Eh. It was worth the wait.

Oops - long day back at work yesterday. Flights were 9/9/ and 9/11. Will correct post accordingly.

AS 667 DFW-SEA 9/14 dinner. Hot nuts, salad with Greek dressing, ravioli with vodka sauce (i think) and a spaghetti squash/pine nut side, and 2 cookies for desert.

Service on this flight was pretty good. Drink orders and meal selections were made soon after lift off. We started out with the Nicoise Salad and a warm roll. Entree was the Pork Chop with the Peach BBQ sauce, Polenta and Garlic green beans. The other option was the Gemelli Ricotta with Tomato sauce. I chose the Pork chop after seeing mixed reviews here. It was tasty and not dry, but just a bit chewy. The BBQ sauce was tangy and sweet with the polenta being a bit dry and sticky. Dessert was the Caramel Budino and that was pretty good as well.

With Humpy's & Silver Gulch at ANC, you could have kept the buzz going while getting some really great food.

AS #140 ANC-PDX
Today, 9/19/13
Scheduled departure 11:45 AM
Lunch

Pressed-formed turkey-product sandwich on a crustly roll, crisp hearts of romaine side salad with cilantro dressing, along with a Margarita flavored Seattle Chocolate (white chocolate with hints of lime and salt).

Please see the companion "Discussions" thread for additional commentary.

I'm on AS #140 right now, ANC to PDX. Our lunch in F is a sandwich made of press-formed turkey parts and a side salad. And a chocolate.

Back in Y they have the option of the (by comparison) magnificent cheese plate or a pulled pork BBQ sandwich that's made with real meat, not processed byproducts.

Yes, lunch in F is "free" but the quality is questionable. IMO this lunch is inferior to the Y product.

Now tell me this ... why can't First have a lunch that's better than what's available in Coach? Or at least one that's equivalent to Y class (but free with the ticket/upgrade)?

That has been a topic for quite some time. You can, however, ask for the fresh meal from Y after all of Y has been offered the opportunity to purchase same, and it will be complimentary. (Shelf stable boxes do not apply)

The issue with this suggestion is that it's not an appropriate solution to the lackluster catering in first class. I don't want to feel like I'm asking for a favor when I want to be fed something other than a pigeon breast with a side of lawn clippings and a small chocolate.

They really just need to cater F with the Y BOB and be done with it. I've stopped eating the food up front and now I just ask for a leftover cheese plate once the Y service has finished.

At the end of the day, it really is like being on a flying bus and the food is nothing to write home about, but I appreciate not having to worry about grabbing something to eat while in transit to/from the flight.

Here's the issue with what you're saying. There is always going to be someone that doesn't want the catered meal in First Class. It may just be because they don't like what's being offered or they have special meal needs but not everyone is always going to be satisfied no matter how many options you have. I suppose a solution could be that First Class customers could have the option of pre-ordering a meal from Coach instead of their FC meal. Instead of catering a FC meal, they would simply be given a meal from the Coach cabin if it was pre-ordered. If this is the route that they went then there would have to be parameters put into place as far as deadlines go, etc. This would mean that upgrades within a particular time frame would only get what was left, either a FC meal or the no-shows pre-ordered Coach meal. It would be like going back to the old days when last minute upgrades were told that they wouldn't have a meal catered for them, except that there would be something, maybe just not that persons choice of a meal. Anyway, I suppose that's one option - still, not everyone will be happy.

They do on some fliights or even bring them out twice...maybe thats just on one route

9/21/13
AS #753 ATL-PDX
Scheduled departure 5:10 PM
Dinner Service

Service didn't begin until long after take-off due to turbulence. Also, catering did not stock menus for this flight. Our flight attendant had to put on her A Game and stepped up to the task of describing the meal choices when she took drink orders.

The starter of Nicoise salad could almost have been an entree salad given a slightly larger portion. An ample portion of tuna, crisp-tender green beans, sliced potatoes (Yukon golds, I think) along with mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette. (It might not be a bad idea for AS to consider replacing some of the less successful small plates on shorter flights with the Nicoise in an entree-size portion.)



Two entree choices were gemelli pasta ricotta or pork chop with peach BBQ sauce. I had the pasta recently so opted to give the chop another chance, to see if ATL catering did a better job with preparation than other facilities. They did.

The chop was thick enough to remain tender and moist during the cooking and reheating process. Peaches in the sauce were tender and provided a sweet-tart accompaniment for the pork. Green beans were crisp-tender and well seasoned. The polenta? That was another story. It was rubbery, flavorless and bore an uncanny resemblance to the foam insulation found inside walls.



Dinner rolls were served from a basket about half-way through the entree course. Personally, I would have preferred to have mine with my salad.

Dessert wasn't given a formal name, just "pudding with crushed cookies." It lived up to the description and - IMO at least - was vastly superior to the rock-hard-peaches-in-a-glass served on the previous flight.



Toward the end of the flight a ramekin of warmed, mixed nuts was served with the final drink service.

All in all, the meal in its entirety was superior to many I've had on AS flights this year.

9/22 AS23 ORD-SEA (breakfast) - Turkey Benedict with fruit (apple/pineapple slice plus a strawberry).

any insight on Mainland-Hawaii flight October meals? More specifically lunch

I just booked this routing, using miles, for a trip 2 weeks from now, all legs in F...
SEA-LAS on AS (duration 2:17)
LAS-DFW on AA (duration 2:50)
DFW-TPA on AA (duration 2:20)

I was able to immediately go online with AA and pre-reserve ^ my CHOICE ^ of meals on each AA leg. From Vegas I will be enjoying a chicken curry wrap with chilled couscous salad instead of the lemongrass salmon with mixed greens. Then out of Dallas I chose the breast of chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese, complemented by emmental potatoes au gratin and buttered haricots verts over the sacchetti pasta with alfredo sauce and sundried tomato coulis.

Unfortunately on my first class breakfast flight out of Seattle on AS I have NO IDEA what, if anything, I'll be having and forget about a choice or pre-ordering. How is it that AA can serve meals AND offer choices in F on shorter duration flights like these and AS can't. Even a 3-1/2 hour flight from SEA to ANC on AS won't get you a choice or anything as nice as what AA is serving on these short hops.

Some may say that this is why AA is in bankruptcy, I'd like to think that this is their way out of it. Because if they ever came into the market that is 90% of my travel, I would status match and be all over them like white on rice.