Lufthansa has ditched complimentary food in economy class in favor of a buy-on-board menu its calls “Onboard Delights.” I tried the crunchy chicken bowl from dean&david on my Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. But was it worth the €10.90?
Lufthansa Crunchy Chicken Bowl In Economy Class
Despite eating a rather massive dinner in the La Valette Club at Malta Airport, I wanted to use the rare opportunity of flying Lufthansa in economy class to test out the food for sale. I tried to do so on my last flight, but there was no food left. This time, every menu item was available and I chose the dean&david Crunchy Chicken Bowl, described as:
Bowl with fried chicken fillet strips, Bavarian rice, edamame, fruity mango, fresh baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, crunchy onions, and soy sesame sauce.
The meal was served in a container with wooden cutlery, a napkin, and hand wipe on top.
Opening it, I was impressed by the presentation: the dish was certainly visually appealing.
But the chicken was not great…the pieces were small and the “filet strips” felt like they were the leftover pieces of the chicken molded into strips. No flavor.
I did like the beans, tomatoes, mango, pomegranate seeds, and onions, but I wish there had been a lot more lettuce and lot less “Bavarian rice” which was like a bulgur (though bulgur is a good plant source of protein).
I’m not a soy sauce fan, but thankfully that was on the side…
I’d give this dish a lot higher marks if the chicken was better quality.
Last year Lufthansa had a falafel dish on its menu which I would I hope returns – it is something I would like to try. Truthfully, I will never order this chicken dish again and wish I had tried the tomato mozzarella sandwich or the miso green salad instead.
As an aside, it is possible to reserve your preferred buy-on-board 36 hours or more in advance here. No prepayment is required.
Have you tried the crunchy chicken bowl on Lufthansa? What did you think of it?
I know I make this snide remark frequently, but I’d still take this over wanders boxes in KL J. It seems like LH at least takes into consideration if they get enough complaints regarding food but KL’s wander boxes are still mostly the same with marginal improvements that still make it taste bad.
KLM’s food can be hit or miss. I think if they had a more traditional presentation rather than the boxes they might be better received.
According to customer feedback, this is what the people WANTED!
That looks like faux chicken (vegan) not fried chicken.
Either that or they removed the skin after frying it…
Truly a 5-star airline!
I like Dean & David’s food when I am buying it on the ground, although even then it can be bland depending on what you’re buying. It is supposed to be healthy food to some extent. But hadn’t flown Lufthansa short hauls in many years before taking an economy flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona in May and … was shocked to see they literally charge for everything now. I think it is beyond tacky for a 5-star airline to sell you a tiny Coke for 3,50€. I waited until we got to Spain. I very much doubt I will be buying anything onboard in the future.
Lufthansa is not a 5-star airline and hasn’t been for years. It’s a joke they ever even got it.
The good thing about Lufthansa is that short haul business class can often be had for a nominal premium over economy. The bad thing is that business class isn’t any good either (admittedly the ground benefits are good, but as *G I get them with status), but at least you are guaranteed some food (the BOB stuff often runs out as they only load a tiny amount) and you can avoid getting worked up over the price of a G&T.
The amazing thing about intra European business class on Lufthansa is that their buy on board meals can be a better offering (both in terms of quantity and quality) than what Lufthansa business class will give you in terms of catering. I asked a flight attendant to explain that to me and he was surprised I made this comment but agreed that the meal didn’t look great. Lufthansa intra business catering is often a joke. On par with KLM but far behind Air France, TAP, or British Airways (which has greatly improved). So even if you didn’t like this BOB then it can be at least be an alternative. Maybe that’s Lufthansa’s secret strategy. Make business class catering so weak that they can sell you a BOB. Who ever is running Lufthansa catering should be ashamed of the damage they are doing to the Lufthansa brand.