Talking of the HND-LHR flight, I too flew back earlier in February. As mentioned earlier, I went for the vegan meal as I'm not a fan of melted cheese or mushrooms, and the options on the main menu had plenty of those. The last time I flew was in 2019, and back then I had the veggie options from the main menu.

As I can't sleep on planes, even in First, I made sure to buy some snacks at the airport before I went - two packaged waffles from a vending machine and soft drinks, which slotted nicely into the little cupboard by my head. I managed to scoff the waffles without anyone noticing halfway through the flight, while watching the guy across from me, who was also awake, using the big toe on his bare foot on the entertainment screen to move the map around... that was both gross and distracting. 🤮

I felt for the cabin crew - they hadn't been given much info on what was in the meals. I did find it a bit strange that every course was announced with "Here's your vegan <xyz>", but perhaps that's the service standard. Was it the best meal I've ever had? Not really, but it did the job. It was, incidentally, slightly better than Japan Airlines' vegan offering on the way out - I'm tempted to do a post along the lines of "a tale of two Firsts" to compare the flights!

(EDIT: And unlike my friend who had the normal meal, both courses came with three small bread rolls and margarine. That was a win, as everyone else only had one roll!)


Welcome snacks


Main meal - amuse boushe, "I'm not sure what this is". It seemed to be a mush of different vegetables.


Main meal - "your vegan starter", as it was described as!


Main meal - main course (rice and vegetables)


Main meal - dessert


Second meal - "It doesn't say what this is".


Second meal - pasta


Second meal - dessert