ringingup

Any recommendation for the main?

brewdog11

Hi all, I have an upcoming flight in Premium Economy and two choices are offered. They are as follows:

1) Braised British beef in a red wine sauce with roasted herb new potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, baby onions and fine green beans

2) Salmon and smoked haddock fish pie with duchess potato, baby fennel and a white wine cream sauce

Any recommendations on what to get? Normally I'd go for the beef. However, I like pies so the salmon sounds kind of appealing.

Can I help you

Difficult one as they will both reheat well and should be tasty.

Competency

I enjoyed the the Braised British beef in a red wine sauce with roasted herb new potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, baby onions and fine green beans. Tender and tasty.

orbitmic

Just did the November LHR-JFK with the new service. As listed above, the three options for main are salmon, beef cheek wrapped in aubergine, and truffle and mascarpone tortellini.

I pre-ordered the salmon which was, by far, the most popular choice onboard (I'd say about 70% of my side of the cabin had it and I was even surprised they had so many). The salmon itself was really good. The watercress mousseline had been replaced by creamed spinach which was good, and the roast potatoes were rather pointless. It was the least pretty of the three mains but a clear improvement over the past.

The tortellini looked really good and the aubergine wrapped beef was definitely the best looking. Note that the pre-order menu mentioned it with rice but instead it was served with a gratin of potatoes.

Quite frankly, any of the three would be very good.

For starters, the tapas plate was more popular than the beef (called carpaccio but really rare roast beef on horseradish cream with grilled vegetables). Both were good (tried my partner's tapas and had the beef myself) but I actually thought the beef was a bit better/more interesting. Salad was very fresh, served with a choice of balsamic or thousand islands. Soup, on the other hand was a little disappointing, salty and a bit watery (smoked pepper sounded great though).

Cheese and desserts were excellent. Cheese plate is way better than before, on par with the F version, the chocolate 'souffle' was not a soufflé but melt in the middle type but was good (additional chocolate sauce was sort of unnecessary maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream would have been better). The two fruit options (lime marinated watermelon or fresh mango with crème fraiche) both looked good though quite a lot smaller.

Bread was a big disappointment. It was hard to the point of being inedible (though not missed given the amount of food served otherwise). Everything including butter and olive oil is Do&Co branded.

For the second meal, the choice was sandwiches or a trio of tapas (tomato-mozzarella, prawns, grilled vegetables) I had the latter which was really nice. It was served with two mini cakes (opera and passionfruit macaroon) and scones brought later (I didn't try them a I was too full).

Note that the service takes a long time to start. Trays were brought over 2h30 into the cruise for a 7 hour flight time and lunch was finished about 4 hours in, meaning there was under 2 hours before the second meal was served! I expect things will speed up after teething problem.

Anyway, the great news - and to stick with the thread theme is, for once, just choose what you like because all three mains seemed equally good!

Bobbie2013

LGW - BGI Club World December


Starters

Smoked Scottish salmon with chervil scented sliced radish salad

Mezze plate of aubergine spiced oregano goats cheese and chilli hummus

Salad

Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

Main

Pan seared British fillet steak with a truffled parsley crust, dauphinoise potatoes and morel mushroom jus

Green Thai chicken breast curry with Jasmine rice and sautéed baby pak choi

Mushroom and black truffle filled tortellini with creamed tomato and basil coulis

Giant couscous quinoa with crumbled feta cheese edamame bean and prawn salad

Dessert

Apple and blackberry crisp with vanilla Anglaise

Selection of Cheeses Cornish Yarg, Bleu D' Auvergne and Gillot Camembert with Quince Jelly

A selection of fruit

choosethedrew

Is it just me or do the LGW CW menus seem superior to the LHR ones? And they haven't gone through the enhancement of those stupid oversized rectangular plates which only serve to highlight the lilliputian nature of the starter and dessert portions.

And coulis, don't you just love BA language. So stuck in the 80's that they will become retro and cool soon

lost_in_translation

Have just checked and same menu to ORD in a couple of weeks. Had the stone bass back in August (and an almost identical menu) and wasn't overly impressed - it was very bland. Have had similar dishes to the pork belly and beef before too, so will probably go for the salad as well.

Some of this menu feels just a little bit budget, no? (The beef is a cheap braised cut and not even a steak, the vegetarian pasta dish sounds like something you might get in a decent canteen, etc.) At least there's no burger this time.

Rookersa

BA 227 LHR X ATLANTA 17 November

Starters

Severn and Wye orange and fennel cured gravadlax Scottish salmon , salmon tartare and dill crème fraîche
Vegetarian red quinoa Scotch egg with truffle cream, pickled girolle mushroom and artichoke salad
Leek and potato soup with buckwheat and chives
Fresh seasonal salad with a choice of classic olive oil vinaigrette dressing or Caesar dressing

Main

Braised British beef with herbed polenta chips, salt beef buttered cabbage, roasted beetroot, tenderstem broccoli and port jus
Pan fried stone bass with tomato and bean cassoulet, wilted spinach and roasted baby fennel
Pork belly with braised pork cheek, celeriac fondant, apple and black pudding mash with Calvados sauce
Penne pasta with Rosary goats cheese in a crème fraîche sauce, roasted butternut squash and patty pans
Main course salad of seared tiger prawns, fattoush and farro salad with a lemon and sumac dressing

Desserts

Chocolate marquise on an almond and chocolate base
Warm apple tart tatin
Madagascan vanilla ice cream

Cheese Plate

Shropshire Blue
Gillot Camembert
Godminster
Tomme De Savoie


We have this menu on our flight in First to Atlanta on 16 November. We are travelling with two family members and this will be their first First. I have to say that I was very disappointed and underwhelmed by the menu.

