I was so impressed by the HEL-NRT meal service that I probably set my expectations too high for today's AY74, NRT-HEL. While the salmon appetizer was good, the beef main course was small and bland. FA agreed to serve me salmon soup after the main course as they had extras, though he made it clear it was an exception. Dessert was the usual Häagen Dazs and petit fours, not out of this world but quite okay.
Midflight, they proactively offered fresh fruit salads and cling film wrapped small sandwiches. The usual Pirkka crisps and Fazer candy were available in the galley.
However, the second meal service was a joke, and a really bad one at that. They promised club sandwiches, but for 40-42 J pax, only 8 had been loaded. So as Gold, I got an Alepa style chicken Cesar roll, or to be precise, half a roll since they had cut it in two halves, one of which was on my plate together with some Pirkka crisps. After I told the FA what an unimpressive second meal it was, he apologetically suggested he could bring the other half... In the end, I opted for the warm noodles, which were okay and a light year from the “Western option”.
The FA was clearly embarrassed, too, and said that they were usually better-catered.
(A third option was a salad but something had gone wrong with that, too. I didn’t listen to the explanation because it would not have been my choice anyway, but clearly NRT catering was having a bad day. Hopefully those don’t come often..)
Moreover, even though the menu says second meal will be served “at any time after the first service”, I was diligently informed (about four hours before landing) that the second meal service starts 2 hours before arrival.