I have to give American Airlines credit for a great dinner on my recent flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. Short ribs and mac n’ cheese may be the comfort food of unsophisticated palates (guilty as charged), but it was a very enjoyable American Airlines meal.
Short Ribs In American Airlines First Class
When booking my flight from ORD-LAX, I was given six preorder choices:
I chose:
served with classic mac n’ cheese
Beef can very difficult to get right on plane, but short ribs are often a safe choice because the longer you cook the meat, the more tender it becomes. Plus, I am limiting my beef consumption at home and never eat mac n’ cheese, so this seemed like a nice meal.
After takeoff, the flight attendant confirmed that my pre-order had been loaded. Those who did not pre-order were offered chicken enchiladas or stuffed red pepper.
The diner tray included a multi-grain bread roll, an appetizer salad with corn and beans sprinkled with cotija cheese, and a green salad.
I’m not going to pretend there was anything high quality about the meal, but it hit the spot…I ate it all.
Dessert was a choice between cake, cheese + fruit, and/or ice cream from Häagen-Dazs (dulce de leche). I enjoyed both the cheese and ice cream…
All in all, a very satisfying domestic meal and better than what United Airlines serves on the same route.
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.
“short ribs are often a safe choice because the longer you cook the meat, the more tender it becomes.”
the fat keeps it moist
chicken enchiladas are the better option on this menu
Agreed on the chicken enchiladas . Roasted chicken would also be a better choice .
Gary has it right.
I don’t know if this is true but for my experience, catering for most airlines I’ve flown out of ORD is somewhat better (UA, LH, LX, KE, EK, KL, JL, AF, BA, TK) than other larger airports like JFK, LAX, and ATL. In contrast, if flying out of YYZ T3, it’s usually abysmal regardless of the carrier.
Would have to agree with YYZ. Comparing AF in all classes out of YYZ with DTW or IAD, where they have Do&Co and Sky Chefs respectively, AF catering from YYZ is often the most poor and the menu is pretty stagnant.
The migrants from south of the border are living in the ORD terminal , so there is a large pool of labor for recruiting cooks . No migrants in YYZ , so less cooks .
What a dumb, asinine comment.
You really can’t help yourself, can you?
YYZ T3 should have access to the same catering companies as T1 – GateGourmet, NewRest or CLS Catering Services (LSG SkyChefs).
@ Matthew — I personally find this AA meal disgusting.
What don’t you like about it?
Fatty beef, carbs and sugar for dessert. What’s not to like?
It’s all very low cost food items from appetizer to entree; why not shrimp as appetizer, a nice filet of fish or chicken breast with wine sauce as entree w/ baked potato, or potato souffle ? such a meager cheese assortment after entree, and tiny serving of ice cream; why not an assortment, ice cream sundae w/ sauce? choc. eclaires? they need to contract w/ better caterer.
@Ken … +1 . Nostalgia for TWA perhaps ?
Can kinda give that mystery meat look.
I agree with Matthew on this. Comfort food is usually pretty good on an airplane. I usually avoid airplane food, even in the premium cabins- just trying too hard to do too much which usually results in an overly seasoned mishmash of non-complementary flavors. Flew long haul this year on BA. On the long haul leg it was some Asian/Western fusion of some kind of beef. Decided to try it to see how it was. I had 1 bite and no more – it was terrible. On the short haul leg they had cottage pie (same as shepherd’s pie but with beef) and it was awesome!
If you had gone to Afghanistan , you might have had very fatty mutton .
Strange, since BA’s catering has improved a lot once they got DO&CO. But I guess not every dish will please everyone.
The past almost two years, the food on AA domestic first class services – mainline and even the regional jet box lunches have been very good. Looking at other boards, UA and DL meals not so impressive. Also, flying AA Flagship Business for the first time in about a month so hopeful it carries over to the international meals. AC food improving but still needs help.
I feel a small pang of guilt agreeing. The mac and cheese used to be pimento mac and cheese, but under any circumstances, the high fat content makes it well suited to galley prep.
Its a once in a while thing.
The catering can serve the same dish by just varying the mother sauce : Bordelaise, Robert, Chasseur, Madeira, Estragon and Diable.
@Joe … you want 6 sauces ?
This entree has been served almost a year I think, with slight variations. Before the pandemic the Mac had a few lobster bits on it. I usually chose it as the vegetarian option wasn’t any better but always felt guilty with all the carbs and cholesterol. All in all, US airlines catering can’t compete with other regions like Asia or ME (Alaska isn’t bad but portions can be small) which serves meals even on short 2 hour flights and even provide more than just pretzels in economy. The days where AA was proud of collaborating with “chefs” are long gone.
I have to say, this looks leagues better than your “perfectly edible” and “quite acceptable” meals on UA.
Was in Flagship First last week BOS-LAX. Food was outstanding, especially out of Boston.
AA is certainly making a progress in its premium cabins.
I like this blog, Matthew, and think you do a fine job of mixing up your postings. That said, and keeping in mind I usually don’t go for name-calling, your reference to those enjoying comfort food (short ribs and mac/cheese) as having “unsophisticated palates” makes you an insufferable snob. At least for a day. Unsophisticated. Sheesh.
It was more a self-effacing joke.
Damn, so now even AA has better onboard food than UA…
As an ExecPlat AA hasn’t improved anything. Those short ribs are even served on MIA-JFK or DFW. Your 6 options are offered all the time with little or no changes. If you want shrimp and you’re lucky try a PHL-MIA and order the chicken mojo it even comes with sweet plantains. That is a change, let’s see if it lasts.