For our “dinner” flight in British Airways Club Europe Business Class from London to Basel, I ordered three special meals. I had to laugh when they were delivered…
Special Meals In British Airways Club Europe Business Class
Shorthaul service on British Airways in business class (Club Europe) varies based upon band (length of flight) and time of day. Our 8:05 pm departure from LHR to BSL, a 448-mile flight, was listed as dinner.
This was not my first short-haul dinner flight on British Airways and I know a salad is typically offered, so I ordered a trio of special meals:
- Child meal – for my three-year-old daughter
- Asian vegetarian meal – for my wife
- Muslim meal – for myself
I did not order a special meal for my son.
Shortly after takeoff, dinner was served.
This was the child’s meal:
A tomato mozzarella salad.
This was the Asian-vegetarian meal:
A tomato mozzarella salad.
This was the Muslim meal:
Salmon with shrimp.
And the two regular choices in the cabin for everyone else? You guessed it, salmon with shrimp or a tomato mozzarella salad.
The only difference? It seems Augustine’s salmon was served with dessert in a ceramic container rather than a plastic one…
The good news is that both dishes were quite refreshing (and we had eaten in the lounge anyway). But while I was not expecting a multi-course feast, I would have thought we’d see a bit more variety by ordering special meals.
So be warned: you can order all the special meals you want in Club Europe, but they are probably not going to vary much from what everyone else is served, even from Heathrow. Maybe next time I’ll try a Kosher meal…
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 was definitely more of a snack than a dinner. Well, at least the quality was decent given the DO&CO catering.
Kosher meal would likely be – Salmon without the shrimp…
Haha, right.
Definitely try the kosher meal next time. Hermolis is the best kosher caterer for planes, trains…IMHO.
Going to stick up for BA here. With the exception of a child meal ( which should be designed to look appealing to kids, and be healthy and nutritious) all other special meals are for specific dietary or religious requirements. It’s not a restaurant menu list to simply widen your options. If it happens to be the same as the standard meal on offer, but it complies with the special meal requirements, I’m struggling to see what the issue is? If you’d not ordered it, whose to sat mela would still be available once the crew got to you? On portion size though, I fully agree with you.
Haha. I saw the first one and thought “wow, that’s well done for a child’s meal” and was mentally prepared to challenge your “LOL” in a comment. Then I scrolled further and LOL’ed…
Amusing. If you’d have ordered the kosher meal, you’d could have gotten either the tomato salad or the plain salmon with a sheet of plastic wrap over it.
LOL, exactly. You’re probably right.
BA as an airline has gone down the tubes! Its business class is terrible. Last, and final time we travelled on BA my husband was to get a wheelchair- did not turn up and we had to run to catch the plane. The beds were awful and very uncomfortable. Then the final straw was they ran out of tea cups and offered me tea in a paper cup!!! The food was disgusting. Never again!!
The trio of the same and rearranged meals is clever, if not hysterically funny. I understand the reasoning behind catering a short flight this way, however clever they think they are. It is so obvious, that I am still laughing.
Thanks!
That’s a starter not the main course. Clickbait. Cmon
That’s the entire meal…
Kosher meal out of London would likely be catered by Hermoilis which is generally pretty good
You played the game, and they played you and won. It’s definitely efficient catering though I’ll give them that.
BA kosher meals are excellent, catered by Hermolis.
Wow, all that looks delicious ; especially when you compare it to the various American airline’s ‘Snack Basket’ offerings, on similar flight distances.
Well. The Muslim meal could have been like the other 2 special meal also, since I think it is Halal also. I would have thought the child’s meal would have been something else rather than vegetable.
The worst kosher meals I have ever had were leaving the USA, which I find astonishing, given the demand for KSMLs out of NYC. Another problem you don’t mention is that, on a multi-sector flight, you will be given the same KSML or AVML again, and again. and again…….
I actually had a lunch KSML on BA from Aberdeen to London and it was smoked salmon (it was quite tasty).
But on the way from LHR to ABZ it was breakfast and they had a hot breakfast. It was some sort of scrambled egg which was not so good.
The only airline that serves decent kosher meals is EL AL. I have had the most awful kosher meals on other airlines.