16. April 2026
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Food I Had Onboard XXX

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Time for another food and service review post from my side. There were a lot of Icelandair flights on my bucket list in March 2026. I also had some other flights, but I had to cancel them due to illness. A closure of Keflavik Airport (KEF) gave me an interesting new experience. Despite this post is shorter than I originally planned, enjoy the thirteeth(!) edition of my Food I Had Onboard.

 

9th March 2026, Deutsche Bahn ICE 940, Berlin East Station – Dusseldorf Airport (DUS), First Class

I had a noon return train from Berlin East Station back to Dusseldort Airport (DUS) Station where I had parked my car. Having all the C2C camera equipment in the train was a bit of bothering – and I am also shy of leaving the stuff while going to the toilet or the dining car. The more, I appreciate the at-seat ordering via WiFi at Deutsche Bahn‘s First Class. The pizza slice with tomato and cheese, which was part of a 9.90 EUR deal with a bottle of lemonade was actually another one of these rail snacks, which were better than I actually expected. A very friendly service in a rather packed train as well. Thanks!

 

13th March 2026, Icelandair FI 521, Frankfurt (FRA) – Keflavik (KEF), Saga Premium

Eight flights with Icelandair (all in their Business Class-alike Saga Premium) within four weeks – let’s see if I get tired of the Nordic Island and their airline. The first flight took me – not too surprisingly – to Keflavik (KEF). A short, some 3:15 hours flight from Frankfurt (FRA), which was not too busy due to a Lufthansa strike. The service was really nice and efficient. I had two gin and tonics (the amazing Lundin one which changes the color when you put in the tonic…) before and during the meal. The warm Arancini were a really nice starter. There was no choice of menu on this flight, but I absolutely loved the chicken breast with sweet potato salad and the chocolate caramel ganache. After the stressful days in Berlin, I slept most of the time. Before landing, there was a quick snack service.

 

13th March 2026, Icelandair FI 603, Keflavik (KEF) – Toronto (YYZ), Saga Premium

While the first leg was fast and efficient, I just cannot state that I fully enjoyed the second one. Despite all the upgrades of the airport, Keflavik (KEF) in these peak turnaround times is a nightmare, the transfer to the Toronto (YYZ) flight was surprisingly stressful. I wondered that the menu solely included one meal service, which started some 80 minutes after departure. I rather like it when food is served fast, so that you can use the remaining flight time for whatever you like. Overall, the service felt less efficient compared to the first flight of the day.

The food was really good, though. I liked the Burrata with pesto and garden salad as a starter. For main, there was the selection of a (cold) Caesar Salad and a pork tenderloin with truffle mashed potatoes, veggies and mushroom sauce. I went for the latter, which was absolutely lovely. The rhubarb crumble with vanilla sauce was a nice treat as well. Unfortunately, the service thereafter was rather poor. You could get drinks in the galley, but there was no proactive service any more. Especially as I worked on the notebook during the flight, having some active service is absolutely appreciated. About ninety minutes before landing, there was a round of snacks. I had a Ris chocolate bar, one of my favorites. Nonetheless, it felt a bit of thin – especially as they really felt to care that you just grab one item.

 

14th March 2026, Westjet WS 816, Toronto (YYZ) – Montreal (YUL), Premium / Economy

After the very good experience with Westjet in December, flying them from Phoenix (PHX) to Calgary (YYC), this one was rather bothering. First of all, the plane was a former Sunwing Boeing 737-MAX 8 and the first row seat was likely the narrowest and most uncomfortable one I ever had. Furthermore, they had issues with too much onboard luggage. One reason for that was that they had four or five (non-active) flight attendants, who had way too much luggage with them. Unpopular opinion, but before you ask your guests to check in hand luggage, you should first start with your own staff. The snack was a chocolate cookie (forgot to take a picture, I was too sleepy…) and some water. Fine for the short flight, the crew was overall nice, but I felt very cramped and had issues walking after that brief, unpleasant experience with the Canadian airline.

 

16th March 2026, VIA Rail 63, Montreal Central (MTRL) – Toronto Union (TRTO), Business Class

My previous experience with VIA Rail was a few years ago. After having some time at the Montreal lounge (I did not take pictures there, too crowded), I did not have in mind that they had updated their rolling stock in the meantime. The Siemens SC-44 is a real game changer, making the travel much more comfortable. Despite the train attendant leaned towards speaking French (once she got that I understand at least a bit…), I really loved her. Already before Dorval (some sort of Montreal Airport station..), we were served tea or coffee, water or orange joice and a choice of sponge cake. I went for the lemon over the cranberry one.

After roughly half of the trip, around Brockville, a salty snack and another drink round was served (this time, including a full range of soft drinks, wines, etc.). There has also been a hot towel. Soon thereafter, the was the main meal service. Until supply lasted, there was a choice of three mains. I got the barbecue chicken with potato mash, which felt being the most popular option. It was really nice. Alternatively, you could have a sole with salsa and rice and grilled cheese pasta with spinach. Regardless of your choice, there was a beets salad, a choice of bread roll and a cake-alike dessert. I especially liked the salad. The meal as such was a nice treat, despite the train had already reached a delay of one hour. Unfortunately, the service decreased and the delay increased – I would have loved it being vice versa. After the meal, there was a drink round, a chocolate and later some water, while the train got close to two hours of delay. The sharing of tracks (and partially: priority) of freight trains) does definitely lead to major issues in Canada.

