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Catering - what's Air NZ serving these days?

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Catering - what's Air NZ serving these days?

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Old Mar 18, 2006, 11:14 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: port broad reach
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Wines on NZ 142 (SYD-WLG), March 2006

There were no printed menus and I didn't make note of what the choices were... though I do remember having for my main a pork filet served with veggies and fetuccini. But I took some liberties sampling the wines and took notes:

Glazebrook "Ngatarawa" Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Marlborough
Aromas of pineapples and melons, crisp and citrus-y on the palate and a long zesty finish. It's best only slighty chilled (I figured this out a couple of days later, as Fee, my FA, was kind enough to gift me a bottle while deplaning in WLG ).

Lawson's Dry Hills Chardonnay 2002
Very subtle aromas of nuts and butter yield a surprising citrus and peach palate that becomes drier and smoother on the finish. I thought this to be a decent Chardonnay with moderate oaking (though I have to confess that the past few years here in California I've been shying away from chards ).

Mission Estate "Jewelstone" Shiraz 2004, Hawkes Bay
Rich aromas of plums and wood. Lands dry on the palate to then explode with rich flavours laced with a lot of spice that lingers in the back of the throat. Not a shy wine... and certainly an overmatch to anything that was on the menu that day. I drank my glass after finishing my meal .

Alpha Domus "The Pilot" Late Harvest Semillon 2004, Hawkes Bay
Aromas of mango and oranges with subtle rose petals. Arrives on the palate like marmalade and gives way to citrus overtones and a crisp refresing finish like a grapefruit. [Edited to note that after contacting Alpha Domus, I have learned that this wine was made with a blend of grapes with and without botrytis]. I liked this very much—had a second glass ^.

Last edited by WindFlyer; Apr 7, 2006 at 6:51 pm Reason: to correct some winemaking details about the Alpha Domus
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Old Mar 24, 2006, 7:47 pm
  #32  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
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Nice review, WindFlyer - good to see I'm not the only one who conducts extensive inflight wine sampling!

The LDH chardonnay has always been a very classy wine - NZ turns out quite a few decent chardonnays that are a bit more elegant and less overtly oaked than many of the monsters still emerging from Australia and, particularly, California. (If I ever have another Californian chardonnay it will be too soon... all that vanilla flavoured American oak, yuk. It's enough to make me go teetotal! )

I also had the Mission shiraz (a bit over the top but not too bad) and the Alpha Domus late harvest (very, very drinkable ) on recent flights too. I get the impression the trans-Tasman J-class wines have improved a bit again. Now if only they'd make the Y class wines a bit more varied... we can but hope.

Originally Posted by WindFlyer
There were no printed menus and I didn't make note of what the choices were... though I do remember having for my main a pork filet served with veggies and fetuccini. But I took some liberties sampling the wines and took notes:

Glazebrook "Ngatarawa" Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Marlborough
Aromas of pineapples and melons, crisp and citrus-y on the palate and a long zesty finish. It's best only slighty chilled (I figured this out a couple of days later, as Fee, my FA, was kind enough to gift me a bottle while deplaning in WLG ).

Lawson's Dry Hills Chardonnay 2002
Very subtle aromas of nuts and butter yield a surprising citrus and peach palate that becomes drier and smoother on the finish. I thought this to be a decent Chardonnay with moderate oaking (though I have to confess that the past few years here in California I've been shying away from chards ).

Mission Estate "Jewelstone" Shiraz 2004, Hawkes Bay
Rich aromas of plums and wood. Lands dry on the palate to then explode with rich flavours laced with a lot of spice that lingers in the back of the throat. Not a shy wine... and certainly an overmatch to anything that was on the menu that day. I drank my glass after finishing my meal .

Alpha Domus "The Pilot" Late Harvest Semillon 2004, Hawkes Bay
Aromas of mango and oranges with subtle rose petals. Arrives on the palate like marmalade and gives way to citrus overtones and a crisp refresing finish like a grapefruit. As best as I could tell, this wine was a pure late harvest with no botrytis going on! I liked this very much—had a second glass ^.
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Old Mar 25, 2006, 12:22 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by mad_atta
Nice review, WindFlyer - good to see I'm not the only one who conducts extensive inflight wine sampling!
Funny, looks like our impressions are similar ^
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Old May 6, 2006, 4:16 pm
  #34  
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I recently took NZ6 AKL-LAX in J and had the following menu:

Dinner

Starter
Peppered tuna
with pickled vegetable salad, king prawn on saffron aioli and salmon pate with wasabi caviar

Main Course
Lemon and oregano rubbed loin of lamb on kawakawa gratin potatoes, leek and spinach
with honey, oregano olive oil dressing and macadamia nuts

Crispy skinned snapper with soft herb couscous, cream tarragon sauce, orange and pink grapefruit citrus salsa

Basil and feta filled chicken thigh, kumara and thyme mash, broccolini and spiced black Doris plum sauce

