Best airplane food you've ever had?

[Cinnamon]

I'd have to say mine was on a Mexican airline on the way back from Cancun... nicely done flavorful rice and beans that went with something.

[racer x]

Air India, business class New York to New Delhi.
Multiple courses of delicious food. I've always been completely stuffed by the end of the flights.

How about the worst airplane food I've ever had? Indian Airlines.
I think they served limp processed cheese slice sandwiches on the Indian equivalent of Wonderbread. Oh, plus a candy.

(Indian Airlines no longer exists as such. At the time to which I am referring, both Air India and Indian Airlines were state-owned enterprises, Air India for international flights and Indian Airlines for domestic.)

[lulubelle]

Singapore and Thai seem to have the best food in general, although the bangers and mash I had on BA last Christmas was really really good, maybe because i was craving western comfort food.

[kathinmadrid]

It's a sad commentary that so many of us are thinking about the good old days of flying. In comparison with current European and American carriers, Iberia is indeed pretty good as is British. I had great cheesecake on a BA flight.

[emmybee]

kingfisher airlines in india (yes, owned by the kingfisher beer guy) had far and away the best airline food i've ever had. on a flight from bangalore to goa (about 45min in the air) we were served two incredibly well-spiced curries (there was vegetarian or meat meal selection, so four curries total were brought on board), and a surprisingly tasty golub jamun. i couldn't believe how good the food was compared to regular flight food. i think on a 45min U.S. flight you might not even get a beverage...

sadly, you can't actually drink kingfisher on kingfisher air, because there is no alcohol allowed on indian flights.

[cresyd]

I've had some decent meals on El Al and once on Swiss Air business class - but the only airplane food I look forward to are the Biscoff cookies served on Delta. To the extent that I was thrilled when I discovered I could buy Biscoffs in my local grocery store. The only item I've ever had on a plane that I have since made the effort to get into my kitchen on a semi-regular basis.

[Halie]

I LOVE those!! my friend's dad was a delta pilot so for some reason he always has them in his pantry. yum.

[cresyd]

What I don't get about the Delta/Biscoff relationship - is why Delta took the time/effort to get those tasty lil Belgian cookies on their flights. And yet just about every other food item is terrible. I mean, kudos for the cookie choice - but if they could find that cookie, surely finding other decent food would have been possible.

[mielimato]

Indian vegetarian on Virgin Atlantic. Saw the guy next to me getting and since it looked good I asked for it as well. Not very filling but not bad.

[Halie]

the soup I bought at au bon pain before I even got on the flight.

not even kidding.

I've never even had anything halfway decent even in the airport, let alone the plane!

[Sherri]

International First Class on British Air; order from an extensive menu whatever you want and whenever you choose to dine - the cooked-to-order bacon sandwiches are particularly delicious. They have lovely cheeses and a good wine list as well...... these flights were the only times I've ever been truly sorry to leave an airplane. The first class lounges on the ground are a huge plus, as well. It even makes Heathrow pleasant and that's saying something!

I've flown on a number of different airlines, foreign and domestic, for many years and BA trumped them all including JAL, Singapore, Air France, KLM, Quantas etc.

[emily]

When I was a kid, I remember the food on Singapore Airlines being tasty and the food on India Air and Egypt Air being very interesting.

Best meal in recent memory was United first class from London to SFO. Everything was really quite good and I really enjoyed the afternoon tea served with Rodda's clotted cream.

[Scrapironchef]

I clued the food drivers in to this snack way back when, we had our own afternoon tea after the London trip arrived. They always loaded twice the quantity needed, the 1st class carts always got diverted on the waay back to the kitchen.

[jngc]

I flew Austrian Airlines recently, and even economy class the food was surprising.. apparently it's catered out by a rather well known restaurant company in Vienna. They served up things like three cheese ravioli in a leek and cream sauce, poached salmon in a dill and tarragon sauce.. and metal cutlery too.

[KevinB]

1994- biz class, Honolulu to Sydney on Qantas. Since this was pre-9/11, we were served on real china with decent cutlery. We were offered a bunch of choices - I had smoked salmon as an app, a salad, beef tenderloin with bearnaise, asparagus, roast potatoes, and grilled tomato. Can't remember if I had dessert, but I doubt I had room! Everything was done just as nicely as if I'd been at a first class steak house, and the service was so friendly and charming.

