Thai Airways' catering business comes down to earth

[ginjag]

This headline cannot be real. In general airline food is regarded as the worst in the world, and only eaten because people are trapped in the airplane. This simply has to be Thai Airlines taking the piss out of people. Think the tipoff is saying they will open a restaurant on soi Nana...

If Thai Airways think they are going into business with Thai Air food, then they are mindless, Wedgewood/silver service carvery maybe, but not microwave little dishes, with pre prepared food.

As I said previous cater for airlines who have not this facility and expand on that.. Put your money and some shareholders rakeoffs into updating-re staffing-new aircraft and tickets at a price that reflect your service---not inflated ticket prices at moderate comfort and old aircraft, Have your 20 year old jumbo's to LONDON been re fitted with modern equip yet.??????

[hellodolly]

HDolly, My reply was to that Blazes, you replied to Me-Ginjag, I think your reply was aimed at Blazes.

Sorry about that I just got carried away with the way you had put the time. It seemed so appropriate.

It was not aimed at you. Blazes and two others were hitting on it. Probably a slow day for them. At least I hope for their sake it was.

For all I know it could have been the high point of their day.

[Bof]

Just another delusional executive of a Thai Public company.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few.

But it sounds, from reading this thread, that the key word re their DM restaurant is... WAS!

[RubbaJohnny]

I hope I can stop laughing before my next visit to immigration

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

If Thai Airways think they are going into business with Thai Air food, then they are mindless, Wedgewood/silver service carvery maybe, but not microwave little dishes, with pre prepared food.

As I said previous cater for airlines who have not this facility and expand on that.. Put your money and some shareholders rakeoffs into updating-re staffing-new aircraft and tickets at a price that reflect your service---not inflated ticket prices at moderate comfort and old aircraft, Have your 20 year old jumbo's to LONDON been re fitted with modern equip yet.??????

Look at it this way, the inflight food THAI is serving is probably older than the jets they're flying you in.

[Curt1591]

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few.

But it sounds, from reading this thread, that the key word re their DM restaurant is... WAS!

Don't know its current status. Could still be open for all I know.

But, one can be pretty sure this, not their inflight commissary, will be the model for their restaurant.

It's location was here, http://goo.gl/maps/IVE36, directly behind this bakery shop. There was a small sign at the door; no "marquee".

When I visited, we walked into a "building", and the were escorted into a small dining area.

It really seemed like a service, rather than a money maker.

[trainman34014]

Oh goody; maybe the restaurant seating will be arranged with legroom similar to on board in cattle class so that you can feel at home whilst rubbing your knees on the seat in front as you hoik your upper body forwards to eat over your drop down plastic tray in order that you don't spill your glutenous gravy. I hope they provide in-flight magazines so you've got something to read while you await your order.

[BarryM]

I've generally found food on TG first to be nothing more than pretentious wedding food. Overcooked, over fussy and unappetising

Only the caviar and vodka make it tolerable

And agree. Their fruit juices are <deleted>.

[Cuban]

Only the caviar and vodka make it tolerable

But you get less than you used to, they are reticent about opening an extra tin and the selection from the bar is two tiers lower than it used to be.

Maybe Hitler Fried Chicken should tender for the in-flight meals contract.

[peergin]

Some time ago Thai Airways had a nice little restaurant in a small shopping centre in Chiangmai just off Mahidol Road, near the police station. One day I went in and ordered some sandwiches for take-away. I wanted to wash my hands so I asked where the toilet was. A member of the staff told me it was outside but he was kind enough to suggest I wash my hands at their own wash basin behind the counter. OK, good, but I did not see any soap so I asked for it. The young man answered that there was no soap, neither on the premises nor in the shopping centre's communal toilet. Meaning a Thai Airways restaurant without soap on the premises..... Well, I paid for my sandwiches but left them behind because I did not want to eat them.....

Do you think I ever went back to the place???

Actually the airline closed this restaurant not long after because there were never any customers.

[IsaanUSA]

Personally, I think the food on THAI is great...first class, business and economy.

[blazes]

Thai Airways should stop giving away PERKS to VIP Thai shareholders/friends of. All the free travel they hand out-save the money and put it into updating the fleet, even more than you are, catch up on the more economy planes, price your seats in line with what service you give.

try to give good flavoured wholesome food, rather than fancy looking food that is C##P.

I have booked a flight to UK with EVA-as opposed to Thai, 1. price was cheaper 2. better equipped aircraft 3, seat room more spacious 4 newer aircraft.

