If the Le Palais meal is available it should always be the choice (but that's only for ex-TPE long haul). I have only had one not so good experience (but even then it's not bad).
ex-TPE to Japan you get the Tou Tou An Japanese choice but that's a hit and miss (some good some bad). If you don't like cold servings don't pick that.
ex-USA I would always pick steak over anything else (if that choice is available).
Also, for CI you don't need to pre-order unless you want that Vegan choice. They have all 3 options available in flight. You only pick them if you don't want to risk of running out of choices. If you are Emerald or above you will always get your choice confirmed first unless the entire flight is filled with Emerald and Paragon. Meal choice order generally followed by: Paragon > Emerald > Gold > ST/E+ > None.