Qantas Business Class meals & menus

QF881 OOL-MEL. Really great crew on a pretty quick flight south.

Meals were not ready according to CSM, so she came through with water and snack mix "to tide us over" (interesting choice - probably could have done a drink service rather than just the water, but the gesture was appreciated I think). Anyway once ready (though mine could have used a bit more time I think) options were a Ginger chicken stir fry, iirc a roast lamb salad and a beef in mushroom sauce with potatoes and veg. I went for the chicken:


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(I guess my camera decided to focus on other aspects than the main dish - sorry).

Was very tasty and the ginger really came through (I am a fan!). noodles so so but very hard to reheat on an aircraft so really not bad. I didn't ask for multiple butters or the two slices of multigrain bread, though if asked 1 or 2 I probably would have gone that way. Only used the one butter anyway).

Got the Lane Lois bubbles for the first time (amusingly on QF wine it says "Served in PE" lol) and this is quite nicer than Yarra Burnt - not that this is difficult mind you - but much smoother and a bit lighter imo. A better drop for dom J, CSM said she had a lot of good feedback on it vs the "previous offering" :D

Other wines were a red I don't know but seemed popular, and a sauv blanc.

another crew member joined in to do refills on drinks, clear trays etc and make tea/coffee. They worked well as a team.

A quick flight, but as zero to complain about. Arrived 20min early so I dropped into the lounge post for a nosh and watering before heading home.
 
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Saturday, QF145 SYD-AKL.
Nice greeting from CSM, bubbles and water once seated. This was an A330 so boarded business and economy through different doors.
The meal was probably one of the better ones; choice of warm chicken dish, vego thing or cold lamb, pesto potato, bean and olive main with a sweet potato, broad bean, cranberry, haloumi and feta salad. A Greek lemon dressing to accompany it.
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Oh boy was the salad good. I could had a main portion. The lamb was good but the salad beat it.
Sourdough or grain bread with yummy butter
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Then East Kurrajong lavosh and cheese. The cheese was just on the ok side of dry.
Big Ol’ chocolate bar from another brand
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But then they reeled me in with Maggie Beer ice cream.
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The red wine was one choice, but a good one. Purely for research 3 glasses were all tested and I am happy to report it passed.
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Maybe trans-Tasman catering on QF is better than Jet Connect? I’ll know Wednesday on the return 737 trip.
 
QF631 BNE/MEL 1815 11 June
2023

Opted for beef ravioli. More of the Lois bubbly which is still very drinkable in second try. Saved the walnut cake later to enjoy at home with tea for supper 😋. Unfortunately the top layer was yummy the bottom layer could do with more sauce. Otherwise flavor wise was good.

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Looks v good that the edges weren't burned, like so many sauce-based dished re-heated on airplanes tend to be.
Unfortunately, my iteration of this same dish on Sunday (BNE-SYD evening flights) was VERY burnt at the edges and I didn’t really like the unnecessary spinach fizzle on top either.

Luckily, the Domestic J lounge in Brissy had these amazing baked potatoes with spicy pork mince so I had already filled up- super yummie:
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Flight itself was otherwise nice, delicious Dandelion red and in the end I was offered a left over 2/3 bottle of it to take home which I always appreciate.

And with all the complaints about Qantas all the time: I can’t help but feel that the meals have a tiny bit improved recently. And as almost always, on both legs just the loviest yet professional crews imaginable. I enjoy flying with Qantas because of the awesome crews alone usually.
 
Unfortunately, my iteration of this same dish on Sunday (BNE-SYD evening flights) was VERY burnt at the edges and I didn’t really like the unnecessary spinach fizzle on top either.

Luckily, the Domestic J lounge in Brissy had these amazing baked potatoes with spicy pork mince so I had already filled up- super yummie:
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Flight itself was otherwise nice, delicious Dandelion red and in the end I was offered a left over 2/3 bottle of it to take home which I always appreciate.

And with all the complaints about Qantas all the time: I can’t help but feel that the meals have a tiny bit improved recently. And as almost always, on both legs just the loviest yet professional crews imaginable. I enjoy flying with Qantas because of the awesome crews alone usually.
Agree that baked potato with spicy mince was yummy.

Luckily my crew did not overheat.

Definitely the crew was the the key ingredient. Lochlan the leading crew even made effort to remember your name.
 
QF144 AKL-SYD 14/6
Being a 737 there was no recognition of status. PBD sparkling wine and water. Crew were business-like, no more.
Meal on offer was choice of roast Chicken and quinoa salad, carrot soup or spinach and ricotta pasta.
Went the pasta
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Which was ordinary.
Salad was salmon with olive, cucumber and feta
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Then some cheese and crackers to finish
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No Maggie Beer on this flight, just a chocolate cookie
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Moral to this story - take the A330 flight every time.
 
