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Finnair Long Haul Business Class Food

Old Apr 14, 2018, 1:56 am
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Longhaul menus are supposed to be visible in MMB, but it is often broken. At the time of publishing, this link works.
Collection of current longhaul J menus (finnair.com)
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Finnair Long Haul Business Class Food

Old May 3, 2019, 11:26 pm
  #331  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
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Originally Posted by greenteamuimui
Flying the new LAX - HEL route AY002 next week, saw that the options are as follow:

Option 1
Beef Wagyu with celeriac and potato purée, kale and butternut squash
Option 2
Poached salmon with creamy lemon-dill sauce and Jasmine rice
Option 3
Chef ́s Special

Anyone has insights on what the Chef's special could be?
Interesting, Options 1 & 2 were the exact same ones on my JFK-HEL this week. AY apparently uses the same catering company at both outstations. And my guess is, this company preapres all meals at some random location in the US and transports them deep frozen to the airports. Explains why the food is so terribly bland.

JFK-HEL catering sure leaves a lot to be desired. Amuse bouche was okay. A small piece of scallop and some marinated bell peppers.

The tray (one-tray service) came 90 minutes after departure, which is very late considering the shortish flight time.

Appetizer choices were tuna or chicken, and believe it or not, I had a hard time telling which one I got. It was supposed to be smoked tuna tartar and was absolutely tasteless.

For main course, I had preordered poached salmon with creamy lemon-dill sauce, Jasmine rice. It had stayed in the oven far too long so there was no evidence of any sauce, just some dried remains. The salmon was dry and tasteless, the rice equally so. Basically it was white rice and a piece of cooked, non-spiced fish.

Dessert was Hagen Dazs.

The best part probably was breakfast, a plate of cold cuts and a heated croissant.

Both ways, AY used a J-32 plane. For many airlines, JFK is a premium route with lots of demand for J, even F. Its sad to see that this is not the case for AY, and it shows.
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Old May 4, 2019, 3:26 am
  #332  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
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Here are the pics of my latest AY J-experience on my favorite flight, ORD-HEL. Service was very nice, got nice greeting from the chief purser, and the young lady who kept serving me during the flight was a delight! Funny, informal yet professional. The meal...? You'll be the judge of that, here you go....

Very nice scallop amuse bouche...but to be honest, I would actually prefer warm nuts which would last more than 10 seconds to indulge with my beverage.

Chicken and potato salad appetizer. Meh...

Salmon main. This was maybe the highlight of the meal although still quite average. But okay for airplane meal.

Chocolate cake and HD as dessert. For once, the ice cream was served in right temperature, so not rock solid as usual.

Savory breakfast, I guess it did the trick.
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Old May 4, 2019, 3:28 am
  #333  
 
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The presentation of the appetizer looks quite sloppy with the water all over the plate...
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Old May 4, 2019, 3:36 am
  #334  
 
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This ORD main meal is exactly the same as my meal from JFK, including the amuse. While I chose the tuna appetizer, the other choice was chicken with potato salad. Oh, and FAs had not put any dill on my salmon, and the sauce had disappeared and turned into a couple of sticky patches on the plate.

Did you unwrap those Fazer chocolates yourself, or was that done in the galley?
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Old May 4, 2019, 3:50 am
  #335  
 
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Originally Posted by ffay005
Did you unwrap those Fazer chocolates yourself, or was that done in the galley?
This is how it was served.
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Old May 4, 2019, 4:01 am
  #336  
 
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For the comparison, this is what was served on AY6 in the end of March. The service was pretty average, the platinum greeting was type "ai, moi, moi taas" as I was flying with the same crew on the outbound flight.

Scallop amuse bouche, this was fine.

One tray dinner, appetiser was forgettable tuna tartar, but the main was surprisingly good beef, better than chef Myllymki's signature creation ex-HEL.

HD, rock solid.

