EuroFlash

Flying J LH soon and plan on getting the reindeer dish. I recall that previously some FT'ers mentioned that this one could be pretty dry every now and then.
You guys usually ask FA sometimes that prevents it from getting too dry, don't you? If so: what is it what you ask? :-)

Ed Size

I m not sure if anybody at AY (in airline business) is aware that you could hurt your brand if you want "best of all worlds". Legacy carriers tend to copy LLCs and they don´t mind doing so in the premium cabin. Remember the brown paperbags? Remember the food options two years ago? Remember all the small things gone? Soup as a starter? Cosmetics in the toillett? and so on and on.

One AY manager once told me: "We can do whatever we want, our planes are full if we offer low prices, and we loose passengers once we higher the prices."

And I would say the one and only marketing instrument that airlines use are the price. I was told at university "Never touch the price" - campaigns are the opposite of that.

For a good reason the revenue department is the most important division in the airline industry.

ffay005

I had a great FA on Thursday's BKK. Conversation went like this:
– So, you've preordered the reindeer.
– Yes, thanks. Um, you know, if it stays too long in the oven...
– It'll turn into liver. Yes, I know. I'll make sure that won't happen. *smiling*

And it was perfect.

This is the first time I've been cut mid-sentence. Proves that the FAs, or many of them, are familiar with this. Usually I just ask them not to keep it in the oven too long because it turns liver-like and they know what I'm talking about. With one exception, it's been delicious.

intuition

I think that finnair "eagle" software added your liver comment to your profile and purser now must brief all staff about it in pre-flight meeting.

Post Scriptum

Is there any insight on the special meals in LH J, any recent updates on chefs Gourmet or other special options?

Ed Size

Mrs. Size ordered reindeer on our last flight out of HEL, after she finished she told me "there must be a mistake they served me liver - but thats fine I like liver" - and I pointed her to this thread :-)

ffay005

My only SPML experience is from shorthaul J. Based on that, I would not dare try another SPML. They bundle all dietary requirements into one, resulting in a very bland meal.

Chef's Gourmet is the much-talked about reindeer, which I find excellent.

I'm actually thinking of trying the Food Lover's Treat, grilled whitefish, next time. Has anyone tried this?

kanamurva

Some pictures from HEL-PVR (Puerto Vallarta) - HEL. The food was served one dish at a time which I appreciated. I had big expectations towards the reindeer, which had been fantastic on my previous lh J trip. But this time the reindeer was a terrible disappointment. It had lots of bad cuts (containing fat) and the biggest piece of the meal was bone. Otherwise I was really happy with the food. Both salmon starters were really tasty, and the salmon main was really good as well. Cheese not that special, except the brie. But the cheese went really well with the wonderful 2004 port wine they had.



amuse bouche. Tasty coffee style mousse. Really good, except that not enough of that hapankorppu. The mousse was impossible to eat without.


Damn tasty this salmon.




the poro disappointment. I tried to suggest something about not overcooking it but they didn't understand what I was talking about.








I'm not that much of a cake person. I guess this was ok.

kanamurva

the food from the PVR-HEL flight:



the shrimp was almost freezing cold and definitely not tasty. Puerto Vallarta had the best seafood that I had ever eaten so maybe that also affected



This salmon again supergood and yet different as on HEL-PVR




Not overcooked salmon, a really good (eggy?) sauce and a brave risotto style stuff. Damn good again!




good brie

kanamurva

About the drinks: I've never really appreciated the AY champagne so I only had the welcoming drink. They had 3 different white wines (chardonnay, riesling, NZ sauvignon blanc), which all were good. Especially the riesling and sauvignon blanc tasted really good with those salmons. 3 reds also available, of which I usually like a lot those St. Emilion merlots. This one available I didn't find that special though. Other reds really good. Dessert wine was a Chateau Carsin, a finnish owned bordeaux stuff (white sweet wine). Appreciate that they have found a finnish version for this but unfortunately I wasn't very impressed with this. The 2004 porto was the best product of their list.

