2018 Let's Eat - Polaris Business
Jul 13, 2018, 7:05 pm
#571
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,239
Well I guess I'll just cancel the whole trip then, LOL.
Jul 13, 2018, 9:21 pm
#572
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago IL US
Programs: UA 1K; National Executive Elite; Hertz PC & Hotels Galore
Posts: 946
The "Let's Eat" Economy, Domestic Premium and Polaris F&B threads are my favorite on FT. I like them because they generally feature good/interesting/tasty meals, great pics and the occasional silly quirk in UA's service (read: plated chocolate squares 
). I was glad that most of the DEN negativity stayed off Let's Eat this past year. I've never before sought to use these threads as a forum for meal gripes (except about plated chocolates). However, the following post will contain a bit of snark and some backhanded criticisms, as it is apparent the decline of UA catering continues across the board, despite purported walk-backs of cutbacks. It will also contain crappy photos. Ever since I replaced my phone camera lens on my own, up close, pictures are blurry. Those of you who choose to read all of this post will join me on a journey through some turbulent food preparations, past a window to the heavens (sorry for the OT to come) and into a land of Polaris chocolate happiness.
Please note that most of my long haul flying these past few years on UA metal has been good mix of J and GF/Polaris First. My last several were Polaris First. I also fly *A and OALs with better service across the board. My expectations may be misaligned. I was under the impression however that the meals in Polaris J were similar to GF/Polaris First, minus the soup. This was not, in fact, my experience.
UA 908 AMS-ORD 7-12-18 B767-300 (sCO) DEP 11:00 ARR 13:00
Middle of the road crew and service for UA these days.
Pre-departure water, OJ or 'champagne' trays with no notice that other options were available for PDB. I asked for water and a mattress pad -- received both. Mattress pad was colder.
Meal orders were taken at the gate in a somewhat rushed fashion, front to back. Not too many elites on this flight -- there was 1GS and I'm guessing 1-2 1Ks. I wasn't asked for a second choice but all of the others around me were.
Starters - Water #2 and Champagne-like-beverage #'s 1 and 2
Smoked chicken, farro salad with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds, brined carrot"s", whole grain mustard.
Best part about this dish was the mustard. Where do they think of this stuff? Whats a farro? Cranberries and pumpkin seeds? Those are salad toppings and not the basis for a dish. I can only assume UA smokes the chicken as a means of preserving it as it tasted like UA just shuttles it back and forth across the globe, changing it once every other C-check. The chicken slices in UAX 'salad with chicken' being served of late are delicious. This smoked Polaris chicken was disgusting. Nonetheless, I ate it the dish. Licked the mustard off of the plate too for good measure (made sure nobody was looking).
"Mixed" "greens", celery root, seedless grapes, hard-boiled egg served with dressing and assorted breads
Much like the carrot"s" above, the green"s" consisted of a single green. I guess as this green's color ranged from white to yellow to green to brown, one could consider it "mixed." Here was also the first appearance of the mango dressing. Who? Why? What? Whjo eats mango dressing? Who makes the decision to serve this? This makes no sense. Instead of the menu description above a more proper description could read: "3 grapes and half an egg with some flavorless sticks plated fancifully on a bed of yellow-green".
Ate it all after wiping the mango dressing off.
G-bread makes an appearance, woo! FA insisted I take two Turns out this would be my one and only shot at a bread selection. Glad I took his advice. I guess too much GF flying has spoiled me into thinking they'd pass the basket more than once.
Lunch - Water #s 3 and 4 Champagne-like-beverage #'s 3 and 4
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Seared Chicken Breast
Poached Cod
Ricotta and Porcini Mushroom Tortellini
My brain kept saying 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' but for some reason when the FA arrived, the word "short rib" slipped out of this Chicagoan's mouth. My mistake.
Braised beef short ribs. Port wine sauce, mashed potatoes with chives and onions, carrots.
I know better. I've never had a good short rib on UA. The ol' brain just lit up with the thought of chives and onions. I ordered it, I was stuck with it. I'll let the pic speak for itself. At least 2 other poor souls sitting near me ordered this as well. Neither one finished even 1/3 of theirs. I finished mine like a champ. Even though I had another moment of nobody looking my way, the wine sauce didn't prove to be a worthy plate-licking contender.
Melts in the intestines, not in the mouth.
Water # 5 and final Champagne #5
Across Europe, CO2 has begun to flow again. And with it, dry ice is back at UA. Yay! Ah yes, the venerable dessert cart made its appearance. Fully-loaded with pastries, cheese plates, port wine, and sundaes. After a few days of consuming salty, garlicy and or flaming hot ramen (worked my way though a shortlist -- highly recommend the new Taka on the Jan Pieter Heijestraat just off the Overtoom) I was already farting up a storm.* I decided to forgo the cheese plate and went with the tried and true.
