catering not assured... and other stuff

[MEL_Traveller]

so I arrive at SYD and ask to transfer to an earlier flight to MEL. Not a problem I'm told, can put you on the 9am (time is now 730am). Flying business class but advised 'catering cannot be assured'. One and a half hour's notice for a $635 fare and QF cannot assure catering? For a $3 meal?

The meal itself... I know many of you went to QF promotions (meet Lesley Grant/AFF sydney event etc) and I know most of you commented how Neil Perry was very passionate about the on board cuisine. I have never been a fan of his catering, but the 'brunch' or whatever it was on the 0900 was truly abysmal. Does Neil ever sample a real meal on board? There is no way he could have passed what we were served up... dry ricotta pancakes with stodgy mushrooms and hard tough bacon. Previous crew have assured me Neil does 'random flights' to check - but perhaps QF knows in advance and take special care of the meals he is about to try? I wonder if there is ever a way Neil could do a 'blind' taste test of the food? Maybe he should pay for one of his staff to fly and check out the meals.

The serving crew had a note on the manifest and commented I was not assured of catering. They had one meal left, no choice. Given three other pax didn't eat, I think it is fairly poor to under cater a flight.

The CSM. Their sole activity on the flight, other than departure and arrival announcements, was to serve the bread. Is it even possible someone could do so little? No greeting of pax, no interaction with pax during the flight (other than to offer the bread). I don't know... if it was me I'd find little job satisfaction in that. I only comment because it was so noticeable that they appeared to do so little.

The flight was on a refurbished 767. But boy it's already looking tired. I would have taken the opportunity to remove the first row of economy and add 5' of pitch to each of the business class rows.

Finally - I only do my 4 QF segments a year for mister ~. I have great sympathy now for all of you that need to fly daily/weekly. It's not a pleasant experience!! The flight is not something to look forward to. At least with British Airways short-haul in Europe you can look forward to a drink!

 

[harvyk]

I would have thought that for a 1.5 hour change, catering should be assured. That's 1.5 hours to put an extra meal on the tray.

Just at the end of your rant, you made a comment about BA. Haven't they pretty much removed catering for short haul after 10am full stop?

 

[simongr]

so I arrive at SYD and ask to transfer to an earlier flight to MEL. Not a problem I'm told, can put you on the 9am (time is now 730am). Flying business class but advised 'catering cannot be assured'. One and a half hour's notice for a $635 fare and QF cannot assure catering? For a $3 meal?

The meal itself... I know many of you went to QF promotions (meet Lesley Grant/AFF sydney event etc) and I know most of you commented how Neil Perry was very passionate about the on board cuisine. I have never been a fan of his catering, but the 'brunch' or whatever it was on the 0900 was truly abysmal. Does Neil ever sample a real meal on board? There is no way he could have passed what we were served up... dry ricotta pancakes with stodgy mushrooms and hard tough bacon. Previous crew have assured me Neil does 'random flights' to check - but perhaps QF knows in advance and take special care of the meals he is about to try? I wonder if there is ever a way Neil could do a 'blind' taste test of the food? Maybe he should pay for one of his staff to fly and check out the meals.

The serving crew had a note on the manifest and commented I was not assured of catering. They had one meal left, no choice. Given three other pax didn't eat, I think it is fairly poor to under cater a flight.

The CSM. Their sole activity on the flight, other than departure and arrival announcements, was to serve the bread. Is it even possible someone could do so little? No greeting of pax, no interaction with pax during the flight (other than to offer the bread). I don't know... if it was me I'd find little job satisfaction in that. I only comment because it was so noticeable that they appeared to do so little.

The flight was on a refurbished 767. But boy it's already looking tired. I would have taken the opportunity to remove the first row of economy and add 5' of pitch to each of the business class rows.

Finally - I only do my 4 QF segments a year for mister ~. I have great sympathy now for all of you that need to fly daily/weekly. It's not a pleasant experience!! The flight is not something to look forward to. At least with British Airways short-haul in Europe you can look forward to a drink!

Sounds like a combination of a poor meal and poor crew. I am not sure if NP does design the domestic J meals - they can be hit and miss.

Not sure the Club Europe is any better - I have only flown it on longer routes (longer than SYD-PER) and found it to be a fairly average service compared to SYD-MEL for example. On equivalent routes I would expect you get an alcoholic drink on DOM sectors on QF. I know you get bubbles with breakfast on QF.

 

[hdfb]

That "brunch" option in dom J is truly horrid, pretty sure I had the exact same meal as you a couple of weeks ago. The colour of the food looked like it had sat in the sun for 3 hours before being served. For breakfast I actually prefer Y food. Average muesli and nice muffin, with OJ, water or tea/coffee.

 

[mannej]

I would have thought that for a 1.5 hour change, catering should be assured. That's 1.5 hours to put an extra meal on the tray.

Just at the end of your rant, you made a comment about BA. Haven't they pretty much removed catering for short haul after 10am full stop?

September last year, I received a bag of savoury rice crisps and a drink for a NCL-LHR run so I wouldn't say catering is removed but its definitely a snack not a meal...

