First Class and Picky Eaters
 

One of the attractions/benefits of first class is an elevated food experience. But as airlines get trendy with food, sometimes it turns out there is nothing appealing, or even tolerable, on the menu. What do you do in those cases? You can choose one of the special meals, but in that case you are also running a chance it is something you don't like either.

Simple -- pack your own food on board and enjoy the drinks and the lie flat seat.

Don't eat on board - eat in the lounge, or at a restaurant before boarding. If it's a flight with more than one meal service, bring your own meal for when you get hungry.

I'm not sure what you mean by "trendy," can you give an example?

The simplest thing for a picky person to do is supply their own food that conforms to their requirements.

My mom is extremely picky. When we fly together, I go for a choice of whatever they have and she pre-orders the bland meal. If I need to trade something with her, I will. But I always try to get her to grab something to take on. Sometimes there will be something in the snack basket she likes too. If I ever take her overseas, I will definitely be packing some stuff for the flight. She will pick at things for 4 or 5 hours when we fly to the other coast, but I don't want her starving for 10 hours.

If I don't know what it is on an English menu, and when it arrives on the plate, and I still don't know what it is.

Pick a predictable special meal (like fruits meal), bring your own supply of whatever you want to eat or eat in a restaurant before hand.

For quite a few airlines you can see their menu by route online. I am assuming you arent flying one of those airlines.

I'm not trying to be a smartass..... but what are you really expecting as an answer? You're 38,000 feet in the air. Obviously, you aren't going to be able to leave and get any other food.... and nobody is going to bring you anything other than what is on the plane..... and your tastes are unlikely to change during the flight. So, where does that leave you????? Eat ahead of time or bring your own food seem to be the only options unless someone here has some amazing super powers.

You have three choices:
1. Pick something on the menu.
2. Pre-order a special meal.
3. Bring your own food.

If you are flying in F on one of the ME3, you may be able to have a menu of your choosing. If anything else, it's Door 1, Door 2, or Door 3.

Not sure what you are asking beyond the obvious.

I'm not expecting an answer, I am expecting a conversation. Well, I was hoping for a conversation, anyways, not sure if I was expecting one or not.

I've not noticed airlines getting trendy with food, but there was a poster on the EK sub forum a few days ago wanting veggie meals as standard. Crazy!! If you want something non main stream deal with it yourself.

I suppose if you’re in F and the options are weird you could ask for a meal from down the back, which I suspect is likely to be more pedestrian

Or fly private and eat whatever your imagination can come up with.

I am a picky eater. There are certain fairly common foods I simply do not like the taste of. (Yes, I've tried them. Generally several times. They turn my stomach. I can't explain why.) Anyway, as a result I plan ahead so I'm not relying on airline meals to satisfy my hunger. That's not to say I never eat airline food. I enjoy the food offered about 2/3 of the time. But just in case it's one of those one-in-three times I plan ahead. On long trips I plan my schedule either to eat at the airport before my first flight or during a connection. I also pack emergency food such as protein bars and a small bag of almonds in case it's 8 hours since my last real meal and everything on the menu is a fail.

I'm picky. I can't think of anything worse than caviar and Dom. i just eat around what I don't like or order book the cook.

I eat at the airport, bring snacks and/or a sandwich and water, and tend to still eat and enjoy the meal on the plane. But there are times when I’m just so happy to have brought food onto the plane. Travel isn’t cheap and I only fly a few times a year.

I have to admit that I've never experienced the exalted heights of First Class but I do regularly fly business class on a range of *A and OW airlines (but not so much in the Far East). I can't recall anything particularly trendy on any of them - it seems to me that they stay safely about 20+ years behind the food trends in the Business Class cabin. Usually there's steak and two veg or fish and two veg, with a starter, a salad and a pudding of some sort, including cheese and biscuits.

Now, if I wanted something healthy I would be struggling, partly because it would be difficult to achieve in the air where food is necessarily pre-cooked and re-heated and mostly because it seems that the majority of people want large portions of meat and two veg. But I've never seen anything trendy on any Business Class menu.

As for the OP, who I see is based in the US, I'm really not sure that any airport outlet in the US will sell anything more suitable than what is served on the plane, unless a sandwich with lots of gunk is all that is required.

This will be my first true First Class experience. It is short - JFK-LHR and back. I am certainly not going to starve to death or anything like that. It was just as I was looking at a few light reviews and seeing what they offered for menus that I realized a lot of them I wouldn't really care for anything they offered. Which is what brought up the topic of discussion for this thread. I will probably pack away a few snacks anyways. But then what is the real difference between the two classes these days of all lie-flat seats?

