4. February 2025
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Food I Had Onboard XXI (January 2024 – early February 2024)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

With my recent mileage run and the trip to the World Floorball Championship Qualifications in Italy, I had quite a lot of flights in January and early February 2025. Here is my 21st edition of Food I Had Onboard, my inflight food and service overview.

 

13th January 2025, Westbahn 908, Vienna West Station – St. Pölten

I went for First Class on my very first, rather short ride with Austrian private rail Westbahn. Still in Vienna’s West Station (Westbahnhof), I was asked whether I want a coffee on top of water, a cookie and a refreshing towel. The coffee would be on a charge, though. The staff was really friendly, I absolutely liked that one.

 

14th January 2025, Austrian OS195, Vienna (VIE) – Cologne (CGN), Business Class

It’s been my last flight with the Austrians as a Lufthansa Senator – and they really proofed being a great product in business class. I have been personally welcomed right at boarding (as the only passenger in business class) and got a welcome wet wipe. After take-off, I got a first drink. The meal was served some 15 minutes later. The filled chicken breast with different kinds of vegetables was lovely and the tray also included a cheesecake with berries as a dessert. After the meal, I also got two Lindt chocolates. The crew was absolutely lovely, so that I really enjoyed that “farewell flight”.

 

17th January 2025, Lufthansa LH 73, Dusseldorf (DUS) – Frankfurt (FRA), Business Class

The first leg of my Lufthansa Senator farewell was the short hop from Dusseldorf (DUS) to Frankfurt (FRA). I felt a bit weird that only the two HON Circle members behind me got a small bottle of water before the flight. Overall, the crew felt very tired. They rather randomly addressed passengers with their surname or not, forgot to brew coffee and had other small issues. Overall, the service was friendly and professional, though. The breakfast snack on the 25 minute flight was an apple, cereals with yogurt and a cereal bar – which I feel is quite reasonable, regarding the flight distance.

 

17th January 2025, Lufthansa LH 848, Frankfurt (FRA) – Helsinki (HEL), Business Class

The second leg of the day took me with Lufthansa to Finland. The flight had some 30 minutes delay, majorly caused by ground handling issues. For the breakfast service in business, there was the choice of an egg souffle and a peach pancake with vanilla sauce and berry as a warm dish. I went for the sweet option, which was accompanied with cold cuts and cheese as well as curd cream with apricot and granola. The breakfast was very nice and the service was attentive during meal service. You also could get more bread, so that you could really make use of the cold cuts and marmelade. I did not like that they left the aluminium foil on the bowls, though. That’s a bit too economy class, I feel – especially on a two hour flight.

However, the service felt to stop thereafter. At least you had to be very active to get additional drinks. A selection of chocolates could not change that. Hard to say, but my recent mid-haul Eurowings BizClass experience, which I featured in the Food I Had Onboard XX posting did much better in that regard.

 

19th January 2025, Lufthansa LH 2461, Helsinki (HEL) – Munich (MUC), Business Class

The flight from Helsinki (HEL) back to Germany was much better than the flight from Frankfurt (FRA) two days before. I felt that the meal service could have been a bit quicker, but the crew was much more present than on the outbound. After a drink with cashew nuts, it was served some 50 minutes after departure. Especially the starter, a corn-fed chicken breast in citrus stock with broccoli and durum wheat, was an absolute treat. I would say that it was potentially the best starter I ever had on Lufthansa’s European Business Class. I was also looking forward to the beef roulade with gravy, glazed pointed cabbage and mashed potatoes. The fancy sauerkraut thing was not my taste, but the meal was nice. I just did not like the difference in temperature – the roulade was slightly warm, while the mash much warmer. Dessert has been a raspberry and almond tiramisu – not a tiramisu to me, but tasty.

Alternative main dish would have been mixed vegetables ragout with tofu cubes, which was significantly less popular. There were also chocolates after the meal and drink services after it.

 

19th January 2025, Lufthansa LH 2024, Munich (MUC) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Business Class

While the previous flight has been a rather nice experience, Lufthansa showed their less pretty face on this one hour flight. Yeah, that’s it, the big meal on European Business Class – a slice of apricot cake with some cream and a bit of compote. The crew was fine. However, if I compare this meal with what Qatar Airlines served me on a 40 minute hopper from Doha (DOH) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) (see my Food I Had Onboard XIX), where the crew has significantly less time and more people to feed, Lufthansa just feels too lame in their catering.

