One of the great options American Airlines offers first class flyers is the ability to choose your meal in advance. For example, I have written before about the Kosher meal, the diabetic meal, the Hindu meal, and several other options. I *always* pre-order. On a flight earlier this month from Las Vegas (LAS) to Dallas- Forth Worth (DFW), however, I fell asleep at the wheel and forgot to pre-order. That means that I got to select from the two options on the plane. So what is in a standard American Airlines lunch?
For midcon flights like LAS to DFW, AA routinely caters two lunch options. However, sometimes your choices are only “yes” and “no” depending on whether they have your preferred option when they get to you. That is another reason to always pre-order. I was presented with two options: A harvest grain bowl and a chicken breast over saffron rice. I went with the chicken.
Our flight attendant, Trevor, was particularly good. He quickly distributed hot towels. He also brought us a ramekin of warm nuts and a beverage. Bonus: American Airlines stocks Woodford Reserve as their bourbon. That is a phenomenal choice in the “free drink on an airline” category.
Lunch was all on one tray. It was… fine. I am actually pretty enthusiastic about some of the special meals, but the standard lunch is… fine. The rice was tasty, but the chicken was dry. Of course the chicken was dry. It is chicken on an airplane. There is almost no way that doesn’t get dry. It had a sauce on it that I think was supposed to have melted. It tasted pretty good, but it was still a mostly solid lump.
AA gave me a side plate of hummus. I think it was notionally red pepper hummus. This was actually quite good. They served a couple of small pieces of pita bread with it. They also had some tasty pre-packaged crackers. The cheesecake did not have any topping. However, it was quite good and I appreciated that they served a real dessert.
Overall, American Airlines lunch was… fine. I preferred my American Airlines breakfast from a few months earlier. The real lesson learned here is to pre-order so you get something you enjoy. However, the service was great, the drinks were great, and some parts of the meal were pretty good. AA tends to offer first class fares at prices I can afford rather than simply waiting for an upgrade, and I enjoyed the overall experience.
About Author
