Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[clifford]

Friday afternoon SYD-MEL chicken katsu curry - the alternative was a vegetarian power bowl...
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I had this last week ADL-MEL, but unfortunately it was missing the curry. Completely dry.

And I had to ask for a top up of wine. Not the best crew. Seated in 1A.

I had better service (and more wine) on a QantasLink Q300 between MGB and ADL last week. The FA was superlative.

 

[Must...Fly!]

BNE-SYD three cheese tortellini with pumpkin. Had this a few times but it's an old fave. Alternative chicken tagine with rice and vegetables - that looked good too.




Often posted (but first time for me) chicken cacciatore with rigatoni SYD-MEL. Really enjoyed this one - slight downside was a small chicken bone found in the meal. Alternative was some kind of (cold) wild mushroom quinoa salad.

Not pictured but the real star of the show here was the service. On the first flight my G&T was topped up before I even knew the glass was empty... nothing was too much trouble. Second was also excellent, actively offering top ups and anything else. In fact all 3 flights this weekend were somewhat of a masterclass in in-flight domestic service.

 

[twinaisle]

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BNE-SYD three cheese tortellini with pumpkin. Had this a few times but it's an old fave. Alternative chicken tagine with rice and vegetables - that looked good too.


View attachment 276524

Often posted (but first time for me) chicken cacciatore with rigatoni SYD-MEL. Really enjoyed this one - slight downside was a small chicken bone found in the meal. Alternative was some kind of (cold) wild mushroom quinoa salad.

Not pictured but the real star of the show here was the service. On the first flight my G&T was topped up before I even knew the glass was empty... nothing was too much trouble. Second was also excellent, actively offering top ups and anything else. In fact all 3 flights this weekend were somewhat of a masterclass in in-flight domestic service.

It's a warm mushroom farro salad! It's quite nice along with the other vegetarian options so I would recommend to at least try them if you fly heaps with VA.

 

[BNEFlyer]

I flew VA324 on Friday morning, sat in 1C and order was taken after 1A. Had the chicken katsu curry which was delicious.


Then flew VA341 on Sunday evening again in 1C. Had the Tuscan/Spanish chicken/chicken cacciatore (as it was sold to us), paired with a delicious Taku Pinot noir.


I had sparkling wine with brunch and the pinot with dinner and find that wines are topped up much more freely and frequently than spirits.

 

[Must...Fly!]

the Tuscan/Spanish chicken/chicken cacciatore

First two (which are apparently the same dish) are different to the cacciatore, which is served with pasta.

topped up much more freely and frequently than spirits.

Not quite my experience, but of course, YMMV. Had 4 G&T MEL-BNE, 3 BNE-SYD and didn't pro-actively ask once...

 

[BNEFlyer]

First two (which are apparently the same dish) are different to the cacciatore, which is served with pasta.



Not quite my experience, but of course, YMMV. Had 4 G&T MEL-BNE, 3 BNE-SYD and didn't pro-actively ask once...

Yes, correct. But the CM on my flight called the Tuscan chicken dish chicken cacciatore.

RE: Spirit top ups, I think on one of my last four flights I've had a CM ask if I wanted a refill. Otherwise I've had to ask. Whereas the wine glass is never empty, which is probably because it's much easier to refill wine.

 

[dk4]

RE: Spirit top ups, I think on one of my last four flights I've had a CM ask if I wanted a refill. Otherwise I've had to ask. Whereas the wine glass is never empty, which is probably because it's much easier to refill wine.

I too suspect that it is just easier for them to see a wine refill. Years ago, many of them were trained to enquire, "is there anything else I can get you?", some still do - and I find that quite a useful time to ask for another Scotch. (I do other things too, like move the Scotch glass off the tray table and onto the armrest table, so it is more intuitively identified that I want to continue drinking.)

 

[1022]

BNK-SYD Tuesday afternoon. Choice of lemongrass tofu with Thai noodle salad or cajun chicken on Turkish. I had the salad which was delicious as was the chardonnay I had to accompany it. (Having mostly flown QF to date, I'm still impressed that when I order "white wine" I'm actually given a choice!!)

Sadly I'm not sure what the chardonnay was as I wasn't told or shown the bottle and wasn't offered a top up apart from "do you want anything else" as my tray was cleared. I was however offered a cookie with my post-meal cup of tea...after I'd finished my cup of tea. There was only one other pax in J. Service wasn't bad by any stretch, but the CM didn't quite nail warmth or personable service and was largely invisible behind a half drawn galley curtain. She reminded me a bit of JQ CMs tbh: inoffensively scripted upper middle bogan.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Service on 1298 this eve was excellent

BUT

If you deplane at T4 you still have to trek over to T3 to collect luggage - no announcement onboard re this

 

[AIRwin]

If you deplane at T4 you still have to trek over to T3 to collect luggage - no announcement onboard re this

Did the monitors in T4 have the baggage carousel info?

 

[ole nimeton]

CBR-MEL, 8:30pm flight (delayed by an hour):

Ruben sandwich or some sort of power bowl/salad were the options. Sandwich was delicious, however, probably would have been nicer heated than cold for a late evening flight. Fantastic service from the crew, extra drinks bought without prompting.

