I've yet to receive a particularly memorable lunchtime repast flying on Malaysia Airlines, and today would not be the day to right that wrong, with a choice between either ‘Korean chicken', or, rather oddly on a Malaysian domestic flight in a country with an excellent culinary background, ‘Korean fish'. A more accurate explanation would probably have been mildly spicy chicken coated in a non-adhesive damp batter.
Airline: Malaysia Airlines MH2614
Route: Kuala Lumpur – Kota Kinabalu (Approx. 2.5 Hours)
Class: Business
Having been the surprise recipients of a successful MH Upgrade bid (of the minimum amount + 5 Euro), we thankfully went into this in-flight meal with minimum expectations and maximum pre-flight dining in the lounge, which was just as well.
Malaysia Airlines famously – and very confusingly – doesn't serve alcohol on domestic flights, or international flights of 3 hours or less. A very good policy to sow complete confusion and disappointment among transferring passengers from long-haul destinations like Australia or the UK, and are connecting on elsewhere, and wondering why they can't have a drink on their second flight, when they could on the first. Anyway, aware of this fact, I knew from the outset that this would be a flight where the star of the show would have to be the main meal.
Very shortly after take-off, the menu options were verbally presented to us, and we were then left to enjoy the in-flight entertainment, which on this renovated Malaysia Airlines 737 consists of staring at the cabin walls, discovering that 3 out of the 4 front row seats can't seem to recline without an inordinate amount of force, and then watching as one of our armrests couldn't stay in its proper position without the side of the chair sliding down to the ground – a disability feature, we were told, that had broken. Very good.
Shortly the main course was presented along with a salad, and what I will admit was some quite delicious garlic bread.
Aside from the garlic bread, and the – uncontroversial – salad, was the surprisingly spicy but otherwise very low-grade chicken coated in quite damp, slippy batter, coated in some kind of mystery – presumably ‘Korean' sauce, accented by a pinch of sesame seeds lumped dropped all in the same place. The rice and vegetables, of course, were unremarkable, as was the carrot peel.
Overall, for a 2.5 hour business class meal, I felt this was a pretty poor culinary effort – especially on the national carrier of a country with fantastic foods.
The dessert, which I'm pleased to report I didn't even waste a moment taking a photo of, was equally disappointing; some kind of bizarre lemon mousse that had a worrying resistance to being eaten.
After that, the crew beat a hasty retreat to the galley, leaving the rest of us to ponder what on earth had we just consumed, and why were the majority of our seats not able to recline despite ostensibly being in a relatively new cabin.
Overall, par for the course on Malaysia Airlines, another very average, undeserving lunch not dissimilar to the last forgettable affair back in 2022.
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