United 7644: IAD to YHZ, a Haiku

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

United 7644: IAD to YHZ, a Haiku

Well, what can you be written about a plastic cup of Mott's Tomato juice that hasn't been said a thousand time before by quills magnitudes sharper than mine?

And so, I won't try ... but wait, no, just a short haiku:

Mott's Tomato Juice.
In cup, with ice, plastic cup.
The can? Ah, on cart.

Meal: Beverage
Date Visited: 13 August 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: http://www.united.com

United 870: SYD to SFO

United 870: SYD to SFO

Dinner on the flight, served just out of Sydney, was a choice of chicken or pasta. I went with the chicken. It was alright, a little on the greasy side, served with a side of roasted potatoes (good) and carrots and green beans. A side salad with Italian dressing plus a roll topped off the savoury side of the meal. Dessert was a bit too dense bit of chocolate cake. A nice touch was a complimentary wine (I selected the Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon).

For breakfast, well, I seemed to have slept through it; there was a cookie, pretzels and a little sandwich on my tray, so either that was the simple handout or there were airline fairies at work, we'll never know.

Meal: Dinner/Breakfast
Date Visited: 7 June 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

United 840: MEL to SYD

United 840: MEL to SYD

Well, back on a US carrier for a short hall, relatively, beverage and peanuts. Qantas, you spoiled me!

Meal: Snack
Date Visited: 7 June 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

United 873: SFO to IAD

United 873: SFO to IAD

I know there are some of you out there (@outtacontext, for example!) who say to get something at one of the gate spots before getting on the SFO/IAD route, but I just got in from Australia, and fought my way through customs and the transfer to terminal 3 and had only moments to spare (well, I thought I did, but then we ended up being nearly an hour late), so I just had time for a quick Peet's at the gate.

On board, I opted for the $9 turkey sandwich with a side of chips. Not bad. But I'll try and get something at the gate next time. Promise!

Meal: Lunch
Date Visited: 7 June 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

Quantas Domestic Flights: MEL to CBR (QF 814) and (QF 795)

Quantas Domestic Flights: MEL to CBR (QF 814) and (QF 795)

I needed to make a short visit to Canberra and had a domestic Qantas flight of just about an hour between Melbourne and there. This is about the same as my well-traveled Washington-Boston route. But food service was certainly different! On the DC-Boston route, food service is limted to pretzels and beverage service; if you're lucky, and on US Airways, you'll sometimes have a prepackaged donut handed to you as you board. But Qantas offered meal service, in my case, breakfast. Juice, muffin, yogurt, choice of tea or coffee, and a bowl of cereal (on the trip up it was muesli, on the way back, crunchy honey Weet-Bix).

Meal: Breakfast
Date Visited: 3 and 5 June 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

Qantas 10: LHR > SIN > MEL

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Qantas from London to Melbourne

Whew, flying from London to Melbourne was quite the culinary adventure. In the, oh, twenty or so hours of the trip, there were five meals served. All quite good. Here's
the breakdown:

Qantas 10: LHR to SIN

I went with the pork goulous option (pork, potato mash, broccoli and carrots), served with a side of tabouleh. For dessert, an Eton Mess (pavolova with rasberries and cream). With it, I had coffee and  a St. Hallett Shiraz/Grenache blend.

A few hours later came a snack pack with cookies, candy, and chocolates. In the last hours before landing, there was a hot breakfast option with a leek and potato fritta with a side of a pork sausage and sauteed spinach.

Meal: Supper/Snack/Breakfast
Date Visited: 29-30 May 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

After a brief layover in Singapore, we reboarded and the food started flowing again.

Qantas 10: SIN to MEL

On this flight, there was a lightsupper of a beef and red wine cassaroll with garlic potatos, carrots and green beans. I chose the Scrubby Rise Shiraz/Cab/Petite Verdot blend. Dessert was a bit of chocolate, followed later by a Nestle's Crunch ice cream. The last serving of the trip was a continental breakfast of juice, coffee, a fruit dish, and a sweet roll.

Overall, an quite impressive amount of pretty good food!

Meal: Light Dinner/Continental Breakfast
Date Visited: 30-31 May 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

Austrian Air: VIE to LHR

Austrian Air: VIE to LHR

On a sort of quick flight (two hours or so), Austrian Air still served some real food (as opposed to just peanuts or pretzels). The offering was a half a chicken sandwich and a bit of rasberry chocoloate pudding. I supplemented it with coffee, and water. And, yes, a glass of the complimentary wine. I went with a white.

More like flying in the good old days!

Meal: Light Dinner
Date Visited: 29 May 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

Austrian Air: IAD to VIE

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Austrian Air: IAD to VIE

Thanks to the world of codeshare, the flight that I booked on United was actually flown by Austrian Air. I was curious as to what the food selection was and it turned out farily good.

