I recently shared my experience flying Emirates first class with my dad from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP), as part of our Good Morning Milan, Goodnight Moon trip. I’m not writing a traditional review of the flight, but instead, want to focus on a few specific aspects of the experience.
In this post I’d like to broadly discuss a topic I’ve never covered before — just how good is Emirates’ first class food? Having flown Emirates first class dozens of times over the years, I think it makes for an interesting topic, because Emirates is uniquely positioned in terms of its catering.
There are some areas where Emirates is in a league of its own, and other areas where the experience doesn’t impress so much. On balance, I’d consider the catering to be among the best in the industry, though. Let me explain…
In this post:
Wine is what sets the Emirates first class experience apart
Before we talk about food, it’s important to mention that Emirates offers a truly unrivaled wine selection in first class. Emirates is in a league of its own when it comes to the quality and variety of wines that it offers in first class. We’re talking everything from Dom Perignon (sometimes even rose and P2), to a massive selection of great red and white options.
I’m not usually a big drinker, but I guess Emirates brings out the worst in me, because you can’t help but work your way through the selection. I mention all of this because truth be told, a lot of my calories consumed on Emirates come in liquid form, and therefore it somewhat limits my interest and consumption of other things. 😉
How to view your Emirates first class menu in advance
If you’re someone who enjoys anticipating your inflight experience, note that Emirates publishes menus in advance of flights. Simply follow this link, and enter your origin and destination (or flight number) and date of travel, and you can get access to the full menu and drink list.
It’s always fun to know what to expect (unless you’re really into surprises), so I always enjoy taking a look before I fly.
Basics of Emirates’ first class dine on demand concept
If you’re flying Emirates first class, a block time of 4hr40min is an important cutoff:
- On flights of under 4hr40min, the airline offers a slightly more limited dining selection, and at least technically, doesn’t offer dine on demand (though there’s still quite a bit of flexibility); you’ll notice subtle differences, like no personal bread basket (instead you’re offered a selection on a plate), etc.
- On flights of at least 4hr40min, the airline offers its full dine on demand concept, typically with a huge menu
As is common in the Middle East, Emirates flights depart all hours of the day and night, and in some cases, your body clock may be a bit confused as to whether you want breakfast, or lunch, or whatever.
For flights with dine on demand, the most common setup is that there’s a breakfast and lunch menu, so you can choose what you’d like, when you’d like. On some shorter flights leaving during very late night or early morning hours, you might also notice a breakfast menu and then a light bites menu, with the latter just being a slightly pared back version of a lunch menu.
Emirates truly has a dine on demand concept, so you can have what you’d like, when you’d like. Want to have one lunch and one breakfast? That’s fine! Want to have three back-to-back breakfasts? That’s fine too! Want to just have caviar on six different occasions? That works as well.
Emirates’ unlimited first class caviar is in a league of its own
Perhaps the single thing that most stands out about Emirates’ first class catering is that the airline officially offers unlimited caviar. There’s not another airline with such a policy. Yes, perhaps in some way that’s a bit of a gimmick, because how much caviar can you actually enjoy?
But it is an official policy, and the airline caters an obscene amount of caviar for first class passengers to enjoy. So there’s a beautiful standalone caviar presentation, and you can even ask for seconds (or thirds), if your heart desires. If you’d like, you can even garnish other dishes with caviar. Want your omelet topped with caviar? That works too!
The highs & lows of Emirates first class dining
If you ask me, the single greatest thing about Emirates’ first class dining is the sheer amount of flexibility offered. It’s amazing just how many dishes are available on the Emirates first class menu, and how much flexibility the options afford. What also amazes me is how (at least in my experience) Emirates rarely runs out of options, even on an ultra long haul flight.
Just as an example of what the catering is like, let’s take a Dubai (DXB) to Los Angeles (LAX) flight. The menu includes six breakfast main courses, seven lunch appetizers, five lunch main courses, four desserts, a light bites menu (with one salad, two hot snacks, and one dessert), a movie snacks menu (with five options), and that’s in addition to all the snacks available at the first class social area and business class bar.
There are just so many cute little touches to Emirates’ first class meal service. For example, I love how with drinks, you can always order nuts, olives, and/or chips.
Beyond that, the main meal always start with a substantial amuse bouche.
I also think Emirates’ movie snack menu concept is ridiculously adorable, and I wish we’d see more airlines offer something like that.
Now, here’s what I will say about Emirates first class dining — beyond the caviar, the food as such isn’t necessarily that amazing. I’m not trying to come across as overly critical here, but I’m just trying to be realistic about what airplane food is, unlike the people who try to claim any first class food is “Michelin star quality.”
I’d say the individual dishes are largely in line with what you’d expect to find in an excellent business class product — like, I don’t think they’re materially better than in Qatar Airways business class, for example. And that’s fair enough, because not everything has to have foie gras and truffles. Dishes are generally nicely plated, but nothing that’s going to blow you away.
