Airline food tends to be the punchline of many jokes, and the average traveler would probably compare it more closely to dog food than anything else. That’s if you even get served food on your flight, which is a luxury nowadays.
Of course it’s a different story for premium travelers, as many airlines are trying to differentiate their first class and business class by investing in the soft product, including food and drinks. I review premium cabin flight experiences in great detail, and one topic of discussion that sometimes comes up is the extent to which airplane food can actually be restaurant quality, or comparable to what one might enjoy eating on the ground.
I’ll share my thoughts on that in this post, and then would love to hear how OMAAT readers feel…
In this post:
The three categories of premium cabin airline meals
The way I view it, first and business class airplane food generally falls into one of three categories:
- There’s food you eat simply because you’re hungry and/or bored, but that you wouldn’t pay for on the ground — this probably describes most airplane meals
- There’s food that’s actually excellent, that you’d pay for on the ground — this is perhaps what you’ll get on top airlines in first and business class, but it’s the exception, rather than the norm
- There’s food that’s a treat on a plane, but that you likely wouldn’t pay for, eat, or order, on the ground, but still enjoy immensely — this includes things like caviar, warm mixed nuts, ice cream sundaes, etc.
In the past, I’ve shared my approach to ordering airplane food. Since airplanes don’t have actual kitchens with open flames (even on airlines with inflight chefs), I tend to prefer ordering dishes that either reheat well, or that are served cold, where the “disadvantage” of food not being freshly prepared is less important.
Can airplane food be as good as on the ground?
Is the average first or business class meal actually “restaurant quality?” Admittedly “restaurant quality” is a bit of a fluff term, since it doesn’t actually describe what you should expect.
Applebee’s and The Capital Grille are both restaurants, so which establishment does “restaurant quality” describe? Beyond that, there are all kinds of independent restaurants that put The Capital Grille to shame, from ethnic strip mall restaurants in the suburbs, to Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris.
The problem is that we’ll never be able to objectively compare airplane food to food on the ground. That’s because most people either love or hate flying, and that rubs off on everything they experience on planes. For that matter, our taste buds aren’t quite as alert in the air as on the ground, so we’re not even able to taste food in the same way as we would in a restaurant. With that in mind, let me talk a bit more about the three categories I shared above.
For example, I think all of us aviation geeks can agree that an ice cream sundae simply tastes better on a plane than on the ground. You could buy all the ingredients on the ground, but there’s something special about enjoying a sundae at 38,000 feet while traveling somewhere fun.
Furthermore, caviar tastes much better when it’s included with the cost of your ticket, rather than having to pay outright for it. Emirates’ “unlimited” caviar in first class is especially lovely.
When it comes to dishes that can actually be prepared well on a plane, things like a nice mezze come to mind, as dips and spreads can still taste great hours after they’re prepared.
But whether we’re talking about beef, or chicken, or fish, or pasta, I’d say that they shouldn’t taste as good on a plane as on the ground. Like, if you go to a steakhouse, you expect that your steak will be grilled shortly before it’s served to you. That’s totally different than on an airplane, where the cooking happens hours before you actually enjoy your meal, and it’s simply reheated.
Now, of course I think we should give airlines some grace, realizing the constraints of preparing food on planes. When a dish on a plane is really good, it should be viewed as great in the context of airplane food, and not compared to what one might necessarily have on the ground.
But I really think we can’t overstate the extent to which the overall ambiance and experience of being on a plane can enhance our perception of how something tastes. There’s nothing quite like watching a beautiful sunset as you’re flying over an ocean, all while enjoying some pretty decent food.
Bottom line
Airline food is a controversial topic that elicits strong opinions. You have some people who think airplane food can be as good as anything served on the ground, while you have others who feel like even international first class food is inedible.
I think there are some fantastic dining experiences to be had in the air. While business class food on many airlines might not be something you’re willing to pay for in a restaurant, there are certainly exceptions. I’ve had some meals on planes that I would have paid for in restaurants.
