dessert or cheese not both and that was despite nicely asking yesterday. Also be careful, they whip away your mains tray and if you are not quick to ask for a dessert you will get nothing. After dinner coffee also has to be proactively asked for. I was surprised having just done four business in the last week after a spell on Qatar how the service was based on their routines, not yours and how there were many times they forgot to do little things.

I think this is pretty much the norm in all airlines. For late night LH flights out of BOM to Germany, departing between 1:30 AM - 3:30 AM, I have always declined the dinner & gone straight to bed. But considering that those flights are only 7 hours duration, it works perfectly as you wake up to eat breakfast.

With the DXB-JFK 14 hour flight, it is hard to skip a big meal (Dinner) and wait till breakfast before departure. I know it will be hard for the crew, but ideally, for that sort of long haul flights, they should have a three meal service - Light snack (after takeoff) - Lunch/Dinner(mid way) - Breakfast (before arrival).

They do have a 3 meal service, but in a different order from what you say. On EK203, for example, it's Dinner/Light Bites/Breakfast. See the link to the menu a few posts back.

Yeah, we did BA DXB-LHR last year. They served lunch just after take off at about 10am. Hardly anybody took up the offer, and we ended up starving by the time the 'snack' came around before landing. Of course, the Club Kitchen was virtually empty as it usually is these days.

Yes, I saw that. Being a vegetarian ordering a special meal, skipping a meal on 14 hour flight could be hard.

I'm now rethinking about taking a later flight, EK 201 departing DXB at 8:30 AM. I took this one few weeks back & has better food service timings.

The only reason I was considering EK 203 was because I was daring to head straight to the office after I land in JFK at 8:50 AM. Never done that before, so not sure.

Oh well... long distance travel does get challenging ...

A radical solution would be to bring your own food to eat on board ;) Then you could definitely be sure you get to eat what you want, when you want!

It would probably be tastier than what's on board anyway!

mmm.
On one hand, it's not easy to arrange for your own meal while away from home. On the other hand, you can't rely on airlines (or restaurant) if you have very strict requirements on food, particularly when your health is at stake.

One of my friends has allergy to eggs, and another one only eats raw food (not-cooked, not-processed). It's always a huge mess when we dine out.

Agreed - especially if you have a serious health related food requirement.

If not, then if you are departing DXB I think it is trivial to find something to buy to take on board!

]

The food, soups and caviar aside is getting worse!

I found the cheeseboard in F practically a meal in itself.

Not much tickling my fancy for the menu on my flights at the end of the month in J. I am resisting the temptation to use my miles (trying to save for future travel) to try and upgrade to F for a bit more selection :D.

I have a gluten intolerence but can skirt about the normal menu usually and won't be ordering a gluten free meal again as basically I thought it was crap the last lime I ordered along with the lack of dessert and when requesting the cheese (without crackers), got a snippy reply from the cabin supervisor.

Safe & Happy Travels

S

Actually, I have no issues with the special meal that I order. On EK, I found it definitely much better. It is just that you have to time things properly.

But with special meals, there are hits and misses. Like on LH, there have been instances that I have got variations of the same dish on the same flight. But EK lets you request a different breakfast or appetizer than what you would typically get as part of your special meal. LH won't allow that. EK gets few points for that.

So on EK203, departing at 2:50 AM, one of the FAs said that they typically would not bring you full fledged dinner at a later time but can make adjustments. The best she said was to sleep as soon as you board and tell the FA to wake you up for dinner. She said that they start serving the dinner after 30 minutes but it actually took them around 1.5 hours (roughly served at around 4:30 AM) to get my dinner. I think she must have meant - 30 minutes after the seat belts sign is off & since they bring the food to everybody, it may take longer depending upon where you are sitting.

I dozed off anyways but then the crew did wake me up when it was time for dinner.

Update on the chocolate saga. Came across a new brand today, not as rich and heavy as the others, not sure if I'm a fan (though I do prefer that they're lighter).

http://i.imgur.com/Phy4gUC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/h1LglbR.jpg

Yes, had this too this week.
Again, there is a 4-piece version.
Much much better than Coco-Jalila.
Is this a trial, or our complains - at least mines (with an S :D) - got through ? ^

EK chocolates Episode V :
Currently enjoying Neuhaus ... back to Belgium ....
Looking forward Episode VI :D

(I : Godiva; II : CocoJalila; III : Rococo; IV : Forrey & Galland)