JSM8

As I select my J class meal to Doha I noticed that 2 of the 4 starters and and one of the 3 main courses are very specifically Middle Eastern Cuisine. I know on the the routes to India there is a good variety of Indian food. It is probably similar on other long-haul routes (probably not guinea pig to Lima though!). BA is quite good about offering menus appropriate to 'local' cuisine at the destination out of LHR. It made me wonder how many overseas airlines flying in and out of the UK add some British staples to their menu rotations? Full English Breakfast? Steak & Kidney Pie? Fish and Chips? Apple Crumble?

Thoughts and observations welcome......

orbitmic

TO destinations, Middle East, South Asia, and East and South East Asia have special dishes on the menu (e.g. Chinese inspired main course to China destinations, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Korean to Seoul, Japanese to Tokyo, etc).

FROM destinations, the above plus many additional ones (e.g. many Latin American markets have one local dish as does South Africa etc).

corporate-wage-slave

In a subtle way you actually get quite a lot of this on longhaul. So the best way to get lobster in CW is flying out of SEA, YVR, YYC, YUL to London, presumably because for local kitchens this cost effective and sensible option. You're unlikely to get it flying from LHR let alone LGW. From SEZ you best order a local fish dish since anything like beef is likely to have had quite a journey before it got anywhere near Mahé. Then the beef from EZE and GRU may on the other hand be worth a go, if the crew don't incinerate it.

Qatar do try a bit of British cuisine with their Afternoon Tea set though it's probably not their best option.

I don't think I've seen guinea pig on Lima flights yet, but they do regularly serve Chicha Morada cake, a somewhat garish cheesecake made using a local soft drink made with purple corn.

Greenpen

Is horse ever served?

nufnuf77

I haven’t seen it tbh.
would love to see more hare and good bird options not involving chicken, eg guinea fowl

TTmex

From Mexico they often serve Tampiqueńa beef. It's mildly spiced tomato sauce in reality.

QR2019

I'm flying back from DOH with BA 22nd Dec in J anyone know what is generally served food wise 07:00 flight

dddc

After 10 days in South America and having fantastic steak in Argentina and Brazil, I had buyers remorse just after I selected the Beef on my flight back from Rio. Was it going to be any good? It was actually very good! Tender and tasty!

Cathay tend to have what I call "global - western" dishes on offer. Nothing offensive, always tasty and good quality meat and mash/pasta type dishes, but their Asian meals are very tasty. I get disappointed when they offer congee on the breakfast menu as opposed to a noodle dish as the western option will be cooked breakfast or continental platter which is a bit tame. It's not bad, but doesn't get the taste buds going like the other dishes. Thankfully I haven't had a bad cooked breakfast there - unlike the shocking James Martin branded (frozen) meal I was served on Thomas Cook a couple of days before their demise. The shelf life of the meal was till August 2020 so there must be a fair number of these sitting in some warehouse freezer waiting to inflict pain on some unlucky bod.

JSM8

I am interested in the answer to this too, as I will be on that flight on 29th December! As for QR afternoon tea, I am looking forward to trying it out (but with low expectations!)

mjh0

If you consider a decent curry as a British staple, back in the Noughties, United would often have a good curry on the usual J and F menus out of LHR to the US.

These were something of a hands-off affair from UA Corporate - UA's Head Chef, Gerry Gulli, left the LHR caterer's Indian chefs (think it was Alpha, back then) to design these dishes from the ground up, and I remember them being generously portioned and full of flavour.

LTN Phobia

I have had guinea fowl a number of times on BA, although I have not seen it for quite some time.

I haven't seen any horse on the menu, either.

rossmacd

I would raise your expectations slightly - the QR J afternoon tea I had last week was very good - certainly wiping the floor with the comparable BA J offering. However, BA F afternoon tea is better than QR J.

DavidYYC

I too have had the 'guinea fowl' a few times on BA, I thought it was really chicken, having eaten real guinea fowl in Zimbabwe! It has not been around for a while.

Jagboi

I don't think I've ever seen lobster in CW out of YYC/YVR, and flipping through some of the old menus I have none had lobster. Most of the lobster in Canada comes from the east coast, and given that Halifax - Calgary, is further than LHR-TLV, it's not exactly next door.

Granted, I don't fly nearly as much as you do, but I can't ever recall being offered lobster Ex- Western Canada.

DoctorCopper

On a related topic, LHR-TYO used to have (may still do so) route specific crockery in F.

Doc Copper