Light choice of warmed quinoa salad
with lime and herbs, roasted vegetables with hummus and yoghurt dressing

Dessert
New Zealand titoki liqueur tiramisu with poached pineapple

Gourmet ice cream dessert of double chocolate and golden kiwifruit ice cream

Cheese
A selection of fine New Zealand cheese

Snacks
Help yourself from our wide range of snacks, available for you to enjoy during your flight

Breakfast

To order breakfast, complete the enclosed card and return to your flight attendant before going to sleep

Beverages
Start your day with a fruit smoothie, your choice of juice, freshly brewed or decaffeinated Gravity coffee, tea, herbal tea or hot chocolate

Continental Selection
Fruit selection with assorted cereals and yoghurts

Croissants, friands, white and wholemeal toast with fruit conserve

Hot Options
Potato, tomato, red onion and cheese omelette
with chicken sausage and roasted tomato relish

Blueberry ricotta pancakes
with streaky bacon and manuka honey and apple syrup
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Old May 6, 2006, 6:31 pm
  #35  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Stanmore, Sydney, Australia.
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NZ183 CHC SYD in J

Starter

Tomato and mozarella salas with char grilled eggplant and basil vinagrette.

Main Course

Pan fried hapuka on baby vegetable medley with sweet pea butter.

Char grilled pork loin with calvados jus, glazed apples, verde mash and braised red cabbage

Marinated Thai beef served chilled, on glass noodle with Shanghai salad, chilli jam and lime dressing.

Dessert

Cocunut panna cotta with peach and mango ice cream

Cheese and Fruit

Fine Regional cheese and preserved fruit
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Old May 8, 2006, 3:19 am
  #36  
 
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What about longhaul economy food ?
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Old Jun 24, 2006, 2:20 am
  #37  
 
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Location: SYD
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NZ144 SYD-WLG 15 June 06, J class

Dinner

Starter
Sweet pea panna cotta with seared tuna, roasted capsicum salsa and apple dressing

Main course
Braised lamb shank with rosemary gnocchi and grilled vegetables
Pan fried hapuka on baby vegetable medley with dill butter
Smoked chicken with curry and gourmet potato salad, and peach chutney

Dessert
Pineapple and passionfruit salsa with gourmet ice cream

Cheese and fruit
Fine regional cheese and preserved fruit

Interestingly, I was served a different starter "because I upgraded at the last minute and sufficient quantities of the original starter were not loaded". Not only have I never heard that before on NZ, my upgrade request had been in the system for months. Quite odd I thought, and a pity because the starter sounded intriguing, but I got a big pile of smoked salmon and potato salad which was pretty good.

For the main, having had good experiences with fish dishes before on NZ, I chose the hapuka, which was a big mistake. It tasted like boarding school boiled fish, though to be fair the broth it was in was nice. The worst main course I've ever had on NZ in J.

The dessert was the usual ice cream and goodies, with gluggable dessert wine, so that rescued things somewhat. Service was perky and friendly but a little lacking in finesse - the crew was definitely the youngest I've seen serving up front. Is this a result of being operated by Freedom Air I wonder?

Wines:

Bubbles
Deutz Marlborough cuvee and something else (maybe Lindauer special reserve? Or am I getting that confused with the lounge offering?). Nothing French onboard

Whites
Conders Forest sauvignon blanc
Framingham sauvignon blanc
Villa Maria cellar selection Hawkes Bay chardonnay

Reds
I really can’t remember I think Carrick pinot noir may have been one of them?

Dessert wine
Alpha Domus, if I remember correctly. Whatever it was, it was good! ^
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Old Jun 24, 2006, 3:56 am
  #38  
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Lindauer special reserve is indeed a lounge offering. I can't recall seeing it on an NZ flight but as I'm not as diligent in my research as mad_atta I could have missed it
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Old Jun 24, 2006, 11:15 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,011
Mmmmm, I'd rather have the smoked salmon and potato salad, myself.

The mains sound horrible. I remember a really nice prawns-and-fettucine dish they used to have, but now they seem to be overcomplicating their mains and in the process making them sound completely yuk. Me, I'm happy with something simple (I wouldn't even mind some of those nice hot sandwiches they serve in Y trans-tasman; if only they'd make them bigger!)
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Old Aug 4, 2006, 12:38 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Stanmore, Sydney, Australia.
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LAX PPT RAR NZ23

Dinner

Entree

Cress and frisee salad with duck prosciutto,tangerine, toasted hazelnuts and white truffle honey vinaigrette

Main Course

NZ Lamb cutlet and lamb bolognese with green garlic, risotto, garlic roasted tomato artichoke

Seared cod with Dungeness crab chowder and parmesan,thyme and parsley croutons.

