TonyBurr

I have flown Thai from Europe to BKK for many years, always in First and I loved the product, service and food. This month I flew Thai from BKK to Brussels on the new A350 in Business and was looking forward to it. I was totally disappointed in it. The service was wonderful, but the seat was so narrow, small and confining. It has to be one of the worst Business Class seats I have seen. When I saw the menu I was also disappointed. I am allergic to any kind of seafood and just about every course and main course was some form of seafood or fish. There was no beef, pasta or chicken. They offered me an Economy class dinner. I did not pay for Business Class to receive Economy meals. I realize that in Asia the diet is very heavy in seafood but when flying to Europe they should include basic Western meals.

Since First is going away (fewer A380's to FRA), I would not take Thai in Business again.

yauee

Can European carrier have any meal without bread or can they provide food that suitable for Asia diet?

iamamadscientist

You do know that as per beginning of August A380 is back in FRA? This was just the seasonal switch.

iamamadscientist

Well at least you can order a special Asian-Veg meal. I do not like fish either.

So when flying with Asian carriers I would choose that option as well in case there is no menu before departure available or I do not like the options available.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

RTWFF

While I usually fly Thai between Bangkok and Australia I've lowered my expectations year after year, especially around the food. The worst food innovation for me is that there seems to be only two fixed menus in Business Class - you can have the A & the B, or the C & the D, but not the A & the D. I always ask for A & D, or C & B because that's the combination I prefer on the day, and it usually produces consternation among the cabin crew, who, nevertheless, provide the combo I've asked for. I've noticed however that in Economy the choice for one meal is prawns or nothing, and the flight attendants regard me as some sort of food pervert for declining to eat prawns

BinSabai

surprised about such "disappointments" and comments!
just had this week also a long haul in J from Europe to BKK and only one of 4 choices for the main dishes was with seafood (I had by the way one of the best steaks ever on an airplane)
you have a broad choice of preorder meals or special meals to prevent getting exposed to any seafood

and yes feeding guests in countries like Thailand or Japan, it's rather difficult to avoid any plate with seafood on the table as those cuisines are very rich in seafood

iamamadscientist

Fully agree with you, same applies to SQ. You can be very sure to expect seafood or chicken. So you have to be prepared by checking the menu if available or make requests for special meals.

I did once request a non seafood meal on SQ and LH, but that was really a special meal not just a normal meal meal without seafood. So I am not going to do that again. When flying SIN-BKK on TG they had chcicken only and the flight attendant became very creative in preparing me something without chicken nor seafood. I usually do not eat both things, but depending on the meal I am eating it in case everything else is tasty. I am flying TG again in January, this time in F, and on the legs out of BKK I will just pre-order the Thai meal with the lowest seafood and chicken content. I do not want to miss that chance. Of course it would be great to be served a vegetarian Thai meal, but after my experiences with NH and SQ I think I will not order the Asian vegetarian nor the lacto-ovo meal.

BinSabai

don't go to India as there your only option left would be mutton (goat)...

CPH-Flyer

OP, if you have an allergy, you really should order special meals rather than relying on the menu.

Even items not described as seafood may contain it. Dashi almost omni present in Japanese cooking is made with a fish base, so even a beef sukiyaki dish on JAL could be a problem.

kaffir76

Sorry to hear of your disappointment but I really do love reading posts that begin with "sooo disappointed" or "I'm never flying XXX again"!
OP, in your "many years" of flying TG, how did you manage your seafood allergy in the past? Surely, neither your allergies nor the meals on TG have changed that much over the years.

I've personally not had a flight where every course contained fish or seafood, as I am sure one of the mains would usually be pork or chicken/beef, whether the Thai (pork) or Western option (chicken/beef).

(Thanks for the tip on the Asian diet being heavy on seafood, I was totally not aware of that! )

+1

wpcoe

I thought mutton was sheep. Or, does it include both sheep AND goats?

BinSabai

in India/South Asia it is usually goat meat…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton

Quote:

South Asia

The term "mutton" is applied to goat meat in most of these countries, and the goat population has been rising. For example, mutton-curry is always made from goat meat. It is estimated that over one-third of the goat population is slaughtered every year and sold as mutton. The husbanded sheep population in India and South Asian countries has been in decline for over 40 years and has survived at marginal levels in mountainous regions, based on wild-sheep breeds, and mainly for wool production.

flyerby

BinSabai

F means even one more seafood dish: caviar
Maybe starters in F contain a bit more foie gras than J's smoked salmon though