Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[kerfuffle]

The cabin lighting makes your meal glow What I think is crushed nuts (peanuts?) looks like nuggets of gold

Definitely not peanuts. I would have had a medical emergency mid-air if it was

 

[RickyT84]

Does anyone else (other than me) think this meal should be served with chopsticks? and in a different bowl, rather than a plate? Swap the plate out with two rice bowls? To sort of keep with the theme of an Asian/Oriental meal?

To be honest, I have not seen a chopstick offered with any meals on QF even though their menu (at least internationally) is heavily Asian influenced.

I would say the plate is fine as it is quite deep and it seems to be the default/standard serving container on VA Dom J.

 

[Milefest]

SYD-MEL VA 884 last night. Got the veggie option for dinner, cannellini bean and tomato pasta paired with a glass of shiraz. Was tastier than it looked.

 

[sudoer]

VA818 SYD-MEL 0815 dep
Croque monsieur, or waffles with banana



5 pax total, only two servings of waffles loaded

 

[Jurahn]

Mr Jurahn is just back from a trip to Melbourne. Hot drinks not available on the HBA-MEL leg due to the "short flight time" (they always used to manage just fine before, at least for J pax), and then not on the MEL-HBA leg either as it was too turbulent (apparently). I experienced the same on HBA-MEL-CBR return recently - all sectors in J and no hot drinks available due to flight duration. He also said there were no hot drinks available in the MEL lounge late morning today either, for that matter - pax still not able to make their own hot drinks, and none of the drink stations were staffed.

Two salads on offer on both sectors - Mr Jurahn said one was pretty much just a bowl of chickpeas with little else, and the other was "equally horrible", he reports. Not impressed at all.

 

[Milefest]

Mr Jurahn is just back from a trip to Melbourne. Hot drinks not available on the HBA-MEL leg due to the "short flight time" (they always used to manage just fine before, at least for J pax), and then not on the MEL-HBA leg either as it was too turbulent (apparently). I experienced the same on HBA-MEL-CBR return recently - all sectors in J and no hot drinks available due to flight duration. He also said there were no hot drinks available in the MEL lounge late morning today either, for that matter - pax still not able to make their own hot drinks, and none of the drink stations were staffed.

Two salads on offer on both sectors - Mr Jurahn said one was pretty much just a bowl of chickpeas with little else, and the other was "equally horrible", he reports. Not impressed at all.

Was Y offered tea/coffee?

Mel also has self service hot water, if he wanted tea

 

[Jurahn]

Was Y offered tea/coffee?

Mel also has self service hot water, if he wanted tea

No, there were no hot drinks available at all for either J or Y. It was the same when I travelled in May MEL-CBA-HBA return, no hot drinks due to "short flight duration" however tea/coffee were always available in J on the same sectors on previous trips.

Does MEL have the self service tea available again? They didn't in May - those areas weren't stocked at all, so you had to go to the coffee station to get a cup of tea. Just asked Mr Jurahn and he said no, there weren't any tea bags etc available in the two areas he saw - you could probably get yourself a cup of hot water (but nothing else LOL).

 

[oz_ally]

Mr Jurahn is just back from a trip to Melbourne. Hot drinks not available on the HBA-MEL leg due to the "short flight time" (they always used to manage just fine before, at least for J pax), and then not on the MEL-HBA leg either as it was too turbulent (apparently).

I have had the same on recent flights ROK-BNE and return for the same reason. We have been Fokked on that route for a while now so no J class available. But only offered water or juice due to whatever or turbulence - and I say whatever because I don't recall a reason on some flights (it is rather short I guess - around an hour or so depending on the weather of the day). And the times I've heard the turbulence excuse I really didn't feel any.

 

[bam71]

We booked to travel MEL DPS next month in J. We’re bringing our own snacks….

 

[Harrison_133]

VA870 SYD-MEL in 2F (served first for those playing along at home).

Dinner options: chicken parmigiana or Mexican pasta, plus the usual cheese & crackers and chocolate. Opted for the chicken, a very solid dish. For the Pinot Grigio, they’ve gone back to the Tatachilla from the previous menu rotation. No complaints there. Drinks were continuously topped up too.