MEL-ADL, last flight before Adelaide curfew:

Vegetarian Korean fried rice or Spanish chicken were the options. Rice was also pretty nice though I do tend to think Virgin’s rice/pasta dishes are a tad small/cheap for business class. Great service again from the crew.

As an aside, one of my pet annoyances on Virgin at the moment is the in seat power. Half the time the crew forget to switch it on and you have to remember to ask them. First flight yesterday they didn’t bother switching power on so thankfully by the second flight they did as my phone was getting rather flat by then.

 

[twinaisle]

CBR-MEL, 8:30pm flight (delayed by an hour):
View attachment 277101
Ruben sandwich or some sort of power bowl/salad were the options. Sandwich was delicious, however, probably would have been nicer heated than cold for a late evening flight. Fantastic service from the crew, extra drinks bought without prompting.

MEL-ADL, last flight before Adelaide curfew:
View attachment 277100
Vegetarian Korean fried rice or Spanish chicken were the options. Rice was also pretty nice though I do tend to think Virgin’s rice/pasta dishes are a tad small/cheap for business class. Great service again from the crew.

As an aside, one of my pet annoyances on Virgin at the moment is the in seat power. Half the time the crew forget to switch it on and you have to remember to ask them. First flight yesterday they didn’t bother switching power on so thankfully by the second flight they did as my phone was getting rather flat by then.

The point of having the Ruben sandwich and salad is so nothing is heated as it's such a short flight. Literally throwing trays and clearing like crazy before top of descent.

 

[ole nimeton]

The point of having the Ruben sandwich and salad is so nothing is heated as it's such a short flight. Literally throwing trays and clearing like crazy before top of descent.

They could heat if they want to but choose to structure their catering to not have to. The flight isn’t that short, particularly compared to CBR-SYD for example and I’ve seen airlines manage heated food on that route from time to time!

 

[twinaisle]

They could heat if they want to but choose to structure their catering to not have to. The flight isn’t that short, particularly compared to CBR-SYD for example and I’ve seen airlines manage heated food on that route from time to time!

The flight isn't that short because you're not the one working it.

I've had flights where it's been 39 minutes which its around 15 minutes max if we're lucky to service pax with hot food and drinks which is very time consuming... It may not seem that short to you but it puts a lot of pressure on the crew working.

There's a reason why it's cold food on those flights.

 

[kerfuffle]

VA412 SYD-ADL: ham and cheese on Turkish bread or the leek and gruyere cheese tart. Chose the latter as I had the ham and cheese almost six months ago on the same number flight ... Orders were taken 1A-2F, 2A-2F and served in the same order.

Thought these menus rotated seasonally?

Same flight today, same menu, same ordering/serving order (except there was no one in 1A and 2C)

 

[muppet]

The flight isn't that short because you're not the one working it.

I've had flights where it's been 39 minutes which its around 15 minutes max if we're lucky to service pax with hot food and drinks which is very time consuming... It may not seem that short to you but it puts a lot of pressure on the crew working.

There's a reason why it's cold food on those flights.

Yet somehow they managed for the first half a century of commercial jet aviation …
I’m with @ole nimeton, airlines have chosen not to serve hot food by reducing staffing so significantly it is not practical.

 

[twinaisle]

Airlines have chosen not to serve hot food by reducing staffing so significantly it is not practical.

There you go! This is why. We're not in the glory era where there were 8-12 staff onboard silver servicing anymore.

There's a want but unfortunately you're not going to get as it's not realistic in 2022 with staff cuts, operating on minimal crew and the fact that there's no time.

It's been scaled back and it is what it is. I'm glad that the company are behind the staff on this as it doesn't work. I hate serving trays then clearing trays 2 minutes later as we have to prepare to land. It's not a fantastic serving experience for the crew or the passenger.

If you want a more substantial service then fly on longer routes where we have time.

 

[AIRwin]

If you want a more substantial service then fly on longer routes where we have time.

Or private jet

 

[twinaisle]

Or private jet

I doubt the flyers who upgrade for $70 and want everything under the sun would have that in their travel budget

 

[ole nimeton]

There you go! This is why. We're not in the glory era where there were 8-12 staff onboard silver servicing anymore.

There's a want but unfortunately you're not going to get as it's not realistic in 2022 with staff cuts, operating on minimal crew and the fact that there's no time.

It's been scaled back and it is what it is. I'm glad that the company are behind the staff on this as it doesn't work. I hate serving trays then clearing trays 2 minutes later as we have to prepare to land. It's not a fantastic serving experience for the crew or the passenger.

If you want a more substantial service then fly on longer routes where we have time.

I actually flew the same route MEL back to CBR a few days later. The last flight of the day and exactly the same options offered as on the way over (sandwich or salad bowl).

Staff were nothing if not efficient - meal orders taken before take off, all meals delivered to seats within 10 minutes of seatbelts off and trays collected again shortly thereafter.

The two cabin crew spent the rest of the flight… not doing much. One found five minutes to do her hair in the toilet and both found plenty of time to chat to each other before landing. After the initial service and clean up that was it - no drink refills or any other service offered to passengers. Probably one of the worst Virgin flights I’ve been on service wise.

Anyway, heating or not heating of food on a short flight isn’t that bigger deal - I just said in my initial post that it would have been nice, which it would as would Virgin perhaps putting a little more effort into this route. But first world problems and all that - it is still sharply priced for Canberra and on the whole the service has been pretty decent on most flights.