Whats' left of my Sundae -- vanilla with whipped cream (also frozen -- yay dry ice!), strawberries and chocolate sauce. No cherry on top.
I was so excited to eat my sundae that I forgot to take a pic until just after my first bite. MMMmmm good. Another course finished. Bowl licked.
Perpetual Daylight - Bottle of Water #6
OT but thanks shade-up over the Atlantic window person. I hope you got got some awesome pics of the Southern tip of Greenland . So here's the thing: I had a conference call, a meeting and a dinner to attend in Chicago after arrival. This time of year the sun doesn't set until ~11 PM in AMS and it rises around 5am. That scrambles the mid-west American's brain. All I wanted was a decent nap and for my brain to think it was earlier than it was -- some REM sleep. Yeah yeah I've heard the argument: I should have selected a window then I would control the shade. Still wouldn't have helped. Look at all of that light! To the pax at the window seat please post them pics up!
Mid-flight snacks - Waters #'s 7 and 8
With eyemask on I endeavored to nap a bit. Got up to examine the snack cart. All fruit (aside from apples, which get stuck in between my teeth) had been either been picked off by other pax or maybe didn't exist in the first place. This was the option:
Coooo Cooo Nut Mini Biscuits. Hah. Disgusting. Shamefully, I was unable to finish this course.
Note: There was not a stroopwafel to be found even though UA said they weren't gonna mess with the stroops ex-Europe.
Arrival Options - Water #9 and Coke #1
Grilled Chicken
Deli plate - meats and cheeses
Beef Stew
OK so here they threw a curve-ball. The menu listed 2 options: the grilled chicken and a Fruit, vegetable and cheese plate. Options above are what FA offered. I'm guessing that the new domestic F cheese plate service has reduced availability worldwide and UA is now sourcing Dutch deli plates in lieu of the stated menu item.
Though curious as to what the beef stew looked like, I was concerned it might consist of unused/returned short ribs chopped up and mixed with the rest of the carrots and greens missing from starter course. Hence, I went with the chicken:
Grilled chicken. Tomato-basil sauce, Israeli couscous with vegetables, green beans. Served with salad.
This thing came with an actual salad. With mixed greens. The kind of thing you'd think would have accompanied the lunch salad.
Once again the Mango dressing made its appearance. I ate the salad undressed.
Here's the chicken. It looks good in concept. Couscous was alright. Green beans tasted ehhh...umm... un-fresh,.
Once the pax saws into the chicken, however, they find it is quite tough. Note the tensile strength of the chicken fibers - supporting this fork with no human assistance (fork slipped out of my hand and just remained there -- had to take a pic).
This all leads me to a place of happiness -- the Polaris chocolates. I thought they were gone This arrival tray came complete with a set of P-chocs! I'm not sure if this is a regular thing as I don't usually order an arrival meal. Arrival tray came plated with 2 pieces of bread. Too many carbs -- I had to pass. Everything else got consumed. No plates were licked. More than anything, I'm happy to end a Let's Eat post on a good note!
*-Be sure to lower arm rest or redirect farts away from the core of the BF seat when fully-reclined. This is a major hazard . Sorry to you if you were sitting near me. Know that it was for a noble cause.
). I was glad that most of the DEN negativity stayed off Let's Eat this past year. I've never before sought to use these threads as a forum for meal gripes (except about plated chocolates). However, the following post will contain a bit of snark and some backhanded criticisms, as it is apparent the decline of UA catering continues across the board, despite purported walk-backs of cutbacks. It will also contain crappy photos. Ever since I replaced my phone camera lens on my own, up close, pictures are blurry. Those of you who choose to read all of this post will join me on a journey through some turbulent food preparations, past a window to the heavens (sorry for the OT to come) and into a land of Polaris chocolate happiness.Please note that most of my long haul flying these past few years on UA metal has been good mix of J and GF/Polaris First. My last several were Polaris First. I also fly *A and OALs with better service across the board. My expectations may be misaligned. I was under the impression however that the meals in Polaris J were similar to GF/Polaris First, minus the soup. This was not, in fact, my experience.
UA 908 AMS-ORD 7-12-18 B767-300 (sCO) DEP 11:00 ARR 13:00
Middle of the road crew and service for UA these days.
Pre-departure water, OJ or 'champagne' trays with no notice that other options were available for PDB. I asked for water and a mattress pad -- received both. Mattress pad was colder.
