I have done the same by checking the wines on Vivino, and the Zapata Malbec is now my go to wine on UA Polaris flights.

I saw The Mascot on the online list for an upcoming flight - I�m not familiar with it so looked it up and 😳, like $175 retail. Pricier than the Shafer One Point Five they had for a bit which was fantastic. The still have the Aperture on the menu so thinking it may be an uphill battle with the FA - no, I want the OTHER Cabernet. 🤣
FWIW the Malbec is great (better than the Aperture IMO) and the last Pinot Noir was quite good (can�t remember what exactly, it was fuller bodied than typical), and I�m pretty picky about Pinot.

Has anyone ordered a kids meal in Polaris on SFO-HKG or similar recently? I assume it is the usual chicken tenders and potato wedges, but wondering what it is for the second and third meals... perhaps we are better off with the adult menu.

I do the same thing, and also tried the Zapata Malbec on my CDG - EWR flight last week and it was delicious. I thought I'd miss the Heitz but enjoying the variety so far.

Agree on the Zapata Malbec! It's fantastic and drinks really well inflight.

-FlyerBeek

I have a feeling there are some big changes coming to Polaris (and potentially domestic) catering starting in January. Usually, menus are loaded by this time for the next month, however, none of my January flights have menus available. It was also hinted by Andrew Nocella at in the United for Business session he did that there's major announcements coming in Q1 for inflight experience.

Another support here for the wines as of late. I've enjoyed the Shafe One Pont Five, The Aperture Cabernet, and the Robert Peterson Pinot Noir. I've asked for second full glasses and have really enjoyed savoring the experiencing. I'll give the Malbec a try this weekend - thank you in advance for the generous pour.

Or there�s a tech glitch or otherwise simpler reason for the delay. I�d hold my breath on such grand proclamations coming to fruition until we see the actual details.

It had been since the springtime that I flew proper Polaris... at least on my recent few flights, the meal quality dropped off substantially.

12/2 LAX-MEL

- Appetizer: Lump crab salad vs. Tomato tartare with tapenade. Crab salad was okay andmuch better than the tapenade (my wife got the latter).
- Salad: Mesclun & baby kale with smoked almonds, charred endive, and pickled brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts were raw, not pickled, and the "smoked almonds" were candied, not smoked (though the tastiest part of the salad).
- Main (me): Center cut sirloin with crispy smashed potatoes and asparagus. (Wife): Rolled carrot cannelloni.
- Arrival (me): Cream cheese scrambled eggs with sausage, potato, and roasted tomato. (Wife): Blend of oats in honey and yogurt.

I wasn't thrilled with any of the choices for the mains but went with the beef as the seeming least offensive choice to my stomach (probably should have gone for the chicken). Ugh, the beef was incredibly overcooked, to the point it needed to be served with a bottle of ketchup. I used to find the beef at least edible, but this was grey all the way through and rubbery. My wife got the carrot cannelloni as she said she takes Airplane!'s advice and doesn't get the fish (unless we're flying to Japan)... it was so-so.

The midflight snacks were better than the mains we had; I had the herbed ricotta with tomatoes and my wife the black bean empanadas.

Breakfast was okay, though I made the mistake of getting the eggs on one of the flights because the FA didn't think they had my original request--turns out she confused the oatmeal with what she was calling "fruit and yogurt." The FA serving my wife's side of the cabin got the oats for her, and I gave them a try and found them the better choice.


12/9 BNE-SFO

- Appetizers: Seared tuna with apple cider salad and beet root vs. Dolmades with hummus. I got the tuna, which was way overcooked (sensing a theme here), but which paired well with the beetroot. My wife got the dolmades which was actually pretty good.
- Salad: Baby greens with oven-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. The tomatoes were cherry tomatoes, not "oven dried." Whatever.
- Mains (Me): Seared beef filet with chive and garlic mashed potatoes. (Wife): Yellow veg coconut curry.
- Arrival (me): Coconut chia pudding. (Wife): Bread pudding. The chia was tasty if unappetizing in presentation (looked like a cold grey blob). The bread pudding was way too sweet.

I wasn't thrilled with any option and chose the beef to see if they could screw it up as badly as the outbound trip. It was overcooked again (surprise), but at least tender and flavorful unlike the trip out. The potatoes, though, were atrocious--how do you mess up mashed potatoes on an airline meal? The vegetable curry was way too pumpkin-flavored and neither enough coconut nor curry.

My final thought is that the cheese plate on the return BNE-SFO was actually very good (the outbound was meh). The blue cheese and the brie were both quite tasty and the cheddar edible. The outbound trip was a bland gouda, a bland parm, and a bland cheddar.

Wonder what to preorder ex-DXB:
- Roasted chicken saffron kebab: Roasted chicken saffron kebab with black-eyed peas, spinach, chili, rice and tomato sauce
- Salmon confit: Salmon confit with ginger, vegetable farro, asparagus and truffle butter
- Paneer makhani: Paneer makhani with basmati rice, aloo capsicum masala and yellow dal
- Roasted lamb leg: Roasted lamb leg with garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus and Cafe de Paris butter

IAD-FRA
12/8
Preordered the Sirloin, which I knew was a risk but I wasn't interested in any other options and figured I could eat the sides. If I knew it was going to be this bad I would have gone for the fish and picked through the mushrooms lol. Unfriendly crew who forgot about me twice. Never any refills or coffee or tea offered with dessert. Probably the worst crew I've had in Polaris in recent memory.







Salad was alright, the almonds were the best part. The crab appetizer didn't have much flavor. Nuts and bread were cold.





Sirloin tasted ok but was cooked to death. I didn't eat most of it. The sides were fine.






Not offered any cream, sugar or cup of ice with the cold brew coffee. Fruit, sausage and hashbrown were decent, the cream cheese eggs were very dry.



Croissant looks more like a real croissant but still doesn't have the taste or texture of one.

I'm actually not that picky but this was pretty bad. Sorry for the negative post, but not much to rave about on this flight!

UA164, EWR-DXB, Tuesday, Dec 9th,

Tried the Center Cut Sirloin, as Airportbeer mentioned above, tasted okay, but overcooked (and I like my steaks well done). Similarly, I only took a few bites.




I had the Tomato Tartare, which was very tasty.

The trouble is, everything came all at once. Starter, salad and main. Everyone got express dining, which I thought was odd given the duration of the flight - plenty of time to the different courses, but I guess given the late time of departure it makes sense as most people probably want to get some sleep.

The crew were amazing! Genuinely all were super attentive, kind, smiling and just super nice.

NRT-EWR a few days ago.

Pre-ordered the Center Cut Sirloin. Fell asleep at 10'000 feet and missed out. No regrets.

That hashbrown patty looks identical to the ones you get at aldi. $3 for a tray.

Agree. I'll take my $1.99 Dunkin hashbrowns over any airline hashbrowns i have had.