Dining on Airline Food While on the Ground
Jennifer Billock April 26, 2017
Get ready for the next big trend in fine dining! Sorry to say, it’s airline food.
Welcome to a whole new height in fine dining. A new pop-up diner in London’s Soho neighborhood recently opened, called This is How We Fly, serving airline food in a trendy, haute cuisine setting. Peter Gordon, a chef and restaurateur from New Zealand, opened the restaurant, in an effort to show people just how delicious the food on Air New Zealand flights can be. It’s the right time to do it, too – a survey was just released showing that about 25 percent of Brits consider airline food worse than school lunches and hospital meals. A fifth of those surveyed think that the worst thing about a flight is the food, and more than half just plain don’t like airline food.
“When you’re sitting on an airplane you want food with fresh ingredients and great texture that’s going to awaken your taste buds and really excite you,” Gordon told AOL. “The food served on board Air New Zealand uses the finest fresh ingredients that are simply bursting with flavor.”
The restaurant serves food found standard on Air New Zealand flights, including one meal of “lamb with minted peas, braised lettuce with bacon lardons and salt roasted crushed new potatoes with mint jelly,” a diner reported.
“I’m always interested in trying new foods and Soho is really good for that,” another told AOL. “In all honesty I never thought airplane food could be so nice.”
Air New Zealand also commissioned the survey, which polled about 1,000 adults who had recently taken long-haul flights.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
The last 2-3 years I have seen a significant improvement of the food on airlines, but then I travel transoceanic in premium, no version of coach. I have had food that is well above most nicer restaurants, and with friendly and personable service, not the snooty and rude staff one is likely to run into in a restaurant. I would try this restaurant, but would not have my expectations set high when it comes to the wait staff.
I didn't believe food on an airplane could taste good consistently until I flew Qatar Airways in business class from the US to South Africa. Not only was the food on board (at least the vegetarian stuff I ate) by far the best airline food I've ever had, it was better than food at many inexpensive restaurants on the ground! It wasn't until I was in South Africa for a week that I ate at a restaurant that had food that matches in quality what I'd eaten in the air in Qatar business class.
Are they crazy! I won't eat that stuff on the plane! And sorry, that's food cooked in a real kitchen just before you eat it. Not cooked a few days ago and nuked by your FA prior to serving. This would not convince me that their food is edible LOL!