 

23rd January 2025, Air France AF 1107 (operated by Hop!), Dusseldorf (DUS) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

Twelve flights in four days – my mileage run weekend kicked off with the short flight from Dusseldorf (DUS) to Paris (CDG). The Hop! crew was absolutely nice and gorgeous. The breakfast dish were two slices of cereal bread. One of them was with chickpea cream and grilled courgette, while the other one came with courgette tapenade, Swiss dried meat and parmesan. Both were very nice and accompanied with an (below average) croissant and pineapple “salad”. A good performance by Air France’s regional airline. Unfortunately, my pictures did not seem to work out here…

 

23rd January 2025, Air France AF 1500, Paris (CDG) – Amsterdam (AMS), Business Class

Ait France showed their best on this flight. Despite the short flight – just some 50 minutes – there was shrimp ad lobster in tarragon sauce with red rice and mushroom and a lemon tartlet as well as cheese as meal. The crew was very kind and I enjoyed a full row of three seats on the Airbus A220 flight – the first one I had with the French. Really nice cabin, before I had a three hour layover in Amsterdam (AMS).

 

23rd January 2025, KLM KL 1325, Amsterdam (AMS) – Krakow (KRK) (operated by KLM Cityhopper, diverted to Katowice (KTW)), Business Class

I was looking forward to the “bento box”, as I name the KLM lunch box. The main dish was a roasted kohlrabi salad with falafel and beetroot hummus. The side dishes were a selection of nuts and three macaroons. The box came with a bread roll. The service was really good. Rather short before the scheduled landing, the captain announced that we have to divert to Katowice (KTW), as Krakow Airport (KRK) was closed due to weather. KLM organized the bus transfer very well, so that the delay was comparably limited.

 

24th January 2025, KLM KL 1324, Krakow (KRK) – Amsterdam (AMS) (operated by KLM Cityhopper), Business Class

The next day, there was no major issue with the KLM Cityhopper leg. There were slight delays at boarding and even more during the flight due to headwinds. The crew was definitely not as good as the one on the flight the day before. Therefor, we got a bottle of water before take-off, which I highly appreciated. Drinks were served in cans as well. This time, apart from the macaroons, the box contained a Provencal potato salad and cheese-filled sweet peppers. I definitely preferred the box the day before. On the positive side, there was a fruit smoothie before the meal, which I highly appreciate.

 

24th January 2025, Air France AF 1741, Amsterdam (AMS) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

With some additional delay, it was time for the first Air France leg of the day. The crew was really sweet, even though they felt very stressed. You have to say that the PA system in the AIrbus A220 is really bad, I had a lot of trouble understanding them. This time, the main dish was a pot-a-feu-style beef with vegetables, which was fine. I loved the cheese and the crunchy vanilla cream puff, though. No pre-flight water this time, unfortunately.

 

24th January 2025, Air France AF 1748, Paris (CDG) – Malaga (AGP), Business Class

I wasn’t overwhelmingly happy with Air France on this flight, which was full of Spanish people. The meal was the same shrimp-lobster platter I had a day before. Despite the long flight time, there was no pre-flight water. After the meal, there was some turbulence for roughly 40 minutes. The crew was right to stop their service – but they did not even resume it after the conditions were calm again. A bit of critical to be, as I had to stay hydrated.

 

25th January 2025, Air France AF 1747, Malaga (AGP) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

As I felt physically weak, I decided not to go for an onboard bite this time. It has been the beef salad you saw on the pictures below anyway. I just had two mint teas and water. The crew, which was the same one as on the Malaga (AGP) flight the day before, has been more attentive and active – even though the flight was much shorter, due to tailwind.

 

25th January 2025, Air France AF 1440, Paris (CDG) – Amsterdam (AMS), Business Class

The second flight of the day had an almost one hour delay due to luggage issues at Paris (CDG). My original plan was to make use of the transfer time, don’t eat in the plane and have a light snack in the KLM Crown Lounge. However, this was no longer possible. I knew I had to get to the gate for my Krakow (KRK) flight immediately, so I went for the onboard meal, which was… a good old friend. The third time I had this one that weekend. So, no more words about it. The crew was honestly really bad. They served the food in a hectic which was absolutely unnecessary. The flight was still a 45 minute one – but they dealt with it as if it was a 25er. The guy behind me was, for example, forced to stop dining and got his tray taken away… Just in order to wait easily 20 minutes for the in-fact touchdown. I had to stay hydrated and ordered a coke and water to the meal. I got a glass of water and a can of Coke. No second glass for the Coke. I am fine to drink out of the can, but I dislike being forced to do so in business class.

