When did DL premium cabin food get so terribly bad?
 

Some recent examples:

JFK-ATL
Choice of cold meat plate or chicken salad
The cold plate consisted of literally one piece of cheese and two pieces of roast beef along a roll that was very cold while my partner's salad just had a few pieces of chicken. Pretty mediocre packaged cookie for dessert.

SFO-JFK
Bread served cold, chicken entree was very small and had an odd taste, no choice of sundae (i.e., they just handed some low quality ice cream that already had nuts and chocolate sauce mixed in), and the warm pre-arrival cookie was burned.

ATL-HNL
Chicken entree was ok but clearly of low quality whilst my partner's pasta smelled and looked like vomit. The pre-arrival meal was the most disgusting thing I have eaten on a plane... it was advertised as a cuban sandwich and wasn't even served on cuban bread, a truly unappetizing experience.

To me, it is ridiculous that Delta spent so much money buying new china and glassware whilst the quality of the food has gone downhill. And seriously, packaged cookies shouldn't be served as dessert in First Class. Please share your experiences.

I've done a lot of flights out of SEA and food is simply amazing! Major improvement for meals on that route. I think its an effort to compete with AS.

​https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...7-edition.html

The nuts were already... mixed... in? Sounds absolutely ghastly. I would be calling my senator and filing human rights abuse charges.

My warm cookie was ... TOO warm!

http://adaptershack.com/s/a9ycxr.gif

The food has sucked for years of course it doesn't stop people from shoveling it in.

OP: I echo your concerns in the following areas:

*Delta needs to WARM up the bread served in premium cabins. Even good FAs only heat breakfast bagels up. Please, really heat up all rolls and bread items!

*Portion sizes for entrees have gotten ridiculously small. I would be surprised if D1 protein portion isn't 2 ounces after its cooked then reheated on the plane. Wayyy too small. Same with First meals - cutback on sides like soup and real salads, addition of cheap stuff like a lot of coleslaw trying to sub for salad.

*They need plated desserts in premium cabins..nothing in plastic

*I've never even had warm cookie service (on 1 flight where I heard D1 had it, I slept through it supposedly). This would be nice on a more regular basis

--> I had a "cuban sandwich" in domestic first recently. It was turken and ham with pickles and mustard on a french roll. It wasn't a cuban, but it was a tasty sandwich. The bread was certainly nicer than the wonder bread we have seen pics of recently...but still incorrect for a "cuban sandwich"

Totally agree about the bread not being heated, I think thats why I never eat more than a nibble of it.

I am actually more upset we don't get warm nuts to start out they do on American. In fact, the domestic FC meals on American before its merger with Useless Air were solid and then they went off the cliff after Dougie took over (have since moved most of my travel to Delta).

Lastly, the white wines seem to always be served at a much warmer temp then they should be.

Exactly. DL food has been always among the worst of any airline.

If you care about the in flight product quality, esp. food, then you should fly UA or AA. In-flight food on both UA and AA is far superior to DL every time.

The food might be the easiest part of the premium cabin experience to BYO

I wouldn't go as far as calling it amazing, but for the most part, meals other than breakfast are pretty good, and for the most part it seems Delta puts some thought and effort into creating interesting and tasty food, especially in key markets like SEA. There are some duds though. For Americans who are used shoveling down four or five Big Macs, I understand why they think portion sizes are small, but the volume of food is reasonable for what most people do and should eat (I might have a gripe if portion sizes get any smaller though). All things considered, I think airplane meals now are a lot better than anything I experienced back in the 90's or 00's.

At the UA forum, they talk about how terrible UA is and how much better DL is blah blah blah.

USDA protein size is 1 oz. So the poster that claimed 2 oz, DL is already double the USDA rec! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I claimed the 2 ounces. And you are incorrect.

USDA recommendation (whatever that means) is 5-7 ounces daily. The 1 ounce you refer to is a single serving size.

On days I travel, I may not eat until the flight. A 2 ounce piece of meat in Delta 1 for dinner is pathetic. Most people have a few ounces of protein for either lunch or dinner - maybe both.

I haven't eaten a Big Mac in over 10 years and certainly couldn't eat more than 1. The other poster who referred to us complaining about portion size because we are used to scarfing down 4 or 5 Big Macs is plain disrespectful.

Agree, looks like OP flies a lot out of JFK, just pick up Shake Shack