Apr 16, 2017, 1:12 pm
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
Club Europe Catering Guide 2017.
This thread outlines the new arrangements for Club Europe catering, introduced on Sunday 26 March 2017 and due to end on Tuesday 11 September 2018, based on 3 zones. A new Club Europe catering product is due to be launch on Wednesday 12 September 2018, and this is based on 4 bands. The main information piece - in terms of timings and the distance zones for the meals can be found in post 1. The following cross references the photos below against the matrix of options. In addition to the photos, some FTers have written extensively on their experiences so there is more to this thread than the pictures. Also note that there was an increase in food offered on some combinations shortly after the start-up, so the more recent photos may be the best place to start.The previous shorthaul catering guide, now locked but which had the previous 4 band system, is to be found here.
Numbers relate to the post number. Vegetarian means the alternative option provided as standard rather than the pre-ordered versions - which are VLML (Lacto-ovo), AVML (Asia) and VGML (Vegan) . There are differences between the offering in/out of LHR, LGW, LCY+STN. Last update: 833
-------------------------
Note posts before 1-832 are typically the April 2017 menu. 833 and above is from the menu for May 2017.
----
Chef's Chat sheets for:
CE LHR Summer 2017 - Rotation A
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28338151-post954.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28339641-post958.html
-----.
Short Band (UK, France, Ireland, BeNeLux, Germany)
Breakfast: 279, 570 (vegetarian), 629, 674, 821 (Express breakfast for MAN and LBA), 1343 (Vegan), 2285 (Express for LBA and MAN), 2445
Brunch: 180, 289, 469, 563, 685, 716, 2625 (AVML)
Lunch: 207, 545 (diabetic), 644 (first photo), 680 (VLML), 802, 928, 1322 (Kosher), 2284
Afternoon tea: 339, 404 (vegetarian), 480, 600 (VLML), 710 (including low lactose), 800, 882 (gluten free), 1281, 1322 (Kosher), 1673, 2679 (Kosher), 2792
Dinner: 563, 630 (VGML), 669 (Kosher Passover), 771 (VGML LCY) 799, 819 (AVML), 833 (May 2017 menu), 1283, 1287, 1674, 2446, 2616 (Kosher), 2793
Comments on difference between AVML and VLML here.
-----
Medium Band (e.g. Madrid, Nice, Prague, Copenhagen)
Breakfast: 645 (vegetarian), 724 (vegetarian), 1003
Brunch: 199 (VLML), 600 (VLML), 659 (Kosher Passover)
Lunch: 239 (child), 251, 425, 641, 733
Afternoon tea: 332 (also includes vegetarian), 426 (GFML), 813 (Muslim)
Dinner: 456, 551 (also includes VLML), 666, 1004,
1278
-----
Long Band (e.g. Lisbon, Rome, Warsaw, Stockholm).
Breakfast: 195 (vegetarian)
Rest of the day: 306 (LFML), 345, 427, 443, 468, 597, 676, 687, 695, 783 (VLML)
======
NOT MAINTAINED AND OUT OF DATE: The complete Short Haul meal structure for the longer flights as of October 2017 is:
LHR
Meal 1: Chicken / red pepper risotto
Meal 2: Beef cheek
Meal 3: Chicken supreme / gnocchi
Meal 4: Miso glazed cod
Meal 5: Chicken khao soi
Meal 6: Hot smoked salmon linguine
LGW
Meal 1: Thyme roasted chicken
Meal 2: Spicy corn and paneer masala
Meal 3: Thai Penang chicken curry
Meal 4: Roasted red pepper tortellini
Meal 5: Beef and mushroom caserole
Meal 6: Tomato and four cheeses tortellini
Structured into:
Rotation A
LHR outbound
Meal 3
Meal 4
inbound to LHR
Meal 5
Meal 6
Rotation B
LHR outbound
Meal 5
Meal 6
inbound to LHR
Meal 1
Meal 2
Rotation C
LHR outbound
Meal 1
Meal 2
inbound to LHR
Meal 3
Meal 4
===
October 2017 = Rotation C
November 2017 = Rotation A
December 2017 = Rotation B
January 2018 = Rotation C
etc
This thread outlines the new arrangements for Club Europe catering, introduced on Sunday 26 March 2017 and due to end on Tuesday 11 September 2018, based on 3 zones. A new Club Europe catering product is due to be launch on Wednesday 12 September 2018, and this is based on 4 bands. The main information piece - in terms of timings and the distance zones for the meals can be found in post 1. The following cross references the photos below against the matrix of options. In addition to the photos, some FTers have written extensively on their experiences so there is more to this thread than the pictures. Also note that there was an increase in food offered on some combinations shortly after the start-up, so the more recent photos may be the best place to start.The previous shorthaul catering guide, now locked but which had the previous 4 band system, is to be found here.