[polish_girl]

For years I flew to Poland on LOT Polish airlines, strictly because of food....The moment you stepped on board, they served wonderful juices ( blackcurant was my personal favorite). Won't mention good polish vodka that everybody seemed to enjoy ( I don't care for it). I also remember this wonder pate as an appetizer, along with other tasty sausages and hams. Dinner....oh, that veal was something else! And fresh rolls with farmer's cheese for breakfast, real country butter and jams. And the pastries, oh sooooo good and fresh.They always brought their own food, never catered in the US, so you could also enjoy it flying to Poland. For me it was like being home already.
Unfortunately, not any more. I am flying other European airlines nowadays.

[suse]

I flew the East German airline (can't remember the name!) to Moscow in the 80s and I distinctly remember how the little plates didn't all fit together like puzzle pieces as they do on western airlines, but the food was real, unlike most non-business class airplane food in the west. Best airplane food I ever had. Of course, when we landed, the empty seats all flopped forward. Quite a trip!

[torty]

Cathay Pacific LAX to Hong Kong: Late Supper- Mesclun salad with chicken and balsamic dressing; braised fish fillet with preserved gooseberry, steamed rice, and Chinese long cabbage w/ dried bean curd; Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream

[comestina]

I got a nice full Irish breakfast on a flight on British Midlands--egg, black and white pudding, little sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. So filling and tasty, it set me up for the rest of the day. Other people have mentioned Air India. I flew them once, and was delighted to have a spicy shrimp curry that was tasty.

[ktmoomau]

I am suprised no one has said Air Jamaica. I have flown with them a couple times to different places in the Carribean and have gotten free morning mimosa, or a fruit punch cocktail, and they had a great chicken meal. It has been my most memorable airline food in an incredibly long time.

Air Iberia wasn't bad, it helped that they had hot tea and bread they would ask you if you wanted more of quite often. But it wasn't nearly as good as Air Jamaica.

[jeanmarieok]

My favorite airline breakfast was on Midwest Express - the gingerbread pancakes were so good!

[Smileelisa]

When I flew to Ca and Maine last year all we got was a small pack of cookies and a drink.:(

[Mr Fritz]

I have to say my favorite airplane meal was also on a Mexican airline, barring flights on business class.. my best meal was on an Aerocalifornia flight from La Paz to Tijuana, it was a strange sort of beef stew with raisins and fried plantains, with a side of rice. It was excellent ! Unfortunately that is all in the past as AeroCalifornia does not serve any meals these days...

Is it just me or is beef the usual safe bet on a plane? Chicken can sometimes be iffy, and pasta is usually dry, beef tends to keep rather well on an airplane setting.

John

[shauben2007]

Great post :)

Also love www.airlinemeals.net

-Steve

[yumyum]

I've had many lovely meals en route to Japan (my favorite ever item served on a JAL flight being a tall cool glass of oolong tea served on an impossibly hot day) but the best ever was when I did a little country-hopping in SE Asia -- between Laos and Cambodia and such -- we were served absolutely delectable small dishes of noodles with a few poached shrimp and a very spicy sauce, or sticky rice in individual steamers with a bit of meat and veg. A little mango to finish, squeezed with lme. Simply served, nicely presented and almost glamorous since the rest of the time we ate street food!

I remember the first time I flew business class and actually enjoyed the flight as I (guilty admission) like being fawned over, and they certainly do it. All the booze you can drink and they never acknowledge you are a lush. Ahh. Company dime.

[drobbia]

in the 80's - Concorde degaule to jfk = rose dom,starting in the 1st class lounge,fantastic duck,beluga caviar, oh yes, a GIFT of Hermes and a bottle of Rose Dom to take on the free Copter flight to the top of the Pan Am bldg in Midtown NYC.
THOSE were days when flying was fun

[linlinchan]

As a gift, my parents pooled their frequent flyer miles to get me a business-class ticket to and from Osaka from Los Angeles when I studied abroad.

The meal that I got on JAL business-class to Osaka was just amazing by any standards.
It was basically a mini-fancy Japanese dinner, including chawanmushi (savory japanese egg custard,) miso soup, sashimi, broiled fish, stewed dishes, and all kinds of other stuff.
Fantastic, really.

[pilotgirl210]

I was up front in first class a number of years ago on Delta between Dallas/Fort Worth and Portland and had great wine, a very good steak and, more than two hours into the flight, a hot fudge sundae where the ice cream was rock hard and the hot fudge was piping hot. To this day, I wonder how they were able to do that!