I eat at the airport (just sandwich and water).

My wife doesn't love airplane food in general (not a picky eater but just not a fan of airplane meals) -- so when we fly J/F she usually gets something at the airport and then gets the bread and a glass of wine and goes straight to sleep (or if flying F, she'll get the caviar and give it to me after I finish my caviar portion :D)

For JFK - LHR, I'm assuming you are either on BA or AA (since no one else flies F on the route). In both cases your best bet is to use your F boarding pass to access and eat in the AA Flagship First Dining facility or the BA First Class Dining in their respective lounges at JFK. The food on the ground will be better than what they can make up in the air anyway (and reports are that the AA Flagship First Dining is actually very tasty -- I have not been). Then when you board you can focus on having champagne and any other food that interests you (no caviar on AA/BA) and then head to sleep to maximize the bed.

On the return, you can do the same with the BA First Class lounge at LHR (or go to the CX Lounge and grab some Dan Dan noodles).

I have said this multiple times... regardless of airline or class, if you are expecting food of same quality and experience in the air as on the ground, you will be disappointed. Airplane food is for sustenance and nothing else.

BA have recently introduced new catering on the JFK <-> LHR routes - Do&Co - which I found to be quite satisfactory in both First / Business. You can find plenty of reviews online and I think the menu was also available on 'Manage my booking' on the BA website. If you do not want to eat on board, eat in the JFK / LHR Concorde Rooms - hopefully they have something you can eat - and pack a snack for a mid-flight meal.

I recently flew BA in both F/J (they also happened to be my first BA flights ever) and they are still relatively fresh in my memory. These are the things that were different between F/J:

• Very nice check-in / security experience at the First Wing. I've only experienced the LHR T5 one but it was really nice and very quick to get through. Took me about 20mins to get through security when I was in J. The JFK T7 version of this looked more like a gimmick, but at least it's better than nothing.
• Much more personalized service in F - there are 3 crew for just (max) 14 passengers. I had some very nice chats with the crew.
• Better amenity kit, marginally. You also get pajamas in F, but not in J. I really like my BA pen with 'First' on it :)
• Better lounge (JFK and LHR Concorde Rooms vs the Club Lounges). The CCR is not mind blowing but certainly better than the J lounge, and much less crowded. I made the mistake of going to the Club Lounge in LHR T5A which was a complete madhouse. The CCR was serene compared to that.
• More private seat, and quieter cabin in 747 F than 747 J (lower deck at least). The 747 Upper Deck business class deserves to be experienced at least once, though.
• The F bed is longer and foot area is wider, I slept better in F. Not by a huge margin, but it's definitely noticeable.
• Better champagne & food in F - you get Laurent-Perrier in F. But no one flies J/F for the food or drink, I think.

If I don’t like the meals I fill up on the cheese course.

I am actually a little worried about the length crossing the pond. 6 hours, figure at least an hour off of either end for take-off and landing, plus at least a half hour for food - that leaves you like 4 hours of sleep. Almost too short. I have flown the route several times before, but I always take the day flights. But jumped on the chance to get into First this trip. I might just give up on the evening meal completely and eat in the terminal and get a little extra sleep.

Picky eaters drive me nuts. There are so many tasty things that are "weird". If there's something that makes you sick, then by all means don't eat it. But refusing to try new things just because they are new is asinine. My in-laws are like this. All they want is white bread and sweet meat. If I want vegetables beyond some overcooked canned green beans I have to bring a salad. (Their idea of salad is iceberg lettuce, shredded cheese, and drowned in ranch dressing)

Caviar is just salty. I can't shovel it down but in small quantities it's fine. I wouldn't order it though. And Champagne is always in order. :)

But I digress. I agree with the people who have said to bring your own food or make do with what's available. Airplane food is almost never good, even in premium cabins. I have heard the main exceptions are the ME3 and ANA F, but I've never flown them.

For the JFK-LHR overnight, definitely eat in the T7 CCR and go straight to bed - I managed 5 hours sleep last time on BA172. You can eat breakfast when you arrive at LHR T5 BA Arrivals lounge (there's a separate breakfast area for F passengers)

If you are picky pack your own:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a75ca067c2.jpg
LAX to ZHR Swiss Air from Petrossian Caviar LAX

I empathize with you OP. I like a lot of plain food (hehe).

