Do Airlines Mean To Ruin Food By Serving It Chilled?

You won’t believe it, but sometimes food should be served chilled. This works quite well with certain desserts for example or perhaps something like a crisp fresh salad.

The worst thing to heat up and then chill and eat is chicken. I’ve had next day chicken eaten straight from the fridge and it is dry, cold and not particularly appetising. Why do airlines insist on serving it?

BA4465 – Dublin to London City (DUB-LCY)
12 January 2018
Embraer E190SR – G-LCYU
Seat: Club Europe 2D
Departure: 10:55 Arrival: 12:25

Heading to the UK, I decided to go to London City for a change. I like the BA CityFlyer cabin crew and it promised to be an easier connection to where I was going. Boarding in Dublin was efficient and I was one of the first on board, taking my seat.

The Embraer 190 seats 98 passengers and the people in 2C and 2D get tons of extra leg room. I’d recommend choosing these seats when you can! In short order everyone was on board and we took to the sky.

Drinks Service

Usually on a short flight such as the one between Dublin and London, the cabin crew will do the drinks service at the same time as the meal service. Today the crew decided to do a drinks service before the meal service, probably as there were only about 4 people in business class.

When I ordered my Champagne, it was duly delivered with an apology. Apparently someone forgot to load the Champagne glasses so it was a plastic tumbler for me. No problem!

Chilled Chicken Service

Another reason I like flying with BA CityFlyer is due to the difference in the food. They haven’t yet moved to the ubiquitous panini in Club Europe. Little did I know what was in store instead.

A delicious looking meal was delivered, accompanied by a selection of hot bread from the basket offered by the crew. Everything was great until I realised the chicken was chilled to within an inch of its life.

I’ve complained about the chilled chicken once before, it’s just not great. Even so, eating the pieces with the salad which I had drenched with dressing made it slightly more palatable. The bread was fantastic too and hot!

There is nothing wrong with the meal at all, just the chicken portion should be reheated. It would make it so much better. Anyway, the dessert was spectacular so I was definitely happy with that!

Toilets and Landing

A little regional jet also has a little toilet up the front. There is actually plenty of room, but things like the sink are quite petite which is always fun to see.

How come it’s filled with ice? Well, that is the sink where the crew need to discard the leftovers, so it also says that I used the facility not long before landing. After a scenic tour of London as we approached from the east, we landed safely.

Overall Thoughts

Look, I am not stupid – I know the meals have to be kept chilled for food safety reasons. The point I am making is that chicken, when chilled, makes for a dry and difficult to eat experience which is not the greatest.

New Club Europe catering is due to be rolled out for British Airways passengers from April. Whether this will trickle down to the BA CityFlyer routes out of London City Airport remains to be seen.

What do you think? Know what I mean about the chilled chicken or total first world problem? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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