[Scrapironchef]

The ice cream is pre dished, frozen and packed packed in a cart with dry ice. The hot fudge is warmed in the oven. I used to have to wait for the ice cream to get soft enough that you could attack it with a spoon. I've seen them still solid after an 8 hour flight.

The big fun was when they started carrying Ben & Jerry's bars on flights, I've seen ramp rats come close to fist fights over them on a hot day.

[pilotgirl210]

Thanx for clearing that up for me. I've been curious about it for a very long time. Oh, if only we could return to the good ole days of air travel. I remember my very first commercial flight. We wore hats and gloves and I was in a $160 Butte Knit suit. (And my paycheck back then was $52 per week.....tee hee.)

[Scrapironchef]

Back when I used to work at an Unnamed Air Line I used to load/unload the galleys on the international flights.

Best food?

The scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam out of London for the first class cabin. I introduced the rest of my team to this and we'd have afternoon tea after the London flight arrived.

The rack of lamb or beef tenderloin out of Washington Dulles always boarded an extra, those were uncooked and went straight from the plane to my freezer, 2 or 3 a week. Ever had beef tenderloin hash?

Godiva chocolates by the pound, chopped up they make great chocolate chunk cookies.

Ah, the good old days. My brother is actually involved in onboard QA still, he brings a lunch on airplanes.

[Fydeaux]

I know this is not exactly what you are asking about, but a brief word has to be made of the fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies served on Midwest Airlines. Baked in flight!

[laurie]

And as long as we're talking about in-flight snacks, I'm very fond of the warm mixed nuts served in AA First Class. Yeah, I know, they probably just nuke a little bowl of Planters nuts, but I still look forward to them when I fly AA. I miss the chocolate sundaes they used to serve for desert; probably becauseit was one of my rare excuses to indulge in a chocolate sundae. . . .

[morebubbles]

Another vote for Air France. About 2 years ago, Montreal-Paris then Paris-Porto. And on regular cheap seats! They kept feeding us every couple of hours, it was amazing! Great food too. Had a sm. bottle of champagne on the return, no charge. Loved, loved the food. Can't remember all of it- good cheeses, good salads, good wines, great baguettes diligently distributed... We did NOT get a chance to get hungry for all the meals! Very good. Charming attentive service too.

[debrolex]

Emerites Air from Dubai to London. A lamb dish w/ sauce, tender crisp veggies, rice. KLM also has some tasty offerings between Amsterdam & Bahrain, but can't remember off hand exactly what was served - one time I distinctly remember a salmon dish, but can't remember if it was KLM or Emerites. Yum!

As a tip - back when you were certain to get a rubbery tasteless 'Italian' offering on US domestic flights, I would simply state I was allergic to tomatoes (tiny white lie) and take whatever they could 'scrounge up' which would usually be much more appetizing. My father was a pilot for Amer. Eagle and had to eat his fare share of airplane food. He always suggested I request the vegetarian meal - it was typically fresher, tastier and offered more to make up for the lack of meat product. Bonus!

[TexasToast]

Gulf do lamb dishes as well to Dubai and other middle eastern destinations, like Oman.

TT

[slacker]

Mid 80's TWA from Heathrow to LAX (cant' remember if there was a stop at jfk). Don't recall the meals, but after the movie, when we were pretty worn out and ready to climb the walls, those British flight attendants came round with lemonade and butter cookies. That was so deliciously comforting and just made me feel so taken caren of.

[Ruby Louise]

In 1999 on a Turkish Air I ate wonderful pomegranate chicken. The chicken was tender, and actually tasted like chicken. They also served a wonderful sour cherry juice that I just could not get enough of.

[SunnysideUp]

MaxJet All Business Class has very good food and you are fed constantly. It's better on the Stansted to JFK leg, rather than the other way around. Something about being woken up with a silver tray of giant, chilled, British Snickers held by a warmly smiling flight attendant made me think we had crashed and this was her new job as an angel. I hope they stay in business. MaxJet, I mean.

[p.j.]

Back in 1978 on Frontier, from Denver to St. Louis: a good steak and my own small bottle of Mateus, which we thought was such great stuff back then.

TWA in the late 80's, between Newark and STL: I special ordered vegetarian, and had a delicious Indian-style lentil & veggie dish.

In the 90's, on snack-only flights on TWA between EWR & STL, we would order kosher snacks, and actually got decent deli, turkey pastrami, salami, etc. sandwiches.
Sorry to say, I have never been in 1st or biz class. p.j.

[Loren3]

www.airlinemeals.net

Most major airlines in biz/first have very good food.
Most major airlines in coach have crappy (if any) food.

