GW McLintock

I think this is the first time I'm seeing Plane Eats with the new caterer... that looks really good. Especially that chef's salad and the burger.

-J.

TastyPlaneEats

The burger was a little too well done for me, it would have been better if it was medium … if that’s even a choice. To me, it tasted the same as the previous caterer (before the change in November).

The chefs salad was definitely good.

GW McLintock

I imagine these foods are simple enough that they're catered by ABM or whoever actually preps the food. It probably is the same as pre-Mint 2.0.

I suppose to make the burger medium you would take it out of the oven a couple of minutes early. That's specifically against policy, but it wouldn't stop me from asking

-J.

bgriff

Had the opportunity to try Mint for the first time recently thanks to some attractive fares published a few months back, and have heard many great reviews so was looking forward to it. The good news, for the purpose of this thread, is that the meals were very good. Every other element of the experience was so-so to very bad. First the meals, and then some other thoughts below.

B6 1757 EWR-LAS
Westbound Lunch/Dinner
June 2021


Clockwise from top left:
VANILLA GELATO marmalata, lemon pistachio crumble
WEDGE SALAD crispy parmigiano frico, buttermilk, lemon
ROASTED SHRIMP smoked paprika aioli, garlic breadcrumbs, lemon
SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER tuscan spices, salted cracklin

Everything was very tasty -- the pork was a particular standout, it doesn't look like much in the photo but it was super juicy, cooked to perfection, and incredibly flavorful. The shrimp was also solid, maybe a little over-sauced but still very tasty.


B6 748 LAS-JFK
Eastbound Lunch/Dinner
June 2021


Clockwise from top left:
CHOPPED SALAD salami, provolone, roasted tomatoes, olives
VANILLA GELATO roasted rhubarb, olive oil cake crumble
CHICKEN CACCIATORE tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, rosemary breadcrumbs
SEA TROUT cannellini bean puree, roasted tomatoes, garlic breadcrumbs

Nothing blew me away like the pork did on the outbound but it was solid. The chicken was not actually what I ordered but it had been a long day (see below) so I didn't bother raising a fuss, and it was pretty good. The salad was probably the best of these savories, which is a bit of a read of the others but also it was a particularly good salad.


Other thoughts
Both of my flights were delayed (long other stories I won't bore you with), which I wasn't entirely surprised by knowing JetBlue, but that certainly set a negative tone going into both, and it was remarkable how different the recovery experiences from there ended up being.

The outbound EWR-LAS mostly ended up being what I'd heard Mint could be, which more or less made up for the frustrations over the delay -- super friendly, attentive service, if anything maybe a little too attentive but I could certainly enjoy flying with that crew again. There were a few things that I'd tweak about the service delivery, including: having meal service start 90 minutes after takeoff on a 10pm flight seems like a bad choice to me; there were some weird approaches to service (like not actively offering headphones, only giving them if specifically requested); and there wasn't enough personalization -- it seemed they didn't think anyone would want to go to bed right away and I heard them offering eyeshades only after I had already started trying to sleep. But overall it was pretty good.

The return was an embarrassment. It was a worse, more chaotic delay, which didn't help, but there were a very long list of things that went wrong from there. It seems the caterers loaded few or no blankets, pillows, and amenity kits, and I can understand that there was a rush initially (the caterers and cleaners were at first what delayed us) so things might not have gotten checked, but then we ended up sitting at the gate for several more hours due to a variety of other issues and apparently the FAs never noticed that those items were missing and tried to get them, or didn't care. There were also issues with the IFE and wifi, which isn't the FAs' fault but they were particularly unresponsive in trying to fix the issues or apologizing. And there was no charm whatsoever to the service, with no introduction of themselves or the product and cabin, and at least in my case a wrong meal order.

Hopefully I just got especially bad luck with these flights, but I'm certainly not running back to Mint any time soon, especially not for prices significantly more than the deep discounted rate I paid.

bourbonbum

Is there dessert with breakfast? Looking at the menu, it occurs to me that no gelato is listed although most pictures posted show it.

TastyPlaneEats

Negative, no dessert with breakfast. Which pictures show dessert being served with breakfast?

cmd320

Please complain to B6 about this. It's definitely an abnormal situation and hopefully they can figure out what happened so that it does not become a trend at certain stations.

gengar

As others have mentioned, I'd suggest reaching out to B6 about these issues. Mint flights have consistently been exemplary IME and I'll be very disappointed if service levels have dropped. I'm doing your exact same flights next month (my first flights since lockdown), just in reverse, and hope I'll be able to report a better experience.

TastyPlaneEats

Anytime there’s a big/bad storm in the NYC area, JetBlue flights get all screwed up from delays, ground stops (lightning) and cancellations. I try to take morning flights to avoid the summer storm delays.

gengar

I'm just discussing onboard service. Weather is always a separate issue.

bgriff

I sent them an email focusing on the onboard service issues ... customer experience responses are delayed everywhere these days so we will see what they say when/if they get back to me.

bourbonbum

I forgot to take pictures, but figure I would share thoughts after a recent breakfast service since most posts here are for lunch/dinner. Had the westbound breakfast BOS - SFO a few days ago. Between myself and my fiance, we had everything except the salmon. Cherries were a nice light appetizer, served cut in half sans pits in a light syrup. The coconut chia pudding was a very light, healthy tasting option. Pancakes were light and fluffy, truly amazing, wish there was more since it was basically two mini pancakes. Cacio E Pepe egg tart was definitely the best overall, really great pepper flavor that went well with the Chile oil included on the tray. Overall it was an excellent tasting meal although relatively light since everything was on the small side, but that worked for us. However, those with a large appetite may be left wanting more.

Great crew, attentive service.

bgriff

Heard back and they offered $75 credit to each person in my party, which wasn't really what I was after but it is a nice enough gesture. (I think we were also supposed to get Bill of Rights compensation for the delay, which never appeared, so not sure if that was replacing the BoR credit or not.) My greater hope was that someone would speak to the FA, and no idea if that happened or not.

GW McLintock

I have never seen a Mint customer get less than $100 for anything. This is very disappointing if it is the way of the future. I can however assure you that the FA most likely heard about this.

-J.

bgriff

The one-way ticket on the flight in question cost all of $300, so that may have played into the amount, not sure. If I had paid the usual $600+ (and sometimes much more) one-way prices, it would certainly seem pretty stingy.