Worst in-flight meal you've received?

[Springtime]

Worst food ever was on QF from Sydney to Singapore, we were offered what was supposed to be a burger , The meat was grey & rubbery, bun was still frozen. It was just dreadful. it was the meal they serve just before touch down, and we hadn't eaten for about 5 hrs & were very hungry. It was such a disappointment. Really wish Alan Joyce would travel incognito in Economy for once to see what his airline offers his passengers.

 

[Berlin]

Worst food ever was on QF from Sydney to Singapore, we were offered what was supposed to be a burger , The meat was grey & rubbery, bun was still frozen. It was just dreadful. it was the meal they serve just before touch down, and we hadn't eaten for about 5 hrs & were very hungry. It was such a disappointment. Really wish Alan Joyce would travel incognito in Economy for once to see what his airline offers his passengers.

Well, for its worth, I had an EXCELLENT "Chicken Schnitzel sandwich" on QF (albeit in J, admittedly) which turned out to be a massive Chickenburger on a nice Brioche bun. Definitely the nicest burger I've ever had in the sky- so they CAN do it if they want to!

 

[fall502]

Was in business on QF158 Auckland to Melbourne last Tuesday. I had lamb tandoori and my wife had chicken salad. Lamb very tough and the rest of the meal was very dry, even overheard the FAs commenting on how bad it was. My wife's meal was bland and tasteless which might have been caused by it being very cold.We both hardly touched the meal, lucky we had been in the Emirates lounge beforehand. Had worse in economy but did not expect such a bad meal on an international business flight.

 

[Springtime]

Well, for its worth, I had an EXCELLENT "Chicken Schnitzel sandwich" on QF (albeit in J, admittedly) which turned out to be a massive Chickenburger on a nice Brioche bun. Definitely the nicest burger I've ever had in the sky- so they CAN do it if they want to!

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Thats good to hear, although I'm wondering if Alan Joyce was travelling on your flight that day? ( Lol )

 

[Berlin]

Lamb very tough and the rest of the meal was very dry, even overheard the FAs commenting on how bad it was.

I've always avoided that lamb dish so far and am glad I did. I'm quite funny with lamb, it has to be really good for me to enjoy it. And being based in New Zealand now, the lamb here on the ground is usually exactly that- really really good. So I'm a bit spoilt now in terms of delicious tender baby sheep

 

[Berlin]

Thats good to hear, although I'm wondering if Alan Joyce was travelling on your flight that day? ( Lol )

No, but there was a guy with a big ugly hair tail sitting right in front of me and I had really thought at first it might be Neil Perry (turned out it wasn't)

 

[Millie]

I completely agree that airline food is totally overrated, being vegetarian virtually every-meal I receive is so similar it tastes the same.
Rice, lentil dal, vegetable casserole. Very uninspiring.

 

[Berlin]

I completely agree that airline food is totally overrated, being vegetarian virtually every-meal I receive is so similar it tastes the same.
Rice, lentil dal, vegetable casserole. Very uninspiring.

I disagree, I love my meals on airplanes (for the most of it at least). I think if you’re vegetarian, you basically made a choice that all dishes must taste the same, regardless of where it is But each to their own!

 

[cgichard]

I disagree, I love my meals on airplanes (for the most of it at least). I think if you’re vegetarian, you basically made a choice that all dishes must taste the same, regardless of where it is But each to their own!

The Hindu vegetarian meals are good - much better than the standard vegetarian.

 

[Forg]

Yeah, the various Hindu cultures have had a millenium or two’s worth of practice in turning vegetables into food.

 

[Berlin]

The Hindu vegetarian meals are good - much better than the standard vegetarian.

Granted, I admit defeat on this one. Indian vegetable curries and the lines do indeed manage to turn purely vegetarian meals into an explosion of flavour.

 

[Berlin]

Apologies because this is technically off topic as this thread is about food ON the aircraft but I just need a quick rant “in the moment”: As much as I usually defend Qantas, their Sydney Domestic Lounge is just a disgrace (as is the so-called “First” lounge at Auckland International).

I just had THE worst “hot” breakfast ever I think: First it’s all lukewarm rather than hot. And the scrambled egg bits are sitting in a lake of eggy water which looks exactly as disgusting as it sounds. The “sausages” are made out of some really gross mistery meet and smell/taste distinctly off. And almost the worst- the “bakes beans” are hard as a stone. How the heck can one manage to mess up baked beans? They’re from a frigging tin! If there’s one dish that even a child/uni student/cooking disabled person can do, it’s baked beans! But no, Qantas seriously manages to mess up BAKED BEANS! How? How can it be?