Meal orders were taken at the gate in a somewhat rushed fashion, front to back. Not too many elites on this flight -- there was 1GS and I'm guessing 1-2 1Ks. I wasn't asked for a second choice but all of the others around me were.
Starters - Water #2 and Champagne-like-beverage #'s 1 and 2
Smoked chicken, farro salad with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds, brined carrot"s", whole grain mustard.
Best part about this dish was the mustard. Where do they think of this stuff? Whats a farro? Cranberries and pumpkin seeds? Those are salad toppings and not the basis for a dish. I can only assume UA smokes the chicken as a means of preserving it as it tasted like UA just shuttles it back and forth across the globe, changing it once every other C-check. The chicken slices in UAX 'salad with chicken' being served of late are delicious. This smoked Polaris chicken was disgusting. Nonetheless, I ate it the dish. Licked the mustard off of the plate too for good measure (made sure nobody was looking).
"Mixed" "greens", celery root, seedless grapes, hard-boiled egg served with dressing and assorted breads
Much like the carrot"s" above, the green"s" consisted of a single green. I guess as this green's color ranged from white to yellow to green to brown, one could consider it "mixed." Here was also the first appearance of the mango dressing. Who? Why? What? Whjo eats mango dressing? Who makes the decision to serve this? This makes no sense. Instead of the menu description above a more proper description could read: "3 grapes and half an egg with some flavorless sticks plated fancifully on a bed of yellow-green".
Ate it all after wiping the mango dressing off.
G-bread makes an appearance, woo! FA insisted I take two
Turns out this would be my one and only shot at a bread selection. Glad I took his advice. I guess too much GF flying has spoiled me into thinking they'd pass the basket more than once.Lunch - Water #s 3 and 4 Champagne-like-beverage #'s 3 and 4
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Seared Chicken Breast
Poached Cod
Ricotta and Porcini Mushroom Tortellini
My brain kept saying 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' but for some reason when the FA arrived, the word "short rib" slipped out of this Chicagoan's mouth. My mistake.
Braised beef short ribs. Port wine sauce, mashed potatoes with chives and onions, carrots.
I know better. I've never had a good short rib on UA. The ol' brain just lit up with the thought of chives and onions. I ordered it, I was stuck with it. I'll let the pic speak for itself. At least 2 other poor souls sitting near me ordered this as well. Neither one finished even 1/3 of theirs. I finished mine like a champ. Even though I had another moment of nobody looking my way, the wine sauce didn't prove to be a worthy plate-licking contender.
Melts in the intestines, not in the mouth.
Water # 5 and final Champagne #5
Across Europe, CO2 has begun to flow again. And with it, dry ice is back at UA. Yay! Ah yes, the venerable dessert cart made its appearance. Fully-loaded with pastries, cheese plates, port wine, and sundaes. After a few days of consuming salty, garlicy and or flaming hot ramen (worked my way though a shortlist -- highly recommend the new Taka on the Jan Pieter Heijestraat just off the Overtoom) I was already farting up a storm.* I decided to forgo the cheese plate and went with the tried and true.
Whats' left of my Sundae -- vanilla with whipped cream (also frozen -- yay dry ice!), strawberries and chocolate sauce. No cherry on top.
I was so excited to eat my sundae that I forgot to take a pic until just after my first bite. MMMmmm good. Another course finished. Bowl licked.
Perpetual Daylight - Bottle of Water #6
OT but thanks shade-up over the Atlantic window person. I hope you got got some awesome pics of the Southern tip of Greenland . So here's the thing: I had a conference call, a meeting and a dinner to attend in Chicago after arrival. This time of year the sun doesn't set until ~11 PM in AMS and it rises around 5am. That scrambles the mid-west American's brain. All I wanted was a decent nap and for my brain to think it was earlier than it was -- some REM sleep. Yeah yeah I've heard the argument: I should have selected a window then I would control the shade. Still wouldn't have helped. Look at all of that light! To the pax at the window seat please post them pics up!
Mid-flight snacks - Waters #'s 7 and 8
With eyemask on I endeavored to nap a bit. Got up to examine the snack cart. All fruit (aside from apples, which get stuck in between my teeth) had been either been picked off by other pax or maybe didn't exist in the first place. This was the option:
Coooo Cooo Nut Mini Biscuits. Hah. Disgusting. Shamefully, I was unable to finish this course.
Note: There was not a stroopwafel to be found even though UA said they weren't gonna mess with the stroops ex-Europe.