Breakfast, adequate considering the short flight time.
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Old May 4, 2019, 4:40 am
  #337  
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Originally Posted by DALtoAAL
... the platinum greeting was type "ai, moi, moi taas" as I was flying with the same crew on the outbound flight.
...
If there ever is a moment when the boilerplate phrase "Welcome back, good to see you onboard again" really really makes sense, this was it.
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Old May 4, 2019, 5:44 am
  #338  
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Helsinki to Beijing and back. On both directions it was one-tray service, which I somehow can understand on the overnight outbound leg of only 7hrs, but definately not on daytime inbound leg of 8hrs, when there is plenty of time for anything! When I asked about it on the way back, the reply was that as the outbound sector is one tray service due to short flight time, they cannot do it another way on the inbound, which to my understanding is total b******t.

On inbound flight they didn't have any menu cards, as "they were accidently loaded onto some other flight", but the choices were explained to each passenger the way they do it on intra-European flights. The menu, however was not the one you available online (I checked it right away when hearing no menu cards on this flight), but something different. That either explains why they didn't have the menu cards, or that the menu available online is outdated.

Service on inbound flight was great: professional, unhurried and friendly, especially one of the FAs that at the first glance looked like having eaten just lemons for breakfast, lunch and dinner turned out to be the highlight of the crew. It just proves, once again, that appearance can be deceiving. Now I also know what a real free-flow champagne service means 😅

One again: the dishes, especially ex-HEL, taste so much better than they look. Finnair really should start plating the mains onboard instead of just heating them up, it would take the dishes also visually to the level they mostly deserve!


HEL-PEK: Smoked fish mousse with crispy rye bread as amuse (excellent). Cold smoked salmon with horseradish coleslaw by chef Myllymki for starter and for main smoked arctic char and salsify pure with dill seasoned white wine sauce. The starter (salmon) was good and the main (arctic char) was delicious. But somehow the started (roasted carrots with blue cheese creme) my companion next to me had, looked and also tasted better. Very good dinner, but this one tray service just doesn't do justice to it!


HEL-PEK Dessert: Strawberry cheese cake, tasty, even though some guys here are of another opinion. Yammy Jymy Coconut-Lime ice cream.



PEK-HEL Lunch: Starter... hmmm... well, it was ok, but let's put it this way: nothing memorable. Main: salmon that was bland (some pepper and salt did the trick, however) and overcooked, but did it's job of filling stomach. Anyway, this one-tray service just sucks.



PEK-HEL Dessert: Best part of the lunch, cheesecake was tasty.


PEK-HEL Light meal: Chicken and noodles, that was tasteless before adding some salt and pepper, that turned it into very tasty meal.
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Old May 4, 2019, 5:56 am
  #339  
 
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Couldn't agree more with the previous poster regarding the one tray concept: it sucks big time! Ay should have regular, multi-course service as a standard on each and every long haul flight they operate, and the one tray service as second option for those who want to have the expedited service. Everything else is just lame. Period!
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Old May 4, 2019, 9:19 am
  #340  
 
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What is wrong with one tray concept?
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Old May 4, 2019, 9:46 am
  #341  
 
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Originally Posted by Purjelentaja
Helsinki to Beijing and back. On both directions it was one-tray service, which I somehow can understand on the overnight outbound leg of only 7hrs, but definately not on daytime inbound leg of 8hrs, when there is plenty of time for anything! When I asked about it on the way back, the reply was that as the outbound sector is one tray service due to short flight time, they cannot do it another way on the inbound, which to my understanding is total b******t.
I'd say it's only semi-BS. They'd need to provide PEK catering with different kinds of plates etc if they want to do a different kind of service on the inbound.

Solution? Proper trayless service both ways!

