Now that the new British Airways Club Europe catering has been out for a few days, it’s time to see what it’s really like. The professional pictures looked good, but what does it look like in reality?
Below are pictures of various meals at different times of the day. These are listed by their internal band, which is explained in yesterday’s post, so check that out to know what they mean.
Express Afternoon Tea
Scones with jam and clotted cream have returned to the afternoon tea service. While this picture shows the Express flights (Manchester and Leeds Bradford), it is also the same as that offered on Band 1 and 2.
-
- London to Manchester – this is the same afternoon tea as served on Band 1 and 2.
An alternative to this is the Ploughman’s, which you can see a picture of in Band 1. Flights between 14:00 and 16:59 receive this kind of service and it’s one of my favourites.
Band 1 Breakfast
Breakfast is generally pretty much the same on all the flights. You can choose from a full english breakfast, a hot vegetarian option and apparently also a continental option.
-
- Geneva to London – Hot Vegetarian Omelette
-
- Edinburgh to London – Full English Breakfast
Both of these new breakfasts look pretty good. Warm bread is usually served by the crew from a basket and a croissant with jam really adds to the proceedings.
Band 1 Brunch
Three choices feature for brunch and happily there is a picture of each one. I’d pretty much have no qualms about any of these, especially the quiche.
-
- Munich to London – Smoked Salmon brunch
-
- Amsterdam to London – Meat and Cheese Platter brunch
-
- Amsterdam to London – Quiche brunch
Fruit salad and a dessert accompany each meal, which makes for a decent amount of food. I like the amount of choice that is available as it will appeal to a wide range of people.
Band 1 Afternoon Tea
As mentioned before, the Express Afternoon Tea is the same as the one for Band 1 and 2. The second option is the Ploughman’s Lunch shown below.
-
- London to Munich – Ploughman’s Lunch afternoon tea
Surviving the cut from the previous meals shows that this is a popular option. Crew members will happily provide hot scones from the basket to go with it. A total win!
Band 1 Dinner
Band 1 flights are quite short, so the catering tends to lean towards lighter options while still being substantial. This salad is an example of that.
-
- London to Geneva – Goats Cheese and Beetroot Salad dinner
Considering the previous option was usually a Panini, it’s nice to see something different. This dish also carried over from the previous menus but has much more added to it.
Band 2 Lunch
Lunch in Band 2 features virtually the same catering as Band 1, so they are interchangeable. I’m really looking forward to trying the roast beef!
-
- Oslo to London – Coronation Chicken Caesar Salad lunch
-
- Prague to London – Roast Beef Plate lunch
What impresses me is the quantity of the food. It no longer comes across as stingy and provides a proper meal, which you should expect when flying Club Europe.
Band 3 Breakfast
My very first post on Travel Update was about the best breakfasts I had ever had on a flight. For a meal that I professed not to love so much, I sure have written a lot about it.
-
- London to Madrid – Vegetarian omelette breakfast
To be fair, the Club Europe breakfasts are always really nice. Perhaps that’s the Champagne talking, but they never really disappoint at all.
Band 3 Rest Of The Day Catering
Longer flights have a different service to the shorter ones. Band 3 and Band 4 have breakfast and then a rest of the day service which is a choice between more substantial hot meals, rather than the Band 1 and 2 salad type meals.
-
- Rome to London – Ravioli for lunch
-
- London to Helsinki – Pork Sausages and Mash with Peas
The sausages look decent enough and are quintessentially British. I’m sure a lot of people will be giving those a try as time passes!
Band 4 Rest Of The Day Catering
Band 4 features the longest European flights, sometimes over 4 hours in duration. You always get a proper meal as you do when flying a Band 3 flight.
-
- Madeira (Funchal) to London – Massaman Beef Curry
-
- London to Istanbul – Gnocci
-
- Helsinki to London – Thai Red Chicken Curry
-
- Band 3 and 4 also get a menu and here’s the new mug
Curry on British Airways is always wonderful. While not hugely spicy, it is very tasty, so these options are sure to be good. The new mugs are really nice also!
Band 3 and 4 Get A Menu
Long flights used to receive a menu, but it was fairly basic. Now it is much more in line with what is being given out on long haul flights.
The above menu is from a flight from London Heathrow to Helsinki, so Band 3. The drinks should be noted as these are generally what you can get on all flights in Club Europe.
Overall Thoughts
Feedback from the people taking the pictures has all been overwhelmingly positive. It seems that adding more money to the catering and changing suppliers means more food and more variety.
Catering should change every two weeks in order to keep it fresh, so there’s sure to be more variation coming soon. I’m quite looking forward to my next flight!
What do you think of the new Club Europe catering? Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
To never miss a post, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All my flight and lounge reviews are indexed here so check them out!
With thanks to the following members of FlyerTalk – corporate-wage-slave, SleepySynapse, NWIFlyer, BugsAlugs, BotB, BA235, FEMW and Brentford77 for posting these on the British Airways Club Europe catering thread.
Featured image by Carl De Souza via El Periódico.
It all looks good but personally, I’d rather have clean cabins and some legroom and if this is available on short haul, why the woeful offering on long-haul?
This is part of the investment into the Club cabins. Recently it was announced that Do&Co who just started the short haul business class catering have won the contract for long haul also. They have been doing the LHR-JFK for months now on a trial. Apparently the new contract for long haul kicks off from 2020, so in a little over a year you should see a marked improvement there also. Thanks for the comment!
There are alternatives today with clean cabins, better maintained interiors and reliable food… With profit levels as they are, not going to wait for BA if they can’t be bothered to deliver what’s marketed except on JFK routes
Of course, that’s the wonderful thing about having a choice – there is absolutely no need to fly an airline that you don’t want to fly. Especially when there are joint ventures and alliances – you can have your cake and eat it too.