Finnair Plus - Ay menus 2009

Here are Finnair menus from my recent trip to Asia. I was very satisfied with their business class product - good food, tasty wines and great service.

HEL-PEK BUSINESS CLASS JULY 2009

DINNER

starter

Leak and potato soup
Seasonal salad
Crayfish tails marinated in dill pesto

main courses

Fillet of beef, red wine sauce and potatoes au gratin
or
Teriyaki marinated salmon, jasmine rice and taro
or
Ravioli filled with rucola in herb sauce

desserts

Mature emmental and Brie cheese
or
Chocolate cake
or
Ice cream selection
or
Fresh fruit

BREAKFAST

Cheddar cheese omelette, cheese sauce and bratwurst
or
Smoked cheese, turkey and vegetables
or
Selection of cereals and natural yoghurt

Fresh fruit

HKG-HEL BUSINESS CLASS JULY 2009

LUNCH

starter

Pumpkin and tomato soup
Seasonal salad
Parma ham, couscous salad and pear

main courses

Pan-fried sole, plum sauce and steaned rice
or
Chinese style Chiankiang chicken and fried rice, bok choy
or
Grilled fillet of beef, honey and mustard sauce and mashed potatoes with spinach

desserts

Apple and rosemary cheese cake and whipped cream
or
Cheese platter: Cheddar and Brie cheese
or
Ice cream selection
or
Fresh fruit

SECOND MEAL

Seasonal salad

Fusilli pasta, vegetables and garlic cream sauce
or
BBQ salmon and Caesar salad

Fresh fruit

WINES

Champagne:
Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royal Brut Vintage 2003

White wines:
Mercurey Blanc 2004, Domaine Faiveley, Côte Chalonnaise, Bourgogne, France
Rocca Sveva 2007, Castelcerino Soave Classico, Italy

Red wines:
Château Malescasse 2003, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, Haut-Médoc, France
Lucente 2005, Luce della Vite, Tuscany, Italy

Sweet wines:
Opitz One 2007, Willi Opizt, Neusiedlersee, Austria
Niepoort 20 Years Old Tawny Port, Portugal

Seems to be quite tasty. But I still think that it is pathetic that you can only choose one dessert option (not cheese and fresh fruits e.g.). And the breakfast options are rather weird. Either a hot item or cold cuts or yogurth. One should be able to take all of them.

What kind of snacks did they offer? How about cabin factor, was it full with these prices?

But I still think that it is pathetic that you can only choose one dessert option (not cheese and fresh fruits e.g.).

I have never experienced any problem whatsoever in getting more than one dessert, or combining different options.

Seems to be quite tasty. But I still think that it is pathetic that you can only choose one dessert option (not cheese and fresh fruits e.g.). And the breakfast options are rather weird. Either a hot item or cold cuts or yogurth. One should be able to take all of them.

What kind of snacks did they offer? How about cabin factor, was it full with these prices?

Despite it saying or on the dessert menu you could have anything you wanted for a dessert. Also the breakfast came automatically with yougurth or cereals and then you chose between the two other alternatives.

They had a self service bar with drinks and some small snacks (i.e fruits, peanuts, biscuits, small sandwiches, noodles etc). They also did a few rounds serving the same snacks and drinks.

The business class front cabin was full on Beijing flight. The rear part was used by economy passangers. The flight to Beijing was cancelled the day before so probably because of that the flight was full. On Hong Kong flight business class had only 14 passangers.

With all three starters available, I find the longhaul biz main meal so filling there is really no room for snacks. Well, maybe some Fazer salmiakki but that's about it...

I personally like the dessert trolley concept, although never eat anything but cheese and/or fruits. The dessert wines and dishes make for an aesthetic view and the presentation by AY cabin staff is quite nice.

What I do know is that AY management makes a lot of effort to get skilled Asian chefs to the HEL catering centre. They are still hoping f.ex. to attract at least one proper Japanese chef to supervise and develop the Japanese menus.

Good news for biz class passengers on European shorthauls under two hours:

Based on customer feedback, Finnair has decided to offer a three course meal also on several shorter routes. The "three course light" meal includes a salad starter, proper hot entree and light dessert.

I would call this a genuine enchancement, well done.

Good news for biz class passengers on European shorthauls under two hours:

Based on customer feedback, Finnair has decided to offer a three course meal also on several shorter routes. The "three course light" meal includes a salad starter, proper hot entree and light dessert.

I would call this a genuine enchancement, well done.

Nice to see an airline enhancing product for a change!! ^

BD

HEL-BCN BUSINESS CLASS JULY 2009

Beef rillette and dark archipelago bread

Salmon grilled on open wood fire,
Béarnaise sauce and stewed asparagus

Strawberry fool with whipped cream

All quite good, except the strangely cheap strawberry fool, tasted like a school lunch. The stewed asparagus looked suspicious but tasted good.

HEL-BCN BUSINESS CLASS JULY 2009

Beef rillette and dark archipelago bread

Salmon grilled on open wood fire,
Béarnaise sauce and stewed asparagus

Strawberry fool with whipped cream

All quite good, except the strangely cheap strawberry fool, tasted like a school lunch. The stewed asparagus looked suspicious but tasted good.

Exactly the same on HEL - CDG in July.

I do find it a bit strange to be served fish as an only option and I was not the only one holding that thought. 3 of 5 C Pax did not eat fish so the FA had to come back with Y meals (Meatballs in tomato) :(

I do find it a bit strange to be served fish as an only option and I was not the only one holding that thought. 3 of 5 C Pax did not eat fish so the FA had to come back with Y meals (Meatballs in tomato) :(

Finnish and Scandinavian cuisine tends to be heavy on fish generally. However, I do think you are able to request a meal without fish if flying in biz. Just ask your travel agent to do it well in advance or contact the local Finnair offiice.

Oh I was lucky then! In June HEL-BRU had 1) smoked salmon with cumberland sauce 2) ground beef steak, pepper sauce and vegetable puree 3) citrus cake. Tasty.

Hi,

Has anyone flown HEL-LIS route? I grabbed a return ticket on it, and wondering what they serve on it (in business) as it is almost 5 hours long - I understand that there is main meal service, but also later a snack perhaps?

HEL-LIS AY921 is an afternoon flight and warm lunch is served. About a week ago the main dish was chicken. It was actually tasty and plentiful. Chocolate cream for dessert.
LIS-HEL AY922 takes off in the morning so you will get breakfast. Last Sunday they served omelet which was a little bit wetty, yougurt, mini weetabix and a few slices of cheese and ham.
No snacks besides some salt fish / prezels with your apetizer.
Very attentive service.

This was a holiday trip with prebooked upgrades using points.
I miss those days - not so long time ago - when cheap tickets required staying over Sat-Sun night => we were allowed to travel in C for business.

Of course one can have some food at the HEL lounges also and maybe even board with a few DIY sandwiches ;) . There is no essential difference between the SSP and Finnair operated lounges regarding the food offerings so no need to worry which to choose.

No experiences about the lounge at LIS though.

Thanks for the info. I do not like omlette, I wrote them to arrage something else as alternative, I hope they find something.