What it comes down to for me is that a large part of my perception and enjoyment of restaurants is based around the ambiance. In other words, I’ll almost always pick a restaurant with an awesome ambiance and good food over one with marginally better food without a good ambiance. That ambiance can also come in many forms — it doesn’t have to be fancy, but there’s also something fun about a hole-in-the-wall place.
The same principle applies to flying. There’s something nice about the ambiance on planes, which makes food just taste better.
Where do you stand on the quality of airplane food?
It is incredibly rare for me to come across a meal (in any class of travel) that I would rate above 6.5-7 out of 10 on the ground. Cuts of meat are almost always going to be way overcooked (fair - they cannot have medium-rare steaks consumed 24 hours after preparation), fish gets almost always ruined by the reheating. Even dishes like an Arabic mezze, suffer from the refrigeration and the stale-ish bread. I love...
It is incredibly rare for me to come across a meal (in any class of travel) that I would rate above 6.5-7 out of 10 on the ground. Cuts of meat are almost always going to be way overcooked (fair - they cannot have medium-rare steaks consumed 24 hours after preparation), fish gets almost always ruined by the reheating. Even dishes like an Arabic mezze, suffer from the refrigeration and the stale-ish bread. I love a nice cheese, but cannot remember the last time I was served a nice, room temperature cheese plate on a plane. Money can definitely get you better dishes, but they will still be, at most, at a level that I would rate as acceptable on the ground.
The main exception to the rule is curries (Asian or Indian) that reheat extremely well and have enough flavor to overcome the dry air, and slow cooked food that doesn't suffer from the oven preparation. The other exception is desserts, that are usually as good as anything you'd find on the ground.
My in-flight dining experiences have been getting better and better, despite the inherent limits Ben describes. Even in coach in some places (Singapore Airlines, JAL).
I even had a sea bass recently that I'd enjoy in a restaurant, on American airlines domestic biz-class of all places. Almost shocking considering the history of the legacy US carriers.
I do think a hot meal makes a big difference. A biz class segment that only has...
My in-flight dining experiences have been getting better and better, despite the inherent limits Ben describes. Even in coach in some places (Singapore Airlines, JAL).
I even had a sea bass recently that I'd enjoy in a restaurant, on American airlines domestic biz-class of all places. Almost shocking considering the history of the legacy US carriers.
I do think a hot meal makes a big difference. A biz class segment that only has packaged snacks is deeply disappointing when the flight was long enough, even if it's not "meal time".
I think the diverse opinions also result from how varied people's attitudes towards food are. I know folks who find eating a chore, or only eat junk food, but also many who are deeply interested in and deeply enjoy their food, and everybody in between. All those folks aren't going to offer a consensus opinion....Somebody who's happy with plain lettuce isn't going to be a good judge of food, neither is the Mcdonald's fan. Both can tell you only if the meal they're having was satisfactory to THEM.
If you're flying long-haul, odds are your meal was loaded at your departure station. You're looking at a kitchen that's preparing the meal you're eating on the order of thousands (business) or tens of thousands a day. The logistics of scale mean that you're not going to get small-farm veggies and the best animals. Since they're only serving a limited selection, the food has to be edible by a range of picky eaters, so don't...
If you're flying long-haul, odds are your meal was loaded at your departure station. You're looking at a kitchen that's preparing the meal you're eating on the order of thousands (business) or tens of thousands a day. The logistics of scale mean that you're not going to get small-farm veggies and the best animals. Since they're only serving a limited selection, the food has to be edible by a range of picky eaters, so don't expect the spices to be rich.
Yeah, everything comes in close to ready-to-eat. The bit that gets heated gets to sit for 24 minutes in the galley oven.
Expect high carb, high fat, starchy piles. And bread that spends any amount of time at 8000 feet cabin altitude (or even 6000) is gonna be stale.
As long as the flight attendants on US carriers are barely-trained TikTok-aspiring gossip-in-the-galley phone-watching part-time-phone-it-in-ers who have never been interested in cooking a proper meal in their lives, my expectations are that the food is little better than microwave in a box fare. They're not here to serve, they're here for your safety.
Money will buy the best meals for airlines, if airlines choose to spend it.
