Lllahim

It will really be nice to have a hot appetizer. A hot desert is also welcome. There is so much cold stuff especially on Transatlantic routes from that pile of inedible cold cuts to tundra cold cutlery. More warmth please.

skybluesea

Now on this subject, I'm rather picky, and unfortunately AC uses lousy coffee in their espresso machines, and often delivered luke-warm, as appears in-flight do NOT understand that espresso must be delivered immediately and hot. This means pulling out the cup out of cold storage early and ensuring warmed up, preferably under stream of hot water before pouring.

My favourite is Air France that makes an exquisite espresso, and best of all, delivered in a fine china cup.

TK also makes pretty good espresso, delivered in a traditional turkish stand-up cup, quite thick so retains heat well. Plus, they have baklava, so really a wonderful snack.

And NO, it is an espresso machine, not a cappuccino machine - sorry for being so pedantic on a subject dear to me.

ps...Cabin-crew training manager friend of mine on TK advised machines cost upwards of $30K because of the need to manage the pressure build-up and how the steam is heated on board a pressurized a/c

ACYYZ/SD

AC Uses B/E Aerospace Beverage Machines (reportedly costing tens of thousands of dollars) and they produce Cappuccino/Espresso & Ristretto. The pods used are Lavazza (both regular and decaf). Your TK friend basically gave you an express version on how these machines work - it sounds like they use the same ones. Machines must be turned on, and allowed to heat and pressurize sufficiently. Milk when used for Capp is placed in a cartridge, chilled, and works best when the product is non-fat or skimmed. According to the caterer and destination, milk varies from station to station and can impact the final product. Also, when not in use for bread, bun warmers are used to heat cups to maximize serving temperature. Airlines do no use professional La Marzocco brewing systems and it all hinges on the press of a button (along with the above factors). These machines are finicky.

skybluesea

agree, and unfortunately Lavazza does great job of marketing how great they are - but NOT really.

Stranger

A bit picky, aren't we? You would seriously expect AC to go better than that?

24left

Some of us have asked the question of the past couple of years, why AC can't do pre-order meals.

BTW, I understand there are those who may change their mind before the flight, so the solution for them is don't pre-order. BR has that listed on their pre-order menu where they offer the list of the onboard meals along with additional options if one wants to pre-order them.

So, we all know SQ is famous for their Book the Cook.

Regardless of the limited choices, AA offers the option as does BA.

Well, CX is now going to test it out on 2 routes.

I understand AC may be challenged by their IT, or logistics or their catering suppliers. Who knows.

These are short and worth reading. Then it would be great to hear your thoughts.

-----


"Cathay Pacific rethinks in-flight meals with on-demand catering trial on long haul services

Airline must invest in premium services to meet evolving passenger expectations, analyst says

South China Morning Post - Sunday, 12 March, 2017

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/e...g-haul-flights



"Cathay Pacific to trial 'dine on demand' meals in business class"

Australian Business Traveller- March 12 2017

https://www.ausbt.com.au/cathay-paci...business-class

james dean

re:coffee, how about a few Nesspresso machines in the galley, I luv their coffee, expresso etc. I've got two machines at home, the original and the virtuoline (larger cup) best coffee ever!!!

Stranger

Won't work at altitude.

Also I strongly object to the notion of paying tax to Nestle on coffee.
Real men grind their own.

james dean

won't work at altitude, seriously??

Stranger

The topic is touched upon briefly above in the discussion about AC on board espresso machines.

Remember the water saturation curve. Boiling temperature drops quite rapidly with pressure. 93C at 2000 m.

canadiancow

Have you ever ordered BTC on SQ out of North America? It's only good out of SIN. Or in other words, for a one-hub airline, it's only good out of that one hub. If AC were to copy SQ, you'd be able to preorder out of YYZ, YVR, and YUL. Or in other words, half your flights, if you're lucky.

And I believe it was Adam Smith who said that he wasn't too fond of AA's preordering, as there aren't as many options as even AC offers on board.

yyz_atc_qq

AC015/14Mar YYZ-HKG

Minor changes since Feb.... not enough changed IMHO

24left

You know I haven't.

I've had their meals ex-SIN and ex-HKG and they were outstanding. On the SQ forum, there are threads with reviews and obviously, not all is perfect in the world of SQ.

Adam has his experiences with AA and I've had different ones.

Either way, and regardless of our own personal preferences, more airlines are doing it either because they believe customers want it or because they think it differentiates them from some competition.

CX is testing DoD on 2 routes.

Do we know what AC tested? Do we know the routes? Do we know the results?

And no one is forcing any customer to pre-order, but I see the option of having it similar to BR's as I wrote above: they offer a few extra choices that don't exists on the menu onboard. You can opt not to pre-order.

just saying.....

flyquiet

I've posted before, a BTC SQ steak dinner out of LAX was one of the best steaks I have ever had, at any altitude. I'm not going to bother judging their ability to prepare other kinds of food if there's steak...

yyznomad

Exciting. How many Variations in the Key of Sablefish can Bigglesnort do?