Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
I’m in London at least yearly and every time I eat Indian (Masala Zone on my dime, Amaya on company’s), I wish UA would contract with this restaurant group to provide at least one of the lunch and dinner choices. The food is well-done and seems to me to be amenable to airline conditions. Gimme a samosa/chickpea appetizer and I’d be instantly content the rest of the flight. They could provide meat and vegetarian dishes...
Originally Posted by
catocony
If they start putting Indian food on flights, they are going to have to deal with passengers upset with smell, or the unhappy person who can't stomach it who has a choice of it or whatever is in economy if they're the last to order. The same would go for some other Asian fare as well.
In a perfect world all airlines would do the same as Austrian - 3-4 entree options, lots of side options, 3 soups, 8 appetizers, a half dozen desserts. Short of that, keep it simple. Better quality beef - I'm sick of short ribs - and meats that you can put sauces and spices on by request but can be served fairly plain for people who don't like the sauce/spice.
Originally Posted by
eastindywalrus
Count me as one of the strong opponents to increasing the amount/frequency of Indian cuisine on airplanes. The smell of curry permeates everything. It doesn't make me sick - it just smells bad. I usually fly DL, but it doesn't matter what carrier you're on - 15 minutes after the meal service ends on a TATL where any sort of curry dish was served, the whole cabin reeks to high heaven. Other non-curry dishes can be overly aromatic as well, leading to a very unpleasant experience.
It's no different than someone bringing greasy fast food onto a plane (which, to be fair, I do enjoy - just not on an airplane). Foods that are overly aromatic, regardless of cuisine, are not suitable for in-flight dining. A little more wiggle room in this department should be permissible for the premium cabins, where passengers have a little more space between them and the next passenger, but in cattle class, anything that smells should be tossed out into the jetway before closing the cabin door.
Originally Posted by
seenitall
While I know that most FTers wouldn't be caught dead in the Y cabin, but as one who typically flies TATL in Y, you guys up front might be surprised to learn that by far the best standard dinner entree option in Y is the Indian vegetarian -- rather than the meat or the pasta options. I always get it, as do the more savvy Y travelers. (Ask a FA if you don't believe me.) And I have never seen anyone storming back from J to complain about the reeks from steerage. So on the occasions that I get to enjoy J, I wouldn't be unhappy at all to have a good Indian option.
Originally Posted by
cranky1K
I always pick the Indian vegetarian option if available. And often you have to ask for it.
As much as I enjoy good Indian food, I'm on the side of those who disagree with having it in an enclosed airspace like a plane for flights longer and 2.5 hours. While I don't agree that it smells like sewage, Indian food often has a strong pervasive smell and you can't just spray Febreeze to get rid of it afterward. No other cuisine I know of has such overpowering smells. I once looked at a house (for sale) that positively reeked of Indian or Pakistani cooking, so badly it had permeated the carpet and even the paint. United doesn't need to deal with that on the planes.
Originally Posted by
spin88
(1) a real large salad, with real "premium" things like Olives, artichokes, feta cheese, hearts of palm, dried or fresh berries, perhaps asparagus or another vegetable (I know would upset the ghost of Smisik) and fresh good bread. E.g. was just on SAS and their bread on inter-European flights was 5x better than the crap that UA serves. Good solid, with fresh butter. And oh, no chopped head or romaine lettuces, use real leafy greens.
Agreed. While I can see offering an option to the standard ice cream, I wouldn't ever replace the ice cream. I WOULD look at upgrading it and making it truly a signature item.
Originally Posted by
HNLbasedFlyer
If it were me, I'd stick with US dining options:
Cheeseburgers, Sub Sandwiches, Chicken sandwiches, pizza, pasta, hot dogs, various rice dishes - you can gourmet it up with Guacamole, bacon, various sides, etc....
If they could pull that off I might actually look forward to airline food.
I'd make the cheeseburgers, pizza, chicken sandwiches standard fare for Y (and in sufficient quantities that J can plan on ordering some if they want). I do think J should be more upscale than cheeseburgers, pizza, or sub sandwiches.
Originally Posted by
HNLbasedFlyer
There hasn't been "fine dining" on US air carriers in nearly 20 years - an entire generation of fliers post 9/11 are used to mediocre food.
I'd also argue my Singapore flight in biz and Eva in Biz earlier this certainly wasn't "fine dining", I'd rather describe it as, good for airline food. Much like going to a Mexican restaurant on Oahu - none are great, and at best, you get - its good Mexican for Hawaii.
The Mexican restaurant out at Waimanalo (Bueno Nalo?) used to be good Mexican, not just for Hawaii, otherwise I agree with you. In fairness to you, I don't think it's there anymore.
If I were redesigning the menu, aside from having enough items to rotate monthly and still provide a good selection (as well as allowing pre-ordering), I'd be looking at items like
Gnocchi with vegan-friendly marinara (but with option of adding some Sicilian sausage for the non-vegans)
Grilled vegetables and rice pilaf (or saffron rice) with choice of flavorants (herbed butter, balsamic vinegar & olive oil, lemon vinaigrette, or a parmsan & black pepper sprinkle)
Chicken Marsala
Beef medallions with mushrooms in a port wine sauce
Broiled chicken with rotating sauces (peri-peri one month, sesame-ginger another month, Thai sweet chili the next, etc.)
Butter chicken or Chicken Tikka Masala could probably be offered without the smell overpowering the cabin but I'm not sure.
Saag paneer could definitely be offered but I've already had airline
saag paneer and wasn't impressed.
Pork green chili
Shrimp Vera Cruz
Chicken Mole
Thai minced pork with basil
bi bim bap
I like the idea of a
thali but a proper
thali probably wouldn't work with the preplating and FA reductions they're going through.