Okay, rant over. It’s time to put myself into the hands of a lovely Qantas crew. At least so I hope!

 

[Forg]

^ I think your rant is quite well-justified. I wasn't aware of even Qantas Club's existence until about 13 years ago when I started working with people who fly all the time … and went into the domestic J lounge with them then. I now occasionally go in there with the better half; and it's definitely gone downhill in that time. I remember there being hot & cold food available almost regardless of the time you turned-up (which was good because there wasn't always time to grab something after a meeting & you'd missed a meal or two); but recently in the middle of the day in Melbourne even the toasted-sanger maker was borked & the buffet/salads had been packed away.

 

[aussiejohn]

Just reading this thread makes me glad I don't fly very often! I would be hard pressed to think of a really bad meal I have had on a plane in 50 odd years of flying. Most meals I must have coped with and suffered no ill effects.

I would have to say that in recent times, I have not had a bad meal on Singapore Airlines in business and economy. It is airline food, but has mostly been tasty and edible and some were even enjoyable.

My experiences of Qatar business Berlin to Singapore, and also of Virgin Australia Business to LAX and back were also more than satisfactory.

I remember the days when QF was a real airline, and the food was tasty - even in cattle class. Mind you, that was a long time ago. They used to do nice breakfasts of scrambled egg, and Canadian style bacon. I managed to fly QF first class a few times in the 1970's. Sadly I watched the food and service decline over a short few years.

Air Asia X food I don't even bother with. Take some snacks and keep them discreetly hidden. I can do an eight hour flight without a meal. Just have a good breakfast and a nice meal later in KL.

US airlines like PanAm, AA, and Delta used to be great back in the good old days also. I remember an ice cream sundae on Delta that was to die for.

My pet peeves, the half size muesli bar you get for a snack now on Virgin. The flight to Sydney takes longer than it did 20 years ago, and back then they managed to serve and clear a hot meal for the entire plane without any problems! How does that work? Other peeves, the rock hard ice cream that has been mentioned, the cold rock hard bread rolls, and the unopenable plastic cups of water or orange juice, especially when you are confined in cattle class.

I am flying PE QF Mel -Sin in October - my first trip on QF in about 20 years I think. I am not looking forward to it at all. But I am flying PE on Singapore Sin-CDG two days later so that will erase any bad memories of the QF flight.

 

[33kft]

I am flying PE QF Mel -Sin in October - my first trip on QF in about 20 years I think. I am not looking forward to it at all. But I am flying PE on Singapore Sin-CDG two days later so that will erase any bad memories of the QF flight.

I have always enjoyed flying PE MEL-SIN on the A380 with QF. I often wonder how they sell J for multiples of the Y+ price, the delta between Y and Y+ is huge seat-wise imho, yet the price difference isn't. (but then again, I am 100% about the hard product, I eat what I want on the ground so the Y meals don't bother me)

 

[cvmceg]

No photos, but an AA flight ATL-DFW circa november 2001 in Y.

Flight attendant to me about the meal options: "Which one would you like? it all tastes the same anyway"

 

[Fergo747]

One of my worst meals was a recent DFW-SYD on QF in J. The meal was some form of beef with fingerling (I think) potatoes and broccolini. The beef was chewy, dry and had little to no flavour. The potatoes were cold (as in they forgot to heat them) and tasted undercooked (crunchy). The broccolini was ok, though on the cold side. I had about three bites and the attendant could tell when she came to collect the plate that I didn't enjoy it. She did offer to get me something else but none of the other options sounded appealing at all.

 

[Pushka]

Business Class flight from Honolulu to MELBOURNE on Jetstar yesterday. An 11 hour flight. We were in seats 2 JK. By the time we had our breakfast order taken they’d run out of breakfasts. But worse, they only had one lunch meal left - the other two choices were all gone and just a beef one left! For two of us.

We heard the couple on front of us snarkly say, as they placed their 2 orders for the chicken meals, that if the FA had any issues with anyone behind them missing out then to ask them for help. So help me if that couple had turned around to us and intervened in our discussion, I swear I would be seen on a viral you tube chucking their chicken dinners in their laps!

Does no meal count as the worst meal?

In the end they found some butter chicken from economy. Tiny portion.

 

[Pushka]

Jetstar no meal in J on 11 hour day flight.

Our breakfast. No hot meal as they’d all gone so they found some yoghurt and cut up some fruit.



Our dinner tray. Noice cardy box while we watched everyone else’s full service.



Oh. And then they found some salmon. I loathe smoked salmon.



I’ve tweeted them now and they are checking into it.

 

[Springtime]

@Pushka .....Yuk!
This really does take the cake !