In honor of its centennial anniversary, American Airlines offered a limited-time caviar course in business class…which I had the chance to try on a recent flight.
Taste Test: American Airlines Served Caviar In Business Class For 100th Anniversary
This year, American Airlines is rolling out a centennial-inspired menu to celebrate 100 years of flight, with dishes meant to evoke the 1920s, the decade in which American first took to the skies.
Since March (and running through August), passengers in international and transcontinental Flagship First and Flagship Business will see special menu items including a prawn cocktail, Waldorf salad, Beef Wellington with bearnaise sauce, and Chicken Florentine roulade. But perhaps the most eye-catching addition came last month, when American added a caviar course, which included:
- Caviar
- Blinis
- Deviled egg finished with creme fraîche
I was flying from Los Angeles – Boston (yes, the same flight I complained about yesterday) and because it as a premium transcontinental flight, the menu featured the special centennial menu, including the caviar course.
This was a late-night redeye and rather than serve meals in courses, everything came out on a tray (and I was thankful for that). That included the caviar, which was served inside a cucumber along with the deviled egg, two blinis, onions, chives, a lemon wedge, micro greens, sour cream, and an olive tapenade.
The caviar portion was deceptively generous…it turns out only a small spoonful of cucumber had been removed, creating just enough (but still enough) for the two blinis.
I may be coffee snob and also be able to distinguish good wine from bad wine, but I’m not a caviar connoisseur and as such cannot really comment on the taste or quality beyond saying…it was caviar.
As I’ve written before, I consider caviar a first class gimmick and it’s really not something I would ever eat outside an airplane, though it was quite novel (and appreciated) to find caviar on an American Airlines domestic flight.
A Premium Direction
For years, American has talked about being premium while too often delivering a product that felt anything but premium: indifferent service, tired cabins, and inconsistent catering. Caviar alone does not fix that, but it is yet another a signal that AA finally realizes that these details matters (we’ve seen new cabins, new coffee, free Wi-Fi, and other recent upgrade). It was a nice touch that left left a positive impression.
Did you try the caviar 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.
Glad they’re trying at least. Will never be as nice as F on EK…
Agreed.
Honestly, all the meal components per your other article look fine, even *nice.* AA just has to make this a regular thing (and they can save the caviar for christmas if they don’t want to spend money) rather than a once in a century special.
dish looks like leftovers from starlux,
that cucumber was bitten into by ang lee
Gimmick or not , they should have bought etched mother of pearl caviar spoons with the 100 logo. ( they aren’t very expensive and would have made an affordable keepsake )
What an appetizing meal! If it were possible, one could easily devour a second portion.
The caviar they are serving, according to what I’m digging up, sourced from China.
Note that China is currently the world’s largest producer and exporter of caviar, accounting for over 40–60% of global production as of 2024–2025. Major production areas include Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces, with brands like Kaluga Queen supplying high-end restaurants worldwide, including many with 3-starred Michelin ratings and prestigious venues like the Oscars banquet.
Noted
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of caviar, but I doubt that folks who regularly indulge would find that at all impressive. Caviar with all the accomplishments crowded into a bowl and served at the same time as everything else does not seem like a premium experience. Although I could certainly understand the option of all at once service on late night red eye flights. It just seems like passengers should be asked if that’s the preference.
“Deceptively generous” is the opposite of what you meant. That’s “deceptively skimpy.”
?
It appeared generous but actually wasn’t.
Agree with CN here. It was deceptive and not generous.
Deceptively generous would have been a portion that seems skimpy but is in fact generous.
The French seem to think a deviled egg is an appropriate entree (in the French sense). They are right about much in food, but not that.
I didn’t touch mine!
Different tastes for different folks… Note that deviled eggs are considered an appropriate and increasingly popular “entree” or, more accurately, a substantial, upscale starter or light main course by many renowned chefs (Alex Guarnaschelli, Thomas Chen, John Mitzewich, Jennifer Puccio, Ina Garten). While traditionally an appetizer or picnic snack, chefs now elevate them into a luxurious and inventive feature of fine dining.