Numbers relate to the post number. Vegetarian means the alternative option provided as standard rather than the pre-ordered versions - which are VLML (Lacto-ovo), AVML (Asia) and VGML (Vegan) . There are differences between the offering in/out of LHR, LGW, LCY+STN. Last update: 833
-------------------------
Note posts before 1-832 are typically the April 2017 menu. 833 and above is from the menu for May 2017.
----
Chef's Chat sheets for:
CE LHR Summer 2017 - Rotation A
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28338151-post954.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28339641-post958.html
-----.
Short Band (UK, France, Ireland, BeNeLux, Germany)
Breakfast: 279, 570 (vegetarian), 629, 674, 821 (Express breakfast for MAN and LBA), 1343 (Vegan), 2285 (Express for LBA and MAN), 2445
Brunch: 180, 289, 469, 563, 685, 716, 2625 (AVML)
Lunch: 207, 545 (diabetic), 644 (first photo), 680 (VLML), 802, 928, 1322 (Kosher), 2284
Afternoon tea: 339, 404 (vegetarian), 480, 600 (VLML), 710 (including low lactose), 800, 882 (gluten free), 1281, 1322 (Kosher), 1673, 2679 (Kosher), 2792
Dinner: 563, 630 (VGML), 669 (Kosher Passover), 771 (VGML LCY) 799, 819 (AVML), 833 (May 2017 menu), 1283, 1287, 1674, 2446, 2616 (Kosher), 2793
Comments on difference between AVML and VLML here.
-----
Medium Band (e.g. Madrid, Nice, Prague, Copenhagen)
Breakfast: 645 (vegetarian), 724 (vegetarian), 1003
Brunch: 199 (VLML), 600 (VLML), 659 (Kosher Passover)
Lunch: 239 (child), 251, 425, 641, 733
Afternoon tea: 332 (also includes vegetarian), 426 (GFML), 813 (Muslim)
Dinner: 456, 551 (also includes VLML), 666, 1004,
1278
-----
Long Band (e.g. Lisbon, Rome, Warsaw, Stockholm).
Breakfast: 195 (vegetarian)
Rest of the day: 306 (LFML), 345, 427, 443, 468, 597, 676, 687, 695, 783 (VLML)
======
NOT MAINTAINED AND OUT OF DATE: The complete Short Haul meal structure for the longer flights as of October 2017 is:
LHR
Meal 1: Chicken / red pepper risotto
Meal 2: Beef cheek
Meal 3: Chicken supreme / gnocchi
Meal 4: Miso glazed cod
Meal 5: Chicken khao soi
Meal 6: Hot smoked salmon linguine
LGW
Meal 1: Thyme roasted chicken
Meal 2: Spicy corn and paneer masala
Meal 3: Thai Penang chicken curry
Meal 4: Roasted red pepper tortellini
Meal 5: Beef and mushroom caserole
Meal 6: Tomato and four cheeses tortellini
Structured into:
Rotation A
LHR outbound
Meal 3
Meal 4
inbound to LHR
Meal 5
Meal 6
Rotation B
LHR outbound
Meal 5
Meal 6
inbound to LHR
Meal 1
Meal 2
Rotation C
LHR outbound
Meal 1
Meal 2
inbound to LHR
Meal 3
Meal 4
===
October 2017 = Rotation C
November 2017 = Rotation A
December 2017 = Rotation B
January 2018 = Rotation C
etc
Club Europe catering guide
Apr 23, 2017, 11:01 am
#766
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,923
Apr 23, 2017, 11:11 am
#767
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,774
Hung up and I called the GGL line.
"Meal choices aren't available on this flight"
Asked to check.
"Oh yes I think we can do that - I'll try and see how".
Whole exchange was baffling. I think I've got a low lactose dinner booked for LHR-MAN but not entirely sure what I'll end up with!
"Meal choices aren't available on this flight"
Asked to check.
"Oh yes I think we can do that - I'll try and see how".
Whole exchange was baffling. I think I've got a low lactose dinner booked for LHR-MAN but not entirely sure what I'll end up with!
Apr 23, 2017, 11:35 am
#768
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
Indeed. While all meat that is cured with salt is technically "processed" that meat contains potassium nitrate/sodium nitrate preservative and I'm sure the Scotch egg will too, god knows what's in the "BA bread" and the "BA cake". Palma ham and to my recollection bresaola cannot contain those chemicals and are salt-cured only but quite expensive and would use up all the budget like the butterflied prawn. You can buy salt-cured bacon & ham that is free from chemicals from good butchers shops; I recall Hairy Bikers visiting a place in NI that did it.
I obviously have no precise intelligence on actual figures, but the more photos I see of these 'new' CE meal offerings, the more I wonder just how hard BA have pushed their food suppliers on costs.
Most of the food looks reasonably ok if the aim is to purely fill a gap (let's just make sure we give them something to eat .....), but much of it seems to lack imagination or interest. That's fine for an economy cabin on s/h sectors ; but IMO very little of what has been pictured & reported recently projects any kind of premium impression.