Definitely order a special meal. That usually means it was cooked within a few hours of your flight (infer from that what you will about regular meals).

[csw]

Jetblue offers the best snacks and great service to go with it!

[chocolatetartguy]

On the advice of my globetrotting sister, I used to always order a low sodium meal. That meant invariably I was eating a small filet or cold chicken with mustard when everyone else in coach had a tv dinner. Not that it was great, but it was something I might have eaten at home.

Best food I carried on was a muffaletta poboy from Streetcar Sandwiches in NO and an Italian combo hoagie from Rocco's in Philly.

[mamamia]

Cathay Pacific LAX-HKG biz class dinner. It was later, so they even referred to it as "supper". Wine, soup, entree, dessert.

Worst meal: Cathay Pacific HKG-LAX biz class breakfast. It was a bizzaro version of an omlette and sausage links. Coming from Hong Kong it was done by a Chinese catering co., so some things get lost in traslation.

[ipsedixit]

Singapore Airlines.

A 10-course Chinese Shi Quan Shi Mei meal ... almost made me wish the flight was longer ... almost.

[chowcito]

No contest. Singapore Airlines. And the women who sevre are all former beauty queens!

[boogiebaby]

The Singapore Girls are not all former beauty queens, although only pretty women are chosen to represent the airline. My cousin's wife is a Singapore Girl, and has been for several years. My uncle was also an attendant several years ago. The airline tells them how to walk, talk, how to pour champagne, how to hold a tray of food, how to collect the empty glasses, everything. They want everyone to be doing the same thing.

I always fly Singapore for my international travel because a)I usually fly to Singapore and b)they have better food and service than other airlines. I usually like to try the Chinese option of the regular meal choices. And I love the spicy meat filled curry puffs they offer as part of the midnight snack baskets!

[Nehna]

Air France business class which I flew a few times last year, serves excellent food....fois gras pate, excellent cheeses, fruit, etc. Great wines too. The plane itself left a lot to be desired..you'd think that JFK-Paris direct flights would get some of those new planes their promoting..but every single time I ended up on a plane that looked at least 10 yrs old.

United PS flights from JFK - LA or SFO in business also have decent food usually. Esp the breakfast fruit plate. They serve warm chocolate chip cookies towards the end of the flight which makes the whole cabin spell yum :)

[Sam Fujisaka]

I've flown trans-Atlantic business on AF a couple of times this year. The flight attendants seem to hate all people. Makes any food less attractive.

[Caitlin McGrath]

It's been about five years since flew AF JFK-Paris (I'm not sure there's any option other than direct [g]), and unfortunately, the typical business-coach airline food divide sounds as much in evidence there as anywhere. Our cattle-class meals were as bad as most US domestic airline meals, including the awful, stale hostess-y Danish for breakfast on our redeye flight. The best thing about meal service as far as I'm concerned was the Breton hard cider, free in coach since it was an international flight.

On our return flight, we were served an equally bad meal (and they cut off my SO's supply of Orangina, which he only asked for each time they took drink orders!), but they gave us a snack pack, the rest of the contents of which I've forgotten, but which included a cup of lovely fromage frais and a packet of dark chocolate Petit Ecolier biscuits. Those two things are the best things I've been served on an airlplane in the past decade or so. The only other good food I've eaten in the air since then, I've brought with me.

I'm envious of those who've flown on foreign airlines with good food.

[vanillagrrl]

Chicken tikka on a BA direct flight to London.

[Simon Majumdar]

Last year

Got upgraded to 1st on flight from London to Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

Boarded at 9am to be asked if I wanted a glass of champagne which I indeed did.

Also asked if I wanted them to leave the bottle which I indeed did.

Server apologised that it was not the normal champagne they carried leaving me to curse the damn crappy bottle of Krug I was forced to drink all on my own

[FlyFish]

Baked stuffed lobster, served in the shell, in 1st on a Delta flight from SLC to Pasco, Washington about 20 years ago. It would have been good in a high-end restaurant on the ground - at 30,000 ft it was nothing short of amazing.

[Cinnamon]

Ah, the old days!

[Danimal n Hustler]

hands down JAL (Japan Airlines)

they had mini sandwiches, non-raw sushi, udon, sweet potatoes, rice-balls (onigiri)... some other stuff I don't remember but you can tell they actually put effort into the food

[bogie]

On Lufthansa from Toronto to Frankfurt: I had a simple cold lunch of smoked meats, cheeses,german potato salad, red cabbage salad and pumpernickel bread.