Originally Posted by Purjelentaja
On inbound flight they didn't have any menu cards, as "they were accidently loaded onto some other flight", but the choices were explained to each passenger the way they do it on intra-European flights. The menu, however was not the one you available online (I checked it right away when hearing no menu cards on this flight), but something different. That either explains why they didn't have the menu cards, or that the menu available online is outdated.
This sounds a bit like a last-minute equipment swap, maybe? Maybe you got DEL or JFK catering? But of course, they should have had a matching menu loaded, nevertheless.

Originally Posted by Purjelentaja
One again: the dishes, especially ex-HEL, taste so much better than they look. Finnair really should start plating the mains onboard instead of just heating them up, it would take the dishes also visually to the level they mostly deserve!
At AY Kitchen we saw how the "plating" works in practice: they empty a black plastic bowl of frozen food on a china plate... (Doesn't apply to all mains, but to those that come from Germany)

Originally Posted by Purjelentaja
EL-PEK Dessert: Strawberry cheese cake, tasty, even though some guys here are of another opinion. Yammy Jymy Coconut-Lime ice cream.
I find the cake tasty, too. The ice cream isn't actually ice cream, as in there's no cream in it, so it's vegan. I was quite surprised to learn this because it tastes and feels very much like real ice cream to me. All other vegan "ice creams" I've tried leave a lot to be desired except this Jymy Coconut-Lime. It's excellent, fresh and tasty.
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Old May 4, 2019, 9:47 am
  #342  
 
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Originally Posted by OH-LGG
What is wrong with one tray concept?
One-tray is McDonalds, trayless is Savoy.
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Old May 4, 2019, 10:51 am
  #343  
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Originally Posted by ffay005
I'd say it's only semi-BS. They'd need to provide PEK catering with different kinds of plates etc if they want to do a different kind of service on the inbound.
Solution? Proper trayless service both ways!
👍

Originally Posted by ffay005
This sounds a bit like a last-minute equipment swap, maybe? Maybe you got DEL or JFK catering? But of course, they should have had a matching menu loaded, nevertheless.
No printed menus was from PEK. Actually I just checked the menus online and it's been changed, so obviously for one reason or another the menu catered from PEK had been changed and they hadn't the current ones onboard. Now, what is seen online sounds familiar: starter Blinis with smoked mackerel and salmon tartar. Main Pan fried salmon, white wine sauce and potato terrine with lemon. Both ok, but tastewise far from the quality one usually gets on flights ex-HEL

Originally Posted by ffay005
At AY Kitchen we saw how the "plating" works in practice: they empty a black plastic bowl of frozen food on a china plate... (Doesn't apply to all mains, but to those that come from Germany)
To my understanding that was for intra-European dishes. At least I understood that long-haul dishes are done in-house. Or did I miss something?

Originally Posted by ffay005
I find the cake tasty, too. The ice cream isn't actually ice cream, as in there's no cream in it, so it's vegan. I was quite surprised to learn this because it tastes and feels very much like real ice cream to me. All other vegan "ice creams" I've tried leave a lot to be desired except this Jymy Coconut-Lime. It's excellent, fresh and tasty.
Really? That's a surprise to me as well, but anyhow, all Jymys I have tasted have been very good! And so was the strawberry cake, and generous portion as well!
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Old May 4, 2019, 11:07 am
  #344  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Helsinki-Vantaa APT, Finland
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Originally Posted by ffay005
One-tray is McDonalds, trayless is Savoy.
Thats why McDonalds is great. Efficient eating, no waiting, no hphp. Eat in 5 minutes and move on.

Waiting for trays is really hphp. All on one and that's it.
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Old May 4, 2019, 11:17 am
  #345  
 
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Originally Posted by OH-LGG
Thats why McDonalds is great. Efficient eating, no waiting, no hphp. Eat in 5 minutes and move on.

Waiting for trays is really hphp. All on one and that's it.
When it takes the crew 90 minutes to bring that tray, like on my recent JFK-HEL, you can't really talk about efficiency anymore. If service were efficient, they would have served all three courses in that 90 minutes, without any trays...
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