Coffeemadman

I'm going to be flying with both airlines next month, and I'm looking at whether to pre-order a vegan meal, or hope that there is a decent vegetarian meal on board.

Given it's the Middle East, I expect a slightly meat-heavy menu.

Has anyone had any vegan food on board? Short flights, so I'll be in economy.

lall

There should be no question as to why your choice of vegan menu would not be served. These airlines have a big client base in India and they are bound to serve vegan and vegetarian food.
I am a vegetarian and my wife is a vegan. We have flown Qatar, Emirates and Etihad at least 20 times in total in the past two years and not once did we have any issue with our choice of meals. Although we have always flown J, there is no reason why this would be different in Y. Enjoy your flight.

Coffeemadman

Thanks for the reply. Did you pre-order the vegan food? What was it like?

lall

Yes.

Please note that vegan and vegetarian meals are considered as special meals by all airlines and they have to be necessarily pre-ordered at least 48 hrs before the flight. Jain food (also strictly vegetarian - but without onions, garlic etc.) is pure vegetarian (no meat, no fish, no eggs).

Vegan dishes sometimes come as indian vegetarian (spicy) but more often consist of pasta with sauce and boiled vegetables and salads or Chinese dishes without meat, fish or eggs.

Generally speaking, middle eastern airlines serve very tasty food. So no worries IMO

Romanianflyer

I really doubt MEA and RJ have a big client base in India as AFAIK neither of the two airlines even offer flights to the subcontinent! Unlike the Gulf States, migrant workers from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh are also quite uncommon in Jordan and Lebanon.

While you are spot-on that good veg Indian food can be had in the Gulf States and on their airlines due to strong links/traffic with the subcontinent, you can't simply conclude that meals of MEA ans RJ will be as good based on what Emirates or Qatar might serve.

It would also highly depend which flights OP is actually taking. Eg flying BEY-IST the meal will be prepared in Beirut, but if flying DTW-AMM the flight is likely to be catered from Detroit. Obviously this can make a big difference in quality!

BEYFlyer

I have flown MEA a lot in the last year (in business) and on every single flight (to/from Europe mind you), there was a vegetarian option (usually a pasta of some kind) - nothing vegan though (well, the salad that came with the meal and served in a separate bowl). Breakfast out of Beirut has almost always been eggs or a local dish called kenafeh (sort of like having pancakes with melted cheese in the middle and a lot of syrup on top). The starter for lunch/dinner is almost always non-vegetarian (salmon or shrimp or the like); breakfast usually has a type of locally strained yogurt called labneh and an assortment of cheese (halloum, cheddar and the like with some dried fruits and nuts). I would certainly pre-book the vegetarian and/or vegan option before the flight to make sure you get the food you want, especially in economy.

BA6501

The VGML on MEA is pretty good, IME.