US airlines generally don’t have the best reputation when it comes to food and so I thought it was time for me to experience this for myself and see if this was true for American Airlines business class food. Overall the western menu was uninspiring I thought – the dishes didn’t grab me. The food was ok although it didn’t feel like a business class offering, infact it felt more like a premium economy offering. While nothing was technically wrong with the meal, there was nothing standout about it. I did consider the Japanese menu too however it was a little outside my taste range even though I do love Japanese food.
American Airlines Business Class menu
Main Meal Service
Upon boarding cabin crew offered champagne, mimosas or water. A pre-dinner drinks service was served as soon as the seat belt sign was turned off – it was quite prompt actually. This drinks service was accompanied by a small bowl of warm nuts. I was travelling with a less than 23 month old and asked for a small snack and milk for my little one which the crew were happy to oblige (as he saw the nuts and really wanted them but couldn’t have due to choking hazard). The main meal service started about 15 mins after this which was a little too soon for me – I wasn’t even half way through my snack and drink. In fact, I felt the whole main meal service was rushed. This is when the main meal service started to feel a little rushed. The starter was a mushroom panna cotta with two prawns (shrimps) and a fresh salsa. The mushroom panna cotta didn’t seem to make sense to me on the menu and so I was really curious to see what it was – I knew what panna cotta was but to me I had always had it sweet. It turned out it was a grey slimy, soft mushroom mousse (is the best was to describe it) and I thought it tasted pretty bad. The prawns were ok, while the salsa was tasty and fresh. The salad was the best part of the dish with the herbed goats cheese a lovely addition. There was a choice of dressing to go with the starter – either poppy seed or jalapeno. I opted for no dressing as the cream cheese was enough of a flavouring for me. Bread was offered with the starter and there were 4 types of bread to choose from, unfortunately all varieties of white bread and no sourdough.
I had preordered the steak with blue cheese for a main which is very unlike me. I usually like to order onboard – partly I like the surprise and partly I like to try and go through the experience that people have onboard. Anyway, back to the steak – it was delicious. The blue cheese crumb had a lovely flavour and gave some moisture to the steak. It looked like it was crispy but of course wasn’t once it was re-heated. But it still retained flavour and wasn’t too soggy. The steak was tender and served with a herb butter which was already melted and served in a little dish. The duchess potatoes were okay, they had a slight crunch and lovely flavour. Unfortunately there was just a spoonful of colourful seasonal vegetables: 2 tiny carrots, 2 Romanesco broccoli florets (I think that is what they were) and 1 slice of white radish.
I chose the cheese plate for my 23 month old son as American Airlines does not serve food for babies. The staff were happy to provide him a cheese plate during the dessert run of the main meal service (if there was one available). The ice cream sundae is a well known flagship dish on American Airlines and can be served with a range of traditional sundae toppings. This one just had ice cream and berry topping as didn’t feel like the full range of toppings (I know you might be thinking I was crazy not to get nuts and fudge). The ice cream was delicious.
Nutrition comment
Great to see the butter served on the side of the steak. The steak had enough flavouring on it with the blue cheese crusting and so didn’t need to butter in my mind. But if you like butter it you could add as much as you like, rather than having the full amount of butter melting over the steak. It was disappointing to see there was less than 1/2 serve vegetables with the main meal (entree).
Second Meal Service
The second meal service was a really odd meal. It was labelled as brunch on the menu, despite the meal being served about 2 hours before landing and the plane was landing mid afternoon into Dallas. The western menu was typical stock standard breakfast fare – omelette, sausages and hashbrowns. The hash browns were terrible – they were so dry and just crumbled in your mouth, sucking all the moisture out. I couldn’t have any more than one bite. The omelette was incredibly cheesy. Great to see there was a side salad served with this meal. The dessert was a green tea tiramisu.
Nutrition comment
Having a side salad with the omelette was really refreshing – I was hoping it would have been more! After a long 14 hour flight, having crossed a number of timezones, facing a high fat meal was the last thing I felt like and also not the greatest metabolic wise either. So having a side salad included was good to added some fibre, vitamins and bioactives.
Snacks
While the main meals were a big disappointment, the snacks actually surprised me a little. I was expecting just a basket of processed snacks such as chips (crisps) however there were a range of fresh foods available in the galley. There were little bowls of vegetables and dip, fresh fruit etc. There were also bags of pea snaps and sandwiches. There were also two mid-flight snack options available to order on the menu – a sandwich or noodles. I chose the pork katsu sandwich which was half a panini shaped sandwich served with pasta salad and fruit salad. The pork was quite delicious, but unfortunately it was served quite cold and the bread had no flavour. The sandwich was served with a sauce on the side which was great as you can add as much as you like for flavour which I love. The pasta salad was an interesting addition, a little random I thought but good to have the sandwich served with some greens in the pasta salad. The pasta salad also had a small number of edamame beans, while the pork katsu sandwich had a small amount of cabbage.
Nutrition comment
Wonderful to see fresh fruit and vegetables available as snacks on flights – you don’t usually see this. Unfortunately for the sandwiches stoked in the galley for snacks they had way too much bread for the amount of filling. It was basically all carbohydrate (white refined bread) which while flying long haul and crossing time zones (eating when it is your biological night) is not good for you. It was great to see the midflight snack sandwich option include a salad as a side. While the salad did contain pasta (which wasn’t necessary as this was a carbohydrate double up), the pasta was served cold which does have some health benefits. Cooked and cooled pasta like this is a source of resistance starch which is important in helping to keep our gut bacteria healthy.
Last word on American Airlines Business Class Food
I found the American Airlines Business Class food was uninspiring and in some cases I also found it unappetising. While there were some positive elements in regards to nutrition, such as the range of mid flight snacks, overall I found the meals to be lacking. Overall I felt the American Airlines business class food menu could have been more polished.
NOTE: All pictures of American Airlines business class food (international) are my own and I review the food from the menu I was given, the menu on the website at the time and the food I ordered on my flight. There may be different options available at other times.
If you fly American Airlines first class internationally or are Oneworld emerald you might like to check out my review of the American Airlines First Class (domestic).
