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An Unexpected Mealtime on Malaysia Airlines

Andy · December 31, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Malaysia Airlines' Beef Brisketá

The biggest surprise about this entire mealtime was that I was even having it in the first place, having originally been scheduled to fly with Oman Air, until they bungled their schedule and everything went to hell. As a result, I – and very few others from the flight, it would have to be said – were appropriately hosted by Malaysia Airlines instead. So since I was there, I wasn’t about to disappoint my handful of followers by letting a good mealtime rant opportunity pass.

Airline: Malaysia Airlines MH001
Route: London – Kuala Lumpur (Approx. 12.5 hours)
Class: Business

First on the menu tonight was the ‘beef brisket’; actually it wasn’t first at all, first up was the chicken satay – now offered in pairs of two in order to facilitate savings for Malaysia Airlines, which is completely ineffective because the first thing I did was ask for the crew not to be so cheap and pass me out more; nor was I alone in doing so – which as always came plated at each seat, and while looking deeply greasy and distasteful, tasted absolutely heavenly.

Sorry – so back to the beef brisket. I’m not sure what to say about it – it was a beautifully tender piece of meat, for sure, but it was also ice cold. Is beef brisket supposed to be devoured at a temperature as cold as an Irish summer’s day? I never thought so. Alongside that, some random leaves and twigs were served, along with some sauce underneath that reminded me of baby food, based on my increasingly distant memories.

In addition, though I repeatedly declined to enjoy a bread roll with the starter, the butter was carefully placed down, I guess, in case I had a sudden desire to try buttering the brisket. Come to think of it, the friction might have at least increased the temperature of it somewhat.

Procuring an alcoholic drink however was an immense challenge, and after an initial offer of an apple juice, orange juice or water, I could no longer resist and had to insist I was brought a more acceptable beverage for the time of day.

Interestingly, once that was done and the first drink had been served, it became nearly unlimited freeflow after that, with repeat pourings throughout the evening. In fact, at one point when I went to make use of the conveniences and was standing waiting for it to become vacant, the crew member immediately set about pouring me another glass without a word spoken between us.

Chicken in hot garlic sauce

The main course was some kind of low-grade chicken in ‘hot garlic sauce’. Overall I think what was meant here was spicy as get-out, with the flavour tamped down only by the addition of a handful of garlic flakes across the top of it. The chicken cuts were at times gristly and horrendously chewy, but the flavour surprisingly worked and at the times the whole thing nearly worked. Nearly – until I’d notice the cut of the carrots that looked like they’d come in a pack for kids, to make them more excited to eat their greens. Not adults spending thousands to fly in luxury.

Lastly, a neon raspberry mousse that again, looked like something that might have escaped a children’s birthday party.

You know, it’s hard to be cynical about this meal; alcohol was available by the bucketload once you went ahead and asked for it, it gave me great puzzlement trying to figure out why the carrots were cut like they were for kids and why the beef brisket was ice cold, and last of all, of course, I was never expecting to be in this cabin in the first place. Is it super luxurious for a business class cabin? Nope. It kind of works, and the meal was mostly satisfying despite the largely underwhelming presentation, service and aesthetic.

Filed Under: Average, Dinner, Featured, Inflight, Meals Tagged With: dinner, kuala lumpur, london heathrow, malaysia, malaysia airlines

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Who Complains So Much?

Andy

Hi, I'm Andy - Irish world traveller, with a penchant for dissecting and complaining about global inflight cuisine.

