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 a decade ago.
This week’s Meal of the Week looks back on a 2016 flight to Longyearbyen on SAS and what was served in SAS Plus, a puesdo-business class on SAS domestic and European routes.
The flight from Oslo (OSL) to Longyearbyen (LYR) was almost three hours, making it longer than many international flights on SAS. While domestic flights, even in SAS Plus, are generally not catered beyond snacks, dinner was served after takeoff.
As we ascended, the scent of warm bread wafted through the cabin. At about 10:00 P.M., flight attendants offered each passenger a boxed meal containing an anchovy/herring appetizer, roast beef main with coleslaw and roasted potatoes, and a lemon poppyseed cake for dessert. The box was served cold but the bread rolls were served piping hot.
Even though I had eaten earlier in the lounge, I still very much enjoyed this cold meal.
You can read my full review of the flight here, which includes some great shots out the window of the sun rising in the west.
> Read More: Oslo to Longyearbyen in SAS Plus (“Business”) Review
Read more of my Scandinavia Trip Report:
Review: SAS A330 Business Class Los Angeles to Stockholm
Lounge Review: SAS Gold Lounge Stockholm
Review: SAS Business Class Stockholm to Oslo (Scenic Flight)
Lounge Review: SAS Gold Lounge Oslo
Review: SAS Business Class Oslo to Longyearbyen
The Advantage of AirBnB in Longyearbyen
A Boat Trip to an Abandoned Russian Mining Island
Review: Hotel Tulpan in Pyramiden
Why Pyramiden is a Must-See (Photo Tour)
Exploring Pyramiden at Midnight with Two Armed Female Bodyguards
Where To Eat in Longyearbyen
Lounge Review: SAS Café Tromso
Review: Radisson Stockholm Airport
Review: Hilton Stockholm
Unfortunately, SAS Plus catering within Europe has changed since your trip and is terrible these days (IIRC, since 2017). They serve food in “tissue boxes” that are completely impractical. The portion sizes are small, and the food sucks. For a while, they had these nasty bread “bars” instead of actual bread.
Have to agree. I flew DBV-CPH on an ANA RTW J trip last year and got SAS Plus service since it was operated by a narrowbody. The FAs were really great, but the food was extremely mediocre.
Even on the longer flights? Do you have pictures? I could not find any.
Found this recent review: https://www.ausbt.com.au/sas-scandinavian-airlines-boeing-737-sas-plus-premium-economy-flight-review-st-petersburg-stockholm-led-arn
You can also Google “SAS Plus Box” and there should be a few images out there. AFAIK, they’re on all the short haul flights, except intra-Nordic.
The new Plus Box has been around since at least September 2018 as per this review:
https://knightofmalta.net/2018/09/11/scandinavian-air-system-sas-plus-boeing-b-737-700-zurich-to-oslo/
The Cube is all that is served in SAS Plus these days and here’s a pic:
https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/aviation/introducing-the-cube
Depending on the crew your bread will be put on the table with or without a napkin and you might or might not get a proper glass or cup.
You can choose anything from the BoB menu too.
In defence of the cube I haven’t had one I didn’t like but as a major criticism, this is often meant to be a meal on a 3 hour meal time sector.