Comments on: A Gourmet Diversion. Savory Snapshots From 30,000 Feet.

By: Stacey Rain

Stacey Rain — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 22:50:30 +0000

I still crave the flavor of the Coquille St. Jacques that American Airlines used to serve in a scallop shell, long ago. They also served one of the best seafood omlettes I’ve ever eaten.

By: Robert S

Robert S — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 23:41:21 +0000

Wardair, a defunct Canadian airline, served steak on Royal Doulton china. I remember there being a vast desert tray. That was in economy class. Great airline.

By: Tom Bell

Tom Bell — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 02:03:19 +0000

Maybe I’m easy to please, or just plain unsophisticated but think some of the simpler services look and sound the most appetizing. The Qatar on-demand business class offerings look the best to me. Sometimes “less is more”, as the saying goes.

(But then, there was American’s abysmal “bistro bag” service on their DFW-ORD runs).

By: Matt Wilda

Matt Wilda — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 18:14:40 +0000

Having gotten accustomed to the service on domestic flights in the US, it’s always a pleasant surprise when I’m traveling in another part of the world and actually get a complementary meal in economy on a short flight. Like Zanzibar to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian in 2016. Unfortunately I was feeling a bit ill and didn’t have much of an appetite, probably due to the fish I’d eaten the previous night, which might not have been the freshest.

Maybe it’s just the purple mood lighting, but the Qatar bar kind of reminds me of the “Ten Forward” bar on the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

By: Thomas Flynn

Thomas Flynn — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 18:47:49 +0000

My most memorable in-flight dining experience (emphasis on the word experience)? “Dinner” on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow (Domodedovo Airport) to Irkutsk on a Tupolev TU-154 in 1993. First Course: “Juice” (its origin is questionable, but it looked something akin to that which came out of my 1976 AMC Hornet radiator when it was flushed). The “juice” was served in reusable plastic cups that looked like they had not been washed since Lenin’s time. I passed on the “juice”. Second Course: “Chicken”. Whatever species of animal(?) this was I will not even fathom a guess as the bone of this “chicken” was so long that it extended to my friend’s seat (and we had the middle seat empty between the two of us!). My curiosity got the better part of me, but in trying to wrestle the thing to cut, I had second thoughts…I could not afford to get any intestinal illness or be hospitalized in Siberia. So, I whipped out my carry-on a bottle of water, some peanut butter crackers and my trustworthy can of Cheez Whiz and I was set to go. Yes, people stared…but they were also licking their lips at the same time. Yes, in-flight dining can be really fun…for all the other reasons too!

By: Dean Jamison

Dean Jamison — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 04:36:23 +0000

Dear Patrick

If I could upload a photo i would include a menu from the Air France Concorde flight on January 30, 1978, from Washington to Paris. The one cabin seating was of course cramped, but Air France did, as one would expect, put on quite a nice meal. To get over water quickly the pilots crossed the Atlantic coast quite far south — then the nose went up, the afterburners went on and the cabin mach meter crept up to 2. Then dinner.

I join you in appreciation of the Qatar business class menu, but Taiwan’s EVA remains my favorite. And I also appreciate Delta for a US carrier — far superior to American, United, BA or JAL in business class. I can’t say i’m very fond of Delta’s frequent flyer program though.

Perhaps I’ll be with you on a Delta flight when we reach the far side of the pandemic. Meanwhile I’m appreciating askthepilot.com. Dean

By: Michael Kennedy

Michael Kennedy — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 21:18:09 +0000

Okay. THIS is my favorite Patrick Smith column.

By: Paul Lynch

Paul Lynch — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 21:15:07 +0000

I don’t remember the food but our kitchen spices are still kept on the little wooden tray that my first ever meal on an airplane came on: TAP Air Portugal 707, Dublin-Faro, 1982. Being the first time, everything about that flight was a novelty. I remember asking the stewardess afterwards if we could keep the tray. I don’t think I would bother with most of the plastic trays I’ve had since.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 18:21:15 +0000

In reply to Daniel. Lol. Good observation.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 14:34:06 +0000

I love that even in the super fancy Emirates first class, you *still* get a tiny bag of Penn State pretzels.