Qantas Business Class meals & menus

[Silvia]

QF583 SYD/PER Sunday 25/11

Pre take off drink offered was water (still or sparking) or the sparkling red. Didn’t know my seat mate well enough by that stage so no photo, but had the sparkling red. Delicious. CSM cane around and individually greeted all pax by name.

Pre-dinner drink was G&T. Refilled because they were a little slow getting the meals out.

Dinner menu:

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Starter: not enough lime to balance the jalapeño. Next time I’d put them aside and eat the rest.

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Mains: presentation a little sloppy and missing some vegetables or more pecorino. Tasty though and filling.

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Dessert:

As I’d befriended the FA Brooklyn on my BNE/SYD flight, when she brought around the trolley I told her that I’d have the pavlova because the Maggie Beer Ice cream was always rock solid. She tested and agreed - bouncing the spoon off the side of a tub.

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But as meal service was being cleared, on the sly she brought me a softened (vanilla) to try. Not my favourite (burnt fig is) but went down well.

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Excellent service - better than the meal

The MB ice cream drama. They are always hard as a rock!

 

[ole nimeton]

Lunch QF430, MEL-SYD, Fri 23 Nov. Chicken/Glass noodle salad with chili. Very tasty and looked better than the hot options which included a frittata of some sort (seemed an odd choice for lunch) and a traditional meat/potatoes/veg type dish. Great service.


Dinner, QF163 SYD-WLG, Fri 23 Nov. Service was excellent. Champagne, orange juice, water offered for pre flight drinks.

Crab starter which tasted excellent:

Pork main which had good flavour but was a little dry. Many people choose the beef pie which also looked nice.

Typical Qantas cheese platter. Cheeses not exactly to my taste but went well with the wine which they were generous with refilling on this night flight. Good they went to effort to take biscuits out of packet.


QF164 WLG-SYD, MON 26 Nov, early dinner service. Crew were nice but seemed a bit more inexperienced than on the way there.

Soup to start which tasted as expected.


Beef sandwich was alright. Rather messy with juices dripping out of it and bread a bit stale.


QF493 SYD-MEL, Mon 26 Nov, dinner.
Japanese style teriyaki chicken with shiitake mushrooms. Really tasty dish and professional service. Nothing else on the tray as we hit unexpected turbulence causing the wine/water glasses to fall and smash as the flight attendant was putting down the tray. Smashed glass and slightly wet passengers were well attended to once seat belt sign was turned off again and service continued relatively smoothly.

 

[JJJJJJJ]

19 Nov BNE > PER lunch in J (0935 departure)... the soup was lovely and I have to say the lamb was a good choice, the lamb itself was cooked well, the meal needed a bit more sauce though... I would still order it again... I was in 1A so frankly everything about the flight was great (I didn't even hear the staff clanking around in the galley)... oh, except the bit where I had lunch at 11am on a domestic flight...

 

[QF WP]

QF594 PER/BNE (737-800) 4:25pm Dep Wednesday 28/11

When it came to both pre-takeoff drinks and meals, the people behind me in Seats 3D & F were disappointed as there was no sparking red left (only one bottle loaded as a 738 flight) or choice of meals.

Glad I changed from Row 3 initially to Row 1, then (operationally transfered) back to 2F.



Starter: Thai Duck salad was nicely put together, a little spicey but welcome



Main: Braised pork taco was a fail. From the plate swimming in sauce which had soaked into the taco rendering it useless for it’s intended use, it would have been better described as a deconstructed taco. My seat mates taco was rock hard - obviously heated in a microwave and completely inedible. Wouldn’t eat again.



Dessert: Cheese plate with dessert wine

Although I asked, never found out what it was - but a passable drop. Cheese plate - well it’s hard to stuff that up. Second cheese piece was hiding under the cutlery

 

[JJJJJJJ]

That would be my first guess too but I could be wrong. It sounds as if some here see quite a bit of back and forth even on the narrow bodies. Who knows, this might even be standard procedure but many a crew simply don't follow it because it's too much of a hassle?

