Virgin Food [Flexi Fare]

[snoophound]

I am sick of getting those awful vegetarian wraps on flexi fare.
my flight today was a choice vegeterian or vegetarian.
Tasteless and I hate olives.
As for the menu
way too small and un interesting.
Who is this celeb Mangan guy,if thats the quality of his food he dont deserve the rep
Business class Twice running i had shepherds pie,not bad and the rostini brekky was good too.
All very well for biz class ,but the food in the back is ****e.

Secondly please Mr hero chef go and teach the lounge crews how to make soup.
Sydney has had dishwater onion soup for two weeks straight or maybe my flight days.

 

[samh004]

Is the vegetarian roll the one with all the cheese? I think I had that and preferred it to the other roll, last year.

You should check out Salt, his food isn’t bad there

 

[lovestotravel]

I said it in another thread, instead of paying mega $$ to put Luke Mangan's name on Virgin's food items, websites etc, put that money towards improving the food available in business class and the lounge and then economy!

 

[snoophound]

I said it in another thread, instead of paying mega $$ to put Luke Mangan's name on Virgin's food items, websites etc, put that money towards improving the food available in business class and the lounge and then economy!

Yep
Pointless really any good chef can do a menu of stuff people want to eat!
Bit like Neil Perry on Qtass.even in first its down to how good the Cabin crew are at putting it together.

 

[PDog]

There was a scroll (?) a couple of weeks ago that was quite ordinary & that apple strudel for b'fast wasn't great at all.
Yesterday morning was museli & a tub of fruit, tonight on the way home was a roast beef sandwich, museli bar & biscuits). I was really impressed by the improvement- much healthier (except the delish passionfruit biscuits) & intend on sending feedback.

 

[snoophound]

There was a scroll (?) a couple of weeks ago that was quite ordinary & that apple strudel for b'fast wasn't great at all.
Yesterday morning was museli & a tub of fruit, tonight on the way home was a roast beef sandwich, museli bar & biscuits). I was really impressed by the improvement- much healthier (except the delish passionfruit biscuits) & intend on sending feedback.

Yes had that about the best,and that passionfruit is awesome
unfort its hard to catch for some reason.
Still as a weekly flyer the menu is intensely boring and repeitive,if they want the business traveller they need to have more options

 

[dk4]

Virgin Food - Flexi fare

Can a mod please change the title to represent the thread as a "Flexi" Food service discussion?

Virgin domestic seems to offer 3.5 types of food service

• Domestic Business
• Domestic Flexi
• Buy on Board

+ 0.5 an "enhanced" service "coast to coast", "capital connect" & regional.

 

[snoophound]

Re: Virgin Food - Flexi fare

Can a mod please change the title to represent the thread as a "Flexi" Food service discussion?

Virgin domestic seems to offer 3.5 types of food service

• Domestic Business
• Domestic Flexi
• Buy on Board

+ 0.5 an "enhanced" service "coast to coast", "capital connect" & regional.

And to be pedantic
Lounge food!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Re: Virgin Food - Flexi fare

Taking my first Virgin flight since the re-branding tomorrow. Flexi, Perth to Sydney on the A330. 12:45pm departure, I will report back...unsure what to expect. The inability to order a special meal is annoying (ie Fruit platter on QF).

We will see what VA dish up and dish out overall. I'm not too confident it will be that good.

 

[carpenteria]

Re: Virgin Food - Flexi fare

Did some flexi travelling earlier in the year and the food was actually very good! Did a couple last week though... Not as great. Had that weird healthy nut/museli/fruit bar thing on both which is all well and good but damn it is so dry I'll need 2 drinks off the cart! Can you get beer at 8am? Had a bircher museli and some condensed fruit jubes on one early morning flight with the bar, and the other.... I can't remember what else I had, only remember the bar. After work drinks pre-flight may of had somthing to do with that. Was a late evening flight at any rate.

 

[wadebosse]

I said it in another thread, instead of paying mega $$ to put Luke Mangan's name on Virgin's food items, websites etc, put that money towards improving the food available in business class and the lounge and then economy!

I flew from ADL to BNE today DEP 09:30 (used a free plat upgrade credit). This is the snack you receive in business on that route at the moment. I must say that although it does not look that great, it actually tasted very good IMO. I have had the same old flexi fare food for so long now. If you could open windows on a plane, I would like nothing more than to see a stale New York wrap be mangled up and incinerated in the jets!! However this meal today was much better and a nice change; even had steel knives and forks!

 

[snoophound]

Business class is ok
I often fly similar same route and times
I hate the vegetarian wrap not being an olive lover....they never have an alternative.

The other annoying thing is the menu hasnt changed for some time.

Now as for the lounge.....it really needs some imagination in terms of food.
Perhaps one of those recipes for cheapos books would help.

 

[AsterisK]

View attachment 8279

I flew from ADL to BNE today DEP 09:30 (used a free plat upgrade credit). This is the snack you receive in business on that route at the moment. I must say that although it does not look that great, it actually tasted very good IMO. I have had the same old flexi fare food for so long now. If you could open windows on a plane, I would like nothing more than to see a stale New York wrap be mangled up and incinerated in the jets!! However this meal today was much better and a nice change; even had steel knives and forks!