Arrival Options - Water #9 and Coke #1
Grilled Chicken
Deli plate - meats and cheeses
Beef Stew
OK so here they threw a curve-ball. The menu listed 2 options: the grilled chicken and a Fruit, vegetable and cheese plate. Options above are what FA offered. I'm guessing that the new domestic F cheese plate service has reduced availability worldwide and UA is now sourcing Dutch deli plates in lieu of the stated menu item.
Though curious as to what the beef stew looked like, I was concerned it might consist of unused/returned short ribs chopped up and mixed with the rest of the carrots and greens missing from starter course. Hence, I went with the chicken:
Grilled chicken. Tomato-basil sauce, Israeli couscous with vegetables, green beans. Served with salad.
This thing came with an actual salad. With mixed greens. The kind of thing you'd think would have accompanied the lunch salad.
Once again the Mango dressing made its appearance. I ate the salad undressed.
Here's the chicken. It looks good in concept. Couscous was alright. Green beans tasted ehhh...umm... un-fresh,.
Once the pax saws into the chicken, however, they find it is quite tough. Note the tensile strength of the chicken fibers - supporting this fork with no human assistance (fork slipped out of my hand and just remained there -- had to take a pic).
This all leads me to a place of happiness -- the Polaris chocolates. I thought they were gone This arrival tray came complete with a set of P-chocs! I'm not sure if this is a regular thing as I don't usually order an arrival meal. Arrival tray came plated with 2 pieces of bread. Too many carbs -- I had to pass. Everything else got consumed. No plates were licked. More than anything, I'm happy to end a Let's Eat post on a good note!
*-Be sure to lower arm rest or redirect farts away from the core of the BF seat when fully-reclined. This is a major hazard . Sorry to you if you were sitting near me. Know that it was for a noble cause.
Jul 14, 2018, 5:56 am
#573
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: UA 1K 1.5 MM, AA PLAT PRO 1MM
Posts: 573
Thanks, I wasn't hungry - the Saga Lounge at KEF had a fairly big spread and I overate before the flight - so it wasn't a big deal personally. But having spent most of my career in marketing/branding, I found it rather incongruous with the Polaris concept and was just curious.
Jul 14, 2018, 7:19 am
#574
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,239
Onthesam, should I laugh or cry? The only thing you liked was the ice cream sundae or chocolates?
Jul 15, 2018, 4:23 pm
#575
Join Date: May 2015
Location: ATL/MCO
Programs: Costco Executive, RaceTrac Sultan of Soda, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 5,661
JUL7 UA69 ARN-EWR
Had an excellent crew, one of the best on a US carrier.
I had the omelette for my entrée which wasn't very good as was the chicken for the arrival meal. Interestingly enough while the menu listed two choices for the pre arrival, the purser offered a third choice which apparently was a beef stew with rice.
Everything else was delicious however.
Jul 15, 2018, 5:24 pm
#576
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Los Angeles / Basel
Programs: UA 1K MM, AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 26,920
I had the omelette for my entrée which wasn't very good as was the chicken for the arrival meal. Interestingly enough while the menu listed two choices for the pre arrival, the purser offered a third choice which apparently was a beef stew with rice.
Everything else was delicious however.
Everything else was delicious however.
Jul 17, 2018, 7:58 am
#577
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: DAY
Programs: UA 1K 1MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Amex MR; Chase UR; Hertz PC; Global Entry
Posts: 10,158
July 2018
NRT->DEN
Been awhile since I had such an experience with a "Proud Continental Crew" in "BusinessFIrst" service.
Stupid Balsamic dressing bottle was back, but NRT garlic bread still rocking.
NRT->DEN
Been awhile since I had such an experience with a "Proud Continental Crew" in "BusinessFIrst" service.
Stupid Balsamic dressing bottle was back, but NRT garlic bread still rocking.
Jul 17, 2018, 8:46 am
#578
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 477
The stew is the mid-flight snack that they don't really advertise well and I've noted they are listing as an off the menu second meal option. Not a bad idea but I'd prefer they say something when you are looking for a mid flight snack.
Jul 17, 2018, 9:04 am
#579
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,448
Jul 26, 2018, 12:41 pm
#580
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA 1K & 2MM, Bonvoy Titanium & LTP, HH Gold, Accor Silver, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 2,350
SYD-SFO today. Disappointing main courses. No lemongrass chicken or spicy chicken, so I went for the fish that claimed to have a coconut chili spread/sauce. No sign of either coconut or chili. Cricketer Jr had the spinach and cheese ravioli -- only it didn't have any spinach in it. Mrs C had the beef, and was distinctly unimpressed, and she has a pretty low bar for red meat.
