A recent unexpected upgrade on United Airlines to first class meant breakfast onboard, with six choices that were new to me. I opted to try the gruyere chive ciabatta bread pudding…and also the ricotta pancake soufflés.
Gruyere Bread Pudding Or Ricotta Pancake Soufflés? A United Airlines First Class Breakfast Showdown
As a Premier Gold with United MileagePlus, I don’t ever expect a CPU (complimentary premier upgrade), let alone one on a hub-to-hub route, but I scored one from Chicago (ORD) to Los Angeles (LAX) on a 6:00 am flight…I guess it does pay to travel early sometimes. United tends to clear most upgrades about 36 hours before departure, giving passengers 12 hours to pre-order meals before the 24-hour cutoff.
The choices for my flight were:
- Breakfast sandwich
Breakfast sandwich with prosciutto, fontina cheese, scrambled egg patty and fig jam on croissant - Berry smoothie bowl
Berry smoothie bowl with berry yogurt, blackberry compote, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries and granola - European style deli plate
European style deli plate with cheddar cheese, brie cheese, hard boiled eggs, proscuitto slices, genoa salami slices, toasted pistachios and grapes - Gruyere chive ciabatta bread pudding
Gruyere chive ciabatta Bread Pudding with mornay sauce - Ricotta pancake soufflés
Ricotta pancake soufflés with caramelized peaches, blackberry compote and toasted pecans - Buttermilk biscuits
Buttermilk biscuits with herb sausage gravy and scallions
To be honest, none of these choices looked particularly appealing. I like eggs for breakfast and would have been happy with a boring omelet, but I’ve had different iterations of the United breakfast sandwich in the past and they were usually disappointing, so I decided to try the gruyere chive ciabatta bread pudding because I love Gruyere cheese and it seemed like the most hearty and savory option.
Breakfast was served with a side of the nastiest concoction of chia seeds that had the texture of rubber or slime…a big downgrade from a simple fruit bowl. Hot bread was also offered (though only croissants, no pain au chocolat on this flight). No yogurt either.
The bread pudding was fine: good flavor and texture, though the portion was very small.
As we neared Los Angles, I asked one of the flight attendants if there was any ricotta pancake soufflés left. (I waited until the end of the flight to ensure the crew had a chance to eat the leftovers). There was and this choice (ricotta pancake souffles with caramelized peaches, blackberry compote and toasted pecans) was better than the bread pudding…the pancakes were very light and fluffy, certainly had some eggs in them, and the pecans and berries were a nice topping.
A suggestion to the United in-flight catering team: offer a cheese omelet with side salad on these flights for boring people like me to who like a simpler, healthier, carb-free option. Neither breakfast I had was healthy, but both were fine and the pancakes were better than the bread pudding.
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.
Or how about an option (besides the fruit bowl) that isn’t loaded with cheese for those of us who are lactose intolerant.
At my current activity level, I only get so many calories and bad fats if I want to maintain weight and general health. I just never see these high calorie and fat options a good way to use up my alotment. But, to each their own. Fortunately, most cariers offer some friut option that works.
Yeah it’s actually nuts that UA doesn’t offer an egg dish in domestic first. Does the onboard service division not realize that egg prices are back to normal?
Agreed – need an “egg” option.
“Would you like the carbs, the carbs, or the carbs for breakfast?”