Originally Posted by
LTN Phobia
I agree, they used to do amazing catering in the years gone by.
It's not bad now and it's probably one of the best in the world in actual fact but it isn't as good as it used to be. The miso soup definitely was better back then as I would have noticed otherwise.
IMO the giveaway is the poor 'gu' like dried spring onion etc. in the miso soup they're serving, as they do not properly re-hydrate so to speak, and that's not due to water temperature as I often use instant miso soup at home and use lower temperature water and the good ones re-hydrate into a good shape). (In JL's defence their osuimoto doesn't suffer that problem though and all the fu etc. have re-hydrated into an attractive shape and taste).
Even those that you linked to aren't that expensive - I bet they can get it wholesale for 50 yen each or even less in huge bulk. That is the reason why I cannot understand why they don't do it.
I think both ANA and JAL are cutting catering and various other things. As you can see their seating configurations are pretty nice and spacious already so they lose lots of seats comparing to other airlines.
Too bad I've just joined with JAL now and I saw review from NRT to SGN or HAN where I live and they used to serve full course for this particular routes, and the food was even generous than the long hauls which I recently took MEL-NRT-SYD
The miso i sent you which has large piece of crab, vegi, eggplant, pumpkin when you pour hot water in - PERFECTLY for JAL business class. I hope they do consider it... :P You can send them a feedback, unfortunately I don't know how to do so. The airline and the program itself do not have any contact email...