Dessert on the other hand - the sundae was solid of course, but this was the best assortment of mini desserts I've tried thus far. Red Velvet cupcakes, another orange/vanilla cupcake, surprisingly decent macarons, and the piece de resistance - a molten chocolate lava cake that indeed had a molten chocolate centre that seeped out into the plate. The FA was really proud of it, and while it wasn't exactly world class, pretty good for a business class dessert options.
No problems fattening up on UA, that's for sure.
Dessert on the other hand - the sundae was solid of course, but this was the best assortment of mini desserts I've tried thus far. Red Velvet cupcakes, another orange/vanilla cupcake, surprisingly decent macarons, and the piece de resistance - a molten chocolate lava cake that indeed had a molten chocolate centre that seeped out into the plate. The FA was really proud of it, and while it wasn't exactly world class, pretty good for a business class dessert options.
No problems fattening up on UA, that's for sure.
Jul 26, 2018, 1:10 pm
#581
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Haze gray and underway
Programs: UA 1K 2MM, HH Diamond, Marriott 'clink clink' Titanium
Posts: 1,784
The "Let's Eat" Economy, Domestic Premium and Polaris F&B threads are my favorite on FT. I like them because they generally feature good/interesting/tasty meals, great pics and the occasional silly quirk in UA's service (read: plated chocolate squares ). I was glad that most of the DEN negativity stayed off Let's Eat this past year. I've never before sought to use these threads as a forum for meal gripes (except about plated chocolates). However, the following post will contain a bit of snark and some backhanded criticisms, as it is apparent the decline of UA catering continues across the board, despite purported walk-backs of cutbacks. It will also contain crappy photos. Ever since I replaced my phone camera lens on my own, up close, pictures are blurry. Those of you who choose to read all of this post will join me on a journey through some turbulent food preparations, past a window to the heavens (sorry for the OT to come) and into a land of Polaris chocolate happiness.
Please note that most of my long haul flying these past few years on UA metal has been good mix of J and GF/Polaris First. My last several were Polaris First. I also fly *A and OALs with better service across the board. My expectations may be misaligned. I was under the impression however that the meals in Polaris J were similar to GF/Polaris First, minus the soup. This was not, in fact, my experience.
UA 908 AMS-ORD 7-12-18 B767-300 (sCO) DEP 11:00 ARR 13:00
Middle of the road crew and service for UA these days.
Pre-departure water, OJ or 'champagne' trays with no notice that other options were available for PDB. I asked for water and a mattress pad -- received both. Mattress pad was colder.
Meal orders were taken at the gate in a somewhat rushed fashion, front to back. Not too many elites on this flight -- there was 1GS and I'm guessing 1-2 1Ks. I wasn't asked for a second choice but all of the others around me were.
Starters - Water #2 and Champagne-like-beverage #'s 1 and 2
Smoked chicken, farro salad with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds, brined carrot"s", whole grain mustard.
Best part about this dish was the mustard. Where do they think of this stuff? Whats a farro? Cranberries and pumpkin seeds? Those are salad toppings and not the basis for a dish. I can only assume UA smokes the chicken as a means of preserving it as it tasted like UA just shuttles it back and forth across the globe, changing it once every other C-check. The chicken slices in UAX 'salad with chicken' being served of late are delicious. This smoked Polaris chicken was disgusting. Nonetheless, I ate it the dish. Licked the mustard off of the plate too for good measure (made sure nobody was looking).
"Mixed" "greens", celery root, seedless grapes, hard-boiled egg served with dressing and assorted breads
Much like the carrot"s" above, the green"s" consisted of a single green. I guess as this green's color ranged from white to yellow to green to brown, one could consider it "mixed." Here was also the first appearance of the mango dressing. Who? Why? What? Whjo eats mango dressing? Who makes the decision to serve this? This makes no sense. Instead of the menu description above a more proper description could read: "3 grapes and half an egg with some flavorless sticks plated fancifully on a bed of yellow-green".
Ate it all after wiping the mango dressing off.
G-bread makes an appearance, woo! FA insisted I take two Turns out this would be my one and only shot at a bread selection. Glad I took his advice. I guess too much GF flying has spoiled me into thinking they'd pass the basket more than once.
Lunch - Water #s 3 and 4 Champagne-like-beverage #'s 3 and 4
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Seared Chicken Breast
Poached Cod
Ricotta and Porcini Mushroom Tortellini
My brain kept saying 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' but for some reason when the FA arrived, the word "short rib" slipped out of this Chicagoan's mouth. My mistake.
Braised beef short ribs. Port wine sauce, mashed potatoes with chives and onions, carrots.