There's the issue that food must be prepared at least 12-24 hours in advanced, even for international business/first. Many dishes are prepped substantially earlier; they are loaded strategically so that they thaw at the right time.
Then there's the issue that you don't have a trained kitchen brigade on the flight. Most airlines do not have a single professional cook.
Then there's usually only a convection oven. It is possible to put a stove, pans,...
There's the issue that food must be prepared at least 12-24 hours in advanced, even for international business/first. Many dishes are prepped substantially earlier; they are loaded strategically so that they thaw at the right time.
Then there's the issue that you don't have a trained kitchen brigade on the flight. Most airlines do not have a single professional cook.
Then there's usually only a convection oven. It is possible to put a stove, pans, etc. onto a plane but that isn't the standard for network airlines/aircraft operating scheduled flights.
Lastly, the extremely low humidity on aircraft (even in last-generation ones which are only a little better) severely impacts humans ability to smell and taste.
Finally, the high noise level and the limited space also adversely impact the experience.
Ideally, you want to eat neither on the plane nor at the airport. (Airport security standards are so highly and procedures so costly that usually, only professional caterers can do it.)
So even on the ground, you aren't getting gourmet cuisine. Substantial parts of your meal are prepared off-site in a factory.
Yes, at the airport you can do more than at cruising altitude. It's still not equivalent to a Michelin-starred restaurant IMO.
I would much rather have simpler meals onboard made with higher quality ingredients than "fancy" meals made with lower quality ingredients. On domestic flights, serve a really good turkey sandwich with a flavorful soup instead of a soggy pasta. On international first class, I would rather have thinly sliced Prosciutto San Daniele than a reheated filet. A simple, Greek yogurt parfait for breakfast is preferable to a tough, reheated eggs.
I'm with you on that. I'm actually surprised there are so few good soups considering how that seems like the ideal food to reheat.
The vast majority of U.S. restaurants serve slop reheated by a cocaine addicted chef.
If you live in a major coastal city, you have access to better restaurants, but there are still a high number of terrible restaurants in the middle of Manhattan, etc.
First and business class food is rarely terrible and usually pretty good. Yeah you can do better at Atomix or Dirt Candy but these are exceptional restaurants, not representative of restaurants.
I cannot disagree more with the coastal comment. People who actually live in the interior know the only thing lesser about their fine dining restaurants is the price.
I said the coasts have good restaurants, not that the interior is bereft of them. In any event, you are mistaken about the price. Only drinks are cheaper; food is as much if not more expensive in the middle of the country. Asador Del Sur in St. Louis, Missouri serves an excellent lomo saltado, but it’s $30. The equivalent famed dish at Coppelia in lower Manhattan is $29.
At the end of the day, while service and food and amenities make a long flight more enjoyable, I'd give them all up just for the ability to sleep flat in business/first class - that's the real value in premium widebody airplanes. I'm tall (2m) so that's unique to me and other tall people, to be sure (and old! harder to fly now at 56yo than when I was 30). In economy, I have the...
At the end of the day, while service and food and amenities make a long flight more enjoyable, I'd give them all up just for the ability to sleep flat in business/first class - that's the real value in premium widebody airplanes. I'm tall (2m) so that's unique to me and other tall people, to be sure (and old! harder to fly now at 56yo than when I was 30). In economy, I have the same priorities - exit rows/bulkheads are the best seats for me, even as I'm trading seat width (wide body exit rows) or other standard seat amenities.
Moreover, objectively speaking, airplane meals will never be better than (good) restaurant food, but I am not going to complain - I'm at 35K ft in the air!
In business class, a meal equivalent to a middle-of the road restaurant is table stakes (I am stuck in a tube and wouldn't want food I would not have elsewhere).
That's why I avoid US carriers whenever I can, since most other airlines deliver, some exceptionally well, and are therefore a better value for my time and money.
Which airline? Ryan Air or La Premiere? Which restaurant? McDonald's or Chevre d'Or (in Eze)? Perhaps I've been fortunate but most of my airline meals have been as good as middle-of-the-road restaurants and sometimes better. There has been the occasional disappointment.