The plane was full of short connections in Amsterdam (AMS) now. A real fun fact was when the flight attendant read the connecting gates, she just knew roughly half of the IATA airport codes. Thus, there were announcements like. If you go to LPI – I have no idea what it is – go to gate X. By the way, lady, it is Linköping in Sweden. You also failed with GDN = Gdansk Airport and many other, which I partially did not even get, because her French accent in English made it extremely difficult to understand her. By the way, the same applied for the captain.

 

25th January 2025, KLM KL 1329, Amsterdam (AMS) – Krakow (KRK) (operated by KLM Cityhopper), Business Class

If one thing on my mileage run more and more disgusted me, it was food. Yeah, another flight to Krakow (KRK) – and another box with the falafel thing. Which is actually a nice dish, but very predictable. I felt extremely weak on the flight, so that I just picked some veggies, macaroons and nuts. The crew was absolutely lovely, though. They also served a pre-flight bottle of water (there has been also quite some inconsistency in that regard during the weekend…), which I absolutely like. A good flight – I was just too weak to really enjoy it.

 

26th January 2025, KLM KL 1324, Krakow (KRK) – Amsterdam (AMS) (operated by KLM Cityhopper), Business Class

I just got tired of having the same meal again and again – and thus I did not got for the potato salad I had two days ago already. The KLM Cityhopper crew was awesome and I got some cheese crackers instead – something I absolutely appreciated. Again, there was a half liter bottle of water pre-flight and a mint tea for me – my body still felt quite exhausted… No smoothie this time, by the way.

 

26th January 2025, Air France AF 1741, Amsterdam (AMS) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

It was another flight to Charle de Gaulle this weekend – so you guess what was in stock in regards of food. I ate a bit of it, just because I felt I had to. The cheese and the vanilla puff were still nice to me, at least. The service was average. A bit of weird: my coke was frozen again, but this time served in a glass, so that the drink ran over the whole backseat table. Again, the difference in speaking clear English without an accent which simply is too difficult to understand, is really striking at Air France. A short flight with quite many clouds and turbulence, but overall a fine experience.

 

26th January 2025, Air France AF 1006 (operated by Hop!), Paris (CDG) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Business Class

I felt I got the system finally. Shrimps from Paris, beef back to CDG. I was somehow hoping for other food on my last flight of the weekend. Hop! did surprise me, but in a bad manner: I got the beef salad, my “fly to Paris” dish on the weekend. My mileage run was definitely not what culinary planning at Air France should be defined along. BUT: five times the same dish within ten Air France and Hop! flights on one weekend is just too much. I even found the cheese disgusting now. The crew was quite nice and the flight was much shorter than expected. But I finally did not really get into a good mood during this Embraer 170 experience.

 

29th January 2025, Air France AF 1307 (operated by Hop!), Dusseldorf (DUS) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

The service on my first flight towards the World Floorball Championship Qualification in Italy was a bit of weird. The service was really slow – and just when they started it, it was interrupted by turbulence. The more, I really disliked that one flight attendant had a headphone in her ear – they simply should not be distracted by music or whatever in the critical phases of a flight, i.e. during take-off, approach and landing. The positive side was the food. No more beef salad! A poached egg is an unusual, but nice choice. In additional to that, a plain yogurt was served. Later, the flight attendant also brought bread or a croissant.

 

29th January 2025, Air France AF 1726, Paris (CDG) – Venice (VCE), Business Class

The flight over the Alps has been a lovely experience from a travel perspective. The service was fine, coming with a pre-flight water bottle and a friendly crew. The food is not leading to too much variety in this post again. Shrimp time again.

 

2nd February 2025, Air France AF 1427, Venice (VCE) – Paris (CDG), Business Class

Another beef salad flight… And I still was not ready for it. The crew was amazing, though. The purser spoke multiple languages, including English, German and Italian and was very friendly. I was finally very happy of having a Coke and some biscuits. After the floorball trip to Italy, I was exhausted anyway – and fed myself in the lounge before. Really good one.

 

2nd February 2025, Air France AF 1406 (operated by Hop!), Paris (CDG) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Business Class

On the last flight for this edition of Food I Had Onboard, I was so happy to run into a new meal by Air France: Hop! served a lentil, fig, chestnut, and kumquat sallat with butternut squash and orange cream. The pastry and cheese was also a new selection. The only downside: the tables on the Embraer 190 simply do not fit my body size – and business class was packed. Thus, I was allowed to dine, standing in the galley. Thanks to the lovely flight attendant, who was a bit of shy in speaking English (even though she did well), but was a really nice person. A good (and new) experience with the French airline concludes my posting this time.

 

Food I Had Onboard

My bites and drinks on flights and trains are shown in Food I Had Onboard:

 

Rides on Rail 2024

Here are all my Rides on Rail postings published in 2024:

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