Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[zig]

Sparkling was on NTL - MEL.

 

[PDog]

Sparkling was on NTL - MEL.

Did you notice what the sparkling was?

 

[zig]

Sorry I didn't- I knew someone would ask. I didn't get a chance to ask what it was and wasn't shown the bottle. If someone else doesn't post I'll try to ask on my next flight tomorrow.

 

[Jurahn]

I try to upgrade to J whenever possible for the transcon flights to/from PER, but don't seem to have much luck with the J menu lunch or dinner menu! I'm not normally a particularly fussy eater, and there was always usually at least a pasta and/or beef/chicken/lamb main to choose from, but alas I seem to keep getting the same menu - if someone had sat down to make a less appealing (to me) menu, they couldn't have done a better job - almost completely made up of things I either can't eat or can't stand . Our Tuesday evening departure from MEL ended up being delayed by about 90 minutes and I was really looking forward to getting into The Business, then checked out the menu and went "oh %^$&$, not again".

Starters - Prosciutto or tomato soup (absolute YUK to both, can't stand either of these)
Main - Duck curry or spiced cauliflower salad (can't eat curry of any kind, or most spiced foods - they simply don't agree with me, and that's NOT good on a flight!). Ocean trout was on the menu - not a fan of trout, but would have had it if there was nothing else - but it wasn't available.
Dessert - Cheese platter (the only cheese I ever eat - or like - is some grated cheddar on the occasional sandwich or wrap - ok, I'm pretty basic in my food preferences, so shoot me!) or passionfruit panna cotta (way too rich for me, and like the curry etc would NOT have been a good idea).

Thankfully, as they only had two choices of main and J was completely full, they were also offering oyster chicken with rice and vegetables or penne pesto pasta which I assume were the Y meals (?), so I very gratefully went for the chicken which was quite nice. And the nice young lass looking after me in J brought me some Lindt chocolate for dessert .

What a tale of woe - and first world problems of course! I've given feedback in VA surveys that the return of at least one "plainer" choice on the menu would be very welcome.

ETA: Oh, and I don't drink alcohol either, so couldn't even drown my sorrows LOL.

 

[serfty]

shame about the Ocean Trout not being available - it was REALLY good!

See post #2214 from Sunday evening.

 

[Marty_]

^^ I have had that exact menu THREE times now. Getting a bit sick of it.

But really, if you're a fusspot eater, this is going to happen. Fortunately I eat absolutely anything and tend to enjoy it.

 

[Jurahn]

shame about the Ocean Trout not being available - it was REALLY good!

See post #2214 from Sunday evening.

Hmm, looks quite nice - pity I missed out on it then! After looking at the menu, I thought "oh well, I'll give the trout a go", then along comes the FA and the first thing she said was (in the vein of) "sorry, trout's off". Nooooooooooooo ......

 

[Jurahn]

^^ I have had that exact menu THREE times now. Getting a bit sick of it.

But really, if you're a fusspot eater, this is going to happen. Fortunately I eat absolutely anything and tend to enjoy it.

I think it's been at least 4 times for me.

I wouldn't exactly refer to myself as a "fusspot" eater, and I don't see there's anything wrong with having something a bit more basic or plain on the menu e.g. a pasta option. Some of us are not blessed with cast-iron stomachs and able to eat everything - it's not exactly a sensible thing to eat something like curry or a spiced meal or a rich dessert on a 4+ hour flight when you KNOW it's going to have dire consequences soon afterwards!!

 

[zig]

Did you notice what the sparkling was?

No sparkling on today's flight

 

[BNEFlyer]

No sparkling on today's flight

Which route / what time?

 

[Pleb Status]

New September menu today on VA470 BNE-PER.

Champagne has been axed in favour of the Croser NV Adelaide Hills sparkling. I assume that is now system wide.

Very nice effort overall and a change from the past few trips.

Menu

Starter - As provided
Starter - Better view
Main
Dessert


One concerning development was the replacement of the chocolate and caramel popcorn with just caramel popcorn. Not as good and hopefully not a permanent thing.

 

[zig]

Which route / what time?

MEL - NTL 1220 departure time.

 

[serfty]

Croser huh? That's generally not a bad drop, even if not Champagne ...

 

[Pleb Status]

Croser huh? That's generally not a bad drop, even if not Champagne ...

It was not too bad at all. It is an adverse change for marketing purposes however...

 

[danielt25]

VA779 BNE-CNS 11/9 9:40am departure

Offered choice of bacon quiche or egg sandwich.

 

[Lemon_Party]

New September menu today on VA470 BNE-PER.

Champagne has been axed in favour of the Croser NV Adelaide Hills sparkling. I assume that is now system wide.

Very nice effort overall and a change from the past few trips.

Menu
View attachment 105845


One concerning development was the replacement of the chocolate and caramel popcorn with just caramel popcorn. Not as good and hopefully not a permanent thing.

The * next to barra means not available on 738 doesn't it?

The downside to the loss of the 332s BNE-PER means there is only going to be 2 choices, normally one of which will be a salad. Although the salads are normally fairly tasty...

 

[Pleb Status]

The * next to barra means not available on 738 doesn't it?

The downside to the loss of the 332s BNE-PER means there is only going to be 2 choices, normally one of which will be a salad. Although the salads are normally fairly tasty...

Correct. The * means not available on the 73H which could be a bit of an issue if the A330 are Asia bound.

However, if they all go onto Asian routes, then VA may choose to bring the three main options onto the 73H when the new (rumoured) 73H J sub fleet is introduced.

 

[sww199]

VA437 ADL-SYD departing 6.25pm last week
Excuse the poor lighting (main cabin lights were off the whole flight)
Choice was a tomato & rocket salad with goats cheese and black olives, and a coconut chicken curry with steamed rice and pumpkin. Unsure if standard practice but everyone seemed to go the curry so the FA made up an entree bowl with the tomato & rocket salad. Dessert was chocolate and coconut ganache. Angus Vale cheddar as usual. Really quite tasty, if not slightly basic.

 

[kevrosmith]

so the FA made up an entree bowl with the tomato & rocket salad

Not sure how Corporate feel about FAs going off-script, but I think it's fantastic when they make executive decisions like this which make the service even more positive.

 

[esquire]

It was not too bad at all. It is an adverse change for marketing purposes however...

Had the sparkling wine today on WLG-BNE - was very average. Actually passed it back to the CSM. She advised feedback has not been so positive to it on NZ flights.

No idea what it was but the chardonnay was better. The pork and shiitake deconstructed pie however was delicious.