Meh. Just bring some high protein snacks and sample small parts of each dish. You’ll be fine.
Ben,
I dont recall the specifics, beyond the impact on bubbly stuff like Champagne and Prosecco's, what about the impact on flying in a pressurized tube at 40k feet? I recall reading it has an impact on taste - in that the same food on the ground would taste (separate from your ice cream example - although that might be similar) very different. In addition, beyond the logistics of local catering issues, there are...
Ben,
I dont recall the specifics, beyond the impact on bubbly stuff like Champagne and Prosecco's, what about the impact on flying in a pressurized tube at 40k feet? I recall reading it has an impact on taste - in that the same food on the ground would taste (separate from your ice cream example - although that might be similar) very different. In addition, beyond the logistics of local catering issues, there are probably some difficult laws (not to mention the taxes and limits on how things can get cooked on a plane) that impact what can be served and how?
I think the crux of this discussion should be on the fact that airplane food quality is “capped”, as in the best airplane food ever cannot hope to match the best food prepared on the ground. However, the worst food on an airplane is often far worse than average meals served on the ground.
Rather than trying to serve the world’s most gourmet food in the air, the key to airplane food is to have...
I think the crux of this discussion should be on the fact that airplane food quality is “capped”, as in the best airplane food ever cannot hope to match the best food prepared on the ground. However, the worst food on an airplane is often far worse than average meals served on the ground.
Rather than trying to serve the world’s most gourmet food in the air, the key to airplane food is to have a healthy lower bound on quality, where the food isn’t the dog chow on a plate they serve in United Polaris, but rather a reasonable above average quality set of dishes that you would be happy with eating on the ground. Consistency is key.
Back in the old days, you had trolley service where you could mix and match whatever you wanted. Now it's done on a lesser extent to desserts and cheese.
I had a great pork chop on a flight, once ;) lol
Jetblue Mint does it best and does not get nearly enough credit.
On another note, Etihad and Qatar's mezze it trash imo.
This is facts, JetBlue has the de facto best catering within the Americas and probably ranks in the top 3 within the TATL market.
I think it goes beyond “good for airplane food” territory and closer to actually good food. The food is fresh, creative, and tasty. My only qualm is that they basically only ever serve gelato as dessert and not much else.
I can't imagine a US airline serving better food than what I have had in AM long-haul business class, and I have read that B6 even use some planes without ovens, so I am really struggling to believe that claim.
Yep.. I don't know if it's normal or just my flight was bad, but the Jetblue Mint meal I had SFO-BOS was so much better than my prior TPAC meal in United Polaris.
I'm also thinking the meals on ANA have spoiled me going TPAC.
Yeah, I'm not Japanese but I'd eat ANA's Japanese menu every day, yumm.
Thoroughly enjoyed my air france la Premiere meal out of Paris earlier this year. It was exceptional, start to finish.
As you say, this entirely depends on what you class as 'restaurant quality'. I'm sure there will be some café/restaurant out there that happily serves something worse than the Lufthansa Heimat mystery business class sandwich.
Speaking of Lufthansa, the bright sparks at the FCT have installed a machine which grinds nuts into a paste, proudly displaying that it spews '100 % nuts' while they've filled the container with a mix which, in addition to...
As you say, this entirely depends on what you class as 'restaurant quality'. I'm sure there will be some café/restaurant out there that happily serves something worse than the Lufthansa Heimat mystery business class sandwich.
Speaking of Lufthansa, the bright sparks at the FCT have installed a machine which grinds nuts into a paste, proudly displaying that it spews '100 % nuts' while they've filled the container with a mix which, in addition to nuts, contains some cheap and nasty 'chocolate' (in the loosest sense of the term) that makes the paste cloyingly sweet and obviously inappropriate for diabetics etc. Now that's definitely 'restaurant quality'- as in the pop up restaurants around the back streets of Chinese cities, BKK etc where you can never be certain of what exactly goes into your meal.
