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Qatar Airways, named the world’s best airline by Skytrax, has a strong focus on its in-flight dining menu.
The carrier serves gourmet meals including lobster and oxtail in its luxurious business class cabin.
A limited-time FIFA menu is currently being served, which features dishes like a pad thai hamburger.
Qatar Airways is the official airline of the FIFA World Cup 2022.Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777 special FIFA livery.
Qatar Airways
The title has prompted the airline to launch a series of FIFA-related products onboard its aircraft, including special amenity kits and pajamas in business class …Qatar’s FIFA branded pajamas.
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Source: Qatar Airways
… and a limited-time in-flight menu in business class, which debuted on October 5 and will be available through the tournament.Qatar Airways’ generic business class menu.
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Source: Qatar Airways
The special dishes differ by region, Qatar head chef Mary-Jane Bonnaud, who is the airline’s first female in the role, told media at a tasting event in early October.Mary-Jane Bonnaud, Qatar Airways’ head chef, at the event.
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For example, she said flights between Doha and the US will have an American cheeseburger, while flights to and from Thailand will offer a pad thai burger.Display of Qatar Airways’ business class meals, including the FIFA-specific American cheeseburger.
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The airline will also continue to offer its regular dishes onboard its flights, which including fares like lobster and oxtail.Example of one of Qatar’s business class menus. Bonnaud says the carrier serves oxtail because it reheats well.
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Qatar is often considered the world’s best airline — it was rated Skytrax’s Airline of the Year for the seventh time in 2022 — it’s no surprise the company puts a strong focus on dining.Chocolate served on Qatar Airways.
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Source: Qatar Airlines
All of the carrier’s meals, which make up over 200 menus as of October 5, are made from scratch at Qatar’s catering facility in Doha.Qatar Airways’ catering truck.
Qatar Airways
“Say we have a flight from Doha to JFK in 12 hours, then we start producing the meals then,” Bonnaud said during the media event. “We cook it, freeze it down, and then portion it.”A Qatar Airways aircraft being loaded with meals.
Qatar Airways
About 3,000 chefs produce over 200,000 meals per day, and all meats must be halal in accordance with Muslim law that governs the slaughtering of animals, she said.A Qatar Airways catering chef.
Qatar Airways
Source: BBC
I tried some of Qatar’s FIFA-specific meals and regular premium dishes created by Bonnaud and her team — here’s what customers can expect.
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Those flying in Qatar’s business class are in for a treat when it comes to in-flight dining.A meal display in Qatar’s A350 business class in 2018.
Richard Baker/Contributor via Getty Images
Unlike many airlines, the carrier serves its food on demand, meaning passengers can order meals whenever they want.A flight attendant prepping business meals on an A350 in 2018.
Richard Baker/Contributor via Getty Images
This allows travelers to sleep on long-haul flights that leave late in the evening or early morning instead of having to first wait for the dinner or breakfast service.Qatar’s luxurious QSuite business class.
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Moreover, they can eat as much as they want throughout the flights and try a variety of dishes.Qatar’s luxurious QSuite business class.
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At the event, Bonnaud prepped several meals for media to try, including meat, vegetarian, and vegan options.We were given bread, oil, salt, and pepper with the meals.
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We started with appetizers, including bread and butter …
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… a small lobster and egg dish, which is served during boarding …
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… and a jalapeño soup. Both dishes, which were non-FIFA, were exquisite, and I was surprised at how balanced the soup was. I could taste the jalapeño, but it wasn’t overbearing in spiciness.
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Bonnaud said she changes the menu seasonally, telling Insider it takes about six months to create a rotation and the team looks at the demographics of each region to create the meals.
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For example, flights from the US to Doha have a lot of vegan passengers, so she creates more vegan options like impossible meatballs and zucchini noodles from Atlanta.A vegan meal that was launched on Qatar in 2020. Impossible meatballs (not pictured) are a current offering.
Qatar Airways
Moving on to entrees, Qatar offered small portions of six of its current non-FIFA-specific dishes, including a pulled beef hotdog …Qatar does not serve pork on its aircraft.
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… prawns …
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… beef carpaccio …
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… vegan sweet potato …
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… and duck ravioli.
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For dessert, we were served a delicious chocolate mousse.
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Once again, Bonnaud delivered. Each dish was exploding with flavor, and the duck was my favorite.
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FIFA-specific meals were up next, which included an American cheeseburger and fries …
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… boneless chicken wings …
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… and a soft jelly dessert.
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As a born and raised US citizen, I did not find the meal particularly unique, but I still thought it was tasteful comfort food that would easily satisfy passengers.
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For something different, I would love to try the pad thai burger, or a Yorkshire pudding burger that Bonnaud says is on flights between Doha and England.It was so good, I ate every single bite.
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Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with Qatar’s dining options, especially the wings, prawns, and duck.
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The flavors shined through, and I would actually look forward to eating airplane food on Qatar.Me sitting inside the QSuite.
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