Nothing new, very disappointing.

Excited to see the Mascot show up for my LAX SYD round trip, anyone have any idea how much of that they actually load? Really enjoyed the Catena Zapata Malbec last month CDG to EWR, hoping whatever is going on with United's wine list continues for a while.

Domestic or Polaris?

I'm seeing menus for both my LAX SYD RT and my EWR LAX. Both loaded earlier today.

Does anyone have or know the inflight menu for SFO to FRA - me and my family are flying on Dec 28th. I saw the preorder menu (which i have attached) which is all mostly all meat, but does the inflight menu have any other normal vegetarian options or should I just order a special veg meal? Also for the french bone in chicken breast, is the bacon on the chicken or on the side as I do not eat bacon but I do eat chicken (rest of fam is veg tho)

Some of the midflight snacks are new (for me at least):

• Deep fried sole: Deep fried sole with sichuan sauce, steamed rice and brassica
• Beef dan dan noodle: Beef dan dan noodle with Shanghai noodles, minced beef, cabbage, spring onion and carrot
• Vegetable soba noodle: Vegetable soba noodle with shiitake mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and lettuce
• Sauteed chicken: Sauteed chicken with stir fried udon in Swiss sauce, sugar snap peas and baby corn

The pre-order menu is the menu. If you are not seeing anything that you like, then order the special vegetarian meal.

And given how consistent United is inconsistent with how the meals are plated/served, I wouldn’t bank on the bacon being on the side.

the cannelloni looks veg. What’s the issue?

Oh gotcha, I thought they have a inflight menu also because this was the food that is pre order only. So what is the menu for people who do not pre order? I thought they have a menu to select from in flight also?

The rest of the family is super picky for veg dishes and just wants a normal veg dish like pasta or a sandwich, they hate the "fancy" veg options because they usually suck or they have no flavor or just a weird taste. Hence why I was wondering what the in flight menu if anyone has a picture of a recent trip or knows what the inflight menu options might be if we do not pre order any of these meal options?

Because it also gives this option

"If you'd rather wait to order until you board, we'll have a selection of items to choose from Note: Preorder exclusives, if available for your flight, are not available to select once onboard."

so it made me think there will be other meal options on the plane that are not pre order so i was wondering if anyone had an idea of what the menu might have

For Polaris flights, the pre-order mirrors what is available on board. The reason to pre-order is to make sure that you get what you want. Otherwise you risk of not getting your choice and which is why if you have not pre-ordered and you are not GS/1K, when they come around to ask what you want to eat, they take 1st and 2nd choices.

For domestic flights, the pre-order list has “special” extra items plus what would be usually catered. So more options available via pre-order than waiting to order on board. Though again, if you wait to order one of the regular catered options, they might run out of it by the time they get to you.

Not for Europe & South America, same mid-flight offerings too (ie in addition to same meals). I enjoyed mid-flight options from SIN a few weeks ago

Too bad. FWIW, only the return leg had the updated options. The outbound was the same old same old.

As an outsider it seems like the United F&B decisions and execution are very haphazard. For the premium Polaris routes: add expensive wines, but keep serving cheap slop for meals. And slow pace of rotating/adding items. But domestic flights seem to have any improvement and more choices 🤷🏻‍♂️

Here's a a new one. I never heard of it so looked it up:
Gnudi: a light pillowy dumpling from Tuscany, similar to gnocchi but made with ricotta instead of potatoes.
However....
Gnudi are a rustic dish and are difficult to find on sale because they don't store easily and must be made and eaten fresh.

Why United, why?

UA803 IAD-HND
Dec 2025

Final United meal of the year! Excellent service from the entire FA crew - I'd already flown with most of them this year. First time trying the center cut sirloin - it was actually cooked medium and was pretty good. The crab starter was great and both the Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay and Catena Zapata Malbec were incredible, as usual. Tried the Japanese pre-arrival meal (grilled yellowtail). The new UA branded chopsticks - wow (nicer than any J chopsticks I've ever seen)!

-FlyerBeek

Beef entree was not good (overcooked and bad texture/flavor) however the Halal black pepper beef with jasmine rice was amazing! Ended up getting 2 of them throughout the flight and could have skipped the beef entree entirely. Super flavorful and great texture. Bircher muesli was pretty forgettable but wasn't bad.