I flew the same route on Sunday night and got the cheese platter. Ripped! You lucky son of a ...

I'm on the verge of telling the FA to bugger off when they bring my flexi's around now. I don't mind the wraps but...

The sandwiches are consistently dry, bordering stale. There's some new biscotti CR@P that is so dry and tasteless, I drink a whole can of Pepsi from just one bite to get rid of the horrid taste. The only good things on the menu at the moment are those sesame bars (I actually really like them), the trail mix (sultanas, nuts etc, health freak), and the beers. Occassionally I'll get some nice chocolate.

I generally make a point of eating something on the way home or the way to the airport now, as I regularly feel absolutely cr@p after eating the flexi food.

 

[ms1]

If I'm on a flexi fare and I'm offered one of the wraps would the staff be willing to swap the wrap for one of the pies they advertise for sale on the economy menus?

 

[Justinf]

Last flexi meal I had, it minus the chocolate Toblerone and the trail mix. Person next to me got the wrap, choc and mix and my pack only contained the wrap.
I didn't bother saying anything as I wasn't that hungry anyway and I simply couldn't be bothered on a MEL-SYD flight.

 

[moa999]

For breakfast recently it has been this for me
- Bircher muesli, macadamia nut muesli bar, and a raspberry apple trail mix.
-- Adding it up with an OJ its near on 3000kj. Not exactly a healthy breakfast.

 

[carpenteria]

For breakfast recently it has been this for me
- Bircher muesli, macadamia nut muesli bar, and a raspberry apple trail mix.
-- Adding it up with an OJ its near on 3000kj. Not exactly a healthy breakfast.

Yeah that's the one I got a few times. That muesli bar, so dry! Needed more than an OJ to make it through that's for sure.

 

[smit0847]

It never fails to surprise me how dumb companies (and their marketing departments) assume the general public are, but surely VA don't think their customers believe Luke is kept awake at night constantly thinking how he can make his VA menu more delicious, fresher, tastier, healthier, better etc?

Luke Mangan designed the VA menu because VA paid him lots of money to do so.
VA paid Luke Mangan lots of money to do so because they could then use this as a selling point that their menu was 'designed' by a 'celebrity' chef (though in the scheme of things, Luke is a pretty minor celebrity because he does not maintain a big public profile like someone like Guy Grossi or Maggie Beer does).
Luke's menu is subject to strict costs restrictions and I have no doubt some of his best ideas for food were knocked back because they were too expensive.
After his menu items are approved I doubt he ever eats of thinks about them again - I've seen Luke on a VA flight before and he certainly wasnt travelling Y (or eating a Y meal/menu item).
It's like the soft drinks on offer - VA have Pepsi rather than Coke not because it's a superior product or they think their customers prefer it, but because they can buy it cheaper than Coke, making more profit.
For me, the flexi fares and BOB menu are a waste of money. I fly for leisure on my own $$ so don't need to change my flights. As flexis are usually $100 or so more than Savers on the short routes I fly and the only benefit is a 'free' wrap - I would much rather save my money and buy a saver and spend that $100 on a nice meal at a restaurant before or after my flight. Rather than BOB I can always find a cough $10 sandwich at the airport anyway.
I don't think the wrap or New Yorker sandwich is a particularly bad product though I do think the Flexi 'dinner' of wine and cheese is a joke (I do quite like the Flexi breakfasts). I've certainly eaten worse on board and plane and at an airport. I do think its foolish to pay $10 for a pre-packaged sandwich because a 'celebrity' chef has 'designed' it and its 'gourmet'.

 

[Cyberon]

... I do think its foolish to pay $10 for a pre-packaged sandwich because a 'celebrity' chef has 'designed' it and its 'gourmet'.

It is indeed. I've tasted 2 items that Luke Mangan apparently designed and they are awful.
1. The wrap (dry, doughy, with cheap cheese)
2. The kumera juice (average sour juice)

But yes, it's the novelty of having a menu endorsed by a celebrity chef, rather than it being a reflection of quality...

on the subject of celebrity chefs, I tried some of the Geoff Janz range of marinated cheeses from Woolies, and they were awful too...

 

[wadebosse]

It is indeed. I've tasted 2 items that Luke Mangan apparently designed and they are awful.
1. The wrap (dry, doughy, with cheap cheese)
2. The kumera juice (average sour juice)

But yes, it's the novelty of having a menu endorsed by a celebrity chef, rather than it being a reflection of quality...

on the subject of celebrity chefs, I tried some of the Geoff Janz range of marinated cheeses from Woolies, and they were awful too...

Poor Luke Mangan. Not one of his better career decisions putting his name on VA's menu IMO. I don't even know who the guy is, but given the food I am forced to stomach on a weekly basis, I am not sure I want to know who he is! I cannot tell you how many times I have immediately handed the entire meal untouched to the person next to me with the words "would you like this?". It’s amazing to me that 95% of the time they don't want it - even when it's free! Time for a few new menu items.