The first meal served was dinner. There was a choice of chicken or pasta. I went with the chicken. Served with a nice cheesy potato and a very tasty spinach, the chicken was a bit over-sauced and greasy.

For the breakfast, served somewhere over Belgium, there was a nice entry to Europe type bread, meat cheese, along with a muffin and yogurt.

As an added bonus, during the dinner service, wine (red, white, rose) were free flowing. I also give kudos to Austrian Air for the wonderful triangular shape of the plates.

Meal: Dinner and Lunch
Date Visited: 24/25 May 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: http://www.austrianair.com

United 860: GRU to IAD

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

UA 860: GRU to IAD: Business Class

I think that offering to share my pen with the check-in agent at GRU in São Paulo scored me some good travel Karma. I'd already been delayed for four days due to snow storms on the East Coast, so, I was pleasantly surprised with a complimentary upgrade to Business Class for the return trip from GRU to IAD.

Business class meant the white table cloth, free-flowing wine, a bowl of warm nuts, a cheese and cracker platter, and a selection of tasty entrees. For the breakfast, there was an interesting omlette.

This flight also offered "express service" where you could pre-order all your choices and have them delivered at once so that you could then go to sleep.



Meal: Dinner/Breakfast
Date Visited: 15 February 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

TAM flights, BEL to BRA to CGH

TAM flights, BEL to BRA to CGH

The two hops from Belém to São Paulo, via Brasilia on this trip were again the breakfast and light lunch. As before, the flight attendants handed out various toffees before taking off; I was told Brasilians have a sweet tooth, and I guess it's true!

JJ (TAM) 3499: BEL to BRA

Full flight from Belém to Brasilia, so a bit snug to eat. Also, onlly slept for 45 minutes or so the previous night, so I fell asleep as soon as we took off and missed the serving. Luckily, the fellow next to me noticed and called the steward back and I had my breakfast box and orange juice (suco do laranja as I know call it).

The box was different than on my previous TAM a.m. flight. Today it was a toast-like bit of bread with “grape” jam (more of a paste, curious). Also some white spread that I passed on. Lastly, a nice chocolate chip cookie.

Meal: Breakfast

Date Visited: 10 February 2010

Rating: N/A

Address: In the Air

Website: N/A

JJ (TAM) 3703: BRA to CGH

Fell asleep on this leg also, but was awake in time for food service. Just as on my previous TAM lunch service flight, I had the “classic sandwich”. This time, it was clearly ham, cheese, and tomato. Not a gourmet treat, but tasty in a fast food sort of way.

Meal: Lunch

Date Visited: 10 February 2010

Rating: N/A

Address: In the Air

Website: N/A

TAM Airlines, from São Paulo to Belém (via Brasilia)

TAM Airlines, from São Paulo to Belém (via Brasilia)



JJ 3702: CGU to BRA
Breakfast (somewhere over the Patenal)

Up at the crack of dawn to fly from São Paulo to Belém (via Brasilia), I didn't have a chance for other food, so I was counting on TAM for a nice something. TAM served a nice little breakfast in a attractive box. Inside was a small bottle of the popular drinkable yogurt, small dish of fruit, and a small sandwich of ham and tomato. I added orange juice and a coffee to top it all off.

JJ 3444: BRA to BEL

On the lunch flight from Brasila to Belém, the fare was an interesting hot sandwich, at first I thought it was an empanada, of cheese and turkey (or maybe chicken? or ham?). Not the greatest, but served its purpose.

Meal: Breakfast/Lunch
Date Visited: 7 February 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

United 861: IAD to GRU, Dinner

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

United 861: IAD to GRU

Dinner (somewhere over the Atlantic, near the Bahamas)

Choice of beef or pasta. Wasn't in a pasta mood, so I went with the beef. Turned out to be a nice little Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes, corn, and a nice, slightly barbeque-y sauce. Side salad with a balsamic vinagrette and the popular United brownies and cream for dessert.

Meal: Dinner
Date Visited: 2 February 2010
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

Alaska Airlines: Northern Bites

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Alaska Airlines: Northern Bites

Well, interestingly enough, there wasn't a Dunkin' Donuts in the gate area I boarded my Alaska Airlines flight (DCA to SEA to YVR), so I just had a quick coffee and muffin at the gate (NOTE: I arrived 2 hours early, since Canada is "international"), but breezed through check-in and security so had a full hour and a half to check out the meagre offerings!).

Well, turned out that Alaska Airlines offered a nice selection of boxed food choices (not free of course, but $6.00).

Looking over the offerings, I splurged on the scrambled egg plate. Turned out to be scrambled eggs over home fries with some sausage and cheese on top. Pretty good (except for my cholesterol of course!)

Meal: Breakfast
Date Visited: 8 November 2009
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

United 120: SFO to IAD: Lunch

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

United 120: SFO to IAD: Lunch

Heading back East and this time United was offering up a variety of sandwiches and salads (along with a selection of boxes of various snacks).

