CurbedEnthusiasm

Had a great Y flight from FCO-IAD. Y catering was very impressive (better than my last Polaris flight) but the service underscored why the FAs need to be given some better descriptors of what they are serving. The FAs were very senior and overall very good. My FA announced lunch as "chicken or pasta" - a very typical announcement but so overly vague. I asked what kind of pasta it was and I got the response "I don't know, it's a duet." What the heck is a duet? Sure enough the label said "pasta duet," and it ended up being cannelloni and ravioli.

UA, please give the FAs the bare minimum information on what they are serving. How hard would it be to give them a description that said "spinach ravioli and cheese cannelloni?" Four extra words make a whole lot more sense than "duet."

The duet is good, btw.

drewguy

+1. Other airlines provide a menu card that gives a description - that's really helpful (and I feel like I once saw a handwritten sign on UA with more robust description).

I realize they don't have time to tell everyone the same thing, making a card all the more important . . .

seanp7

+1, same with the wines in Polaris, but until the FA's take some pride in their work, they will never spend the 5 mins pre-flight to memorize any of this.

MatthewLAX

Agreed on all accounts.

This is a very good Y option and is better than many Polaris dishes. A shame UA doesn't take the time to at least give FAs greater details about the meal so a PA announcement can be made.

milepig

UA does. I’ve seen a copy. Very detailed with pictures of how it’s supposed to look, descriptions and ingredient lists. The problem is that most UA FAs are too lazy or tied to their gossip magazines to
bother to look.

BB2220

Chefs notes with detailed descriptions of the meals are available. Most FAs don’t bother to look at them. It’s easier to say chicken or pasta and be done with it.

rankourabu

The same question on Air Canada J a couple years ago (where indifferent service is a win in contrast to standard rude)
Me: What kind of pasta is it?
AC FA: I dunno... orange... *shrugs shoulders*

MatthewLAX

for economy class?

ricktoronto

I had a flight on Avianca back in the TACA/LACSA days and there was a meat and pasta dish where nobody could figure out if it was beef or pork and it wasn't labeled either way on the catering cart. In business class no less.

FlyingNone

"..orange".....
That's a good one, he/she might as well have said citrus flavored. What a strange answer.

hotturnip

Yeah, on DL I always get a printed menu in transatlantic Y, but there's never much of a description. They usually just have the name, like "pasta duet."

You would think they would want to give the flight crews more detailed information, though, since so many people have food allergies. There ought to be a paper or card with details delivered to the crew along with the meals. (Maybe there is, but the crews aren't reading it?)

BB2220

For every meal served on the flight. Polaris or economy

notquiteaff

i think if you have serious food allergies you’d probably order a special meal or self-cater.

hotturnip

Well, yes, the serious ones. But those others . . . .

fumje

I have seen crew consult some kind of ingredients reference to answer a question about allergies in Y. Not sure if the details are presented in a way that would be possible to figure out what 'duet' means in pasta duet, though.