Best First Class Food?

[travelnutjohn]

Just wondering what peoples opinion on the best airline first class food,

for me personally, first class, when you are paying $5-$20k one way, it should be the best and on demand too

what ive read is that singapore has lobster , while etihad and emirates having caviar,

in a perfect world, I would expect lobster, caviar., foie gras, wagyu beef, however its not perfect,

However the main course of beef tenderloin for me would be a bit short considering the price being paid

Whats the best first class dining that people think?

 

[Woronora]

Just wondering what peoples opinion on the best airline first class food,

for me personally, first class, when you are paying $5-$20k one way, it should be the best and on demand too

what ive read is that singapore has lobster , while etihad and emirates having caviar,

in a perfect world, I would expect lobster, caviar., foie gras, wagyu beef, however its not perfect,

However the main course of beef tenderloin for me would be a bit short considering the price being paid

Whats the best first class dining that people think?

Should be good but it is anyway over rated to be honest...
Don't know what the big deal is with 1st class anyway.... rather spend money at a nice restaurant on the ground.... 1st world class problem...

 

[drron]

It does all really depend on your tastes.
Myself I love the Japanese Kaiseki meals on ANA and JAL in F.
In recent times Thai has really upped the quality of their Thai dishes in F and J.That however is not going to satisfy many as to being the best whereas I really love Thai food.
SQ does have good meals with caviar and lobster.
Have never been on the ME airlines F cabin and probably never will.

 

[drron]

Should be good but it is anyway over rated to be honest...
Don't know what the big deal is with 1st class anyway.... rather spend money at a nice restaurant on the ground.... 1st world class problem...

Stick around and learn how to fly F for less than a Y ticket.
The Drrons shoot a killer and other delights.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just wondering what peoples opinion on the best airline first class food,

for me personally, first class, when you are paying $5-$20k one way, it should be the best and on demand too

what ive read is that singapore has lobster , while etihad and emirates having caviar,

in a perfect world, I would expect lobster, caviar., foie gras, wagyu beef, however its not perfect,

However the main course of beef tenderloin for me would be a bit short considering the price being paid

Whats the best first class dining that people think?

In general - food that is served cold travels best. Salads, cold cuts, cheeses, desserts, (and your pates and caviar - although the quality of caviar varies widely between carriers. Not all of it is great.). Anything else is cooked around 24 hours in advance, snap chilled, and sits waiting to be reheated on the plane. Even a lobster is going to suffer under those conditions and won't be as good as you'll get at some seafood restaurant where is goes from sea to plate.

But some airlines do better at food than others. Lufthansa, Swiss and Air France all stand out. Others have given up on the gastronomic experience and focus on good comfort food... the American carriers do that really well. Nothing fancy, but full of sugar, salt and fat. And tasty!

Cathay has a couple of good Cantonese dishes. Asiana actually does a really good steak (as do the Japanese carriers). But in general even when serving specialty cuisine (Thai, Korean etc) you're not going to get anything as good as you will on the ground where a lot of the flavour comes from freshness and chefs tasting as they go along to perfect the dish.

Passengers regularly paying for first class will generally have the means to buy all the dishes you mention, at home or at good restaurants, while on the ground. Airlines don't really try and compete with that. But some try to get close to presenting something reasonable.

 

[JohnK]

Stick around and learn how to fly F for less than a Y ticket.

Please do tell how we can fly return in First to Thailand for ~AUD650/person?

 

[drron]

Please do tell how we can fly return in First to Thailand for ~AUD650/person?

If I wanted to it would be on SQ the points for which come from my Amex card.I don't spend just to earn points so they really are no cost to me.
Then I can get a TG J award through lifemiles that will cost $US450 which is ~$A600.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Then I can get a TG J award through lifemiles that will cost $US450 which is ~$A600.

I've got points with lifemiles as low as 1.2c each, but even then I can't come anywhere close to an AU-Thailand for $450. That's a cracking deal!

 

[drron]

We both bought a lot when with the extra OMAAT bonus we got it to 1 US cent a point.40000 for a J award = $US400 + $US50 fee.We actually did it BKK-BNE though.