 

[casanovawa]

So you're saying one or two minor failings but you were generally pretty impressed with the whole flight???

As for quality control i guess part of it is how its prepared in the kitchen and part how its prepared on the plane, but it could be possible for a quality control checker somewhere to randomly sample meals from batches about to be loaded (and replace the meal rather than load a plane 1 meal short) or stored in the kitchen to be used that day, send someone to randomly choose say 5 meals stored in the kitchen and prepare them and see at least at that point if they are up to Neal's quality expectations (seeing his name is associated with the product and most chefs are protective of their name, although they may rate airline meals/packaged meals in supermarkets slightly different to their restaurants meals)

What the FA's do to them once they are on the plane is another matter..

 

[lovestotravel]

On short flights I have never had interaction with the CSM besides basically what you have described.

On longer flights they have made an effort to come around and say hello on 737's but not so much on a 767 with a heavy load

As for one bad meal, it happens, who knows why the food was overcooked/dry

As for catering not assured, that is pathetic and J should be over catered at all times, but again there is a limit to how much overcatering you can do. If 20 people suddenly decide to take the earlier flight then I wouldn't expect to get a meal.

 

[opusman]

J food has been getting a lot better lately, shame to see it's gone downhill again!

 

[oz_mark]

I am pretty sure that the CNA thing occurs when the catering order for the flight has already been finalised (and they may know that the numbers don't add up).

 

[Berlin]

The OP is a bit of a rant but I can understand how you could experience that on a bad day with QF... I never personally had any issues with the QF food in J, apart from it being understocked and I'm often being stuck with a meal from Y or similar so I agree with that. Mostly the CSMs seem to be friendly and quite busy though so this seems to have been bad luck.

Now the old rattlers of a 767- I know there will be the usual Boeing fanboys telling me how great they are (and how young and fresh apparently some of the old 747s are in QF' fleet) but I'd prefer a new A320 or 737 domestically and, more so even, a nice new A380 internationally any day over those old birds!

 

[Danger]

The whole idea of celebrity chefs being touted by airlines is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Sure, Perry might design the menu, but he doesn't source the ingredients and certainly doesn't cook it.

I gave my girlfriend the Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas and I can tell you, the food she serves up would embarass him.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Haven't flown Club Europe for a few years and enjoyed the meals when I did. However we had two legs with BA last year JHB-LHR and LHR-JFK. Both in new first. The food was the worst I have ever had in F. Overcooked, tasteless. Mr FM is refusing to ever fly BA again and we have always enjoyed BA F in the past. We have done a number of domestic J with QF in the last 6 months and the food has been fine - don't think I have had a breakfast flight and many have been "refreshment", rather than meals. Very pleasant things like a prawn salad. Really don't like the desserts they come with - those little cakes are just too heavy and sweet. I would prefer a chocolate to have with my tea. . My sympathies with the OP - bad enough flying early in the morning and paying for J and then having a bad experience.

 

[lovestotravel]

I'd prefer an old 767 over a Australian 737/A320 anyday!

 

[simongr]

The whole idea of celebrity chefs being touted by airlines is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Sure, Perry might design the menu, but he doesn't source the ingredients and certainly doesn't cook it.

I gave my girlfriend the Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas and I can tell you, the food she serves up would embarass him.

Perry doesn't cook the food in his own restaurants - so why would you expect him to cook it in the air?

 

[simongr]

Pretty average meals last night - fish with butter beans (I am not a fan of legumes) or chicken with cold noodles... Cabin crew were a bit disinterested as well...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

it's been a while since i have flown BA intra-Europe. I wasn't so fussed about the catering (used to be a sarnie) but at least you could look forward to a G&T!! Has that gone???

 

[love_the_life]

Perry doesn't cook the food in his own restaurants - so why would you expect him to cook it in the air?

Think the original post was that Perry does not seem to have maintained control over the quality of the food.
There was an interesting article in the Canberra Times this week about Luke Mangan personally training VA staff on preparing, plating and serving. Not sure how much "hands on" Perry has now.

 

[Ausbt]

After being bumped 2 hours ahead myself MEL-SYD Y last week and getting the CNA speil, I presume it's just an automatic statement. I really enjoyed my ravioli, I an assure you of that. Oh, and I was offered two bottles of red, gratefully accepted (hic)

 

[lovestotravel]

After being bumped 2 hours ahead myself MEL-SYD Y last week and getting the CNA speil, I presume it's just an automatic statement. I really enjoyed my ravioli, I an assure you of that. Oh, and I was offered two bottles of red, gratefully accepted (hic)

Indeed

I have received the CNA spiel in Y on QF as well...

 

[Red Roo]

After being bumped 2 hours ahead myself MEL-SYD Y last week and getting the CNA speil, I presume it's just an automatic statement. I really enjoyed my ravioli, I an assure you of that. Oh, and I was offered two bottles of red, gratefully accepted (hic)

We do our best under the ad hoc circumstances. I appreciate your understanding and glad we could look after you this time.