Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs - MH: food options often not available?

My wife and I just returned from KUL and while the service on board was o.k., we were surprised how often we were confronted with 'this option is out'.

LAX-KUL: No satay at all (although listed) and none on the way back either ... confusing they are listing this as their signature dish and then they don't serve it!

LAX-TPE: Beef option was out by the time they got to us

KUL-TPE: My wife's option was out

TPE-LAX: Both of us didn't get what we wanted

I think I had it happen once before that something I wanted was 'out', but here we have 4 examples on a return flights, which is a bit much if you ask me.
Now this was the first time for me/us on MH and I am wondeirng, is this normal? Do they have such a tight catering in C or simply a useless computer program trying to predict what people might order?
The food was just o.k. overall and I would have expected a bit more from MH to be honest.

In my experience that's not typical at all. I had one flight in F where there was no satay but this was explained and profusely apologized for before we took off.

The missing satay on a flagship route like LAX is a real oversight. Hard to believe. Was the C cabin full? On my MH flights a few months ago there was oodles of everything on demand, but the load was only about 10 in C.

The missing satay on a flagship route like LAX is a real oversight. Hard to believe. Was the C cabin full? On my MH flights a few months ago there was oodles of everything on demand, but the load was only about 10 in C.

The C-cabin was completely full on all 4 legs. 35 pax in C on the 777 and no tickets were available for purchase for months. I know that this might be part of the 'issue', but they should be able to account for a full cabin.

The missing satay on a flagship route like LAX is a real oversight. Hard to believe. Was the C cabin full? On my MH flights a few months ago there was oodles of everything on demand, but the load was only about 10 in C.

I don't think TPE-LAX is supposed to have Satay. It's not listed on the menu.

Regarding the OP's post, I also encountered a lot of items that were "out" on my last LAX-TPE/TPE-LAX flights, and those flights were half empty. It didn't matter much from LAX, as that catering always seems top notch no matter what you order, but from TPE I really would have preferred the Dim Sum to the Salmon.

I was on KUL-TPE-LAX MH94 today and got my first choice with no issue (beef). That said I did hear them tell someone in 4F that their first choice was out. I would assume, based on the other orders I heard, that it was the Dim Sum that was no longer available. Also, I think jpdx is correct about the Satay not being part of the menu on MH94.

I've yet to miss getting my first choice on MH but I only have ~4 roundtrips to KUL from the US (EWR and LAX) on MH so not a ton of experience. My experience has been consistently very good though.

Another thing that I noticed today was that there were a lot of MH employees on my flight. Several people in C were talking to each other and the guy sitting beside me told me that they were all employees. I would estimate this number at 8. Seeing as there are only 35 seats that's a pretty high percentage.

I wish they would bring back the EWR-KUL routing. I strongly prefer it from a timing perspective.

I don't think TPE-LAX is supposed to have Satay. It's not listed on the menu.

Regarding the OP's post, I also encountered a lot of items that were "out" on my last LAX-TPE/TPE-LAX flights, and those flights were half empty. It didn't matter much from LAX, as that catering always seems top notch no matter what you order, but from TPE I really would have preferred the Dim Sum to the Salmon.

yeah, I know, Satay was listed for MH95 and MH94 just had the usual insert describing it, but not actually on the menue. I just mentioned it since we were hoping they would have it and neither MH 94 nor 95 had it.

Right, Dim Sum was out on the way back.

Satays never an issue on SYD to KUL sector. What I noticed was that some flights out of KUL do not serve satay. I remember commenting it to one of the FAs.

I haven't traveled MH in quite a while...any opinions on what's on offer in Y for KUL - Kota Kinabalu flight (about 2h 40m)?

I haven't traveled MH in quite a while...any opinions on what's on offer in Y for KUL - Kota Kinabalu flight (about 2h 40m)?

On the B737, it would most probably be the snack box which has undergone several reincarnations. Latest version is a local hot dish and complimented with a bun, chocolates (ferrero rocher or kitkat) and water; presented in an elongated box which looks more at home in a McDonalds than an aircraft cabin.

Satays never an issue on SYD to KUL sector. What I noticed was that some flights out of KUL do not serve satay. I remember commenting it to one of the FAs.

I remember no satay on the B777 from KUL-SYD, but satay was served on the B747 on the return. Seems strange since the satay comes from the KUL kitchen.