As promised in the post above, I am reporting back on the vegan special meal.
Before I delve into the meals, I wanted to say that Mint was overall an amazing experience. The suites are ridiculous, and I got so much work done. The doors really made it a private experience. The food on the westbound was awful, and on the eastbound was delicious. I realize that most folks do not care about the vegan special menu but this will hopefully serve as a useful post to fliers that maintain a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle for any reason (or who may choose to not have the regular menu since it seems to be have so many pork-based options).
JFK - LAX (9pm departure)
Tasting - some kind of a cold corn soup that was given to everyone. It looked like it had cream, so I skipped it. As became evident on the return, JetBlue does not have a separate special tasting for those who order a special meal.
Dinner
The lovely, smiling and truly wonderful FA presented me with the above tray. I asked what it was, and after disappearing for a few minutes, he came back and apologized that JetBlue did not provide him with a menu. No worries, but what about bread? He said that they had a garlic bread or a breadstick. I asked for the breadstick. I decided, however, that there was a strong likelihood of there being butter or some other animal product in the bread, so I declined to eat it.
The various trays are as follows:
Cold soba noodles with edamame and baked tofu. It was flavored with a pound of salt and a pound of MSG. It was awful.
Veggie fried rice. The best of the 3, but very little flavor.
Limp vegetables in mystery grease sauce (with a hint of tomato). It was awful to look at and eat.
I barely ate lunch that day and had zero time before the 9pm departure to ea dinner, so I ended up eating the fried rice and picked out the edamame from the soba noodles. For dessert, I was offered a fruit plate, which was delicious. Later on in the flight, the snack basket was passed around, but I was deep into work and declined.
Return - LAX JFK (630am departure)
Note - the tasting was the same thing given to everyone else - it had marscapone on it so I declined to take it. Looked good, but definitely not vegan,
Although I am not a good food photographer, I assure you that everything was delicious on the return flight. This time, the FAs (who were once again amazing and lovely) had the menu on a tablet computer. I was barely functional after getting very little sleep, so I do not recall the name of the final dish.
From left to right:
Soy chorizo skillet with cubes of sweet potatoes, regular potatoes. It was delicious. I would order this at brunch. A bit greasy, so perfect if you're a bit hungover
Vegan AND gluten-free pancakes topped with roasted apples and macadamia nuts. The FAs inquired whether I wanted any syrup but I declined, since it was already a carb overload. I would order this at brunch.
Potato something or the other (?). Not my fave, but it was nicely flavored.
Before being served, I was by the galley and they said they would serve me as soon as I returned. I saw a croissant on there and it looked like the same croissant being served to others. I told the FAs that I would not be eating it, if they wanted to take it off and keep it for themselves. They asked whether I wanted syrup on the french toast, but since the entire plate was carbs carbs and more carbs, I declined.
After the meal was over, I was offered a fruit plate for dessert, but I declined since I was beyond stuffed and needed to sleep / work.
In conclusion:
To LAX (dinner): A for effort. F for taste.
To JFK (breakfast): A for effort. B for taste.
Both directions - SO MANY CARBS.
Suggestions for JetBlue (which have also been passed along to JetBlue): (1) Partner with one of the gourmet vegan restaurants in NYC or LA as it does with S&P for its regular menu. (2) Reduce the carb content. (3) Figure out a way to provide vegan bread. It's awkward to get a fake butter with no bread on the tray.