Can Airplane Food Actually Be “Restaurant Quality?”

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.

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I’ll share my thoughts on that in this post, and then would love to hear how OMAAT readers feel…

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?