The flight is roughly the same time departure and arrival, both go into L.Heathrow.

I will miss my Thai royal perks,, but I don't care.

I have flown first class from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on my way home as Eva air does not come into Chiang Mai. The Thai air first class was on a par with the deluxe economy on EVA Air.

This is comparing apples and oranges. I have flown (same day) Eva Biz Class followed by BKK-CNX, (TG) also Biz Class.

But really, what on earth do you expect in the way of food, no matter what class you are in, on a one-hour flight?? Crazy.

It's amazing that they serve ANYthing on so short a flight. Are you perpetually hungry or something???

Did Me-Ginjag.........=or Dolly mention food on a 1 hour flight ??????????????????????????? hungry for a reply that you do not miss read.

Miss read? A sweet old lady who used to write novels set deep in the heart of the English countryside. No, I don't think I misread you.

One of you wrote, but correct me if I am wrong:

"try to give good flavoured wholesome food, rather than fancy looking food that is C##P."

And the other nattered on about First Class flights (meaning, no doubt, Business Class) between BKK and CNX. (and other places).

So, the two pearls of wisdom got mixed up.

However, this whole sodding thread is about eating garbage food on airlines. So, anyone reading your ineffable contributions might well be mislead (or might well misread you) as talking about the quality of food on various kinds of flight.

Sorry if it's confusing.

But you are right about one thing, however: it is indeed a very very slow day when one writes this kind of drivel ( I refer to my own) on a subject that really is of minimum interest or importance to 99.9% of the world's population.

[needforspeed]

Their catering business been set up expecting a average growth in their business.

That didn’t happening so the cost to running the business getting % wise much higher.

So he has the manpower, equipment, knowledge, marketing tools and logistic.

I think it’s a good idea.

Start a shop in NANA isn’t

[IsaanUSA]

Their catering business been set up expecting a average growth in their business.

That didn’t happening so the cost to running the business getting % wise much higher.

So he has the manpower, equipment, knowledge, marketing tools and logistic.

I think it’s a good idea.

Start a shop in NANA isn’t

Agreed. Open the restaurant in the airports, but do not use any THAI branding.

[chooka]

I ate at a Thai airways restaurant in Phuket while waiting for a connection and was actually rather impressed. Best massaman curry I have had to date. I do see the Puff and Pie bakeries scattered around but have never tried one.

I have to admit, it is challenging to get excited about airline food...

Puff and Pie bakery outlets put out the same strange pastries that are so common in Thailand. I have found few such concoctions edible, from any Thai bakery.

It seems that CPT and I are the only two who have actually eaten at an actual Thai Airways Catering R-E-S-T-A-U-R-A-N-T. We both found the food to be great.

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few. It was mostly frequented by airport businessmen, catching a meal with clients.

This is not the "heat & serve" crap served on board. This is cooked to order, not trucked in from the tarmac.

Because they are worldwide carriers, this is quality food, sourced from markets unreachable to almost all other Bangkok restaurants.

I had a great grilled salmon steak, far fresher than anything I have ever found in Bangkok.

Maybe you are the only two that eat in an airline restaurant because generally people see such places as airline food. If I want to eat before getting onto a plane I won't waste money on food that I am going to get on the plane anyway. I eat better quality food so I don't have to eat airline food.

[Payboy]

Suraphon Israngura Na Ayuthya has a grand plan to grow THAI

[bubba]

I know I posted this earlier in a different thread, but here again is the western breakfast selection at the concourse C Royal Orchid Lounge from a couple of weeks ago. Note that the selection consisted of (1) a hard boiled egg and (2) some sort of processed pork product slices floating in grease and water. Would you eat that at 6am? Who wants to sit in a business class lounge and shell out hard boiled eggs? Is this the sort of quality anyone should expect in a business class lounge? What if you walked in to one of the new Thai Airways restaurants, there was a breakfast buffet on, and this was what you saw?

