Qantas Business Class meals & menus

[Pushka]

Well I was going to post our J Adl - Melb lunch but after sitting in our Row 1 seats we got bumped back to Y because two young objectionable techs ( we heard them in the lounge) arrived late delaying our flight and we were ejected from J back to Y and me in a middle seat. I refused to eat their cheese and spring onion sandwich. But we did get a G&T. Sigh.

 

[spade1686]

Question for Qantas FF’s. Flying Business and Premium economy (both international) my wife is vegetarian.

Is it necessary to preselect the vegetarian meal? Looking at the menus posted, there seems to be at least one plant based option for each course but not sure if we should risk it?

In the past, she has found the “special“ meals to be disappointing on some other airlines (SQ, TG) while the standard vegetarian options on Qatar was fantastic

 

[KSC]

QF440 MEL-SYD, J class back in June. Beef with cold noodles and chilli dressing from memory. Tasty meal that was not too heavy. Strange pairing with slice of bread. I still ate it though .

 

[sudoer]

QF413 SYD-MEL breakfast earlier this week - polenta cake with sausage



Other options ham & cheese croissant or fruit salad

 

[Daver6]

HBA to MEL scheduled 12.40pm departure. Two hot options. Pork pasta or some brisket option. Pasta was a pass mark but nothing more than that.

 

[RooFlyer]

Neil Perry shares some thoughts in this weekend's Oz:

Neil Perry’s secret to the perfect lamb cutlet

If you asked what are the main factors in my life as a cook, I could say skill or technique, understanding and taste. But while I suspect that they have something to do with my cooking, the main reason I do what I do now is that I am completely committed to sourcing the finest ingredients. They are the only ones I am interested in. Why? Because my father was a butcher, a fisherman and a gardener: what a great start in life. But he wasn’t just those things, he was the best at those things. He put the very best quality meat on the table, he caught and handled fish well, and he grew superb fruit, herbs and vegetables in the garden. I didn’t have a good upbringing, I had an exceptional upbringing. I thought everyone ate like that.

Lemongrass lamb chops

 

[Daver6]

MEL to PER dinner time. Options were some pork thing, the chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce or lam salad. Chicken was pretty tasty and not dry. MrsDaver6 had the lamb salad. Side salad was haloumi pumpkin and a few other bits. Very decent meal. QF seem to have lifted their game. Still no PDB offering. Not even a bottle of water on the seat. Forgot to take a pic prior to tucking in.

 

[MELso]

SYD-MEL 8PM last night. While the lounge was nice, there was no PDB and boarding was a zoo by the time it was announced in the lounge.

Dinner too was disappointing. Choices were a pie on mashed peas with chutney, chicken and sweetcorn soup and a cheese plate. I went for the soup, which was served alongside Bleasdale shiraz, a slice of sourdough and butter and a Koko Black dark chocolate bar.

All up, not as enjoyable an experience as the MEL-SYD flight on VA on Thursday, and it wasn't worth the extra points.

 

[MelbFlyer]

All in all, a pretty average meal on a 17.5 hour flight

Haven’t flown QFi

I've got 2 upcoming flights on QF Business (it will be my first time on QF Business too, only ever taken QF Economy in the past) -
Melbourne to HK - 9.5hrs
Singapore to Melbourne - <8hrs

Usually I'd be looking forward to it, but looking at this thread, I've got VERY low expectations of the meals and service that I'll be getting.

For a 17.5hr flight, those meals aren't exactly enticing - I'd only imagine they'd be worse on shorter flights.

At the time of booking my seats, there were reward seats on CX going to HK, but the timing on QF was better (arriving into HK at 6pm whereas CXs was past 9pm), hence I chose QF instead, plus it was around 7k cheaper in points too.

Since then however, QF has had a schedule change and it's now only arriving 1hr earlier. Regret not choosing the CX flight now, but that's well and past.

I've been on CX business before (HK to Newark) and that was excellent. The appetizer was better than the main though (seems like this is a common occurrence!).

Overall though I'd prefer the reverse herringbone layout of CX compared to QFs straight / staggered setup - but the timing of the arrival into HK and also the points difference pushed QF over the line when I chose / booked.

I also have a flight in business on AY from HK to Paris via Helsinki, for some reason I'm more excited / looking forward to that one, especially intrigued about the non-reclining seat on the A350s and how good / bad it might be. Food though, not sure.

Overall my expectations of my forthcoming QF business experience is low - which is a shame especially for a non-frequent flyer like myself.

I'll be sure to post photos of my meals in this thread after I've taken the said flights though!

 

[milehighclub]

There is a menu change on September 1st ex AUS.

 

[zig]

PER - MEL

PDB of water.
Can't recall the other options, but this was the massaman curry. It was okay, but as the flight was delayed departing, I had eaten in the lounge and just picked at it. Didn't try the other offerings on the tray.

 

[kpro]

Can't recall the other options, but this was the massaman curry

Looks better then what they pass off as curry in the lounge.

 

[Cognac]

Question for Qantas FF’s. Flying Business and Premium economy (both international) my wife is vegetarian.

Is it necessary to preselect the vegetarian meal? Looking at the menus posted, there seems to be at least one plant based option for each course but not sure if we should risk it?

In the past, she has found the “special“ meals to be disappointing on some other airlines (SQ, TG) while the standard vegetarian options on Qatar was fantastic

As a (relatively speaking) regular QFi frequent flyer who is vegetarian, I haven't needed to order a special meal since the introduction of their plant-based dining options. Especially for business. And I've found it to be a far superior experience to having special-order vegetarian meals in the past.

However, as a WP I usually get my meal order taken pretty early in business so the option has always been available. When flying economy I'm seated towards the front of the cabin, so same deal, it's always been available. If your wife is not a status-flyer it might be a riskier proposition.

 

[milehighclub]

Is it necessary to preselect the vegetarian meal? Looking at the menus posted, there seems to be at least one plant based option for each course but not sure if we should risk it?

In my experience, the vegetarian meal never runs out. Of course, the only way to ensure is to order it, but could ask crew on the day if the other option is available from the main menu once everyone is served for W or other orders taken in J.

 

[SYD]

QF75 SYD-YVR. First time doing this route. Evening departure meant early dinner in the QF 1st lounge so was planning on going for lighter options.

The prawns were nice (quite large serve)

I’d just had fish in the lounge so went for the chook. Reasonably tasty.

 

[MelbFlyer]

If they offer those prawns as an appetizer on my upcoming 2 international business flights (Melbourne to HK and Singapore to Melbourne in October), I'd be happy.

It seems like the common theme is that, the appetizers are better than the mains.

The mains are just that - more in quantity but the quality isn't as great.

In addition, the presentation is quite.. questionable.

Surely the personnel plating these meals could take some pride in the presentation of the food?

 

[kpro]

In addition, the presentation is quite.. questionable.

Surely the personnel plating these meals could take some pride in the presentation of the food?

I think the presentation is generally quite good compared to other Western airlines. Have you seen the way premium cabin food is presented on BA or AA? Even CX aren't any better then this.
Can't exactly expect Michelin star plating in the sky.

 

[milehighclub]

If they offer those prawns as an appetizer on my upcoming 2 international business flights (Melbourne to HK and Singapore to Melbourne in October), I'd be happy.

Menu change on 1st. Remind me and I can share the menu when they change it.

 

[Daver6]

Can't exactly expect Michelin star plating in the sky.

QR mange to. This was breakfast

 

[kpro]

QR mange to. This was breakfast

That looks good, though I have had less then impressive plating on QR as well.
I did mention Western airlines though. Once you go ME3, expectations in all areas are generally a lot higher.