I take back the comments I made last year about trans-Tasman works catering showing some signs of improvement - last night's NZ109 was woeful in quantity and lacklustre in quality. I had the lamb - can't actually remember the other options. The dish was smaller than my iPhone screen; any flavour was MIA; wine drinkable but dull (I had the pinot noir, couldn't see what it was) and arrived long after the food, despite being in row 2. The Kapiti ice cream could have been the saving grace but was half melted by the time I got to it. Just very, very lacklustre.

[small couscous salad not shown... it's hidden under my bread roll]



Brightest point of the journey was the wine in AKL lounge. I didn't realise that the tended bar had some different wines to what is out in the self-service area - has that always been the case? In this case, a well-aged Peregrine pinot noir 2014 and a pretty tasty Mt Difficulty 2021. Both made for a welcome change.