09/06/23 | QF139 | SYD to CHC WLG!
10/06/23 | QF139 | WLG to CHC

What was meant to be a midnight arrival into Christchurch from Sydney turned into a 2am arrival into Wellington, followed by a 6am departure turning into a 7.30am departure from Wellington before finally arriving in Christchurch at just past 8am! Thankfully I had some the luxury of QF Business Class to make things a little easier. 😄

Bottled water was at our seats on arrival and a PDB of champagne or sparkling water was offered. Went with the Duval-Leroy champagne.

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Dinner service was about an hour after our two-hour delayed take-off. Options were chicken in cream sauce with polenta mash, green peas and beans, roast lamb salad with green beans and herbed potatoes or a green pea soup. I chose the chicken.

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All three options were served with a pumpkin, feta and haloumi salad, cheese and crackers, sourdough bread, Pepe Saya butter and a Koko Black chocolate bar. I was happy with my meal choice, it was a generous portion with large pieces of chicken. To drink I had sparkling water and a glass of Shiraz.

About an hour after the dinner service ice creams were brought around. I'm a bit "anti-fruit-in-ice-cream" but it was nice nonetheless!
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Business was looked after by Kevin and cabin manager Amit, both friendly, helpful and in good spirits despite the late departure from Sydney.

Unfortunately fog at Christchurch and two aircraft ahead of us unable to make the landing meant we had to divert, intending first to go to Auckland but then going to Wellington instead due to runway works being done overnight at Auckland. Given it was the only airport functioning in the country the 1-6am curfew at Wellington was suspended and we landed after 2am. Thankfully customs/quarantine had stayed open so we were able to complete formalities and then sit around in the departures area until the curfew ended and we could continue on our trip to Christchurch.

Overall I have to give credit to Qantas for handling the diversion about as well as a diversion could be handled. Although comms in the air were poor (was also quite weird having the crew continue with the formalities and usual generic announcements on landing despite the diversion), once we were on the ground there were updates sent through via text message and pushed to the Qantas app, as well as announcements in the arrivals area. They were able to source a crew in the middle of the night and eventually we were again on our way. No meal service on the short hop to Christchurch however a drinks run with water, juice, coffee and tea was offered. Not sure if all passengers were offered this but when picking up the boarding pass in WLG at 4am for the second leg the agent issued me with a $20 meal voucher which I used to pick up breakfast from a café in the terminal.

I'll leave you with a pic of the low-level fog on arrival at Christchurch. I can understand why they had to divert given we were told this was a significant improvement on the situation from earlier!

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QF145 SYD-AKL 738 15 June 2023 sched dep 1110 actual pushback 1113, takeoff 1130 (34R)

Very nice flight in 1A with a "neighbour free" 1C. PDB of Champagne (Duval Leroy) offered as soon as I sat down, along with a jacket hanging. No printed menu sadly. I don't know why QF has seemingly reduced these to only long haul Int flights, it must cost them very little to produce but adds an extra "premium" vibe to flying up the front, and one of the little things that add up to the tipping point that causes pax to decide to spend more than they should to fly J. Also, I would have thought that it saves the FAs having to explain the meal selections to everyone! Still, I am not in the QF marketing department so I assume they know better...

Great and very attentive service in any case by CSM David. Good meal of penne pasta with smoked pork , washed down with a more than passable Haselgrove Catkin Shiraz from McLaren Vale. A decent king prawn coleslaw on the side, with a better than average cheddar of some description also accompanying. (Can't remember the other options, bring back those menus QF! )
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A Maggie's morello cherry and dark chocolate almond ice cream followed soon after. The Duval Leroy was hitting the spot very nicely today, so very happy to close out the innings with this.
 
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QF1508 CBR-SYD 12/6

Flight was left heavy, so sitting on the right I was neighbour-free. No PDBs or any beverages apart from the single offering during meal service. Single choice of Grilled Pork in Applesauce, interestingly the same dish they offered in SYD J Lounge, though on-board it came with mash, while in-lounge came with rice. No bread, just the single Lindor on the left plate.

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QF1508 CBR-SYD 12/6

Flight was left heavy, so sitting on the right I was neighbour-free. No PDBs or any beverages apart from the single offering during meal service. Single choice of Grilled Pork in Applesauce, interestingly the same dish they offered in SYD J Lounge, though on-board it came with mash, while in-lounge came with rice. No bread, just the single Lindor on the left plate.

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How did it taste? Not sure I could eat that especially when not a pork person in the first place.
 
But was the beef eatable or nuked as usual?
Eatable but (as is typically the case on any airline) well-done when I typically go medium-rare. The steak was my only option because I don't eat non-deep fried fish, eggplant or re-heated pasta (I like fresh pasta but paranoid against reheating after multiple bad experiences with food poisoning with re-heated pasta). If the chicken kiev was offered I would've tried that as it is one of my favourite dishes.

I was a big fan of having potato as a side to the steak and the cheesecake was great (albeit I'm uneducated about what makes most foods New York style etc - with the exemption of Chicago style deep dish pizza).
 

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