[Will Owen]

July 1964, early morning Northwest commuter flight from Yakima to Spokane. We got up in the air, and were immediately served some excellent coffee, followed by perfectly poached eggs and Canadian bacon on toasted English muffins - like Eggs Bennie without the Hollandaise - and fresh-squoze OJ of the tastiest kind. I ate with great satisfaction, had another cup of coffee, and then the seat belt sign came on and we landed. I told the stewardess, "Gee, I hate to just eat and run like this!"

It will never be like that again. Whatever disadvantages there might be for being ancient, I'm glad to be old enough to have experienced that.

[Gary Soup]

Probably on Air China, back in the days before they started codesharing with United. I remember my first couple of flights between San Francisco and Shanghai when I got Chinese food that actually tasted like Chinese food. Particularly outstanding was the breakfast "snack" which was a sampler box of different dumplings and baozi. Now Air China's offerings are pretty similar to United's on that route. I'm only referring to economy class food fare here, never having been blessed with business class, let alone first class accommodations.

[ChinoWayne]

Best food on an airplane: 1958, on the 12 hour flight from New York to L.A., lobster Newberg on American Airlines.

Worst: 1958 on the red eye from L.A. to New York, powdered eggs on American Airlines.

[steamer]

Korean Air from Tokyo to LA, they had the usual chicken or fish slop but also Bibimba, abalone rice porridge and they passed out tubes of hot sauce. All this and service with a smile. I'll be using KA again. Good bye to the angry senior citizens and mystery meat on NW and United.

[pikawicca]

Definitely a 1st class Air France flight from D.C. to Paris that I took in 1972: foie, champagne, salmon, filet mignon, wonderful cheese. They even served my Pomeranian a plate of minced steak. And they managed to produce excellent croissants for breakfast.

[jfood]

AA biz class back from London two weeks ago had pretty good food. Chicken was actually moist and came with a nice eggplant side and some rice pilaf.

But for the older Chows, my favorite Memory Lane was the old Continental Airlines in the 1970's when they flew a DC-10 between Newark and Houston. The First Class had a stand-up bar with stools bolted to the floor. When we reached cruising altitude they rolled out a standing Steamship Roast Beef and carved it for us. Unbeleivable!!!

[Candy]

My dad was an Eastern Pilot and later with Pan Am. I got to fly pretty much free at the time, taking off of Fri afternoons after school form northern NY state and down to Miami to stay with him over the weekends. Pretty much flew 1st. class all of the time. Food was great lots of fresh seafood and good drinks. 18 was legal in NYS at the time.

[WINDELLA]

Those were the good ol days.I remember a flight on Eastern Airlines that had the best orange cheesecake and a great corn pudding.

[Will Owen]

The problem with these old threads is that I forget that I've told a story on it and tell it again - it's a kind of technology-based senility! So I just junked my second telling of the nice Northwest breakfast...

[rose water]

Wow, those were the days! My most egregiously horrible recent food experience was on Continental--pasta soggy to the point of glueyness, topped with the tiniest smear of red product too dehydrated and flavorless to be called sauce. On the return, we had "chicken parmesan" with a coating so soggy that it slid right off the mystery meat, revealing a pock-marked patty reminiscent of vegetarian chicken patties. But when you eat a veggie chicken patty, you expect something synthetic. The meal was saved by a packet of excellent butter on a lackluster roll.

The best airline food I've had recently was on Air India--real Indian food, much spicier than standard US Indian food. Served with delicious tart, creamy yogurt.

Iran Air has excellent food too, which I'd say far surpasses all of the NYC Iranian restaurants. They serve full meals--rice, stews, yogurt--even on really short domestic flights.

[Andrew P.]

Second Air India!

In July, I flew coach from JFK to London and back on Air India because it was the cheapest available option, and was extremely surprised and happy to be served pretty damn tasty (and spicy!) Indian meals on both flights. The main dish had a vegetable on one side, rice in the middle, and a meat on the other. The two flights run together in my mind, but I remember the vegetables being particularly good.
It may not have been the best Indian food I've ever had, but it was definitely the best airplane food!

My guess as to why this happens is that the heavily sauced and spiced Indian-restaurant standards (lamb roganjosh, saag paneer, cauliflower and peas, chicken korma) and steamed rice were easy to reheat and don't lose much in transit. The same can't be said for most western dishes. . .