Menu design and menu ambition are often undone by the quality of the ground catering operation. Air France La Première is a classic example. LP flights originating in Paris offer meal experiences that can approximate very good restaurants. But the flights I took from Mexico City and Johannesburg offered mediocre meals indistinguishable from inferior carriers
When something like that happens it’s especially annoying because expectations are so high
I couldn't agree more! Air France outstation catering in LP doesn't come close to what is served out of CDG. I'd say when flying from CDG in LP the meals served on board are the best I've ever had on an airplane and are a great combination of high quality ingredients (high quality foie gras, artisanal French cheeses, real French pastry, premium French butter, Poilane bread, etc.). Conversely, the meals I've been served out of...
I couldn't agree more! Air France outstation catering in LP doesn't come close to what is served out of CDG. I'd say when flying from CDG in LP the meals served on board are the best I've ever had on an airplane and are a great combination of high quality ingredients (high quality foie gras, artisanal French cheeses, real French pastry, premium French butter, Poilane bread, etc.). Conversely, the meals I've been served out of JFK and IAD have been some of the worst premium class meals I've ever had (my chicken and macaroni and cheese dish with pretzel roll on American in Business when flying out of Venice was better). The LP catering out of DXB is better, but still nowhere near as good as CDG. This is something Air France really needs to work on!
LOL
As a man with discerning taste and pallet ; whattaburger , Taco Bell , McDonald’s , to name a few. The only meal I’ve ever had that didn’t seem like airplane food was Q Suites out of Doha.
Pallet LOL
Bet. No comment can surpass this one and no one should try
'Pallet'! *Wipes coffee off monitor*
I don’t agree that caviar tastes better when it’s included in the ticket price. For instance, I have never been impressed with the caviar Lufthansa serves. And a few months ago I had some slimy and overly fishy caviar on Emirates out of Nairobi; I suspect it wasn’t stored properly and ruined my appetite.
For reference, I do eat caviar at restaurants with some frequency, and occasionally have it at home.
The Lufthansa First in-flight experience is all-around shabby. The ground experience is very solid.
Having flown them recently, I can't agree about the ground experience. The departure experience at GRU was identical to what I would have gotten in business class, or even as a *G flying in Y.
The FCT may be a beautiful space, and it was very quiet when I was there, but waiting 45 minutes for the shower, which features some synthetically-fragranced Balmain amenities made in Czechia (as opposed to the excellent L'Occitane products...
Having flown them recently, I can't agree about the ground experience. The departure experience at GRU was identical to what I would have gotten in business class, or even as a *G flying in Y.
The FCT may be a beautiful space, and it was very quiet when I was there, but waiting 45 minutes for the shower, which features some synthetically-fragranced Balmain amenities made in Czechia (as opposed to the excellent L'Occitane products in the SEN lounges), the rubbish coffee from a roastery called 'Alrighty' (!) (as opposed to the very solid Lavazza products in the other lounges) and the poorly trained catering/bar staff are all in keeping with the signature LH lack of interest in the passenger experience. Buying a few expensive bottles of alcohol could never mask a dysfunctional organisational culture.
Suspect Lufthansa is a massive social experiment to see how many people will continue to patronize an airline that demonstrates open contempt for them.
Sort of like a less ethical and larger scale version of the Stanford prison experiment.
Unfortunately there really isn't a viable alternative for intra-Europe travel. Most LCC routes don't operate daily, so AFKL is the LH Group's only real competitor, but their network is weaker and prices for connecting pax skyrocket whenever there's a big event in one of their hub cities (that doesn't happen with LH, as they can funnel traffic via BRU/ZRH/VIE).
Choosing LH for long-haul travel, however, does indicate masochistic tendencies. I had been more than happy...
Unfortunately there really isn't a viable alternative for intra-Europe travel. Most LCC routes don't operate daily, so AFKL is the LH Group's only real competitor, but their network is weaker and prices for connecting pax skyrocket whenever there's a big event in one of their hub cities (that doesn't happen with LH, as they can funnel traffic via BRU/ZRH/VIE).
Choosing LH for long-haul travel, however, does indicate masochistic tendencies. I had been more than happy to fly from GRU to Europe via ADD in order to avoid them, but unfortunately couldn't find availability with miles for ET business class, so I thought that LH F would be at least as good. It wasn't.