I also tasted the blueberry saison. Not very special I'm afraid. But Napue tonic was really good and served with the right condiments.

One interesting thing was that on the way to PVR, before the half way they had run out of coca cola light, mineral water and the moroccan mint tea. I understand that they don't have that much space on the plane but do tea bags take that much space? On the way back I had one moroccan mint tea before going to bed. After several hours of sleep, I asked for one more tea with the breakfast. The FA asked whether I had saved the teabag. FTW, I thought. She saw I had an empty table and she was the one cleaning it. Was I supposed to put the tea bag in my pocket and keep it there for breakfast?



Napue Gin&Tonic

FFlash

BD1959

Hi All,

Excuse me if I'm asking a common-asked question ...

The J menus are up for my JFK-HEL; HEL-LHR; LHR-HEL; HEL-HKG (part of my RTW) later this month; sadly reindeer isn't listed for any of my flights.

How do you pre-order a specific dish? When I go to order my meal using the MMB function, it only offers what looks like a Special Meals options list (vegan, gluten-free etc) ... ??

Regards,

BD

intuition

The reindeer is part of the "Meals designed for you" concept, available for pre-order on all longhaul flights departing HEL. So it should be available on your HEL-HKG. Do note, they are not part of the regular menu (from which you can also pre-order the option you prefer. ), they are a separate menu adding three more options for the main.

The Reindeer is labled "Chef's gourmet" in the pre-order option, you should be able to see that in Manage my booking.

BD1959

Thanks intuition. "Chef's gourmet" now ordered - let's hope it isn't liver!!

Regards,

BD

ffay005

My SGN-HEL today was a positive surprise, mainly because I expected a BusinessLight experience and a delayed flight. Well, the flight landed 15 min before STA and the service was the usual non-tray, appetizer - main course - dessert style. The only lightish thing was that the amuse bouche had been replaced by a small ramekin of nuts. All in all, both meal services were quite ok. Maybe not top notch, but better than I expected and definitely nothing to complain about.

My FA was an interesting combination of a Rosso waitress, a mom hosting highschool graduation lakkiaiset for family and friends, and AY J FA. She had no problems shouting through half the cabin, asking her colleague for some wine she had run out of, or laughing loudly with the pax, but she's also the only FA so far that has proactively offered me two glasses of water "as the salmon is so salty". I was impressed, since I sometimes ask for two glasses myself because they seldom fill those glasses soon enough. And sometimes my request makes them look at me as if I had two heads.

When she took my meal order, she informed me that the chef's special was chicken. (What a surprise!) I had to push a bit more than I would have liked before she finally went to the galley to check what kind of chicken it was – turned out it was an oriental style noodle dish. I find it strange they don't check up in advance. Chicken is chicken, yes, but there's a big difference between chicken breast and mash, or chicken noodles, etc...

For appetizer, I chose smoked salmon and scallops. Good size and tasty, absolutely nothing to complain about. AY Kitchen makes better salmon starters, but this was good, too.

For main course, I chose "Pork stew with red wine, mushroom sauce, shallots, broccoli and roasted mushrooms". It was better than it sounded, large chunks of pork and good, not overcooked vegetables in a red wine sauce. Sort of coq au vin, but with pork. While not on par with reindeer etc, it was definitely not a Y meal on real china, either. Quite ok, good taste, big portion.

For dessert, I chose NZ made vanilla ice cream, which was excellent. Better than Häagen Dazs.

I asked for the second meal about 3.5 hours before landing. This time, they had no problem serving it then (the menu suggests they’ll serve it anytime), as opposed to my NRT-HEL last month, where they insisted on serving everyone at once.

I chose Lasagna bolognese. The dish I got had never even met a lasagna, but it was good anyway. A mix of minced pork sauce, cheese and all sorts of vegetables ranging from carrots to bell peppers, all covered by a cabbage leaf. Perhaps it was a bit too fatty, but it tasted good and was hearty and filling enough.

It came on a tray together with a breadroll, some fresh fruit and a slice of heated apple pie from the kahvikutsut service, during which I had been asleep. The pie was delicious!