Was also given a snack mix on the tray too. Not sure if this is standard or if it was just the CM being overly attentive. A much appreciated gesture nonetheless.

Superb service from CM Phil. Definitely one of VA’s best.

Overall, another great flight in J with VA.

 

[twinaisle]

Was also given a snack mix on the tray too. Not sure if this is standard or if it was just the CM being overly attentive. A much appreciated gesture nonetheless.

It is not standard.

 

[jase05]

Do you know what the protocol is?
A couple of weeks back I had 6 sectors in a couple of days and 5 of them had the “pantry” proactively offered after the meal

 

[BNEFlyer]

Do you know what the protocol is?
A couple of weeks back I had 6 sectors in a couple of days and 5 of them had the “pantry” proactively offered after the meal

Pantry offering I find is usually on-demand. My last flight in J (MEL-BNE) I asked for snacks from the pantry and got them, but then that prompted the CM to offer it to the other pax.

 

[jase05]

Pantry offering I find is usually on-demand. My last flight in J (MEL-BNE) I asked for snacks from the pantry and got them, but then that prompted the CM to offer it to the other pax.

I found that was the case previously but I don’t know if I was just lucky or hit a purple patch service wise but have found it more proactively offered lately

 

[twinaisle]

Do you know what the protocol is?
A couple of weeks back I had 6 sectors in a couple of days and 5 of them had the “pantry” proactively offered after the meal

The only "dine on demand" you'll find onboard loading of stock isn't enough for each pax as most times it's double catered so it's not offered on each flight unless asked for. E.g I can't use it all and then leave nothing for the next crew who take over the aircraft.

 

[Mattg]

VA609 BNE-MKY
11:50 departure

The two meal options were a peri peri chicken burger or a salad. By the time my meal order was taken (last as I was in 2F), only the burger was available.



I found it a bit bland and the brioche bun was dry.

Great crew, though.

 

[encryptededdy]

VA820 SYD-MEL Morning

Options for breakfast were a ham & cheese toastie or a museli. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the toastie, also it's very messy to pick up since the cheese was on the outside for some reason. TBH I much prefer the QF Omelette or Frittata for breakfast (or maybe I just really like egg...)

VA891 MEL-SYD Evening

Options were Chicken Schnitzel (above) or some pasta. Was very good and I would rate it above the usual QF Creamy Chicken thing. Also appreciate the cheese and crackers.

As an aside, I visited the bathroom on VA820 and while looking for toilet seat covers (it seems like VA doesn't have them, unlike QF), found that all the airsickness bags were Qantas branded... mildly amusing.

 

[sudoer]

Options for breakfast were a ham & cheese toastie or a museli. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the toastie, also it's very messy to pick up since the cheese was on the outside for some reason.

It's a croque monsieur, the cheese is supposed to be on the outside. I've noticed most FAs refer to it as a ham & cheese toastie though, probably for fear of mispronouncing it. In fairness I also have NFI how to pronounce it properly, and I've found the same reluctance on both QF & VA. Given how heavily featured it is on both carriers I guess dnata has achieved decent economies of scale with their ham & cheese suppliers

I agree with your sentiments though, cheese on the outside is impractical for a sandwich and makes this a knife & fork job in my book.

 

[simmomelb]

It's a croque monsieur, the cheese is supposed to be on the outside. I've noticed most FAs refer to it as a ham & cheese toastie though, probably for fear of mispronouncing it. In fairness I also have NFI how to pronounce it properly, and I've found the same reluctance on both QF & VA. Given how heavily featured it is on both carriers I guess dnata has achieved decent economies of scale with their ham & cheese suppliers

I agree with your sentiments though, cheese on the outside is impractical for a sandwich and makes this a knife & fork job in my book.

For us English speakers, the phonetic spelling (to help pronounce it) would be "Crock Mass-you-er"

My friend is French and we get this at a local cafe quite often

 

[henrus]

As an aside, I visited the bathroom on VA820 and while looking for toilet seat covers (it seems like VA doesn't have them, unlike QF), found that all the airsickness bags were Qantas branded... mildly amusing.

Pure genius if you ask me... Why bother getting your own sick bags when you can just steal them from elsewhere.

Or more like all that QF outsourcing now means VA and QF use the same company who can't tell what aircraft they're on.