Where there are accompanying garnishings / side dishes, the main driver appears to be to keep portion size to the bare minimum. Viz post #758 above, where there looks to be just half of a cherry tomato provided - presumably on the grounds that a whole cherry tomato would be way over budget .....
Apr 23, 2017, 2:31 pm
#769
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,517
A sad aspect of the new catering is that the new 'full bottles' wine on medium and long flights is not any better than the previous plonk. I can also confirm that on an average NCE-LHR CE cabin load (8-18 rows), you will only get one glass served, ie about twice less than a small bottle before.
Apr 23, 2017, 5:07 pm
#770
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
A sad aspect of the new catering is that the new 'full bottles' wine on medium and long flights is not any better than the previous plonk. I can also confirm that on an average NCE-LHR CE cabin load (8-18 rows), you will only get one glass served, ie about twice less than a small bottle before.
I wonder how many glasses of vino you get offered as a dinner guest at the Cruz residence .......?
Apr 24, 2017, 2:57 am
#771
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Scots girl in London
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 257
Lovely service yesterday GLA-LCY. Vegetarian lasagne and salad, huge contrast with the VGML on the LGW-GLA two days before (which was a salad that was nice enough). Can't understand the lack of consistency between offerings (albeit LCY is better generally).
Apr 24, 2017, 3:17 am
#772
Join Date: May 2012
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 663
I was under the impression that domestics do not get a special meal selection, the exception being LGW-JER where special meals can be selected. That's why it is greyed out accordingly on MMB. If you do get a special meal via the Contact Centre please let us know.
I tested this recently on an upcoming LHR-BHD where the option to chose a special meal was greyed out. Turns out my VLML preference had dropped off my profile: after I'd added it back in, I got a change alert from MyFlights App to say that my meal preference had been updated to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. So I'm pretty confident that there's 3/4 of a tomato and some slivers of mozzarella in my near future....!
Apr 24, 2017, 3:47 am
#773
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,529
The option is greyed out, but the meal preferences in your profile are applied - so if you have a special meal set as your default meal type, that will be associated with your booking as well. It doesn't show anywhere in the booking, but it will (or at least should be) what you get served!
I tested this recently on an upcoming LHR-BHD where the option to chose a special meal was greyed out. Turns out my VLML preference had dropped off my profile: after I'd added it back in, I got a change alert from MyFlights App to say that my meal preference had been updated to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. So I'm pretty confident that there's 3/4 of a tomato and some slivers of mozzarella in my near future....!
I tested this recently on an upcoming LHR-BHD where the option to chose a special meal was greyed out. Turns out my VLML preference had dropped off my profile: after I'd added it back in, I got a change alert from MyFlights App to say that my meal preference had been updated to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. So I'm pretty confident that there's 3/4 of a tomato and some slivers of mozzarella in my near future....!
Apr 24, 2017, 4:14 am
#774
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,428
Coming back from Bergen yesterday I opted for the coronation chicken salad in order to avoid the toastie.
The rather embarrassed CC put the tray in front of me and said 'If you're still hungry after that, let me know I have another'
Quite tasty and fresh but a tiny portion.
The rather embarrassed CC put the tray in front of me and said 'If you're still hungry after that, let me know I have another'
Quite tasty and fresh but a tiny portion.
Apr 24, 2017, 4:18 am
#775
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,916
Did you take up the offer?
Apr 24, 2017, 4:52 am
#776
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,428
Apr 24, 2017, 5:09 am
#777
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
Coming back from Bergen yesterday I opted for the coronation chicken salad in order to avoid the toastie.
The rather embarrassed CC put the tray in front of me and said 'If you're still hungry after that, let me know I have another'
Quite tasty and fresh but a tiny portion.
The rather embarrassed CC put the tray in front of me and said 'If you're still hungry after that, let me know I have another'
Quite tasty and fresh but a tiny portion.
Apr 24, 2017, 5:16 am
#778
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,428
Did you hear our conversation about the cheese toastie, he said he calls it that as in his Thomson days he spent years selling croque monsieurs
Apr 25, 2017, 12:17 am
#779
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
Apr 25, 2017, 2:05 am
#780
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,529
The option is greyed out, but the meal preferences in your profile are applied - so if you have a special meal set as your default meal type, that will be associated with your booking as well. It doesn't show anywhere in the booking, but it will (or at least should be) what you get served!
I tested this recently on an upcoming LHR-BHD where the option to chose a special meal was greyed out. Turns out my VLML preference had dropped off my profile: after I'd added it back in, I got a change alert from MyFlights App to say that my meal preference had been updated to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. So I'm pretty confident that there's 3/4 of a tomato and some slivers of mozzarella in my near future....!
I tested this recently on an upcoming LHR-BHD where the option to chose a special meal was greyed out. Turns out my VLML preference had dropped off my profile: after I'd added it back in, I got a change alert from MyFlights App to say that my meal preference had been updated to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. So I'm pretty confident that there's 3/4 of a tomato and some slivers of mozzarella in my near future....!