 

[JohnK]

Then I can get a TG J award through lifemiles that will cost $US450 which is ~$A600.

Only J award?

For us paupers points have to come from somewhere. It's not possible to fly business for the cost of economy let alone fly First.

 

[drron]

Only J award?

For us paupers points have to come from somewhere. It's not possible to fly business for the cost of economy let alone fly First.

But that J award costs less than your $A650 for Y.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

We both bought a lot when with the extra OMAAT bonus we got it to 1 US cent a point.40000 for a J award = $US400 + $US50 fee.We actually did it BKK-BNE though.

Unfortunately the best deal these days is about 1.375 US cents per miles through purchases. Top-ups can sometimes yield 1.2c each (again USD). Plus there's a 10K point surcharge for flights originating in Australia, giving a 90K return to Asia, so about USD620 each way, excluding taxes.

But that J award costs less than your $A650 for Y.

I think John is saying $650 return in economy!

It is certainly possible to use LM to fly business class to Europe for well under the cost of premium economy on some of the major carriers such as QF, SQ etc. But the days of flying F for less than current (often sub-$1000) economy fares to Europe are gone for now (at least until we get back to parity with the USD)

 

[JohnK]

But that J award costs less than your $A650 for Y.

Only if miles/points cost nothing which is only possible for some people.

 

[Forg]

My single experience of F, Emirates to NZ, made me think that airlines probably put some focus on having fancy booze because they know a meal just isn’t going to be as good as even an average restaurant without carrying a real kitchen around in the air ... but you can buy some fancy bottles pretty easily. I quickly Googled one of the reds they had on offer, it wasn’t that much to my taste (typically Frenchly over-subtle for me) so I didn’t realise it was supposed to be anything vaguely special, but according to Mr Google it was a few-hundred-dollar bottle that I’d had them open.

 

[Ewing]

but according to Mr Google it was a few-hundred-dollar bottle that I’d had them open.

According to Mr Dan Murphy, I drank about $2,000 worth of alcohol on my Emirates trip to Paris - and that was just the DXB-CDG sector. I was the only one in the cabin drinking, and the crew basically insisted I finish the bottles I'd had them open so they didn't go down the sink!

In general - food that is served cold travels best. Salads, cold cuts, cheeses, desserts, (and your pates and caviar - although the quality of caviar varies widely between carriers. Not all of it is great.).

Absolutely.

Some of the most divine courses I've had in First have been sashimi, ceviche, etc. Even the short-lived Burrata on Qantas F last year was incredible. It was so good that I had some (and the accompanying vegetables) with my breakfast before landing!

 

[Robert K]

The 'snack' steak burger on qantas is probably buy favourite
I don't really care about fancy expensive ingredients. Give me tasty any day.

Lobster on SIN was a huge disappointment. not sure why bloggers rave about it.

I guess it all comes down to what your taste levels are.

 

[blackcat20]

The meal on JAL would have to be one of my favourites, probably helped by the fact they served me all three desserts on a plate instead of a choice of the three I was meant to have

 

[yld200]

I've been lucky enough to have the caviar and lobster on SQ which was quite special. The overall experience on SQ was amazing

In saying that - the best in air meal I've had was a steak on JAL J from NRT to MEL which was just amazing, melt in your mouth stuff.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

For food then Swiss, Lufthansa, JAL and Air France are up there. With EK you have to get past the vast choice available and realise it's a J menu with additional caviar, mezze plate and an extra entree and main course. EK wines and spirits though are superb. QF wine can be OK but BA is much better. QF F spirits would struggle to be on a J drinks list on some other carriers.

 

[Forg]

EK wines and spirits though are superb. QF wine can be OK but BA is much better.

My experience of EK wines is that cost is more important than flavour; it’s like they’re chosen by someone who doesn’t drink wine, and to impress F passengers they just get the one with the highest RRP instead.
QF wines seem like they’re chosen by someone with a budget but a great knowledge of wine.

Actually ... flew China Airlines in J recently, the whisky was Johnny Walker Blue Label, which is way more expensive than a bunch of really top-notch actually-Scottish whiskies while being essentially something for mixing with Coke ... that smells a lot like someone who doesn’t drink spirits ordered their spirits!