It was great to be back onboard Finnair (and in my favourite business class seat) as I travelled from Australia to the UK. I was especially looking forward to the dining experience, as it had been several years since I last flew Finnair Business out of Singapore, and I was keen to see how the menu and catering had evolved. While I love the emphasis on food quality by Finnair I don’t like some of the structural elements of their food service – had it changed since I had last flown them? Unfortunately not but I loved the nutritious elements and some dishes were delicious.
Finnair Business Class Menu – Singapore to Helsinki
This flight left in the late evening around 10pm and was serving dinner, with breakfast served just before landing. The flight was approximately 13 hours and there were no mid-flight meals or snacks listed on the menu.
Main Meal Service
Drink were served prior to take off with champagne as an option. Orders for the main meal service were also taken prior to take off. Nuts were served after takeoff with a pre-dinner drinks service. The bowl was one of the smallest bowl of nuts I have seen as a pre-dining service.
I chose to have the beef cheeks as my main course and they were absolutely delicious. They fell apart easily when cut and they melted in my mouth. The ratio of meat to sauce was perfect. The beef cheeks were served with broccolini and small balls of carrots and zucchini, and truffle mashed potato. I didn’t like the mashed potato as it was extremely smooth – almost like a watery paste. I know mashed potato can be nice and smooth but this was different – I think it was a bit more watery or something, almost like a liquid.
The two small starters were also delicious and came with the main meal – there was no choice of sides. The tandoori chicken with salad and mint raita was very flavoursome. The duck, papaya salad and mango salsa was so fresh and tasty – it was a really lovely starter dish.
However while I enjoyed all three dishes immensely, I still really hate the single tray service in business class. My main was cool by the time I ate it. For a 12-13 hour flight there is time to serve in multiple courses, even if it is a night flight, or switch the meals around to have the quick meal first and the main meal service second after everyone has had time to rest. Finnair doesn’t have a midflight snacks menu (only small prepackaged snacks in the galley area) so the second meal could be a slower main meal service.
Cheese plate was perfect for me – I loved the cheeses and the thin rye crackers are my favourites for flights.
Nutrition comment
The two sides combined with the main meal helped provide an over lower carbohydrate meal experience – this is conducive to travel wellness on a late night flight. My body clock was on 1am by the time the meal came out and so I was trying to reduce refined carbohydrate intake at the start of the 13 hour flight. The rye crackers are nutritious and a great option for a cheese plate.
Second Meal Service
The second meal service was served 2 hours before landing and there was no choice in the meal. The bread roll and croissant were served warm. There was some prosciutto and two slices of deli meat (I couldn’t tell what type of meat it was). The hot dish was a quiche and it was absolutely awful. The pastry was so soggy and powdery – it had basically no structure to it. There was a lot of bacon in the quiche and overall the filling tasted okay. There were 5 asparagus spears which were limp and seemed over cooked.
Nutrition comment
What a delight to see vegetables included in both the small continental breakfast bowl and also the hot dish bowl on the breakfast tray. Compared to the overall size of the breakfast dishes, the vegetables were a fairly significant part. But overall the breakfast was small and so there was approx. just over 1 serve of vegetables. The yogurt had added sugar in both the yogurt and the apricot fruit preparation – it would have been good to only have it in one or the other.
Snacks
If you wanted food between meals then you were limited to prepackaged snacks from the galley. These snacks are not listed on the menu and so you have to go take a look. There were snacks both in the front galley and the area just behind business class. The snacks were predominantly discretionary foods such as crisps, chocolates, lollies, sweet popcorn and pretzels, however there were some wholegrain bars.
Final word on Finnair Business Class Food from Singapore to Helsinki
Finnair business class food can be a delicious and nutritious experience. But is it the most luxurious business class experience? No, but I do like the fact that many of my experiences with the food has been of good quality. I find the lack of choice of meals frustrating however especially on their international long-haul flights. I do love how you can usually eat well on Finnair with nutritious and good quality food usually available – a few tweaks to their onboard catering and it would really lift the passenger experience such as brining back the amuse bouche in the beautiful Iittala glassware.
NOTE: All pictures of Finnair Business Class food are my own and I review the food from the menu I was given and the food I ordered on my flight. There may be different options available at other times.
If you are thinking of flying with Finnair you might like to check out my reviews of their Platinum Wing, Business Class Non-Schengen and Business Class Schengen lounges. I have also reviewed their intra-Europe business class, and other international business class flights from Hong Kong and Tokyo, and to Bangkok.
