Following on from my a 14 hour flight from Australia to Doha I then hopped on my connecting flight to Hamburg, Germany after a short layover. As this was my first time flying Qatar from Australia to Europe I was very interested to experience the Qatar business class food service on this flight – was it going to be like intra-europe business class or was it going to be more like a longer-haul international flight where food and service are valued as part of the flight experience?
Qatar Business Class Food Review Doha to Hamburg menu
For a 6 hour flight leaving at 8.50am I was impressed by both the variety of dishes available for such an early flight and the ability to personalise the dining experience by being able to order whatever, whenever. This was particularly helpful for me as i had been flying for 14 hrs and my body was still on a different time zone, and so was happy to match my business class food experience to my appetite. The menu was organised in sections for Breakfast and All Day Dining – but this didn’t mean you had to follow the rules.
Meal Service
Prior to takeoff the cabin crew served drinks and 30 mins after takeoff a date and Arabic coffee was served. Pre-dining drinks were then served accompanied by a choice of nuts or beetroot chips.
I decided to have a small meal after takeoff and then have my main meal just before landing (I was tired and wanted to have a few hours sleep). For breakfast I ordered the Traditional Arabic Breakfast. The cabin crew set my table with a bread basket with pastries, jam and butter before bringing out my meal. The Traditional Arabic Breakfast was just what I needed – it was so fresh and nutritious. As a travel dietitian I was impressed. It came with a bowl of olives, a decent amount of fresh salad, a chunk of feta cheese and a delicious bowl of foul medames (which is a stew of fava beans beautifully flavoured with herbs, spices, garlic etc).
Nutrition comment
The traditional Arabic breakfast was a nutritious dish to start the flight. It’s not often you are presented with such a balanced meal for breakfast, especially on the flight. The generous portions of colourful vegetables and olives provided an array of vitamins and bioactives, while the feta and fava beans contributed protein. The fava beans are a source of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Basically the whole dish impressed me! The small pita breads complemented the dish, without overtaking the dish. The bread basket that came with this meal meant there was then too much bread/pastry so I didn’t eat those and just enjoyed some of the pita bread with the delicious foul medames.
Second meal service
I opted to have a main meal service just before landing as I was headed straight to work once I landed in Hamburg. I ordered the mezze plate (as the dips were so delicious on my last flight with Qatar) as a starter and it came with pita bread and three dips: pesto hummus, labneh tahini and avocado muhammara. These were different flavours from the dips I had on my flight from Australia and they were even more delicious (I didn’t think that was going to be possible). My partner asked me when I returned home which one was my favourite and it was so hard to choose. I think it was the pesto hummus but it was a close call!
For a second course I chose the braised beef short ribs which came with a cauliflower puree, baby spinach and potato galette. The ribs looked really dry when served and I thought uh oh. But they were actually really tender and easy to pull apart. The mushroom jus however was really gluggy and didn’t have much of a mustard taste – just seemed like gluggy gravy to me. I was in such a pickle as this dish was also superb but I was so full from the mezze dips (even though I didn’t even get half way through them) that I couldn’t eat it all – but gosh I really wanted to! I had ordered a dessert but the crew were really slow on this flight (and running behind) and they actually forgot (I was too full anyway so it was ok but I thought it was a misstep by Qatar as their service seemed really good).
Nutrition comment
Impressed to receive a generous portion of sauteed spinach with the beef ribs rather than a tiny garnish which is unfortunately common to see in onboard meals these days. Spinach is a source of vitamin K, folate, vitamin A, luetin and zeaxanthin to name a few which are good for supporting health, especially while travelling. This spinach though tasted quite salty (I think it was salt – whatever it was I couldn’t eat it). The cauliflower sauce was a nutritious (and delicious) addition to the dish – cauliflower is a source of fibre and vitamin C among other nutrients and so adds more nutrients to the dish than just having a plain creamy sauce. Similar to the cauliflower sauce, two of the mezze dips were also based about vegetables (avocados and capsicum – yes technically avocados are a fruit but culinary considered a vegetable). Even though I could not tell how much avocado or capsicum were in the dips they are a starting points to add more vegetables into the meals.
Snacks
There were snacks available throughout the flight with bowls of fruit and pre-packaged snacks such as crisps and muesli bars. Interestingly they had Protein Pops from the brand 4700BC Gourmet Snacks which are made from foxnuts. I had never had a foxnut before and though it was great to see snacks not based around the typical crisps and nuts. It was wonderful to see a bowl of fruit alongside the bowl of pre-packaged snacks (and the fresh roses were gorgeous!).
Final words on Qatar Business Class food Doha to Hamburg
Qatar business class dining really shines here! Flying short-medium haul into Europe I didn’t know what I was going to get with the whole intra-Europe food offering on some airlines being just woeful (an excuse by many to ‘cut costs’). It is nice to fly an airline where it feels like food and food service is valued. I was really impressed by the food on this flight from both a food quality and nutrition perspective. The flexibility the dine-on-demand menu feature offers many nutrition benefits while also providing the full business class food experience.
NOTE: All pictures of Qatar 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.
I visited the Qatar Al Mourjan Business Lounge (South) in Doha before the flight – see food and nutrition review of this lounge.