With a total delay of over two hours, some passengers demanded food. Some of them were brought some to the seat, but they had to pay for the snacks, which were provided from the cafe car, likely. Unfortunately, when people were asking for connection (one even missed his flight…), they were surprisingly rude, providing feedback “I have no idea about that train. It’s not mine”. That was a very unhappy ending of an overall not too bad train experience.

 

16th March 2026, Icelandair FI 602, Toronto (YYZ) – Keflavik (KEF), Saga Premium

This one is summed up briefly The flight was delayed due to weather issues around Toronto before. And I was tired. After mentally ranting about passengers delaying the flight at boarding even more, I just can’t tell you anything about the crew. I really enjoy sleeping in the Airbus A321XLR Domestic First-alike seats..Before landing, I got a chocolate bar – and that was the only service I got. I can’t even tell you about the menu. I somehow got when they gave it to the passengers, but I have no clue when they collected it again. By the way, the crew missed giving me an extension seat belt again, even though I asked for it twice.

 

17th March 2026, Icelandair FI 520, Keflavik (KEF) – Frankfurt (FRA), Saga Premium

After these four relaxing hours of snoring in the cabin, I was a bit more active on the second leg, back to Frankfurt (FRA). The breakfast service was a feta quiche with cherry tomatoes (warm), a smoked chicken open-face sandwich and Greek yogurt iwth granola and berries. The sandwich was not even close to the Faroese ones Atlantic Airways is offering at pre-order, unfortunately. But it was okay – and not this typical American / English breakfast thing. I liked it, the crew was quite nice. After landing, the captain obviously first went for the wrong taxiway… But the cockpit could correct it with a severe braking and a sharp turn.

 

30th March 2026, Icelandair FI 521, Frankfurt (FRA) – Keflavik (KEF), Saga Premium

This flight just did not start too fortunate. There were several accidents en route to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), the check-in machines at Terminal 2 did not work and I am simply too big for the tables in the rather old Boeing 757. When the captain announced that the airport is just able to operate one of their four runways for departures, which might lead to an up to two hours delay, the trip to Nashville was quite under risk. Fortunately, the delay at departure could be reduced to some 40 minutes. The crew was actually quite nice, the food was the same as I had two weeks earlier. As I had to balance my tray somehow on me hands and legs while eating, I did not take another picture of the nice dish.

 

30th March 2026, Icelandair FI 625, Keflavik (KEF) – Nashville (BNA), Saga Premium

I love the efficiency of Keflavik Airport (KEF). Despite being about half an hour late at arrival, my wife and I made it to our Nashville gate before boarding time. Again, the menu was equivalent to the one I had on my trip to Toronto. This time I went for the Caesars Salad, which was nice, but not that filling for a seven hours flight. The crew majorly dealt with friends they obviously had among the passengers. I would guess that roughly half of the passengers in Saga Premium in fact paid for the ticket. The drink menus were ripped away from the passengers already after the meal service (the purser took it away from the lap of my wife, without asking), there was no proactive service any more, not even the chocolate and snack service I had two weeks ago. You could get snacks and drinks, but you had to know what is in stock. Icelandair definitely neither needs or wants to compare to European airlines like Lufthansa, British Airways or KLM – but their service on this flight was really bad and rude.

 

7th April 2026, American Airlines AA 4364 (operated by American Eagle), Nashville (BNA) – New York (JFK), Domestic First

Instead of flying back with Icelandair, adverse weather (wind in KEF) forced the Nordic airline to rebook us. Very nice customer service by them – we started our way home just some 16 hours after the scheduled departure, flying business class on American Airlines and Delta – weird ticket. As expected, the Embraer 175 service in Domestic First was not that thrilling. Some salted almonds and a Diet Dr Pepper, that’s what you get on a flight like this. At least, the wide seats gave me a lovely nap. Overall, the crew was really nice.

 

7th April 2026, Delta DL 106, New York (JFK) – Frankfurt (FRA), Delta One / Business

The second part of our trip home was my debut in Delta One. The terminal and lounge was impressing, the crew was lovely, but I did not like the hardware at all. The seats in the rather old Airbus A330-200 were terrible for my body dimensions. Regarding food, there was a warm nuts service followed by the main meal. You could have all three starters, smoked salmon with horseradish cream and pickles, a lovely green salad and a really nice tomato basil soup. Unfortunately, the crew forgot to give me bread to the starters.

As a main, I went for the roasted chicken breast with tarragon jus, mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus. Other options would have been a short rip or spinach and ricotta ravioli. The chicken was nice, but a bit too soupy to me. I closed the meal with a cheese platter, which was absolutely boring. No fig jam, the three cheese were just too close to each other as well. At least, the port was nice. The ice cream sundae with a selection of toppings or the opera cake might have been a better choice. Being done with all that just 90 minutes after take-off was a really nice service.

I rarely had so many issues sleeping in the plane in recent year. The more I was happy that the flight was really fast. About 70 minutes before landing, the crew served breakfast. I opted for a classic French toast, which came with a croissant and a granola yogurt. A nice way to kick off the day – the asparagus and sundried tomato quiche would have been the alternative. Overall, a really nice performance by the crew and by Delta on the ground.

 

Icelandair on Flyctory.com

Here are all postings related to Icelandair:

 

Deutsche Bahn

Here are all my postings related to the German National Rail, Deutsche Bahn:

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