I like food dry, not covered in sauces or creams or whatever. I look at a lot of the menus in trip reports, and just kinda shrug.

I've flown AA on LHR-JFK and its been okay (also the sundaes are amazing). But my honemyoon trip will have my fiancee and I in Qatar business and Etihad First, so I'm not sure I will find something as appealing for me.

Even in economy, on some flights that are allow it, I've requested the fruit plate. That's easy enough for me, and then I try to add on whatever I can (nuts, dessert, bread).

Apart from upgraded food and wine, and access to better lounges, it's all about the seat which is bigger, more private and more comfortable.

I think part of the problem is that they try and combine too many things. I think they would be better off if they had one or two really "creative" things with lots of unusual sauces and additives and sides, but then offer one or two plain options besides. In first I suppose it is more course style so you can pick and choose, but a lot of the menus seem to have to incorporate too many out there ingredients. Do you nibble away at little bits and leave the majority on the plate?

The situation not yet mentioned here is that food does not taste the same at 35,000+ feet compared to the ground, even if it is food that you normally enjoy. That is another issue for picky eaters.
That is one reason why tomato juice is so popular on flights.
Soup may taste okay to you(depending on what is on the menu). Salads seem to taste okay too.
Cheese plates and desserts should taste okay too.
If you brought a desired meal from an airport restaurant or fast food place it may also taste different up in the air but at least it is familiar to you.
For me, long haul flights destroy my appetite so I struggle to eat much regardless if it even looks good or tastes good.
Good luck with choosing something in advance in F but if you are a picky eater, just lower your expectations on how it will taste and you will survive.

The only airline I can think of that really goes a little "creative" is LH where in F they can have some odd appetizers and an occasional odd entree.

Of course if you are flying on EK/EY/QR or NH/JL/SQ/CX you have a regional menu which may seem "creative" if you are from the US but are pretty typical of local cuisine -- but even on these airlines I've always found that the F (and J) food menu always includes a western menu that has pretty straightforward fish, chicken, meat, or pasta options.

As noted in the post above -- the reason you don't get any purely plain options is the lack of taste at altitude leads airlines to put lots of sauces and additives on top of the base meat (e.g., instead of just a piece of chicken making it BBQ chicken). Though in F (at least on some) the meals are plated individually so you can sometimes ask for the sauce to be held and just have the actual steak or chicken.

Since it's your first JFK-LHR trip, your better bet is going to be on the ground in the lounges (CCR? Flagship First Dining?) and concentrate on sleep on board. Otherwise, set your expectations low food-wise and you'll be OK.

If you are picky and eat meat, order the Kosher meal!

I can speak from experience, you are literally guaranteed to get something homey and familiar every time.

No caviar or other haute cuisine ........ that some airlines insist on serving in First & business class.

Examples of KSML meals: bread roll, tuna or egg salad, some kind of Goulash / stew / chicken stir fry. Usually, it comes with rice or egg noodles as the side dish + some veggies, most times I've gotten green beans or carrots.

Other assorted side items like beet salad, potato salad, leafy greens or other yummy buys simple (and common!) items.

Desert seems to always be a dairy-free (kosher cuisine explicitly prohibit mixing meat & dairy, originating from the Old Testament prohibition of "do not cook a Kidd in its mother's milk") black forest cake.

Seriously, can't go wrong.


Plus- if you travel on Air Canada (unsure of other airline's policies) they deploy their NEW dishes & silverware via KSML passengers (this has to do with the Old Testament laws surrounding Kosher utensils and dishes)

So, not only do you get old favourites as the onboard meal, you get brand new plates and silverware.

#TheMoreYouKnow

Absolutely can go wrong- don’t some airlines still serve those stogel long life monstrosities in premium cabins?!

Yeah, some do.
But those are usually airlines like LOT who's non special meals aren't much better in the fist place.

If you travel on BA, they use Hermolis whom are arguably BETTER than BA's own J/F catering.

AC depends on the station, but out of YUL & YYZ and basically all European + MEL, SYD & TLV destinations, your guaranteed high quality.

Same goes for most European airlines as well.

I hate eggs. I wish there were more options like cereal onboard instead of eggs for breakfast.

simple. bring your own food

Yep. There is a lot of stuff that you may want, but it won't taste like you expect it to.

For my mom, her tummy is pretty sensitive and eating something on a plane that upsets you isn't a great prospect. She's had great success with the bland meal, though. Some have just been chicken with steamed veggies and she's thrilled to get that when it comes up.