While I’m not a vegetarian (anymore), here’s a change I’m very happy to see…
Qatar Airways’ new vegan dishes
While it has long been possible to pre-order a “special” vegan meal, Qatar Airways is now adding fully vegan options to its a la carte menu for business class passengers. This will be available on all flights from Doha and select flights to Doha, and is intended to cater to the growing demand for plant-based food.
New vegan menu items include smoked moutabel, spiral courgettes and arrabbiata sauce, tofu and spinach tortellini, asian barbecue tofu, noodles, scallions and shiitake, fried tofu with vegetable tajine, cauliflower couscous and kalamata bruschetta, and chickpea flour omelette.
As Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker explains:
“We always strive to provide our customers with authentic and indulgent experiences in the skies. We are delighted to incorporate a vegan main course choice to our on-board menu, offering our passengers yet another lifestyle choice that redefines the expectations from a five-star airline.”
I have to commend His Excellency for using the term “lifestyle choice” correctly, which is refreshing to see… 😉
Passengers can continue to pre-order vegan meals if they’d like, in both economy and business class. This new vegan option in business class just gives people more flexibility, should they only want vegan food for part of their meal.
Why I love this change
I love the fact that Qatar Airways is integrating vegan dishes into its menu, and that’s despite the fact that I’m not a vegan/vegetarian (at least not anymore). A bit of background on me, and let me acknowledge that I’m extremely quirky in this regard:
- When I was younger I was a vegetarian for about eight years, because I love animals
- I still don’t eat pork, because I think pigs are really intelligent, and I’d love to have one as a pet (this has little to do with Qatar Airways, since the airline doesn’t serve pork)
- I don’t mind eating fish, because I don’t think fish have feelings (at least not in the same way as cows, chickens, pigs, etc.)
- While I do eat chicken, beef, etc., I only do so rarely, and when it’s actually good; in other words, I’m only going to order a steak at a great steakhouse, and not in American Airlines domestic first class
- As I get older I increasingly struggle with dairy, so I avoid super creamy vegetarian dishes and ice cream
When you combine all of those factors, I love that Qatar Airways is adding vegan dishes to its menu. I’d never pre-order a vegan meal because special meals generally offer a watered down dining experience, but if I can pick and choose vegan dishes, a majority of what I’d order would probably be from that section of the menu.
Bottom line
While it has long been possible to pre-order vegan special meals, I love that Qatar Airways is now consistently adding vegan dishes to its standard business class menu. This is one of those things that I didn’t know I wanted until it was announced.
Now if only Qatar Airways would add iced coffee or cold brew to its menu, it would offer a pretty perfect business class experience (okay, in reality it already offers a rather perfect experience).
Would anyone else like to see more airlines introduce a range of vegan dishes on the standard menu?
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