Continental Airlines @ International Airspace *

Seafood Medley (Poached Sea Bass and a Lobster Tail with Cioppino Seafood Sauce and Steamed Asparagus)

A friend recently made the amusing quip, “happiness is turning left when boarding an airplane.” If we disregard economics, I don’t think anyone would disagree. Certainly, when I was miraculously upgraded from economy to first class on a completely oversold flight to London I did not protest too much! I usually go right to sleep on trans-Atlantic red-eyes because I have to hit the ground running on the other side, but opportunity to evaluate a whole new genre of food was too tempting to pass up. Humbled as I am by my discovery of the incredibly comprehensive crowd-sourced site AirlineMeals.net, I shall nevertheless strive to add a little insight.  

Sadly, neither the Hot Appetizer Cart nor the Seafood Medley touted on the oversize menu card lived up to expectations. Although I’m sure celebrity Chef Paul Minnillo of The Baricelli Inn had the best of intentions, not even the steam oven so proudly described to me by the steward was able to compensate for the blandness of the seabass and the rubberiness of the lobster. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by a lifetime of flying on great international airlines, but fellow Singaporean readers, please correct me if I am wrong in stating that generally even economy class meals on Singapore Airlines are far superior to food offered in any other class of travel on most other carriers. I understand that overhead costs are probably higher in the US, which naturally should impact quality, but then why fail to execute the overly ambitious when one could easily do quite well within certain constraints? 

To the airline menu planners of the world, consider this:  Today’s average airline traveller is a person feeling just a little persecuted. From the sigh of the impatient cabbie who rues having to help with the luggage to the outright hostility of the security officer’s stare when the metal detector goes off, myriad tiny stresses accumulate to put one into a highly strung state ripe to be remedied by comfort foods. It is a simple physical reality that many “luxury” foods like lobster do not travel well. Why not therefore experiment with  ”low brow” items like generous burgers and satisfying philly cheesesteaks that are more easily prepared and thus more likely to succeed? 

I won’t hold my breath for a mile high dining revolution, but I have taken note of the Auntie Annie’s cinnamon sugar pretzels available at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport.

Details: Continental Airlines Business First International Inflight Service