Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[Ade]

People apparently were tired of it so it was removed.

Any idea when the next rotation of meals on CBR-MEL/SYD-ADL-MEL/SYD-CBR legs? I have had gnocchi in mushroom sauce with parmesan and cold rissoni salad with pumpkin, roast peppers & tzatziki, quite a few times now

Post automatically merged: Mar 7, 2023

All the meals are fresh made at VA and aren't snap frozen so they look and taste good when served

That's awesome. Have seen Gate Gourmet trucks pull up to VA aircrafts at CBR MEL & ADL

 

[MooTime]

That's really interesting. I've made the comment several times since Nov and my migration from QF that the meals actually look plated, not poured. Does VA use a different caterer than QF; or if port-to-port then MEL, SYD & BNE?

I agree, certainly looked plated to me too.

re Betty's Burgers in the air in J, would be very difficult to replicate the heating / cooking, with a subpar product onboard, Betty may loose credibility on their taste.

I'm yet to have Betty on ground anywhere.

 

[Mattg]

That's awesome. Have seen Gate Gourmet trucks pull up to VA aircrafts at CBR.

Oh, are they doing catering ex CBR now?

For a while, I avoided the first flights out of Canberra because there was no proper catering there, so you'd just get an ambient muesli bowl and a muffin.

 

[BNEFlyer]

No, this is now back on topic - as we are talking about a (possible) menu item in J. I've not had a Bettys Burger yet, but it couldn't be worse than HJ's or Maccas. My biggest concern would be keeping them at a reasonable temperature from the time they are made on the ground, to the time served in the air. There would be a proportion of pax that would like to try a burger, depending on the time of flight (lunch or dinner obviously, would they go down well on a snack flight?)

VA don't have the "snack/refreshment" meal time anymore. It's breakfast/lunch/dinner. The burger would be a great addition to lunch and dinner, but then they could do a breakfast burger too.

 

[Ade]

Oh, are they doing catering ex CBR now?

Apologies, I mistyped - meant to say MEL & ADL. Got distracted. Post updated

 

[twinaisle]

Any idea when the next rotation of meals on CBR-MEL/SYD-ADL-MEL/SYD-CBR legs? I have had gnocchi in mushroom sauce with parmesan and cold rissoni salad with pumpkin, roast peppers & tzatziki, quite a few times now

Post automatically merged: Mar 7, 2023

That's awesome. Have seen Gate Gourmet trucks pull up to VA aircrafts at CBR MEL & ADL

Nah we don't know when we will get new meals yet. Hopefully soon, I'm sure you're all tired of the same options that I have to serve they're not bad meals though, just repetition is boring it's funny when the frequent flyers can tell what meal cycle it is when I mention one meal and they can say the other option

No catering out of CBR. All meals are catered ex other ports for flights starting out of CBR

Post automatically merged: Mar 7, 2023

VA don't have the "snack/refreshment" meal time anymore. It's breakfast/lunch/dinner. The burger would be a great addition to lunch and dinner, but then they could do a breakfast burger too.

They did do a breakfast burger for the launch of the post administration J class launch

 

[TMP]

Too late!

Yep, too late. I got the last one in SYD at 1745 last Friday night.

 

[AIRwin]

Yep, too late. I got the last one in SYD at 1745 last Friday night.

I was going to say it usually runs out by 6 pm...

 

[Sprucegoose]

I am still yet to ever personally see Betty's Burgers in a VA lounge. I must be flying at the wrong times!

Betty knocks off at 6pm..

 

[twinaisle]

Betty knocks off at 6pm..

Same.. well in my mind I do, physically still there

 

[The-Aviator]

02/03/23 | VA797 | BNE to CNS

Back again to report on the 2nd of 4 flights. After arriving from Sydney I had about ten minutes in the Brisbane lounge before boarding for the flight to Cairns was announced.

Started of course with a sparkling wine PDB.

Dinner options were Chicken Parmigiana with sweet potato mash and broccolini or Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with tomato cashew pesto. Having seen the parmi on here a couple of times I had to order it.

Both options served with cheese and crackers (back to three crackers after the unusual four on my last flight!) and chocolate heart. To drink I had the merlot again.

The parmi was quite good although would have been perfect with a slice of ham. The sweet potato mash and broccolini were excellent as well.

Orders were taken and distributed in the traditional 1AC, 1DF, 2AC, 2DF. Everyone got their first choice and some didn't order.

Flight attendant covering J for the majority of the flight was Soph and she was excellent. She did spend some time in the Y cabin as well and another FA whose name I didn't catch replaced her, she was great too.