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Gramtastic Memories

After being denied boarding with Ryanair the previ After being denied boarding with Ryanair the previous evening (despite in fact trying to board), it was with a new level of patience and gratitude that I enjoyed this SAS Plus breakfast service from Heathrow to Copenhagen. Have times changed? No.
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SK500 / London - Copenhagen ✈️ / Economy 💺
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As it is well known and understood by all, breakfast is a meal I consistently detest on-board flights of all airlines and cabins. Generally stodgy, with meat of questionable provenance, it is a meal I look forward to the least.
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So you can imagine my surprise and actual enchantment with the more sensible, reliable offering afforded on this SAS flight from London Heathrow to Copenhagen, in SAS Plus.
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Included in our Scandinavian forest-branded box today, was a yoghurt, blackberry granola, a cardboard tin of mango & orange smoothie, a slice of cheese and a very lovely - and incredibly sugary - jar of orange marmalade. 
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To the hungry passenger this all may sound incredibly minimalist and disappointing, but in my mind, where the alternative is a tinfoil tray of stodge, it was exactly what was required. 
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The only notable exception to this otherwise delightful medley unfortunately being a bread roll that was proffered at a later stage, that seemed designed to emulate the toughness of the Scandinavian winter. I suspect I may have lost several teeth in that particular battle. 
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Sobriety was the order of the morning, and so I settled on a cup of coffee with refills offered but quickly forgotten about.
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Overall, this was actually one my favourite in-flight breakfast meals served onboard of all time. Fresh, not too much, and with nothing that could cause an immediate stomach disagreement, I only wish more airlines would follow this train of thought.
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#eatsbythewindowseat #windowseatpreferred #inflightmeal #meal #economyclass #airplanefood #airplanemeal #flight #LHR #CPH #inflightcuisine #SK500 #fly #sas #sasplus #economy #scandinavianairlines
After the culinary catastrophe that represented br After the culinary catastrophe that represented breakfast earlier in this flight, I was surprised to be woken halfway through for another gastronomic effort.
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SQ305 / London - Singapore ✈️ / Economy 💺
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With the apparent luck of the Gods on my side for this meal service, I was offered the regular choice of chicken curry or prawns in brown butter sauce (what on earth is a brown butter sauce comprised of, I dread to think) - or a leftover meal from Premium Economy, the apparent 'beef steak' meal.
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Calling this particular esculent a 'steak' felt like we were being incredibly economical with the truth, but I will admit it at least visually appeared far more tantalising than what had been witnessed earlier in the flight. 
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In terms of taste, I was impressed by the satisfying palatability of this meal - admittedly drowned in gravy, it all went down with no trouble. The spinach was by all means wilted beyond redemption or saviour, but again, tasted fine once suitably drowned in the accompany gravy.
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Accompanying our evening meal tonight was a harmless bread roll, as well as crackers and cheese, and a very delicious Lily O'Briens chocolate mousse pot - this, for me, was of course the pinnacle of the meal. 
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All washed down this evening by a carefully rationed two glasses of mystery white wine.
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Overall, this was a great comeback after the abysmal horror that had graced my tray table earlier on in the same flight and gave me hope - reasonably well placed - for the remainder of my Singapore Airlines' flights. 
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#eatsbythewindowseat #windowseatpreferred #inflightmeal #meal #economyclass #airplanefood #airplanemeal #flight #LHR #SIN #inflightcuisine #SQ305 #singaporeairlines #sq #economy
It's no secret that I have yet to enjoy an in-flig It's no secret that I have yet to enjoy an in-flight breakfast, and this culinary abomination would not be the meal to change that unbroken record.
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SQ305 / London - Singapore ✈️ / Economy 💺
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I was disappointed from the outset, immediately upon realising that breakfast would be our first meal on today's flight, and realising that I was likely to encounter nothing less than an unmitigated culinary horror show. 
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With a choice between the ominously non-descriptive 'scrambled eggs' or Indonesian chicken noodles (when was Indonesian noodles a strong representation of Singaporean cuisine?), I elected somewhat abruptly, surprising even myself, to opt for the scrambled eggs. Drinks on offer were tea and coffee, though fruit juice was available on request. Alcoholic options were not presented at all.
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Peeling back the tinfoil metaphorical shop shutter of this highly unenticing meal, I was greeted by a medley of assorted breakfast items of varying portion sizes and states of visual unpleasantness.
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The taste was equally unpleasant - ranging between the nuclear-temperature worryingly soft scrambled eggs to the pork sausage that seemed to require a troubling amount of chewing.
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The bread roll and room temperature yoghurt represented by all accounts the dual peaks of the meal.
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Following my attempt at the meal, it was time to sample the wine options; "white or red". The white wine, name unknown, was not disagreeable though had a fruitiness that made me wonder how sharp it might be at ground level.
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Overall, one of the greatest post wake-up disappointments and another reason why airlines and breakfasts are deeply incompatible bedfellows. 
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#eatsbythewindowseat #windowseatpreferred #inflightmeal #meal #economyclass #airplanefood #airplanemeal #flight #LHR #SIN #inflightcuisine #SQ305 #singaporeairlines #sq #economy
Here we have the (paid for) offering's of TAP - op Here we have the (paid for) offering's of TAP - operated by Portugalia, if that makes any difference - on our crossing to Lisbon. I always enjoy a paper cup of wine...
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TP1323 / Dublin - Lisbon ✈️ / Economy 💺
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With no expectations going in to this journey, I was initially pleasantly surprised by the option-lacking, but somewhat good value menu that was furnished on-board. Unfortunately, it will be noted that many, if not all, hot food options come marked 'Not available on Embraer', which of course is precisely what I was contained within. 
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With just a nudge under 3 hours to spare, I decided to indulge in the value meal including an option upgrade to wine, as opposed to a soft drink. As you can see, this also came served with a cup of questionable-quality water freshly dispensed from the aircrafts water tank.
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It's been some time since I've been served an actual mini-sized glass bottle containing wine - so heavy that I pondered upon how much extra fuel had to be carried in order to ferry these countless glass bottles from place to place. Before of course, I poured myself a room-temperature serving of the very beverage.
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On the whole, while also served slightly colder than room temperature and somewhat stodgy, the pastrami sandwich was perfectly acceptable - if perhaps not exactly haute cuisine - for the journey.
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The wine meanwhile started off fruitier than expected, but as with most alcohol, became palatable the longer I spent drinking it - to the point where it actually became very enjoyable and a second top-up wouldn't have been out of place, were we not landing shortly thereafter. 
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The 'Mediterranean crisps' were appropriately described, and included enough salt to trigger irreparable kidney damage - perhaps that's why the cup of water was considered necessary. 
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Overall though, for a flight of only 3 hours within Europe where food and drink offerings are always a paid-for extra, I left satisfied and curious to know where I might find that wine again. A surprising, half thumbs-up for TAP*.
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#eatsbythewindowseat #windowseatpreferred #inflightmeal #meal #economyclass #airplanefood #airplanemeal #flight #DUB #EIDW #LIS #inflightcuisine #tp1323

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