iluvdoco

How does ANA F/J food compare to JL F/J food? I've flown JL F ex-NRT and the catering was phenomenal.

Read some anecdotal reports here about the decline of ANA F food last year, was curious if still the case. Thanks!

TennisNoob

Seems like JL has the better food atm/

roberto99

IMO, both carriers are very similar in quality in both Business and First.

CPH-Flyer

It has been a long while since I have done a TPAC or European flight with NH. But on longer Asian routes (SIN/BKK/etc) JL has a clear advantage in my view.

Guava

Here is my review of the recently launched HND-JFK service by ANA in F. ANA First Class, HND-JFK As you will note, JL catering in F is so much better although it seems that ANA tries to be competitive on flights to/from New York City. Another poster said a flight to IAH from around the same time period had no caviar but on flight to JFK, as I reported, you got a full tin of imported French caviar.

I would rank JL F much higher than NH F at this time.

I didn't post the pictures of the outbound flight but could if anyone is interested.

CaliforniaSteve

My wife and I have taken both airlines in J within the past year. I would rate JL better in food, particularly in the Japanese meals. NH was decent, but I didn't feel it was as good as JL. My wife, on the other hand, didn't like the JL Japanese choices (FYI, she's Singaporean), and thought that NH's Western meals were better. However, she pretty much dislikes all airline food, so better is a relative term with her.

ainternational

Most posts I see on the topic seem to say JL is best. I only flew F once, LAX to TYO and I felt it was on part with ANA, maybe better, but maybe just because I needed some variety after all the NH F meals.

I don't eat in NH C any longer. Like UA, it's just not worth the calories. F, sometimes - usually - I eat something. Especially ex-TYO TPAC.

Overall I think catering has gone downhill on most airlines in the last decade.

tng11

After eating the entire Japanese and Western menus on the NRT-ORD NH F flight I just stepped off of (I was the only passenger), I think JL F has the better food.

The difference on the Japanese menu is pretty stark - I thought the Japanese meal on NH F was pretty mediocre even departing Japan. The Western menu on this flight was pretty good - the salmon tartar and caviar appetizer and the Bouillabaisse main were amazing.

iluvdoco

Thanks Guava! I'll check out your TR.

Thanks tng11 for taking one for the team and trying both menus.

Guava

Out of USA, NH catering is less affected by outstation supplies issues. JL's catering out of USA is notoriously not good. This has been discussed extensively in the JL forum. Like it or not, NH is still the more modern and foreigner friendly airline between the two, whereas JL is more traditional. This is both good and bad, and it seems NH has americanized their service offerings too much.

I do not agree with your statement that catering has gone downhill as a whole for top airlines in general. It has only affected selected airlines such as CX and NH. The trend is not consistent. U.S. carriers have been busy improving their service so if you step on a U.S. carrier nowadays for long-haul premium, you will notice their catering is quite a bit better than 2007. JL for instance was already great back then and it continues to impress even now. But there was the issue of restructuring affecting JL for a number of years, which I am going to discount as being temporary now it is back in full health. Although JL has since cut back somewhat on their western menu, just two years ago, boarding a JL F flight ex-TYO means you are treated to two menus both maned by two different Michelin 3 Stars chefs and their respective restaurant. You are then served with a top notch champagne, the Salon series, and many other drinks of your choice. The beverage menu is simply breathtaking even for well traveled people on FT.

I think NH had better menu back in January than now when they served fugu sashimi and Wagyu beef and new year special meals. But putting things in perspective, the quality is still very good - it only looks poor because we are comparing it to its biggest rival. But truthfully, any F catering, if you compare it to JL F ex-TYO will look comparatively poor, no matter which airline.

Guy Betsy

Even in coach... JL food beats NH.

ORDnHKG

I don't think so, had flown a fair amount of JL Y and NH Y long haul and intra-asia. I got served a hot dog as second meal for US-Japan in JL Y last year and no choice, that was the worst meal I had ever had on any long haul Y. NH Y even second meal always have a choice, and NEVER had hot dog as a choice. Even intra-asia like Japan-HKG, no choice at all for JL vs two choices on NH.

TennisNoob

Yeah that's worse than UA wow

evergrn

No more choice for the second coach meal on my last flight from TYO back to YVR. It was a terrible "lunchbox" deal with small inedible sandwiches and a small fruitcup, I think. At this point, UA's ex-Jpn TPAC meals are better than NH's (NH still better ex-US/Canada food-wise). I'm not real familiar with JAL, but seems like JL and NH are competing to see who can tank harder on coach meals.

mjm

My personal take on coach flying is BYOF. ex-USA some good deli, and ex-Tokyo well, too many choices.