After the wine with dinner, I switched to Bundy and Cokes for the rest of the journey. FAs were very quick at offering me and my seatmate plenty of top-ups all the way to Cairns. I had assumed at the time it was being mixed in the galley however I was served a pre-mix can on a later flight. Not sure if it differs from flight to flight / airport to airport.

Overall really good VA service on what I presume would have been the crew's final flight for the day.

 

[twinaisle]

02/03/23 | VA797 | BNE to CNS

Back again to report on the 2nd of 4 flights. After arriving from Sydney I had about ten minutes in the Brisbane lounge before boarding for the flight to Cairns was announced.

Started of course with a sparkling wine PDB.

Dinner options were Chicken Parmigiana with sweet potato mash and broccolini or Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with tomato cashew pesto. Having seen the parmi on here a couple of times I had to order it.

Both options served with cheese and crackers (back to three crackers after the unusual four on my last flight!) and chocolate heart. To drink I had the merlot again.

The parmi was quite good although would have been perfect with a slice of ham. The sweet potato mash and broccolini were excellent as well.

Orders were taken and distributed in the traditional 1AC, 1DF, 2AC, 2DF. Everyone got their first choice and some didn't order.

Flight attendant covering J for the majority of the flight was Soph and she was excellent. She did spend some time in the Y cabin as well and another FA whose name I didn't catch replaced her, she was great too.

After the wine with dinner, I switched to Bundy and Cokes for the rest of the journey. FAs were very quick at offering me and my seatmate plenty of top-ups all the way to Cairns. I had assumed at the time it was being mixed in the galley however I was served a pre-mix can on a later flight. Not sure if it differs from flight to flight / airport to airport.

Overall really good VA service on what I presume would have been the crew's final flight for the day.

You're not going to believe it but there's a Bundy mini shortage so sometimes it will be the can

 

[alexczarn]

No no no you can't have a parmi with ham; sacrilege!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

At MEL there’s always a run on the burgers when they come out… a queue of about 20 people snap them up pretty quick.

I’m usually in the lounge on a weeknight around 6 pm. They are serving them at least until around 645pm when i leave for the gate.

 

[tdimdad]

What's the merlot currently available onboard, please? I quite liked it and wouldn't mind seeing if my local bottle shop stocks it.

 

[TMP]

No no no you can't have a parmi with ham; sacrilege!

What's a parmi?

 

[twinaisle]

What's the merlot currently available onboard, please? I quite liked it and wouldn't mind seeing if my local bottle shop stocks it.

Amberley 2021 WA

 

[danzel]

VA913 SYD-BNE | 07-Mar| 0730 Departure

PB: Appeared to be enforced, however boarding commenced much earlier than scheduled time so passenger flow was steady.

PDB: Still water or OJ, about 10-15 mins into boarding process.

Meal orders taken 1ACDF, 2ACDF and delivered in same order.

3 Breakfast options:

• Scrambled eggs with tomato on toasted Turkish
• Corn fritters with goats cheese, medley tomatoes, basil and capsicum relish
• Ham and cheese toastie (or variant thereof)

Opted for the corn fritters which were presented very nicely. A little on the dry side, but good flavours and a satisfying dish overall. Very impressed with having three hot options available.

 

[twinaisle]

VA913 SYD-BNE | 07-Mar| 0730 Departure

PB: Appeared to be enforced, however boarding commenced much earlier than scheduled time so passenger flow was steady.

PDB: Still water or OJ, about 10-15 mins into boarding process.

Meal orders taken 1ACDF, 2ACDF and delivered in same order.

3 Breakfast options:

• Scrambled eggs with tomato on toasted Turkish
• Corn fritters with goats cheese, medley tomatoes, basil and capsicum relish
• Ham and cheese toastie (or variant thereof)

Opted for the corn fritters which were presented very nicely. A little on the dry side, but good flavours and a satisfying dish overall. Very impressed with having three hot options available.

View attachment 318566

We generally have 2 options max.

Assuming ham and cheese is from Y

 

[RooFlyer]

HBA-MEL 11:00 am departure.

PDB OJ, still or sparkling water or Prosecco.

Orders taken 1ACDE then 2ACDE, no iPad used.

Two cold options, I chose ‘middle eastern salad’ . I noted @twinaisle ’s comment about re abbreviated ( or absent) hot drink policy on shorter flights like this and I guess the ‘cold meal only’ is a similar policy? That’s a shame but not a dealbreaker, if so. No lemon for the G&T could be though!

Nice meal and the bread was completely fresh