Qantas Business Class meals & menus

[RichardMEL]

I don't want to seem like all I am doing is arguing a point because I do mostly agree with you guys

BUT

1. US (and other parts of the world too) v AU... apples and orange. eg transcons there's a fair degree of competition - B6 has Mint, AA has 321T product and some wides.. UA has 787-10, 742's with lie flat beds and "upgraded" meals etc. DL.. they may have pulled out I haven't checked recently.. but there is a fair degree of pressure... and I'm not sure where 688 AUD pricing comes from that seems awfully cheap, but could be competing with Mint pricing I guess. Probably few availability too.. but at any rate competition is the key there

2. Again competition - QF's food standards were falling before covid and now they have excuses for it to be bad/worse... but again.. what is VA offering? two minute noodles or a box of snacks? There's no pressure on them to make effort is there?

3. Again competition on pricing. I would expect QF to lower J pricing to some extent on services that compete with Rex.. unless they are that arrogant that they just think they have the loyalists and corporates which Rex and VA do not have (and they would probably be quite right) and so that those that actually pay the J fare are not very likely to move.. but I would still expect some discounts.

And please, I am not defending QF at all.. just trying to suggest where the focus is and that it isn't on food and that pricing is usually not rational or bares relation to the "offering"

 

[mad_atta]

My experience on quite a lot of UA p.s. transcons over the past few years is that more often than not the quality is dire, and on the whole often worse than on QF/VA domestic, though the quantity is usually fairly substantial, with a token appetiser, main and pseudo-ice-cream sundae.

This was a fairly egregious example from a LAX-EWR dinnertime flight - first the description:


...then the reality:


Yes, that's the whole thing. I hadn't touched it.

Also, in my experience, premium fares at least on the NY-West coast routes are no bargain either. I suspect BOS routes are more competitive thanks to JetBlue.

Anyway, back to QF catering, these were the options on our lunchtime flight ASP-SYD yesterday.

Option 1 was 'Sichuan chicken' which looked OK but tasted pretty nasty:


Option 2 was pork sausage and mash, which was a little bland but not too bad:


Bread (as usual) was tasty; coffee (as usual) was vile. But by far the best feature of the meal was this, which reinforced my view that WA makes Australia's best rieslings - so much more characterful than the 'lime juice concentrate' character of many Eden and Clare Vally rieslings which everyone seems so enamoured with:


Overall probably a solid B- effort from QF on this one.

 

[muppet]

ADL - MEL Dinner flight

It was described as Miso Chicken but kind of had the store bought teriyaki flavour.

Was ok. Came with warm focaccia which was tasty.

 

[Choosethedrew]

Does anyone know if the Hobart - Perth flights get the transcontinental catering or not...?

 

[milehighclub]

Does anyone know if the Hobart - Perth flights get the transcontinental catering or not...?

Yes, HBA/PER falls under the same category.

 

[sudoer]

Date: Feb 2021
Flight: QF409 SYD-MEL 0700 departure
Service: Breakfast
Meal: Fairly standard Qantas hot breakfast

Alternatives: Continental breakfast

Date: Feb 2021
Flight: QF454 MEL-SYD 1500 departure
Service: Refreshment
Meal: "Chicken pie" was the sales pitch, sure enough, it was a chicken pie. One of Neil's less proud moments perhaps.

Alternatives: A steamed vegetable salad with poached eggs
Wines: Penfolds Max's Pinot Noir 2018 - a relatively nice drop for Dom J.

 

[Justinf]

28 Feb, HBA-MEL
9.50am departure
Only the one choice (which isn’t a choice, I know). Thai red chicken curry, which was pleasantly good considering I was expecting just a snack service.

 

[DC3]

28 Feb, HBA-MEL
9.50am departure
Only the one choice (which isn’t a choice, I know). Thai red chicken curry, which was pleasantly good considering ...

Reminds me of this.

FA: "Will you be having lunch today”
Passenger: "What are the choices?"
FA: "Yes or No".

 

[jakeseven7]

QF have tripled the amount of MEL-Sunshine Coast flights so people must be taking a punt on borders not slamming shut!

 

[zig]

28 Feb, HBA-MEL
9.50am departure
Only the one choice (which isn’t a choice, I know). Thai red chicken curry, which was pleasantly good considering I was expecting just a snack service.

