Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[QF WP]

@flying_duck have to agree they look the same - thinking back that was what I ate. Thanks.

 

[danielt25]

VA773 BNE/CNS 14/5 7am departure

Pre departure: water, sparkling, juice, or sparkling wine!

Choices yoghurt
Corn fritters /bacon / haloumi

Continue to be impressed with VA J domestic inflight offering

 

[jsm2090]

Some thoughts about Virgin's international meals from a recent trip:

VA1 29/4:
Overall quality of ingredients, portion sizes presentation etc were very good.

Radicchio and Whitlof Salad:
Nice balance of bitter/sweet/salty and the shaved parmesan was great. A nice starter.

Potato and Ricotta gnocchi:
Disappointingly, the pork fillet was unavailable so I went with the gnocchi. A strange dish. I can understand you will always have chewy gnocchi on a plane because science, but it had a strange sweet/sour flavour and a very strong dried thyme taste. Corn with gnocchi is just weird, and powdered cheese was a surprise, especially when entree came with shaved parmesan. A big fail. I looked on enviously as my wife devoured a perfectly cooked miso-glazed salmon fillet.

Prawn Toast:
Midnight snack of prawn toast with chipotle mayo was delightful, crispy and oily (in a good way)

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with celeriac and potato rosti and mushrooms was a winner. My wife had smoked salmon and spinach which also looked great. It was also nice to sit at the bar for a change of scenery.

VA2 14/5:
Certainly a good experience, but got the feeling the ingredients were of a much higher quality coming out of Australia. Interesting to hear the cabin crew also say that VA is working hard to improve the catering from LAX>SYD.

I didn't take a photo of the soup, because you know what soup looks like.

Sea bass curry:
I lucked out with this one. Favourite meal of both flights. Fish was delicate, moist and full of flavour, curry sauce was aromatic, fresh chilli added spice and fresh basil and mint on top was a lovely, fragrant addition. Would have loved a larger serve!

Banana Mascarpone cake:
Not what I was expecting, but was fine. spongey cake, with bananas in the middle, a very sweet mango coulis and nice, crisp blueberries.

Breakfast:
Went for bacon and scrambled eggs this time, and the eggs and mushrooms were fine, but the bacon was a bit cold and limp, with a white film over it. (I ate it anyway lol) I realised it would probably have been a better bet to order bacon out of Australia which looked great. Fruit was fine, and once again we ate at the bar.

 

[Pleb Status]

...but got the feeling the ingredients were of a much higher quality coming out of Australia.

I get this feeling on a number of airlines ex USA...

 

[toowongman]

If you get the chance, have the trio of dips. Was dinner MEL-BNE on Friday night and a snack BNE-MEL Sunday PM. Ask for some chips to go with it as they don't give you enough pita, though bread roll comes as well. Also, the salads have been upgraded somewhat, with a much nicer dressing and ingredients.

 

[Milboo]

I enjoyed the beetroot one and actually put the extra in the salad! Hummus was standard. Not a fan of the other.

 

[zig]

Lunch service - salad of zucchini and cabbage with prosciutto and a mustard dressing. It was very enjoyable and light.

 

[dk4]

OMG I'm a pig, a very big pig...



All this before I even start on the main meal: these nibbles served with my (mid-con) pre-meal drink (thank goodness for VA's extension tray in the centre console).

Oh, and please don't mention my request for the fresh fruit platter afterwards. (Although I did finally say "no", when the CS came around with the snack basket later on, showing a little bit of restraint - good on me!)

Maybe I should fly QF J and content myself with a just a small pre-packaged pretzel-nuts?!!?

 

[dk4]

I enjoyed the beetroot one ...

Beetroot must be the fashion food item of season... I had an entire entree of it on BA the other week, and quite a bit of it in the main course VA salad (with added chicken on top) as per below. (Really like the way the salad dressing was served in the mini-jug - very posh!!)

Also, I forgot to wait for the bread roll before I took the picture (but I had moved the crackers off the side plate and into the bowl in anticipation).

 

[Justinf]

VA227 MEL-ADL Friday 9 June, 1.35pm Seat 1C
No offer of predeparture drink at all.
A mezze plate and this was the offering. The mezze plate looked OK but very meagre.
The below was basically a couple of very small pasties.

 

[toowongman]

VA329 MEL-BNE lunch. Pear and beetroot salad with chicken on top. Healthy option. Pre-departure bubbles as well

 

[dxwell]

So, is PDB vs no-PDB a choice of the CSM? I’d like to understand the why.

 

[toowongman]

So, is PDB vs no-PDB a choice of the CSM? I’d like to understand the why.

(My experience is only east-coast triangle) It feels that way.

 

[zig]

So, is PDB vs no-PDB a choice of the CSM? I’d like to understand the why.

Me too. I've had the full range of offers - from no PDB offer at all, to just water, to water/juice, to water/juice or sparkling wine. I find the inconsistency irritating.

 

[sven89]

VA319 MEL to BNE. 9am departure.
The same corn fritters, bacon and halloumi as others have had, just different presentation.
Option was this or a muesli and fruit combo.
While the dish was good (loved the slight heat to the chilli jam that was smeared on top of the fritters), I've got to say the real highlight was actually the muesli. Was full of various nuts, seeds and interesting bits, beyond the usual sultanas and pepitas.
Offered water or juice for PDB.

 

[jsm2090]

VA859 MEL>SYD 4pm departure

We had an A330, so the staff were flat out trying to serve the full J cabin.

My wife had a delicious buffalo mozzarella salad with prosciutto, and I opted for the lamb jaffle (which was very different to the lamb jaffle served on VA1)

The jaffle was sort of crispy, and had feta and spinach inside. served with a really nice side salad of pea tendrils, peas, mint, radish etc. Warm bread was offered, and PDB of sparkling was served. Pretty great for a short flight in the afternoon. Sorry for the photo, the sunset was streaming in the window.....

 

[danielt25]

VA773 BNE/CNS 11/6 7am departure

Water or juice
Choices: corn fritters with haloumi and bacon or greek youghurt and fruit

Asked about a hot or cold drink with meal (in my case orange juice), the drink gets served before the meal while you wait. Attentive service.

Quite filling and tasty

 

[kermatu]

Menu from a recent MEL-PER evening flight:

 

[kermatu]

Sparkling wine PDB. Scotch, olives and nuts pre-dinner. And here's what I had:





Prawns delicious though too few. Salmon amazing. Cheese very nice.

 

[QF WP]

Agree, 3 prawns just isn't enough (but it is a starter/entree, I suppose is their thinking). Yes, the sound of that Salmon had me salivating even before I saw the picture.