Story: Asian Airline Food

Three years ago I started a new job and relocated from Texas to Taiwan. Because I love trying new foods, Taipei’s many small restaurants and night markets have kept me busy. Eventually I had to start taking pictures just to keep track of everything I’ve tasted. My hobby became a habit that has continued on vacations and business trips, even when on the plane.

Although airlines in Asia have a reputation for treating passengers well, the food in coach usually doesn’t differ so much from what their North American counterparts serve on the same routes. Since international carriers greatly outnumber the catering companies preparing all their meals, these similarities should come as no surprise. In fact, the quality of food served by a given airline generally depends very much on where each plane picks up provisions.

With that said, a few exceptionally good and bad meals have stood out in my recent travels.

THE GOOD

On flight 2109 from Tokyo to Taipei, All Nippon Airways (ANA) distinguished itself with a flavorful pork curry with rice, boiled edamame (soy beans), smoked salmon, Japanese noodles with a packet of soy sauce, and crunchy “Crunky” cookies. Unlike so many other airlines, ANA did not try to foist a bland salad or desiccated dinner roll on economy class passengers. In fact, the meal came with unlimited complimentary bottles of Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut.

Any flight departing from Bangkok should offer delicious food, and Thai Airways lived up to that expectation by serving prawns in red curry sauce with rice and vegetables on flight 636 to Taipei. The surprise came from the Western food alternative: the pork loin with gnocchi actually tasted good too. A Singha beer went very well either choice.

EVA Airlines has tried a novel tactic to distinguish flight 2196 from the many others flying between Taipei and Tokyo: they signed a deal with Sanrio to create a “Hello Kitty Jet.” The cartoon character has been painted on the fuselage, dances in a music video that loops while passengers board, and appears on the pink aprons worn by the flight attendants during the meal service. Hello Kitty also features prominently on the meal tray liner, napkin, and chopstick wrapper, of course. Any entrée chosen even includes a small tub of Hello Kitty Ice Cream and a tiny Hello Kitty-shaped fish cake on the soba noodles. Over the top? Yes, but everything tasted good.

THE BAD

The packaged snack food served as an appetizer or dessert on international flights often tastes better than the meal. On short flights, giving away little bags of cookies, crackers, or candy usually makes more sense than rushing out undercooked food. Philippine Airlines showed the risk of taking this approach on flight 861 from Manila to Cebu, however. Lunch really should not consist only of cheap-tasting soda crackers, peanuts dipped in seaweed-flavored starch, a Moon Pie knock-off, and artificial “Nutri-licious” orange punch. A can of San Miguel might have made this offering easier to stomach, but Philippine Airlines only serves “Beer na Beer.”

Long flights across the Pacific always seem to end with a terrible breakfast. Reheated eggs, whether scrambled or molded into an “omelet,” never have much flavor, even after adding pepper and salt. The cheap hash browns usually aren’t much better, but China Airlines made the even worse decision to include rubbery bacon on flight 007 from Los Angeles to Taipei. Fruit cocktail in syrup makes a poor substitute for slices of fresh fruit too. Would serving bagels with cream cheese, cereal with milk, or sausage biscuits really cost more than this?

Getting good food on one route does not ensure similar quality when the same airline flies elsewhere. Unlike the “Hello Kitty” meal served on the way to Tokyo, this dinner on EVA Airlines flight 18 from Taipei to San Francisco proved almost inedible. Here nearly all the usual airline food sins appear on one tray: sticky overcooked pasta, chicken resembling pressed cardboard in a watery vegetable sauce, dry dinner roll, mushy fruit, and an unmentionable dessert. Almost any fast food restaurant chain on earth could make better food than this. Why not serve pizza, hamburgers, or submarine sandwiches instead?

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