07.11.08: Plane food again

Ho-hum. On our way back to Blighty, we had no choice but to tuck into some sort of chicken and veg casserole, plus a green salad with what turned out to be freshwater mozzarella, a slice of apple pie, bread roll with butter pat, and a mini-Crunchie bar. We did have a choice of wine, however: French or California.

SHE SAYS: Top tip - if you have a choice of wine regions on the plane, always pick French! My wine was far more palatable than his, nicely balanced with a pleasing touch of acidity. The chicken etc. was passable, decent frozen food-grade. Salad was bland but fine, and the apple pie had noticeable hints of cinnamon...if only it weren't quite so very cold! Crunchie bars are always welcome, and this time I had it straightaway - no pocketing for later.

HE SAYS: The Air steward missed our row as he was giving out the meals, and when I managed to get his attention they were out of choices, so it was the chicken or nought. I didn't expect much but this meal was actually worse then the meal on the outbound journey: watery and soupy with a sweet tomato sauce and rubbery chicken. I was glad we got a Crunchie, one of my fave chocolate bars second only to a DAIM bar. The salad and apple pie were okay, my wine was insipidly dreadful.

20.10.08: Plane food for deux

Somewhere over the Atlantic, the tedium of air travel was relieved by the unceremonious distribution of foodkits known as the in-flight dinner. Fish for him, chicken for Her, for the sake of a little variety in the report.

SHE SAYS: I hate flying, but flying on BA is slightly less miserable than with most airlines. The nosh was ok, nothing abominable, but I would give the Pepperwood Grove syrah a miss next time. As for the tarragon chicken pack, it had that stewy cafeteria taste, and the limp green bnz soaked up all the tarragon flavouring. Potatoes, to their credit, had a slight hint of butter and were not mushy. Gravy was straight outta Picadilly C.

Salad, however, was a nice surprise, being a mound of crab sumpin' sumpin' and some fancy leaves, which I piled on the 'rough oatcakes' supplied. 'Summerfruits trifle' tasted mostly of milk powder and sugar, but gained points for whole redcurrants. Saved the bit of biscuity choc for laters.

HE SAYS: I opted for the fish pie because I still felt a little 'chickened out' from last nite's chicken fest, and also because crispy breadcrumb topping sounded like a can't-lose scenario. Overall it tasted like a creamy fish finger - not horrible, but nothing spesh either. I touched it up with a sprinkle of salt and forgave its blandness on account of it being plane (and plain) food.

The wheat-free cracker was also taste-free, and the fishy paste a little light on intensity. I thought the summerfruits trifle fared better, satisfying a need for a light, sugary diversion. Unlike Her, I ate me after-dinner chocolate and I ain't regretting it one bit - ok, maybe a little now my tea has arrived and I'm yearning for a dunkin' moment.

21.07.08: Very plane food

British Airways handed out a mysterious package of 'cheese ploughmans' that also said 'soft cheese'. These things don't mesh - ploughman's is always cheddar. Turned out, you get half and half: one side was mature cheddar and pickle, and one featured peppery cream cheese with lettuce and tomato. A chocolate-covered bikky and some UHT milk for tea stood by.

SHE SAYS: Thoroughly confused, I bit into my soft cheese slice and immediately forgot to care what it was supposed to be. The cream cheese was herby and soothing, while the bit of lettuce tucked in was surprisingly fresh, crisp and moist. The tomatoes stood up well, too - not mushy at all.

Then, I was disappointed to find the other slice was cheddar - it was ok, nothing wrong, but I preferred the more refreshing mix of slice 1. Bikky bar was abominable: a dusty, tasteless biscuit not helped out by insipid waxy choc. Only repeated dunks in a decent cuppa made it worth swallowing.

HE SAYS: Was expecting a little more then this but I was so hungry I ate it without a thought of what it was and how it tasted and thus this short review concludes, burp!