Since the baseline of airplane food is my experience (or well… lack thereof) with United States based airlines, I am delighted by my experience on Qantas for domestic flights.
On my early morning flight from Adelaide to Brisbane, I wasn’t expecting anything on this twoish hour trip. Around thirty minutes into the flight, I was able to pick up in the air, a savory, bread-like aroma. I was somewhat hungry and a little jealous of maybe the business or first class associates but to my delight, there was a food cart being offered to us cattle… I mean economy class peons!
To my utter delight, the croissant thing was actually hot, with melted cheese! What luxury Australian travelers get! Anywho, the croissant wasn’t really a flakey pastry but closer to a soft roll at this point, just with more buttery notes. I’m sure this thing isn’t exactly healthy for you but I’ll take anything these days…
Onto my next flight. Connecting from Brisbane to Cairns, we boarded a second Qantas flight.
Alright, I was expecting something exciting now, but unfortunately there was no brunch fare; it was merely snacks with an odd name.
Sweet balls… mm…?
Actually, I found these little snack items to be pretty delicious. The pistachios, cranberries, and coconut shavings on the exterior of the ball provided a very nice texture to chew on. It can be a little on the sweeter side, but I’d say they would be a good tea time or coffee snack.
In any case, after a brief jaunt in Cairns we headed back south towards Melbourne. On this Qantas flight, I got this Gourmet Beef Mushroom with black pig bacon and ketchup (or uh. Big Red).
It was served quite hot and had a savory texture. It was definitely beef-like though I just thought everything was a little salty (I’m thinking due more to the bacon than the brown sauce). Mushroom bits appeared somewhat evenly throughout the pie and the crust was not too dry!
After enjoying a brief time in Melbourne, we departed to Sydney. I honestly expected to just have beverage service on this brief 1ish hour flight. But to my delight, we had a second round of pies!
I tried the chicken and chardonnay pie this time around and well, I think I prefer this one over the beef. A little less salty tasting than the beef, this pie had a slight twist with a hint of chardonnay with the chicken.
I have no idea what is served domestically on other Australian carriers but I was perfectly content with what I received on Qantas. I would not go out of my way to fly them just for the sake of having in flight pies but I think these little food options are a nice touch.
A side note, but I’m delighted to know that you are able to bring water and other liquids on domestic (intra-Australia) flights onboard the plane without actually checking them into the baggage. Alas, flying back to the US requires you to pack liquids away.