Why I dine differently on Emirates than other airlines
Virtually every airline with first class offers a dine on demand concept, so that’s not unique as such. That being said, I tend to take a different approach to dining on Emirates than on virtually any other airline when flying in first class.
On just about any other airline, I’ll typically enjoy the main meal all at once, and will be absolutely stuffed. After all, airlines serve some pretty indulgent meals in first class, and the intent is typically that you enjoy the meals all at once, with many courses.
Emirates is a different story, at least for me. On Emirates, I’m more of a grazer. I almost never have a full meal start to finish, but instead, I fully take advantage of the flexibility. And I think between the wine selection plus the endless selection of options, I just mentally approach it all differently.
For example, typically I’ll start the flight by having some champagne with nuts, chips, and/or olives. Then I’ll typically go for the caviar, and then maybe the Arabic mezze (I have the caviar and mezze on every Emirates flight). But at that point I’m typically already so full, and can’t stomach the thought of having a soup, salad, main course, dessert, cheese, etc.
So I’ll typically call it quits after that. Then maybe several hours later I’ll have a soup and a main course, or just a dessert, or whatever. Or occasionally I never even have a main course, but just order something from the movie snack menu.
Sometimes I’ll even head back to the business class bar (assuming I’m on an A380) for dessert, because the cakes that they have displayed on the bar are consistently sinfully delicious.
While individual Emirates dishes might not be the most exciting, I do rank the overall gastronomy experience as being among the best of any airline, between the wine, plus the huge selection of food, and the flexibility offered by the menu.
Bottom line
Emirates takes a unique approach to its first class meal service, consistently offering among the biggest menus you’ll find on any airline. It almost feels like being in a restaurant in terms of the number of options you have, and that says nothing of the amazing wine selection.
If you ask me, the highlights of Emirates’ first class catering are the unlimited caviar and Arabic mezze, plus the flexibility the menu affords, from the full menu, to the movie snack menu, to the light bites menu, and more.
Individually, I don’t think Emirates’ first class catering is the best in the industry. But I do think the sheer variety and flexibility makes Emirates’ first class catering among the most appealing out there.
What’s your take on Emirates’ first class catering?
Ben I am not sure you have covered this before (please point me to it if so!) but can you share a bit about how you recommend approaching vegetarianism with business class or first class on Emirates (or maybe more broadly)? Do you recommend requesting a special meal or are there usually enough vegetarian options among all the different meal occasions you mention? With a special meal would you be forgoing the amuse bouche etc...
Ben I am not sure you have covered this before (please point me to it if so!) but can you share a bit about how you recommend approaching vegetarianism with business class or first class on Emirates (or maybe more broadly)? Do you recommend requesting a special meal or are there usually enough vegetarian options among all the different meal occasions you mention? With a special meal would you be forgoing the amuse bouche etc or do they create a vegetarian one? Beyond Emirates, does this approach vary by carrier?
I can imagine for some more restrictive dietary requirements a special meal is a must. But I am not sure about vegetarian which is more common these days (at least for global carriers).
I've flown Air France La Premiere a couple of times in the past year, and I've flown all of the major business class cabins, including Qatar, ANA, Emirates, and Singapore (and a handful of first—though not Emirates).
There is a bottom line when it comes to airplane food. It must be prepared hours before it is eaten. It cannot be cooked to order, but merely reheated. You can have the best ingredients and the best...
I've flown Air France La Premiere a couple of times in the past year, and I've flown all of the major business class cabins, including Qatar, ANA, Emirates, and Singapore (and a handful of first—though not Emirates).
There is a bottom line when it comes to airplane food. It must be prepared hours before it is eaten. It cannot be cooked to order, but merely reheated. You can have the best ingredients and the best recipes (which is not to suggest that any airline achieves even this), but the inability to prepare and cook to order means you are always eating premade and reheated food.
To say any airline serves Michelin-quality food is absurd. To say any airline serves food on par with a good, non-Michelin restaurant is equally absurd.
And while I appreciate a good wine list, research (and my own personal experience) confirms that the effective altitude of the pressurized cabin significantly affects ones taste—which would also, of course, apply to the food.
All of which is to say, when I pay for a premium cabin, I'm paying essentially for comfort and privacy. I appreciate fine food and wine too much to give significant thought to either when I'm at 35,000 feet.
Once again, I appreciate the creativity. It's not often you would find some sushi or kimbap as a snack on any airline. The popcorn is pretty creative compared to your typical nuts one would get. The sliders seem like a perfect size if you're feeling peckish, so I don't understand why airlines offer a full-blown burger as a "snack".
As far as cake, there are a plethora of options for a cake, so why stick to the traditional chocolate cake?
Looking forward to trying this out for myself in February. I just browsed the wine and whisky selection for my flight and I get a feeling I’ll be very buzzed by the time my flight lands.