I opted for the turkey sandwich. Much better than I was expecting. Nice, old fashioned sandwich bread (no fancy roll or focaccia) with turkey slices and lettuce. Along with it came a very tasty aioli mayonnaise that was pretty good.

Finished off with a small bag of classic Kettle Chips (and I added in some orange juice).

Not bad for $9 (which is about what the various "grab and go" offerings at SFO were going for).

Meal: Lunch
Rating: N/A
Date Visited: 23 October 2009
Address: In the Air
Website: N/A

United 874: IAD to SFO: Contintenal Breakfast

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

I was very sad when I couldn't get a flight on Virgin America for my San Francisco trip. No wifi. No mood lighting. No cheerful pilots at the gate.

Instead, I went on my old standby, United. I had a window seat in Economy Plus and an empty middle seat, so plenty of space to spread out and work on my presentation. I wasn't going to get anything to eat, but the continental breakfast looked good, so I had that, orange juice, and coffee.

The breakfast wasn't bad, yogurt, dried fruit, and an apple danish. Not overprised at $5.

Meal: Breakfast
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

Frontier Jumpstart snack

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Snack on Frontier Airlines

So flying westward on Frontier Airlines, destination Salt Lake City (via Denver, 'cause that's the only way Frontier will get you there!).

Flight delayed for three hours (allowing the sampling of some of the food fare behind the security gates at National Airport) and so, just before boarding, the gate crew announce that the food on the plane has now expired, so if you want anything other than a snack, RUN NOW and buy it.

So it goes.

But on board they did have

• Rice Krispies
• Milk
• Graham Cracker Scooby Snacks
• Apple Juice
  

and only $3.00!

Gourmet? Of Course not ... but better than nothing!

Meal: Snack
Rating: N/A
Address: In the air
Website: N/A

Eastbound: Virgin America VX78

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Eastbound: Virgin America VX78

It was hard to choose from the options on my return flight from San Francisco. But I soon did! I went with the Napa Valley Chicken Salad Hand Roll. It included Diced chicken with apples, currants, carrots and mayonnaise dressing in a garden spinach tortilla wrap. Along with a side of pasta salad and Toblerone chocolate for dessert.

I also added the side of a Fruit and Cheese box that had brie, pepper Monterrey jack and aged cheddar. Finished off with red seedless grapes, dried cranberries, pecans and a selection of multigrain crackers.

I completed the meal with a selection of spirits, VeeV Acai and a Le Tourment Vert Absinthe.

Virgin America knows how to do airline food right!

Virgin America: Food on Demand: Westbound

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Hummus & Pita Chips

Virgin America offers a neat food option, "Food on Demand". Swipe your credit card, pick something from the menu, and it arrives at your seat!

I chose the Hummus & Pita Chips for a light lunch. It was a nice selection of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, hummus an baba ganoush served with pita chips. And finished off with a delightful little stuffed grape leaf rol.

A nice dining option!

Northwest, no Delta, Spicy Cookie

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

I flew on Northwest for the first time the other day and all the flight crews on the various flights were excited about the new line of products they had as staff of "Northwest, Part of the New Delta".

On one flight, it was a new brand of bourbon they had ... on my last leg, from Minneapolis to Washington, it was the spicy cookie from Biscoff with the Delta name and logo on it.

Not a bad cookie if I may say so!

Meal: Snack
Rating: Not Rated
Date: 7 April 2009
Address: Somewhere in the sky
Website: http://www.delta.com

The Friendly Skies: TPE to IAD

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Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

United Airline Economy Class, Part II

Heading back to Washington after a number of excellent meals in Taiwan, I had, of course, my airline meals to look forward too!

Lunch
On the leg from Taipei (TPE) to Tokyo (NRT), we were started off with an interesting ground chicken on rice. This was served with the side salad, some very tasty steamed bok choy, and a pecan cookie.

Lunch
Traveling westward, from Tokyo to Los Angeles (LAX), we stayed with an Asian theme, with chicken thighs on rice with various steamed vegetables, a side salad, the mystery hot dog roll, and the not quite a brownie. (pictured above)

Breakfast
It was getting earlier in the morning on the NRT/LAX leg, so it was eventually time for a hot breakfast. Very hot. Really really really microwaved hot! A version of an omlette, a sausage, and a small pastry.

And then we landed in LAX. A quick dash through immigration and customs, a wait in various lines, re-checking luggage, and then, back to domestic flight foods (meals to purchase, beverage service). I was pretty sleepy by this time, so a handful of almonds were able to see me through (along with a couple of glasses of orange juice.

Meal: Lunch/Lunch/Breakfast
Rating: Not Rated
Date: 28 February 2009
Address: Somewhere in the sky
Website: http://www.united.com