Breakfast at Royal Orchid Lounge (business class)

So on a five hour business class flight last week, I requested the roast chicken with greens main course. What arrived was a brown mashup of chicken covered in some sort of brown mystery sauce, crammed into a small porcelain dish with some rice and soggy chinese greens. It looked absolutely awful, particularly at 10am, so I politely asked to the flight attendant to take it back. She, a very senior FA with around 20 years of experience, then proceeded to spend a very frank 10 - 15 minutes talking with me about how they understand how bad the business class food has become compared to other airlines, and she was embarrassed. She told me that her job has become unpleasant at times due to the number of business class passengers who complain about the food quality. She also told me that the catering business at TG was under a different division and management than the beverage business, hence the reason that the wine and spirits quality is quite different from food quality. I shared the photo that I posted here of the lounge "food", as she was not familiar with what they served there. I also shared a photo of the light lunch I had been served on a recent Emirates flight, and she said she honestly wished that TG was willing to provide the same or even close to the quality of the food service that other airlines such as EK, CX and SQ serve. I will post that one here as well. Sorry I didn't snap a pic of the TG lunch selection for comparison, but it spent as little time as possible on my seat table.

Light lunch on Emirates

So to K. Suraphon and the new Thai Airways restaurant in Soi Nana - we wish you the best of luck, although if you serve what you serve on your airline or lounges, then I suspect that for most customers a street side khao gaeng shop would be preferable. But if it does succeed, perhaps the additional profits will allow for at least passable food quality in the air. And from those of us who must endure that with frequency or else buy our own food to take onboard, you have our thanks.

[CPT]

I ate at a Thai airways restaurant in Phuket while waiting for a connection and was actually rather impressed. Best massaman curry I have had to date. I do see the Puff and Pie bakeries scattered around but have never tried one.

I have to admit, it is challenging to get excited about airline food...

Puff and Pie bakery outlets put out the same strange pastries that are so common in Thailand. I have found few such concoctions edible, from any Thai bakery.

It seems that CPT and I are the only two who have actually eaten at an actual Thai Airways Catering R-E-S-T-A-U-R-A-N-T. We both found the food to be great.

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few. It was mostly frequented by airport businessmen, catching a meal with clients.

This is not the "heat & serve" crap served on board. This is cooked to order, not trucked in from the tarmac.

Because they are worldwide carriers, this is quality food, sourced from markets unreachable to almost all other Bangkok restaurants.

I had a great grilled salmon steak, far fresher than anything I have ever found in Bangkok.

Glad to be saved from a potentially unpleasant meal. I also don't care for any sort of indigenous or Thaiified pastry I have had hence why I had yet to muster the nerve to try them. Too much margarin/palm oil, sweet mayonnaise, and pork floss.

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few.

But it sounds, from reading this thread, that the key word re their DM restaurant is... WAS!

Don't know its current status. Could still be open for all I know.

But, one can be pretty sure this, not their inflight commissary, will be the model for their restaurant.

It's location was here, http://goo.gl/maps/IVE36, directly behind this bakery shop. There was a small sign at the door; no "marquee".

When I visited, we walked into a "building", and the were escorted into a small dining area.

It really seemed like a service, rather than a money maker.

The restaurant in Phuket was nearly empty and mercifully quiet with a good view. Though it was fairly sizable, I believe there were only two other tables occupied in the main dining area. There was a room off the main dining area where airline staff were eating and it was packed. Great prices considering the quality especially since it was in an airport. To be honest, I don't remember ever enjoying any other restaurant in an airport with the exception of the barbecue place in CLT (not great but decent, a nice change of pace during a layover and beats chilis and that sort of crap).

Edited August 15, 2013 by CPT

[MacChine]

Dear Thai Airways,

Please get rid of the packaging. 10 ounces of food wrapped in 20 ounces of plastic cardboard and cellophane i waste in every way.

[LawrenceChee]

Working in the hospitality business and clicking in the air miles

There is no worse caterer of airline food in this side of the hemisphere save for Aeroflot that could beat them for cardboard food served in lots of wasted plastic

I often ask the stewardess themselves as these poor guys have to eat this shit too as their duty meals

Most confide that they buy something up the plane as they will not eat it themselves ...most are tasteless if you are not in first or business class

Opening a restaurant ???? Be surprised if anyone except the sewer rats will pay for that kind of food !

[Notstupid30]

The first is slated for opening in Bangkok's Soi Nana next year,

First class food in Soi Nana, yeah right !Do you get frequent flyer with that?

Nah just craps and std ...

[bubba]

The Don Muang location was a hidden gem, known to very few. It was mostly frequented by airport businessmen, catching a meal with clients.

This is not the "heat & serve" crap served on board. This is cooked to order, not trucked in from the tarmac.

I wonder whether Thai Airways would be willing to load some of that nice food onto their aircraft for passengers who are paying >100K baht for a business class ticket, rather than the "heat and serve crap" that they are presently serving.