Imagine having to tell a paying pax in row 1 that the meal choice is not there anymore because a "higher status passenger" in row 3 got served first. A crew that doesn't like to tell off cattle class pax when they use the toilet up front, would certainly also try and avoid the meal discussion at all cost. And that would be approximately 95% of all Qantas crews, from what I can recount

Don't get me started on crew who cannot fathom how to politely direct economy pax to the economy loos. The other day I prepared to board a flight and THE WHOLE PLANE was in the premium boarding lane... not a word spoken until I went thru the economy boarding lane to the front and asked the crew to sort it out *angry frustrated am-I-the-only-person-who-can-assert-themselves face*

 

[JJJJJJJ]

Actually what I've seen more frequently is the CSM put down the tray for all pax in row order, but only offer/serve the main dish to certain pax then come back. Other recipients of the tray get the muesli/yoghurt (in the morning) or bread and wine - but not the main. It's a little less obvious that way.

In the several times I've seen it I have never seen any pax query it or be upset. I've either known or assumed therefore that it is staff. But could also be pax upgraded or moved are told (eg, in the lounge) that catering may not be guaranteed (so they are already prepared for different treatment)?

I've said it before... when I was bronze I sat in first row and received a curt slap down "I'm serving platinum first" when I thought I had been missed... so incredibly rude of her. Epic fail in her customer service, I am a nice lady and didn't deserve her rudeness....

 

[QF WP]

Don't get me started on crew who cannot fathom how to politely direct economy pax to the economy loos.

Had that happen last night onboard my PER/BNE 737-800 flight and was about to question why there was a steady stream of whY pax coming forward - to be beaten to it by another J pax and the answer from the CSM: “One of the back loos is broken”. I wouldn’t have thought they’d have allowed the plane to take off with a defect, so hope it happened early on in the flight

 

[JJJJJJJ]

Had that happen last night onboard my PER/BNE 737-800 flight and was about to question why there was a steady stream of whY pax coming forward - to be beaten to it by another J pax and the answer from the CSM: “One of the back loos is broken”. I wouldn’t have thought they’d have allowed the plane to take off with a defect, so hope it happened early on in the flight

I think it needs to be reported to CASA... THANK YOU for being willing to mention it... if all J pax mentioned it, the staff would know what our expectations are...

 

[kermatu]

why there was a steady stream

Nice.

 

[RichardMEL]

I have nearly taken an A330 to/from CNS a couple of times recently. What have the loads in J been like, out of interest?

J was full - upgrades and the like.

This was also around the time Pence was apparently n town

 

[serfty]

I wouldn’t have thought they’d have allowed the plane to take off with a defect, so hope it happened early on in the flight

I suspect one Lavatory been out of services would be a M.E.L. subject.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I suspect one Lavatory been out of services would be a M.E.L. subject.

Cross your fingers, cross your legs and hope for the best.

 

[RichardMEL]

I'd suggest 1/3 lavs inop would not stop the flight going - they'd rather get the flight off then strand ~180 pax because a third of the lavs inop. It's not a MEL (Minimum Equipment List) item per se.. the plane can fly safely without a lav.. it's just inconvenient. IMHO

 

[RichardMEL]

WARNING!!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!!! WARNING!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!

Several weeks ago the thread turned to what other carriers do on similar length sectors in J and compared to QF.

I thought I'd post my experience on a regional asian flight operated by Thai (TG) between SIN and BKK. A 2 hour flight approx the same sector distance as MEL-BNE or BNE-CNS.

Obvious difference being international sectors, and in this case operated by a widebody (A350) and probably a far more accurate comparision would be on say a MI (SilkAir) sector. However I flew TG

Obviously costs of both labour and services within Asia (inc. catering) are much cheater, so the legacy carriers can afford to offer some pretty decent fare on their flights. In this case, a lunch flight, there were 3 options to choose from. I took the Thai option (I was warned it was a little hot - but actually it wasn't really to my taste it was lovely).

As you can see, the tray (delivered preplated from the galley, including the garlic bread) was jamed with food and quite filling! Also the orders were taken on the ground and obviously they got to preparing the meals right after TO and delivery was speedy (the TG A350 has 32 J seats IIRC, so akin to a QF A330 more or less).

The food was tasty and of reasonably good quality, though it was a bit weird some parts, eg the main, had each component in a little sepaae holder (a bit hard to tell perhaps) but other than that it was tasty and filling.

