Alitalia MilleMiglia - Order regular or special food on JFK-FCO in J?

I am flying JFK-FCO on Alitalia in June in J and wondering if I should go with regular food or ask for special meal (likely low sodium).

Has anyone had experience with their regular vs special meals? What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

I am flying JFK-FCO on Alitalia in June in J and wondering if I should go with regular food or ask for special meal (likely low sodium).

Has anyone had experience with their regular vs special meals? What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Unless you NEED a special meal, always go for the normal one, because it's one of the best parts of the service :)

Unless you NEED a special meal, always go for the normal one, because it's one of the best parts of the service :)

I generally find that on other airlines regular food is sub-par comparing to special requests, e.g. not as tasty, fresh, etc.

What is so unique about Alitalia service?

That may be true in Y - also special meals are served first - but in J the "everyone" food is prepared for fewer people and is better quality. The airline doesn't expect special requests in J, and there was a report a while back that the special meal (in that case due to allergies) was adequate but bland and not up to standard with normal meals in quality.

That may be true in Y - also special meals are served first - but in J the "everyone" food is prepared for fewer people and is better quality. The airline doesn't expect special requests in J, and there was a report a while back that the special meal (in that case due to allergies) was adequate but bland and not up to standard with normal meals in quality.

That seems like a plausible explanation. ^ You convinced me to try regular Alitalia food on the way to Europe.

What is so unique about Alitalia service?

Have a look at the many Magnifica trip reports here, on airliner.net or meal photos on airlinemeals and I'm sure what makes AZ regular long haul J food an appealing option will very quickly become self-explanatory ;)

The gluten free meal in J was bland. Everything was fresh, but more effort on getting a gluten free sauce was recommended. On ORD-FCO, I got a salmon, which lemon saved it and sauteed vegtables. As an appetizer vegtables. A salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For desert a selection of fruits.

The service was nice with linen maps and silverware a la carte service. The regular food looked good. It took them a good 2 hours for full menu table service. On FCO - Tel Aviv. Tray service. Got a good steak. Done medium well and not dry.

If you do not have dietary restriction go with regular meal service.

Erez

It took them a good 2 hours for full menu table service.

I will mention they just added a "fast lunch" option to the menu (similar to "sur le pouce" on Air France). I discovered it a few weeks ago.

I posted a meal question here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alitalia-millemiglia/1353001-jfk-fco-j-new-a330-772-a.html) regarding AZ611 JFK-FCO late evening departure that maybe should have been on this thread (sorry if it was the wrong place!)

In case anyone is interested I completed JFK-FCO/FCO-JFK flights and give overall thumbs up for [regular] meal service.

Appetizers, pasta, desserts, wine, etc were all above expectations (those low low expectations I had :rolleyes:), with exception of meat. On both flights (pork on JFK-FCO and beef on FCO-JFK) it was sub-par. My dad chose fish once and said it was much better.

In case anyone is interested I completed JFK-FCO/FCO-JFK flights and give overall thumbs up for [regular] meal service.

Appetizers, pasta, desserts, wine, etc were all above expectations (those low low expectations I had :rolleyes:), with exception of meat. On both flights (pork on JFK-FCO and beef on FCO-JFK) it was sub-par. My dad chose fish once and said it was much better.

Was it that Bologna style pork fillet? Was it bad? I wasn't too sure whether to go for it on my forthcoming trip so glad you wrote about it!

Yes. That's exactly what it was: very dry and flavorless. Skip it! But the rest of the dinner is great ^