lobster.thermidor

777-300 ER

1:05 AM Departure.
Checked on Emirates site regarding the menu for F on this flight.
Only a breakfast option.Absolutely nothing else.
Is this correct ?

justforfun

You probably would have a better menu if you were indeed flying BKK-DOH. Very sad looking menu for F.

lobster.thermidor

???

I am flying BKK/DOH.

WLG Base

EK385 flys BKK - DXB

ft101

EK385 flys HKG - BKK - DXB

minz56

This is typical for EK for a shortish (6-7 hours) flight departing in the early hours of the morning. I try and avoid these flights but in these COVID times you don't have too many alternatives.

lobster.thermidor

Sorry must have had brain fog of course I meant
BKK/DXB.

Really can’t believe the F class menu.
Do they not have even light bites on this flight ?

NoY

MrsNoY flew this BKK-DXB sector in F last week. She was quite upset that nothing at all (apart from cookies etc) were offered except for breakfast items. Absurd. Yes, its possible to check what the menu is before the flight IF the system works, which, for this flight, it didn't. Something about "we haven't decided on the menus yet" or some such waffle (excuse the pun!) Not everyone is able to get a meal before the flight! Avoid 1am departures at all costs IF you want to eat a decent F standard meal.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Who in the bleedin’ so-and-so is looking for a full meal at 1 o’clock in the morning? You’ve had all day to stuff your face (in Thailand of all places!), and right about the time most people will either be asleep or going to bed, you’re moaning that you’re not offered the full 5-course option? Do yourself and your body a favour: Board, take-off, recline seat and sleep for the next 6 hours. Then enjoy some breakfast before getting off the flight, and you’re good until lunch.

However, if it’s food you fly for and food is not offered, why not save some dosh and fly Business? The seat goes just as flat and there’s enough space for legs, arms and feet. You could also fly steerage and save enough money to buy several meals in a 3* Michelin establishment, if you’re really into food.

I’ve never understood the concept of flying for food. It’s airline catering FFS, over salted, re-heated, and the pressurised and dry cabin wrecks havoc with your tastebuds. It will never come even remotely close to matching what you can be served on the ground. The fare difference between C and F can buy you several meals at very nice establishments.

I consider myself a bit of a foodie and will happily spend a semi-obscene amount at a delicious meal at a Michelin (or equivalent) restaurant. I suppose it’s because I really enjoy delicious food that airline catering leaves me rather cold. I see it mainly as a distraction, a way of making the time go buy faster until we arrive at destination.

IntrepidAfrican2

Lol, tell us what you really think.

Howard Long

I'm a foodie too, dining Michelin* around twice a week.

That also includes travelling to Bangkok just for dinner, several times, sometimes not even staying overnight. For example, when Nahm was still run by David Thompson, it was a regular weekend trip for me from London. Thankfully he's returning to London now, so that saves me the trip.

I do also search out flights with the widest food choices pick flights appropriately. For example on Qatar on the few F services they have, I certainly tend to avoid early morning breakfast flights where there's no caviar. The same applies to Emirates, I would certainly adjust timings for the widest food choices, although as someone else noted, it'll be a while before there's anywhere near the frequencies offered pre-pandemic.

It's a case of different strokes for different folks. Airline food, whether in F or not, is a compromise. I'm more likely to go for something that I know reheats well than what I'd choose à la minute in a restaurant, so a biryani usually delivers far better than a steak. Toast is cardboard, unless on CX where they have a toaster, and even that's hit and miss IME. Either way, it's rare that airline food even in F exceeds what you'd enjoy in a local bistro. The one notable exception to this are the bucket list candidate kaiseki menus on JAL & ANA F.

Airline food has always intrigued me, from long before I delved into the Michelin scene well over 20 years ago. I cannot shake that fascination off me. The difference nowadays is that I pick dishes that work well within the confines of a galley kitchen, rather than risk the disappointment of a crowd pleaser like fillet steak that turns out to be a piece of industrial grade carpet..

I'd also add that you're making quite an assumption about "Who in the bleedin’ so-and-so is looking for a full meal at 1 o’clock in the morning". That would make my body clock would be 5 or 6pm on a day trip from London.

LouisW

I think airlines know full well that people are not following regular schedules when flying.

I can give a few examples.

1am flight. You manage to get a late check out from the hotel, and even then it’s 4pm. You perhaps roam the city for a bit, but you need a desk and need to work, so you head to the airport and lounge. It’s an outstation, so the food options are pathetic. You will be wanting dinner on the plane regardless of what time it is.

Another example, you are connecting… You get in to BKK from a small Asian city at 8pm. There’s no in flight service into BKK and you possibly even missed lunch, You’ve paid for a F ticket so you want F food onboard, not outstation lounge food.

Saying you should be doing x at y time whilst travelling the world is nonsense. It’s just cost cutting by the airline.

If you seriously have fixed meal times when taking flights, great for you but I can assure you you’re not in the majority.

eternaltransit

Although I agree with you that it is 1) cost cutting and perhaps 2) maybe there should be at least something for F that isn't a breakfast choice for those pax who connecting directly to it who might not have a chance for anything at all (which onto that flight is going to be rare), a pax who arrives at 8pm into BKK, having not eaten and perhaps missed lunch, for a connection departing 0105, who can enter the EK lounge at BKK at 2105 who then complains, over 5 hours later, they are hungry because there's no "F food" on board, attracts little sympathy...

That's some serious expectaction mismatch - is the expected food on board supposed to be *so* much better than on the ground? - which you can't put entirely on the airline IMO.

And it's not as if the food at the EK lounge at BKK is inedible, and there are a multitude of options at that airport (although sure, of varying quality)...

LouisW

I'm not familiar with the EK lounge in BKK, but am with the LHR lounge, which is a J lounge, and options are curries and pastas on hostess trollies, sandwiches and some salads.

On my last EK F flight, I had canapés then a starter of Caviar, followed by a second starter of Foie Gras, followed by a Steak, followed by a much more extensive Cheeseboard than the J lounge offering.

Wines were, Dom Perignion, a Corton Charlemange 2011, a glass of Yqem with the Foie, Opus One 2008 and a 40 year old Port.

None of which is available in the lounge.

Forget sympathy, that's not really what is expected for a passenger in F, but is it really fair that a customer on a 2pm departure from London gets the above, and a customer on a tight connection and 1am flight gets eggs? It's just not fair value for money, not really a sympathy issue.

The person on the connection should get a reheated curry and fill their stomach on that? No, I would perhaps have a one of the mini sandwich or something light in the lounge and then await a good meal onboard. I don't think that's a ridiculous expectation even if it is 1am. People tend to get to the airport hours before anyway, and they're not spending that time eating.

minz56

I think where they fall down in F on this sector is by not offering snack options so that a passenger can have something to eat when they board shoud they want to. There is no way they are going to serve a full dinner on this flight as I would guess that many passengers just want to sleep. Also bear in mind that dinner was served on the HKG/BKK sector, though of course not everyone flew this sector.