[rose water]

i like your theory. another good reason to request a vegetarian meal. it's usually an americanized indian meal, much worse than air india's but WAY better than the regular airline meal.

[TexasToast]

Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Suite still has all of that. You know, a bar with stools and free champagne.

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/tridio...

One time, this guy proposed to his gf at the bar. Lucky for him, she said yes, or that would have been a miserable flight!

TT

[CynD]

I was fortunate enough to fly Virgin Upper Class last summer, and the meals both ways were great. Fresh salads, cheeses, fruits, tender steak, even a great little ice cream box for afternoon snack. Other than that, the best airline food has been what we've brought aboard. One trip back from Paris we assembled a picnic from the Grand Epicerie at Bon Marche and avoided the nasty stuff United was dishing out.

[pilotgirl210]

My husband was one of the first male flight attendants for Continental back in the early '70s, when Bob Sixx owned the airline. What you are talking about was their *pub in the sky.* I always tease hubby about Continental's slogan back then -- *We Really Move Our Tail For You.*....tee hee Guess you can include me in the *older Chows* corner.

[fascfoo]

Was fortunate enough to travel from NYC/JFK -> Incheon, South Korea on Korean Air via Business class.

Had some very good and authentic tasting Korean bibimbop for lunch. The appetizer was smoked salmon with a wasabi horseradish dill mousse. The unending amounts of champagne didn't hurt either. Dinner was beef tenderloin in an osso bucco sauce with side of rice and vegetables in butter. Also very delicious. Dessert was a cheeseplate with port. The thing that really sold this meal was using real china and silverware.

[kare_raisu]

I have heard about the famous korea air bibimbop, you are lucky!

[Loren3]

I, too, have had the bibimbop on KAL biz class. Yum!

[asm305]

The bibimbop on Korean airlines is awesome!!!! by far the best airplane food available. And it's not just in business class...coach gets it, too. I always feel badly for the saps who choose the other option.

[Candy]

Going from Grenada to Miami very early one AM on American Airlines I was pleasantly surprised with a perfect and piping hot cheese omelet and fresh fruit. Probably one of the best meals provided by the airlines. Another time we had a dinner time flight out of Indianapolis and stopped at a well known Indiana cafeteria for take out fried shicken dinners. I am sure that there were some people who wished that they had done the same.

[Candy]

That was fried chicken, not shicken

[Humbucker]

I remember being served foie gras in business class a couple times. Unfortunately, at that time I was too young and stupid to try it and gave it to my dad.

[torta basilica]

AF F or J was the 1st time I tried Foie gras & have been addicted ever since! I was super-hungy & decided to go for it - boy am I glad I did!!

I remember the Dom & Beluga & carved roast Tenderloin on Pan Am F - those were the days!

Virgin & Singapore & AF still do a good job, but it's not the same... I'm hoping Swiss, too, as we are flying them next summer.

Now, the food in AA F is so bad I ask them for a turkey Wrap from Y - much more edible!

[gini]

I like teh food on Swiss - the meals are good and they always serve wine. The snacks can be anything from brie and salami on a crusty baguette to warm croissants.

[kenito799]

Ack--I flew Swiss when it was SwissAir and had to endure the same ham and cheese sandwiches 4 times (lunch/snacks and the Zurich-Rome leg). That cheese was OK the first time then downhill from there. The dinners were a little better. And avoid any Swiss red wine like the plague--they also offered Chilean selections, much better.

Most recently I have had really nice food on Iberia and Mexicana. Surprisingly good Rioja on the former (with beef with peppercorns and Spanish tortilla); chicken in salsa verde with black beans and chayote on the latter.

Best ever was AirIndia (see post below)! Veg even better than non-veg, richly spiced. Plus a Bollywood movie.

Next month I will have a lot of datapoints to sample Cathay Pacific's food on the 16 hour JFK-Hong Kong flight and will report...

[chicgail]

Just flew Cathay Pacific (biz class) from SFO to Hong Kong and then to Bangkok. The food was excellent. Wine was good, too

[rebs]

i can't remember the name of the airline right now, but on a flight either to or from bangkok and hong kong i had roasted duck with rice, steamed vegetables and a glass of white wine. and i was flying coach! the food was excellent. the wine not so much.

[MB fka MB]

Refusing Alitalia's dreadful food and 'hounding on the two edible souvenir's from Rome. One egg and tuna and arugula panini, the other prosciutto. Mmmmm.

[TexasToast]

Is this food on a regular/ scheduled airline, or does private catering count?

TT