After ten First Class flights over the last few years I find this menu to be by far the most uninspired menu that I have encountered . I had hoped, particularly for our friends, that there would be some choices that are little more ‘gourmet’ in style, rather than dishes that I would describe as ‘comfort food’. I think that BA chefs could have put together a more varied menu that reflects the class of travel!

I do however accept that personal taste is involved and would also acknowledge that the mains will all reheat very welll.........perhaps I had set my expectations to high?

ttama

LHR-SFO CW December

Starters
Scottish smoked salmon with pickled cucumber, radish and dill cream cheese
Wild mushroom quail egg and artichoke salad with truffle cream and black olive biscotti

Salad
Fresh winter salad of marinated mouli and green beans

Main
Braised British beef in a red wine sauce with roasted herb new potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, baby onions and fine green beans
Roast corn fed chicken breast with braised cabbage, pancetta, roast potatoes and thyme jus
Fusilli pasta with chargrilled yellow peppers, slow roast cherry tomatoes and a creamy plum tomato and pesto sauce
Chilled Main Course Salad of seared ras el hanout prawns, carrot and courgette salad, lemon cous cous and Espelette dressing

Dessert
Salted caramel slice with burnt honeycomb cream
Dorset Coastal Cheddar and Somerset Camembert cheeses served with spiced mulled apple jelly and biscuits
A selection of fruit

----
I like the look of the salad course (mouli and green beans) although it's a good thing I like green beans because I'll probably go for the beef main course. The chicken dish is too "sunday roast" for me; I was hoping for a more interesting alternative to the compulsory very plain beef dish, and the other two mains are not feasible due to allergies (pesto and prawns). So while I'm extremely grateful to have the chance to pre-order something safe, the choices available to me are rather dull. I guess dullness is the penalty for flying between the UK and the USA rather than between countries with more interesting culinary traditions. I imagine the return journey will also feature chicken, beef and pasta.

Btw, the starter salad of mushroom, egg and artichoke looks unappetising despite being interesting, so I can't have my cake and eat it. Unless anyone has good reports of it?

sueoverend

We had Braised British beef with herbed polenta chips, salt beef buttered cabbage, roasted beetroot, tenderstem broccoli and port jus on our First Flight to Chicago. It was inedible. The beef was solid and not soft as it should have been and you could not chew on it. Was shocked how bad it was. Great crew and flight though.

SpdbirdFlyer

Has anyone tried yet the November F Menu LHR-JFK? Specifically the 'Grilled fillet of beef, homemade potato gnocchi with parmesan cream and sautéed wild mushrooms'?

I can't remember having this before, and I'm considering pre-ordering for my F flight later this month. That or perhaps a voluntary downgrade to try the new Club service .

First Menu on BA173 to JFK in November

Pre-Appetiser

Beef slice with apple crème and pickled vegetables

Starters

Seared fresh tuna tataki on dressed wakame salad served with jalapeno, ginger and coriander
Nicoise style Mediterranean quinoa salad
Caramelised pea soup with crispy prosciutto
Fresh seasonal salad with a choice of honey mustard dressing or olive oil balsamic dressing

Main

Grilled fillet of beef, homemade potato gnocchi with parmesan cream and sautéed wild mushrooms
Grilled medley of fish featuring Dover sole, salmon fillet and king prawns, served with saffron pilaf and baby vegetables
Cumberland sausages with potato puree, seasonal vegetables and caramelised red onion jus
Ricotta ravioli with truffle cream sauce, sundried tomatoes and Kalamata olives garnished with fresh rocket
Fresh figs chanterelle and pomegranate salad with warm breast of spring chicken and balsamic dressing

Desserts

Nutmeg spiced blueberry custard on gingerbread biscuit
Warm almond and white chocolate soufflé with caramel sauce
Vanilla ice cream

Cheese Board

Chevington
Shropshire Blue
Applewood Cheddar

T8191

I have an odd 'Pre-Order' scenario, <30 days from an LGW-CPT.

Whether I try on iMac or iPad, the 'Choose your meal' in MMB is greyed out. But my wife can select via ba.com on her iPad. Weird? I hope I'm on the booking!!

I understand it's "Beef ir Chicken" anyway. So that will be overcooked filet steak or a dry chicken breast with some 'green Thai curry' sauce poured over it (instead of the other Ethnic sauce variants). Oh, which delight to choose??

stu1985

Welcome to FT and the BA forum SpdbirdFlyer - hope you stick around! Enjoy your flight when it comes! Get to try the new CW service on the way to JFK in a few weeks - looking forward to it!

SpdbirdFlyer

Thanks Stu1985 - whatever I end up having I'll post on here!