demkr

Yep, cause it's a redeye leaving after 9pm. So prepare for snack basket only. Also, I'm noticing more flights moved to redeyes ex-SFO (SFO-FLL and SFO-ATL for example) -- wondering if this is how they're offsetting it. Kind of inconvenient when some flights such as SFO-FLL only offer one frequency a day.

jjmoore

OK... so I had a couple of the upgraded meal flights on UA Express (Go Jet / Skywest)... they are fantastic compared to what was before.... but have also had a couple where they offer the snack basket. The snack basket is not even up to par with the snack boxes... kind of a downgrade. Now that schedules have been adjusted a bit so that the evening flights now depart after 8pm, it's tough to even find one of these flights to take that will actually have the meal service. The only one that is even within my range of opportunity is the afternoon GRR-DEN flight.

Always Flyin

I was in F yesterday from EWR to SAN.

Three choices for dinner:

Salmon
Chicken Breast
Tofu

Tofu? Really?

Spoke to the flight attendant later in the flight. No one opted for the tofu.

What a surprise.

qukslvr619

Well if they only offered the fish and chicken you'd get complaints from the vegetarian crowd so it seems UA is trying to balance it out. And bad on the FA for not referencing the "chefs tips" that are included in the galley pack outs otherwise FA could have described the "tofu" as shahi paneer an Indian dish with rice which looks similar in consistency to tofu. There isn't just a plate of tofu that they serve up that I'm aware of.

JVPhoto

No elaboration on how each thing was served? Was it the cold salmon salad, was it a hot chicken breast with sauce and sides? Was the tofu (as someone mentioned later) an Indian inspired dish?

Maybe not for the "steak and potatoes" insurance salesmen road warriors who also seem to take offense to quinoa but what's wrong with offering a healthy soy product (other than what seems like an undersell on the FA's part)?

Always Flyin

20-seats in F and no one ordered it so balancing it out didn't work.

The vegetarian crowd? This is not an Air India flight. Vegetarians are a miniscule minority of the population of the U.S. If someone falls that far outside the mainstream, bring your own food.

It would be a better choice if UA offered pasta instead of tofu anyway.

It was described as "tofu." There weren't any menus so there was no further description available to passengers.

Since no one ordered it, I don't know what it looked like.

Even if it had been described as shahi paneer, I doubt that would have changed anyone's decision on whether to order it. And that is making the assumption that it was shahi paneer in the first place since paneer is a cheese--not tofu.

Hot salmon. Chicken breast with a sauce and sides.

Don't know.

When none of 20-people in F ordered it, it is not a valid offering.

And while you put "steak and potatoes" in quotes, there were no steaks and no potatoes being offered. The side with the chicken was a quinoa like dish.

johnden

In the US vegetarian+vegan is 7-15% depending on how you define it, so a few meals perhaps. The demographics of those that fly domestic F may reduce this number a bit, at least from my casual observations, they tend to over-represent older americans and white males and under-represent some of the key demographics for alternative diets.

Plus, many who are not vegetarian occasionally prefer non-meat dishes.

EWR764

This. It is not surprising there is a communications breakdown between the way UA wants the service to be offered and the way the service is carried out in practice. For instance, on a recent EWR-ATL flight, the hot choice was described as "chicken and rice", which got me expecting more of a Latin dish, while the cold option was "chicken salad". In reality, the chicken and rice was jambalaya, served with rice (and pork sausage, which was not disclosed, and might not sit well with certain travelers). The chicken salad was, predictably, a chicken breast served over a standard-fare salad.

Always Flyin

3.2%, and that from a vegetarian focused web site.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/artic...sm-in-america/

In any event, it went 0 for 20 on this flight so not a good food option by United.

fortunecooki

Yes, but that same article also says that:
In addition, 10 percent of U.S., adults, or 22.8 million people, say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet.

So I can't agree with "miniscule."

channa

If that's the same paneer dish I had a few weeks ago, it's quite good. I'll be getting it again if I ever see it.

My FA did have a lengthy description on each that she was reading from a printout.

Always Flyin

Why is it that I suspect you are a vegetarian?

In the U.S., it is a niche choice and I'll stick with miniscule. I appreciate you do not agree with me.

It wasn't paneer. It was tofu, unless the flight attendant fibbed.

JVPhoto

I'm not a vegetarian but if there was some elaboration on what it was on the FAs part and it sounded good (some sort of ethnic inspired) I wouldn't have a problem eating it.

In this case I would shoot the messenger and not place the blame on the dish. I have a hard time believing that UA is going to present you with this:

bocastephen

For me this is excellent news, although I do eat fish. Did they say how the tofu was prepared and what it came with? On flights with only meat or chicken options, something like tofu would be essential for me and I am very happy it's on the menu.

Always Flyin

The description of the dishes was limited to, "Chicken, salmon or tofu?"