View attachment 242348

Was this really 9.50am?? That's breakfast time for me

 

[kermatu]

29 Jan, HBA-CBR 12:45 flight.

Good service. Almost immediately after take-off the CSM Amanda said there was a problem with the meals. So she asked for drink orders. I had a red wine. A few minutes after these were served she came around with the cookies from the Y cabin. I declined but had a wine top-up. My companion accepted the cookie as she thought that was all there was to eat. I was pretty sure I heard "delay" rather than "no meals".

Fortunately I was right. Two hot options for lunch. Miso chicken or a beef dish (can't remember it exactly).


Had the chicken which was with a black bean sauce. Very tasty.

Plenty of further wine top-ups through to descent. Good flight.

 

[Mexpirate]

Didn't take a picture but was given three options for PER to BNE flight yesterday on a330 - had omelette with bacon, tomato and spinach + apple, yoghurt and muffin (exactly as pictured above) - they handed out cookies and chocolate later in the flight so no complaints with the food.

No IFE and no internet though and still no spirits, spun the bs "I'll just have a look" line when I asked for a G&T I don't understand why they don't just be honest about the fact that they aren't stocking spirits at all.

Also no drink at all before departure, not even provided water and had to wait an hour in to the flight before being able to get anything, had to specifically ask as they just wanted to give out coffe/tea or OJ - service was shocking.... I even pushed the call button, only to be ignored entirely until a FA walked past and turned it off whilst ensuring not to make eye contact or acknowledge me in any way (I believe they were just starting to prepare breakfast at this point so I can understand the reasoning, but explaining yourself is surely the way to go here...) I miss VA

 

[Port Power]

Didn't take a picture but was given three options for PER to BNE flight yesterday on a330 - had omelette with bacon, tomato and spinach + apple, yoghurt and muffin (exactly as pictured above) - they handed out cookies and chocolate later in the flight so no complaints with the food.

No IFE and no internet though and still no spirits, spun the bs "I'll just have a look" line when I asked for a G&T I don't understand why they don't just be honest about the fact that they aren't stocking spirits at all.

Also no drink at all before departure, not even provided water and had to wait an hour in to the flight before being able to get anything, had to specifically ask as they just wanted to give out coffe/tea or OJ - service was shocking.... I even pushed the call button, only to be ignored entirely until a FA walked past and turned it off whilst ensuring not to make eye contact or acknowledge me in any way (I believe they were just starting to prepare breakfast at this point so I can understand the reasoning, but explaining yourself is surely the way to go here...) I miss VA

Drinks before departure seem to be a thing of the past. Not to mention I worry about you wanting a G&T with breakfast!

We all know that IFE is still off - too expensive to pay the licensing fees with so (relatively) few flights. I download series to my iPad. My flight last month did have WiFi though. Might just have been that particular aircraft.

 

[Mexpirate]

Drinks before departure seem to be a thing of the past. Not to mention I worry about you wanting a G&T with breakfast!

We all know that IFE is still off - too expensive to pay the licensing fees with so (relatively) few flights. I download series to my iPad. My flight last month did have WiFi though. Might just have been that particular aircraft.

I made do with three bottles of grant burge topped up with a little OJ was a little wobbly walking off the plane, so made sure I got my moneys worth at least - don't have to wear a mask if you're having a drink

 

[PineappleSkip]

Sorry, OT, but the CSM on ET375 apparently wants to empty the bottle. And I'm the only J Pax. 3rd predeparture glass. QF eat your heart out.

 

[Ade]

QF needs to remember that you eat first with your eyes. The many images upthread of 'slop' might have tasted ok, they are not visually appealing.

One starts with their eyes - for the visual appeal, then the nose - for the smell & then comes the palette! I have enjoyed some of the plating QF did, especially when the meals are special ordered. I'm a vegetarian, so I pre-order most of my meals (mostly lunch & dinner) and most of those have been plated well.

But I once had mushroom ragu & garlic bread - that was some bad plating. The mushrooms were on side of the plate and the pasta was the other side. The marinara sauce (I think) was splattered everywhere. Not a sight to behold, but enjoyable taste-wise

 

[dk4]

Roasted cauliflower salad - matched with a glass of paint stripper & orange.

 

[Ade]

glass of paint stripper

Is that Grant Burge Pinot Noir & Chard ? out of curiosity, why is it called "paint stripper" - that strong eh?

Cauli salad looks good. I will have that minus the egg though

 

[DC3]

Is that Grant Burge Pinot Noir & Chard ? out of curiosity, why is it called "paint stripper" - that strong eh?

Or, that rough.

Takes the lining off of you throat?

 

[sudoer]

Roasted cauliflower salad - matched with a glass of paint stripper & orange.

Which route / departure time was this served on?