I know better. I've never had a good short rib on UA. The ol' brain just lit up with the thought of chives and onions. I ordered it, I was stuck with it. I'll let the pic speak for itself. At least 2 other poor souls sitting near me ordered this as well. Neither one finished even 1/3 of theirs. I finished mine like a champ. Even though I had another moment of nobody looking my way, the wine sauce didn't prove to be a worthy plate-licking contender.
Melts in the intestines, not in the mouth.
Water # 5 and final Champagne #5
Across Europe, CO2 has begun to flow again. And with it, dry ice is back at UA. Yay! Ah yes, the venerable dessert cart made its appearance. Fully-loaded with pastries, cheese plates, port wine, and sundaes. After a few days of consuming salty, garlicy and or flaming hot ramen (worked my way though a shortlist -- highly recommend the new Taka on the Jan Pieter Heijestraat just off the Overtoom) I was already farting up a storm.* I decided to forgo the cheese plate and went with the tried and true.
Whats' left of my Sundae -- vanilla with whipped cream (also frozen -- yay dry ice!), strawberries and chocolate sauce. No cherry on top.
I was so excited to eat my sundae that I forgot to take a pic until just after my first bite. MMMmmm good. Another course finished. Bowl licked.
Perpetual Daylight - Bottle of Water #6
OT but thanks shade-up over the Atlantic window person. I hope you got got some awesome pics of the Southern tip of Greenland . So here's the thing: I had a conference call, a meeting and a dinner to attend in Chicago after arrival. This time of year the sun doesn't set until ~11 PM in AMS and it rises around 5am. That scrambles the mid-west American's brain. All I wanted was a decent nap and for my brain to think it was earlier than it was -- some REM sleep. Yeah yeah I've heard the argument: I should have selected a window then I would control the shade. Still wouldn't have helped. Look at all of that light! To the pax at the window seat please post them pics up!
Mid-flight snacks - Waters #'s 7 and 8
With eyemask on I endeavored to nap a bit. Got up to examine the snack cart. All fruit (aside from apples, which get stuck in between my teeth) had been either been picked off by other pax or maybe didn't exist in the first place. This was the option:
Coooo Cooo Nut Mini Biscuits. Hah. Disgusting. Shamefully, I was unable to finish this course.
Note: There was not a stroopwafel to be found even though UA said they weren't gonna mess with the stroops ex-Europe.
Arrival Options - Water #9 and Coke #1
Grilled Chicken
Deli plate - meats and cheeses
Beef Stew
OK so here they threw a curve-ball. The menu listed 2 options: the grilled chicken and a Fruit, vegetable and cheese plate. Options above are what FA offered. I'm guessing that the new domestic F cheese plate service has reduced availability worldwide and UA is now sourcing Dutch deli plates in lieu of the stated menu item.
Though curious as to what the beef stew looked like, I was concerned it might consist of unused/returned short ribs chopped up and mixed with the rest of the carrots and greens missing from starter course. Hence, I went with the chicken:
Grilled chicken. Tomato-basil sauce, Israeli couscous with vegetables, green beans. Served with salad.
This thing came with an actual salad. With mixed greens. The kind of thing you'd think would have accompanied the lunch salad.
Once again the Mango dressing made its appearance. I ate the salad undressed.
Here's the chicken. It looks good in concept. Couscous was alright. Green beans tasted ehhh...umm... un-fresh,.
Once the pax saws into the chicken, however, they find it is quite tough. Note the tensile strength of the chicken fibers - supporting this fork with no human assistance (fork slipped out of my hand and just remained there -- had to take a pic).
This all leads me to a place of happiness -- the Polaris chocolates. I thought they were gone This arrival tray came complete with a set of P-chocs! I'm not sure if this is a regular thing as I don't usually order an arrival meal. Arrival tray came plated with 2 pieces of bread. Too many carbs -- I had to pass. Everything else got consumed. No plates were licked. More than anything, I'm happy to end a Let's Eat post on a good note!
). I was glad that most of the DEN negativity stayed off Let's Eat this past year. I've never before sought to use these threads as a forum for meal gripes (except about plated chocolates). However, the following post will contain a bit of snark and some backhanded criticisms, as it is apparent the decline of UA catering continues across the board, despite purported walk-backs of cutbacks. It will also contain crappy photos. Ever since I replaced my phone camera lens on my own, up close, pictures are blurry. Those of you who choose to read all of this post will join me on a journey through some turbulent food preparations, past a window to the heavens (sorry for the OT to come) and into a land of Polaris chocolate happiness.Please note that most of my long haul flying these past few years on UA metal has been good mix of J and GF/Polaris First. My last several were Polaris First. I also fly *A and OALs with better service across the board. My expectations may be misaligned. I was under the impression however that the meals in Polaris J were similar to GF/Polaris First, minus the soup. This was not, in fact, my experience.