Wood roasted chicken breast with olive oil whipped potatoes, baby brocoli and lemon cipollini confit

Dessert

Gourmet ice cream of pineapple coconut and strawberry with passion fruit coulis

PPT RAR NZ 23


Light Refreshment
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Old Aug 4, 2006, 12:57 pm
  #41  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Stanmore, Sydney, Australia.
Programs: NZ Airpoints GE
Posts: 1,360
NZ23 RAR AKL July 06

Lunch

Entree


NZ Smoked Salmon,fets and tomato salad with lemon olive oil.

Main Course

Horopito beef fillet steak with sun dried tomato and horopito butter. rosti potato and seasonal vegetables.

Panko and herb crusted chicken on mushrooms with spinnach, rosemary potatoes and red wine mustard sauce.

Blue cod with toasted karengo on dill cream fettucine with prawn and courgette.

Dessert

Chocolate Brownie with almonds and raspberry coulis
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Old Aug 4, 2006, 1:09 pm
  #42  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Programs: NZ Airpoints GE
Posts: 1,360
AKL SYD NZ105 July 06

Entree

Seared rare tuna loin on cauliflower puree and fennel salad.

Main Course

Grilled NZ beef fillet on roasted pumpkin, golden kumara and carrot with spicy paprika butter.

Kawakawa roasted salmon with lemon rice,broccolini and hollandaise sauce.

Char sui shaved pork with udon noodles, orental slaw,ponzu sauce and chilli

Dessert

Gourmet ice cream dessert of black current and blackberry, and lemon meringue ice cream.

Comment

These were the most uninspiring main courses, Since i had had already had a light lunch in the AKL lounge I asked for the steak pie from Y which was soooooo yummy. Even the Purser commented the pies are very popular and they come with tomato sauce to boot. Beautiful!
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Old Aug 4, 2006, 1:38 pm
  #43  
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ach reminds me I have some more NZ menus I haven't posted.
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Old Aug 4, 2006, 2:26 pm
  #44  
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Canada
Posts: 24
I'm looking forward to 2 NZ flights next week (LAX-AKL NZ1 and AKL-MEL NZ5). I hope that they have good vegetarian meals in BP. I am hoping for some pasta. I have requested lacto-ovo if possible. From the menu descriptions, it seems that the "light" meals tend to be vegetarian. Is that right?
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Old Aug 27, 2006, 11:42 pm
  #45  
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Join Date: Jul 2002
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Posts: 6,984
NZ 8 AKL-SFO Aug 2006

BUSINESS PREMIER

Dinner and Breakfast
Auckland to San Francisco


Dinner

STARTER

Sugar and citrus cured salmon on baby spinach, yellow daikon, capsicum and kaffir lime creme fraiche with lemon infused New Zealand olive oil

MAIN COURSE

Horopito salted loin of lamb with golden kumara gratin, green beans and New Zealand macadamia nut, horopito and lemon butter

Karengo crusted snapper with creamy potato mash, vine ripened tomato, wilted spinach and New Zealand verjuice and lime sauce

Caramelised chicken breast with spiced pear, blue cheese risotto and steamed broccolini

Light choice of roasted rosemary field mushroom tart with crispy pancetta, rocket, parmesan and balsamic dressing

FAST DINE

Ask your flight attendant if you would prefer a light meal consisting of a selection of breads, the appetiser of the day, cheese and chocolates

DESSERT

Wild berry meringue tart

Gourmet ice cream dessert of chocolate hazelnut crunch and hokey pokey ice cream

CHEESE

A selection of fine New Zealand cheese

BEVERAGES

Freshly brewed or decaffeinated Gravity coffee, tea, herbal tea or hot chocolate

SNACKS

Help yourself from our wide range of snacks, available for you to enjoy during your flight



Breakfast


BEVERAGES

Start your day with a fruit smoothie, your choice of juice, freshly brewed or decaffeinated Gravity coffee, tea, herbal tea or hot chocolate

CONTINENTAL SELECTION

Fruit selection with assorted cereals and yoghurts

Croissants, friands, white and wholemeal toast with fruit conserve

HOT OPTIONS

Bacon omelette with roasted tomato relish and chives, breakfast potatoes and veal sausage

Ricotta griddle cake with caramelised cinnamon bananas, apple cranberry compote and manuka honey and apple syrup



Beverages


SPIRITS

Glenfiddich Malt Whisky
Chivas Regal Blended Whisky
Jack Daniel's Black Label
Gordons Gin
42 Below Vodka
Courvoisier VSOP
Captain Morgan Run
Ron Baccardi Superior

PORT AND LIQUEURS

Portugese Port
Grand Marnier
Baileys Irish Cream

BEER

A selection of beer featuring Steinlager, Export Gold, Heineken and low alcohol lager

SOFT DRINKS

Mineral water, orange juice, apple juice, tomato juice, cola, lemonade, tonic water, ginger ale and a choice of diabetic drinks are available

42BELOW COCKTAILS

Refer to the cocktail section at the back of your Air New Zealand Wine Guide for the 42 Below cocktails currently being showcased onboard


NZ8_SFO_206


Special thanks to Kiwi Flyer. ^
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