wolf72

It's catering for the malaysian's. Not western.

It's not abnormal for malaysian's to have lamb curry in the morning with rice or prata/roti canai.

wolf72

I flew KL-LHR on business around the same week as you and found the nasi lemak awful.

It is down to the caterer (Brahim)screwing up this dish with a lot of excuses (on purpose? or just being incompetant). It was a huge issue in Malaysia and most Malaysians were pretty critical about it and MAS had a huge PR problem as a result of this.

Brahim belongs to the former prime minister of Malaysia (Badawi's) brother and there is a 25 year agreement that MAS is locked into/was locked into during Badawi's leadership as Prime Minister a number of years ago during the 3rd MAS Bailout.

Then Chef Wan comes around...

Link: http://sensasimalaysia.com/chef-wan-...cam-telanjang/

Chef Wan, a celebrity chef flew MAS in Feb 2014 and made a complaint about it and it just blew up from there. What he said was true and it was a bit of a national insult of sorts because to be honest, the nasi lemak the caterers were serving was really really poor quality.

In comparison to Air Asia who sell the same dish for a fraction of the cost but on a totally different level in quality, taste.

MAS' nasi lemak = Brahim = Controversial catering contract with guaranteed profit (to Brahim) for 25 years that charges RM 3 per egg to MH that MH once wanted to re-look but had to bow down due to 'instruction'.



Giving the equation, is that why whenever there is a cost cutting measure, meals will always be the first one to be cut? More food cut = less payment to Brahim? Logically, I would do that to mitigate my losses since the Brahim contract is 'untouchable' so not to upset a certain former Prime Minister who is also the current/former (?) advisor of the airline.

That said, if Brahim were to serve the same 'nasi lemak telanjang' to say EK, I think they will be charged RM 5 per nasi lemak (RM 3 rice + RM 1.50 egg + RM 0.50 sambal) whilst MH will be charged a premium price list of RM 15 per nasi lemak (RM 10 rice + RM 3 egg + RM 2 sambal) as per guaranteed profit agreement.

From 2003 until 2028. MAS' contract comprises of 92% of Brahim's revenues, which can be translated as without MAS, Brahim would be dead in the water.

Unimatrix One

Thanks for the replies! I will give Chef on Call a try on my upcoming trip.

carrotjuice

Note Chef Wan's comment regarding the "naked" nasi lemak was in Y, not J or F.

wolf72

I flew Business class and the nasi lemak was still poor in the month of Jan/Feb/March/April 2014. I know so because I flew the morning flights out of KUL to LBU on their 737-400/800's.

tycosiao

Same sentiments on the basis lemak in J.

The satays are good though

The lounge offerings are rather poor too. Alcoholic drinks are too far away from the lounge.

Typing this in the KUL MH lounge.

BadgerBoi

I've enjoyed the nasi lemak, love the satays. The nasi lemak often runs out, so if you really have your heart set on it see if you can order early.

Agree about the lounge, I visited it soon after it reopened and it was already looking tatty. Food offerings are poor and agree about the location of the booze. Also not MH's fault but a lot of parents see the lounge as a giant playground for their little darlings who enjoy screaming and racing around the place. This has happened every time I visit, recently we had to use our carry ons to erect a barricade to stop them running into our chairs.

carrotjuice

I just had the nasi lemak recently on a flight to PVG, and it's every bit as enjoyable as I remember it to be.

JP1981

I traveled from KUL to LHR yesterday and had booked my meals in advance using chef on call; beef rib for lunch and lamb shank for dinner. I was the last person served in the smaller front business class cabin, only to be told that they had given my meal away to another passenger. Definitely a first world problem but quite annoying, especially as the only remaining option was lamb shank, which I ended up eating again about 8 hours later!

lcpteck

That's strange, this shows the Chef on Call service is not guaranteed? What a bummer.

sentosa

I also flew from KUL to LHR yesterday, (MH2) and had prebooked Chef on Call
I thought the meals had deteriorated in quality from our last flight in March.
Yesterday I had ordered Grilled Fillet Mignon, it was tough to cut and was raw inside. I asked for it to be recooked,the FA suggested I change to the Grilled Beef which was on the main menu, as it was well done, to which I agreed.
It came on a cold plate and was just as raw and uncooked as the Fillet Mignon!! Gave up and had some snacks later.
For Breakfast I has Sweet and Sour Snapper which was quite nice.It is served in a pepper,which was uncooked.

On the flight from LHR to KL last month, I had ordered Grilled Ribeye which was well done, but tough.
For Breakfast I had ordered Brioche French Toast and it was delicious, came with fruit compote and maple syrup.
Think I will avoid the beef in future.

Felt there was a poorer selection of food in KL Golden lounge and, most disappointing of all, no longer any tubs of Ice Cream !!!!!!!
I did ask and was told I could request a scoop, not quite the same as a little tub!

wolf72

The standards of food on board business class on MH have dropped terribly under the current caterers. I think this has been pretty obvious for much of 2014.

The food options, choices and standards in the golden lounge for domestic is pretty bad. One main dish, and white rice. Same sandwich's every month with no changes. I mean, come on! Surely the chef can come up with better selections than this!

Business class lounge at the international section also needs serious improvement on meal options and choices. It could be so much better than this. So much better!

And for goodness sakes, anyone who say's the nasi lemak served on business or economy class does not know proper nasi lemak. It's horrible nasi lemak! Even the Air Asia nasi lemak beats MH nasi lemak by a mile and a half! And it costs half the price MAS are paying the caterers!

Unimatrix One

I tried chef on call last week, and it worked great. And the meals overall were fantastic. I was really impressed by the quality and quantity. They easily beat the meals I had on Singapore Airlines three years ago.

lcpteck

Any recommendations for Ex-KUL (MH52) and Ex-KIX (MH53)?

Ex-KUL is a redeye (2350hrs) and Ex-KIX is a morning flight (1100hrs).

dfs24

For 52, depends on what you eat for breakfast.

1. Cod Papilotte is nice
2. Avoid the pan fried cod with soy glaze

For 53,

1. Beef sukiyaki
2. Grilled Chicken Thigh with rosemary