UA 908 AMS-ORD 7-12-18 B767-300 (sCO) DEP 11:00 ARR 13:00
Middle of the road crew and service for UA these days.
Pre-departure water, OJ or 'champagne' trays with no notice that other options were available for PDB. I asked for water and a mattress pad -- received both. Mattress pad was colder.
Meal orders were taken at the gate in a somewhat rushed fashion, front to back. Not too many elites on this flight -- there was 1GS and I'm guessing 1-2 1Ks. I wasn't asked for a second choice but all of the others around me were.
Starters - Water #2 and Champagne-like-beverage #'s 1 and 2
Smoked chicken, farro salad with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds, brined carrot"s", whole grain mustard.
Best part about this dish was the mustard. Where do they think of this stuff? Whats a farro? Cranberries and pumpkin seeds? Those are salad toppings and not the basis for a dish. I can only assume UA smokes the chicken as a means of preserving it as it tasted like UA just shuttles it back and forth across the globe, changing it once every other C-check. The chicken slices in UAX 'salad with chicken' being served of late are delicious. This smoked Polaris chicken was disgusting. Nonetheless, I ate it the dish. Licked the mustard off of the plate too for good measure (made sure nobody was looking).
"Mixed" "greens", celery root, seedless grapes, hard-boiled egg served with dressing and assorted breads
Much like the carrot"s" above, the green"s" consisted of a single green. I guess as this green's color ranged from white to yellow to green to brown, one could consider it "mixed." Here was also the first appearance of the mango dressing. Who? Why? What? Whjo eats mango dressing? Who makes the decision to serve this? This makes no sense. Instead of the menu description above a more proper description could read: "3 grapes and half an egg with some flavorless sticks plated fancifully on a bed of yellow-green".
Ate it all after wiping the mango dressing off.
G-bread makes an appearance, woo! FA insisted I take two
Turns out this would be my one and only shot at a bread selection. Glad I took his advice. I guess too much GF flying has spoiled me into thinking they'd pass the basket more than once.Lunch - Water #s 3 and 4 Champagne-like-beverage #'s 3 and 4
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Seared Chicken Breast
Poached Cod
Ricotta and Porcini Mushroom Tortellini
My brain kept saying 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' 'fish' but for some reason when the FA arrived, the word "short rib" slipped out of this Chicagoan's mouth. My mistake.
Braised beef short ribs. Port wine sauce, mashed potatoes with chives and onions, carrots.
I know better. I've never had a good short rib on UA. The ol' brain just lit up with the thought of chives and onions. I ordered it, I was stuck with it. I'll let the pic speak for itself. At least 2 other poor souls sitting near me ordered this as well. Neither one finished even 1/3 of theirs. I finished mine like a champ. Even though I had another moment of nobody looking my way, the wine sauce didn't prove to be a worthy plate-licking contender.
Melts in the intestines, not in the mouth.
Water # 5 and final Champagne #5
Across Europe, CO2 has begun to flow again. And with it, dry ice is back at UA. Yay! Ah yes, the venerable dessert cart made its appearance. Fully-loaded with pastries, cheese plates, port wine, and sundaes. After a few days of consuming salty, garlicy and or flaming hot ramen (worked my way though a shortlist -- highly recommend the new Taka on the Jan Pieter Heijestraat just off the Overtoom) I was already farting up a storm.* I decided to forgo the cheese plate and went with the tried and true.
Whats' left of my Sundae -- vanilla with whipped cream (also frozen -- yay dry ice!), strawberries and chocolate sauce. No cherry on top.
I was so excited to eat my sundae that I forgot to take a pic until just after my first bite. MMMmmm good. Another course finished. Bowl licked.
Perpetual Daylight - Bottle of Water #6
OT but thanks shade-up over the Atlantic window person. I hope you got got some awesome pics of the Southern tip of Greenland . So here's the thing: I had a conference call, a meeting and a dinner to attend in Chicago after arrival. This time of year the sun doesn't set until ~11 PM in AMS and it rises around 5am. That scrambles the mid-west American's brain. All I wanted was a decent nap and for my brain to think it was earlier than it was -- some REM sleep. Yeah yeah I've heard the argument: I should have selected a window then I would control the shade. Still wouldn't have helped. Look at all of that light! To the pax at the window seat please post them pics up!
