It had been since the springtime that I flew proper Polaris... at least on my recent few flights, the meal quality dropped off substantially.

12/2 LAX-MEL

- Appetizer: Lump crab salad vs. Tomato tartare with tapenade. Crab salad was okay andmuch better than the tapenade (my wife got the latter).
- Salad: Mesclun & baby kale with smoked almonds, charred endive, and pickled brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts were raw, not pickled, and the "smoked almonds" were candied, not smoked (though the tastiest part of the salad).
- Main (me): Center cut sirloin with crispy smashed potatoes and asparagus. (Wife): Rolled carrot cannelloni.
- Arrival (me): Cream cheese scrambled eggs with sausage, potato, and roasted tomato. (Wife): Blend of oats in honey and yogurt.

I wasn't thrilled with any of the choices for the mains but went with the beef as the seeming least offensive choice to my stomach (probably should have gone for the chicken). Ugh, the beef was incredibly overcooked, to the point it needed to be served with a bottle of ketchup. I used to find the beef at least edible, but this was grey all the way through and rubbery. My wife got the carrot cannelloni as she said she takes Airplane!'s advice and doesn't get the fish (unless we're flying to Japan)... it was so-so.

The midflight snacks were better than the mains we had; I had the herbed ricotta with tomatoes and my wife the black bean empanadas.

Breakfast was okay, though I made the mistake of getting the eggs on one of the flights because the FA didn't think they had my original request--turns out she confused the oatmeal with what she was calling "fruit and yogurt." The FA serving my wife's side of the cabin got the oats for her, and I gave them a try and found them the better choice.


12/9 BNE-SFO

- Appetizers: Seared tuna with apple cider salad and beet root vs. Dolmades with hummus. I got the tuna, which was way overcooked (sensing a theme here), but which paired well with the beetroot. My wife got the dolmades which was actually pretty good.
- Salad: Baby greens with oven-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. The tomatoes were cherry tomatoes, not "oven dried." Whatever.
- Mains (Me): Seared beef filet with chive and garlic mashed potatoes. (Wife): Yellow veg coconut curry.
- Arrival (me): Coconut chia pudding. (Wife): Bread pudding. The chia was tasty if unappetizing in presentation (looked like a cold grey blob). The bread pudding was way too sweet.

I wasn't thrilled with any option and chose the beef to see if they could screw it up as badly as the outbound trip. It was overcooked again (surprise), but at least tender and flavorful unlike the trip out. The potatoes, though, were atrocious--how do you mess up mashed potatoes on an airline meal? The vegetable curry was way too pumpkin-flavored and neither enough coconut nor curry.

My final thought is that the cheese plate on the return BNE-SFO was actually very good (the outbound was meh). The blue cheese and the brie were both quite tasty and the cheddar edible. The outbound trip was a bland gouda, a bland parm, and a bland cheddar.