Also as a note the F&B list was pretty impressive including a real French Champagne (Veuve Brut NV), a pink champagne, a Rose and some reasonable red and white wines.

Again let's be fair, it's perhaps totally unfair to compare such a flight with the options and what was delivered, but it certainly is possible to deliver a decent, filling product (and have 3 options) on a 2 hour service. Obviously far easier with the huge amount of galley storage space and increased crew size on the widebody.

So anyway, enjoy(?) the pics.

 

[Berlin]

WARNING!!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!!! WARNING!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!

Thai catering has always been exceptional in my eyes- which makes sense given that Thailand is such a foodie paradise. Haven't been with them recently so good to see that it hasn't changed. Thanks for sharing- I think I gotta have Thai for dinner today!

 

[Rangalad]

Don't get me started on crew who cannot fathom how to politely direct economy pax to the economy loos. The other day I prepared to board a flight and THE WHOLE PLANE was in the premium boarding lane... not a word spoken until I went thru the economy boarding lane to the front and asked the crew to sort it out *angry frustrated am-I-the-only-person-who-can-assert-themselves face*

On a recent MEL/BNE returned from the loo to find a young lady in my seat (1C). I said ‘excuse me’ to which she replied ‘ I’m waiting for the toilet’. I said you’re in my seat. Took her time to gather her things and get up. After using the forward loo she returned to her economy seat. Reported it to the CSM (who saw the incident), was asked do you remember what she looks like? Don’t think anything was said.

 

[Rangalad]

WARNING!!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!!! WARNING!! NOT QANTAS FOOD!!

Several weeks ago the thread turned to what other carriers do on similar length sectors in J and compared to QF.

I thought I'd post my experience on a regional asian flight operated by Thai (TG) between SIN and BKK. A 2 hour flight approx the same sector distance as MEL-BNE or BNE-CNS.

Obvious difference being international sectors, and in this case operated by a widebody (A350) and probably a far more accurate comparision would be on say a MI (SilkAir) sector. However I flew TG

Obviously costs of both labour and services within Asia (inc. catering) are much cheater, so the legacy carriers can afford to offer some pretty decent fare on their flights. In this case, a lunch flight, there were 3 options to choose from. I took the Thai option (I was warned it was a little hot - but actually it wasn't really to my taste it was lovely).

As you can see, the tray (delivered preplated from the galley, including the garlic bread) was jamed with food and quite filling! Also the orders were taken on the ground and obviously they got to preparing the meals right after TO and delivery was speedy (the TG A350 has 32 J seats IIRC, so akin to a QF A330 more or less).

The food was tasty and of reasonably good quality, though it was a bit weird some parts, eg the main, had each component in a little sepaae holder (a bit hard to tell perhaps) but other than that it was tasty and filling.

Also as a note the F&B list was pretty impressive including a real French Champagne (Veuve Brut NV), a pink champagne, a Rose and some reasonable red and white wines.

Again let's be fair, it's perhaps totally unfair to compare such a flight with the options and what was delivered, but it certainly is possible to deliver a decent, filling product (and have 3 options) on a 2 hour service. Obviously far easier with the huge amount of galley storage space and increased crew size on the widebody.

So anyway, enjoy(?) the pics.

View attachment 145646 View attachment 145647

Enjoyed a similar meal on TG BKK/KUL. Green curry served in a similar manner. Agree a generous meal offering all up.

 

[milehighclub]

Menu change for international happened on the 1st.

 

[JohnK]

The other day I sorted a flight upgrade for MrP on an evening flight to Sydney so at least he would have a dinner. He was in Row 3. They ran out of the main meal and the other was a salad. Not what you want after a days work.

If the meals only cost a few dollars and not the last flight of the evening I don't understand why they don't load enough main meals for everyone. Soup or salad are not main meals unless that is all someone wants. Very poor.

I love risoni.

 

[JessicaTam]

I switched to an earlier flight yesterday and so did not have my standard AVML fare.

The choice was a Tassie salmon something, and a salad of lentils, chickpeas, mint, olives, lemon and fetta. It was quite yummy, but mono-flavoursome.*

*new word, (c) me.