Mid-flight snacks - Waters #'s 7 and 8
With eyemask on I endeavored to nap a bit. Got up to examine the snack cart. All fruit (aside from apples, which get stuck in between my teeth) had been either been picked off by other pax or maybe didn't exist in the first place. This was the option:
Coooo Cooo Nut Mini Biscuits. Hah. Disgusting. Shamefully, I was unable to finish this course.
Note: There was not a stroopwafel to be found even though UA said they weren't gonna mess with the stroops ex-Europe.
Arrival Options - Water #9 and Coke #1
Grilled Chicken
Deli plate - meats and cheeses
Beef Stew
OK so here they threw a curve-ball. The menu listed 2 options: the grilled chicken and a Fruit, vegetable and cheese plate. Options above are what FA offered. I'm guessing that the new domestic F cheese plate service has reduced availability worldwide and UA is now sourcing Dutch deli plates in lieu of the stated menu item.
Though curious as to what the beef stew looked like, I was concerned it might consist of unused/returned short ribs chopped up and mixed with the rest of the carrots and greens missing from starter course. Hence, I went with the chicken:
Grilled chicken. Tomato-basil sauce, Israeli couscous with vegetables, green beans. Served with salad.
This thing came with an actual salad. With mixed greens. The kind of thing you'd think would have accompanied the lunch salad.
Once again the Mango dressing made its appearance. I ate the salad undressed.
Here's the chicken. It looks good in concept. Couscous was alright. Green beans tasted ehhh...umm... un-fresh,.
Once the pax saws into the chicken, however, they find it is quite tough. Note the tensile strength of the chicken fibers - supporting this fork with no human assistance (fork slipped out of my hand and just remained there -- had to take a pic).
This all leads me to a place of happiness -- the Polaris chocolates. I thought they were gone This arrival tray came complete with a set of P-chocs! I'm not sure if this is a regular thing as I don't usually order an arrival meal. Arrival tray came plated with 2 pieces of bread. Too many carbs -- I had to pass. Everything else got consumed. No plates were licked. More than anything, I'm happy to end a Let's Eat post on a good note!
Note: Photos removed for the sake of brevity.
Jul 26, 2018, 1:32 pm
#582
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,239
Sad that the only thing people like are the desserts.
Jul 26, 2018, 1:35 pm
#583
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Jul 27, 2018, 12:28 am
#584
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: EWR, PHL
Programs: UA1k 3MM, AA Plt, peasant on everybody else, elite something or other at a bunch of hotels.
Posts: 4,637
LAX-SYD Menus July 2018
LAX-SYD Meal Menu
The nori wrapped salmon was very salty.
I had the poached salmon, which was OK, but I thought serving it with a chili based side was an odd pairing as it overwhelmed the fish. It would have been better with a cream or lemon based sauce. (And even better if it was hotter.)
LAX-SYD-LAX Beverage Menu
All the usual suspects here, except that they also had a Cotes du Beaune red which was quite good. The attendant showed me the label, but I did not have my glasses on, so it was lost on me.
The nori wrapped salmon was very salty.
I had the poached salmon, which was OK, but I thought serving it with a chili based side was an odd pairing as it overwhelmed the fish. It would have been better with a cream or lemon based sauce. (And even better if it was hotter.)
LAX-SYD-LAX Beverage Menu
All the usual suspects here, except that they also had a Cotes du Beaune red which was quite good. The attendant showed me the label, but I did not have my glasses on, so it was lost on me.
Jul 27, 2018, 12:36 am
#585
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: EWR, PHL
Programs: UA1k 3MM, AA Plt, peasant on everybody else, elite something or other at a bunch of hotels.
Posts: 4,637
SYD-LAX July 2018
SYD-LAX Meal Menu; beverages were the same as on the outbound.
SYD does decent garlic bread! Almost NRT worthy. (OK, so it's a sample size of 1.)
Starter and salad. The tomates were awful. Memo to UA Catering: do not serve tomatoes sourced from the southern hemisphere during their winter months.
I had the beef, which was over cooked and very dry. The potatoes, mushrooms and sauce were very tasty, though.
Crew service was excellent. Gel pillows on the seats at boarding, though no slippers.
SYD does decent garlic bread! Almost NRT worthy. (OK, so it's a sample size of 1.)
Starter and salad. The tomates were awful. Memo to UA Catering: do not serve tomatoes sourced from the southern hemisphere during their winter months.
I had the beef, which was over cooked and very dry. The potatoes, mushrooms and sauce were very tasty, though.
Crew service was excellent. Gel pillows on the seats at boarding, though no slippers.