This month American Airlines is celebrating its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this centennial, AA is offering special dishes in premium cabins that evoke classic dishes of the 1920s. I recently had the chance to try beef Wellington on a first class and against all odds, it turned out very well.
Taste Test: Beef Wellington In American Airlines First Class
Among the preorder options for my flight was a special “Centennial Beef Wellington” option:
This limited time pre order menu celebrates our 100 year anniversary with a 1920s classic: beef filet wrapped in flaky pastry with mushroom duxelle, served with roasted vegetables and béarnaise sauce. Served with a Waldorf salad and pecan tart.
As much as I love short ribs with a twice-baked potato, I was not going to pass up the opportunity to try this, selecting it as my dinner choice.
Beef Wellington does not make me think of the 1920s, but a Waldorf salad does! (However that salad, created in 1896 by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, is actually even older!) The original Waldorf salad was a simple mixture of diced apples, celery, and mayonnaise served on lettuce…how would AA’s version be?
I said “against all odds” because the flight was delayed an hour due to a late-arriving aircraft (increasing the likelihood of catering errors as the aircraft was very quickly serviced) and delayed another hour once we pushed back to due to runway congestion…with the ovens on.
While I prepared for an incredibly well-done piece of steak, it seems the pastry around it somehow protected it and it was actually a very good dish (though really was a short rib, not filet mignon). The sauce, root vegetables, and asparagus were also good.
As for the Waldorf salad, it was close to the original recipe, though it had grapes and pecans added on top. Thankfully, there was very little mayonnaise (not my favorite) also some oil and vinegar on the tray, which made the salad quite nice.
Finally, the pecan tart was super sweet, but very satisfying with a cup of Lavazza coffee (it was late evening, but I wanted to get work done on the flight so I ordered coffee after dinner).
If you are flying American Airlines this month, I recommend this dish…while I find most of AA’s catering quite acceptable, I don’t think I’ve ever had a beef Wellington on a plane before and it was something different and a pretty forgiving piece of meat considering how long it was cooked.
Have you tried the beef Wellington on AA?
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over two decades ago.
Pretty good! Smart to use short rib. How’d you find the new coffee?
Short rib is far from filet mignon; what a disaster; beef Wellington should have liver pate wrapped around the slice of filet mignon, & then, the pastry around it; what a disappointment; for first class; and whats with the coffee mug?l why not a coffee cup with saucer and spoon ? (as they do on Thai Air and Singapore Air). With such high airfares for bus. & 1st class, they need to follow thru, inflight, with exceptional food & service.
For what it’s worth, most Americans would prefer the larger coffee mug over a teacup and saucer set.
I think Sal is correct, though I’m in the minority and would prefer the cup and saucer.
If its truly First class, they need to use cup & saucer w/ spoon; it can be a good size cup, so it could also be used for cuppachino; there is a difference between bus. and first class; AA needs to enhance that tiny serving of dessert, as its so small; why not a slice of real cheesecake, a choc. souffle, or ice cream sundae? is it first class or not? their fares are high enough; they need to follow thru with exceptional food quality & service (like Eva Air, SQ and Thai Air do).
Did you get Lavazza on your LHR trip?
Looks fantastic. What a change from United.
Honestly, it was better than anything United served except perhaps the bison meatloaf.
I so wanted to get this dish on a trip earlier this month but I have a nut allergy and saw several of the dishes had them.
Food from 100 years ago is such an interesting concept to me. When I think of the roaring 20s, I certainly think of cocktails (and prohibition), but not really food. Perhaps Delta will offer depression era food when their actual centennial arrives in 2029.
I have pre-0rdered the BW on my PHL-MAD next week, I’ve been told to expect a good meat pie! Your reviews gives me hope for something a bit better 😉
Lucky you! This is such a delicious dish that you could easily eat a second serving on an empty stomach.
If you are a dessert lover, adding a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream on top of the warm pecan tart is highly recommended.
Tasty Lavazza coffee… You can’t go wrong with this brand. Let’s recall that this is the first time AA is offering brand name coffee.
Sorry if I missed it. What was the flight routing? the tray table appears to be domestic first class so I’m guessing it’s not an international dish 🙂 Just wondering since it looks tasty
American’s flight attendants are told not to start ovens on the ground for this reason among others, like a return to the gate.
LOVE THE BEEF WELLINGTON AND THE NEW COFFEE AMERICAN IS NOW SERVING!
AA KEEP UP THE GREAT IMPROVEMENTS!
Imagine flying next to Gordon Ramsay and eating this.
F bomb and plates would be flying so bad, AA had to divert and offload him.
Don’t call it beef wellington when its actually a puffed short rib pie.
For Gordon Ramsay-style Beef Wellington recipes, it is recommended to visit the following websites: ↓
https://www.gordonramsay.com/gr/recipes/beef-wellington/
https://www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com/recipes/classic-beef-wellington/
Looks absolutely fabulous.
I agree.
Amerikaners: My first class flight (forgets to include “DOMESTIC”) ..
Rest of the world: LOL .. it’s just Business class, really.
I had the beef wellington on SFO-JFK (March 17) and I thought it was very not good. The puff pastry exterior was (obviously) was soggy and the beef was gristly. The waldorf salad was edible, but not at all special. Granted, my expectations were unreasonably high. I will say I was very pleasantly surprised by the food, including the freshly made guacamole, at the SFO Admirals Club. Better food than what’s found at the Greenwich JFK lounge.
I’m thankful my puff pastry was not soggy and beef not gristly. Give it another try, maybe?