I sometimes forget just how big Australia is but I was reminded of the size when I flew Qantas economy from Cairns to Melbourne! Looking at the flight time I could see it was a 3.5 hour flight which got me thinking – what would the food be like onboard? This was longer than the normal commuter style flights of Melbourne-Sydney. Would the Qantas economy food experience be a bit more like flights years ago where an actual meal was served even in economy, or would hot hand held foods reign supreme still?
Main Meal Service
The meal service began just after takeoff with the meal style a hot hand held in a cardboard box. I found this surprising since the flight time was 3.5 hours and the meal that was served was exactly what I have had on a 1.5 hour flight Melbourne-Sydney, with the addition of a very small chocolate. Even though there was more time for the cabin crew to spend serving the meal they still came through the cabin at lightning speed handing out cardboard boxes of food. There was not much time spent serving passengers which I had found disappointing. I understand on really short flight this is not possible but with 3.5 hours I had hoped to have a bit more of a meal service experience.
The food that was served for lunch was a pumpkin, spinach and parmesan quiche. The quiche itself had two small pieces of pumpkin in it which was good to see but I wasn’t feeling like a pastry based food for lunch. So one bite was all I had to taste it and when the cabin crew came back I asked for an apple. To its credit the quiche was served very hot and it was not soggy. This was a nice surprise as I have had a number of very soggy pies and quiches onboard flights, but the pastry in this quiche held up. The flavour of the quiche was ok too and the pumpkin seeds on top were a nice addition.
Nutrition comment
The actual chunks of pumpkin in the quiche were great to see but with only 9% pumpkin in the quiche I would have liked a little more since it was one of the main flavours. And since the quiche was quite small there wasn’t a lot of pumpkin or spinach. Serving the quiche with a side salad would have made the meal more balanced and nutritious. It was food that fresh fruit being available onboard however while it seems you could ask for an apple (I had no idea if there would be one) it would be good for them to be made more widely known so other passengers can choose fresh fruit if they would like.
Final word on Qantas Economy Class Food flying Cairns to Melbourne
The Qantas economy food flying Cairns to Melbourne was not what I expected. The food itself (the quiche) was okay. However I thought the overall food experience was disappointing for a 3.5 hour flight. It kind of felt like the meal service was a bit of an inconvenience for the airline – it was just like quick handing out a box as fast as you can to get the service over with even though the flight was had more time in it than an hour flight where same service is provided.
NOTE: All pictures of Qantas Economy 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.
Review of the food in the Qantas Club Cairns will be published soon.
