include non seafood as an option. I’m pretty happy to eat anything that’s given to me onboard (obviously except seafood)

The QF website could use a tweak as you can select those meals on Dom flights, but not all are available :|

 

[mcbain]

OMG!!!! I thought it was just me!!!
Im so over those ghastly heart shaped friands

Actually, for a gluten free "pastry" they aren't all that bad. That's not saying a lot, though. For comparison, try their gluten free bread. (Hint: don't.)

I'm lactose intolerant, so if I chose a special meal, I get stuck with the combo gluten/lactose free meal (not the worst thing in the world since I do better on lower gluten diet anyway). Lunch/dinner meals are ok but breakfasts are usually the vego option - ie, no bacon!