Have you ever wondered how in-flight meals are actually prepared? I do. Last weekend, I had an one in a lifetime chance of joining an exclusive tour of MAS’ in-flight kitchen somewhere around KLIA along with several other bloggers courtesy of Fleishman PR Agency.
LSG Sky Chefs Brahim Sdn Bhd, an international provider of airline catering services was responsible for preparing the meals.
I mentioned it was one in a lifetime thing because you have to be either an employee or an invited guest to be allowed in the kitchen area. Security is very tight and controlled so photography was not allowed, this is to prevent competitors from spying their operations.
After touring the kitchen, we were also treated to a feast of MAS’ in-flight cuisines from the top chefs so there are plenty of food photos!
After having some light refreshments LSG presented a presentation to the attendees a brief introduction of their company, a flow chart of their meal preparation and some facts and figures. I was amazed by the number of meals they prepared in a day, 30,000! Then the kitchen tour ensued and we were brought to the bakery section where large machineries are used to mass produce buns.
We also visited the chiller section where dairy products and prepared foods are stored before being loaded into flights. The freezer section was the nicest one. It was really freezing inside and there were hundreds of packets of frozen salmon, pomfret and even lobster!
The kitchen tour lasted about an hour and so it was time to sample the food from MAS’ kitchen. Lamb shank, beef ribs, salmon, nasi lemak and MAS’ famous traditional Malaysian satay were only some of the items lined up for our food tasting session.
The food was displayed at a designated area for introductory and photography purpose, while the really edible ones were served in buffet style. When asked about the best food in MAS’ menu, the chef immediately replied “Lamb Shank” without thinking twice.
He was right, it was one of the nicest dish we had that day with tender, juicy meat. By the way, this Lamb Shank was the displayed one. It could stand so nicely because mashed potato was used as the supporting base.
Country Style Beef Ribs, a pity we didn’t try this. But I heard it was quite good from the other bloggers.
Ahh.. MAS’ satays, the signature dish that have won the many hearts of MAS passengers around the world. Here, they were shown to be served along with Nasi Goreng Kampung – box meal style.
At the buffet area chicken, beef and lamb satay were served. That’s a huge tray of beef satay!
I really didn’t expect this but they tasted really great especially the lamb satay, very tender meat! If you didn’t know, this month (March) is a Satay Month in which satay will be on the menu for MAS passengers travelling on Economy Class to domestic and selected Asean countries.
This is actually a good news for Economy Class travellers because satay is usually served only in Business and First Class cabins.
I can’t imagine eating Lobster in the air.. that’s pure enjoyment if you ask me.
Grilled Salmon is usually served on Japan flights along with imported rice from Japan to make the guests feel like home while they eat.
Nasi Lemak with sambal prawns and chicken rendang. This is the display unit only.. but I have tasted the real thing which was quite nice. Although the prawns had a weird rubbery texture, the sambal was tasty and had the right level of spiciness.
Some other in-flight food on display like scallops, steamed pomfret, abalone, salad and other meals.
A bowl of mixed salad with cheese cubes.
This gotta be a favorite of many, scallops and salmon served with some greens. We didn’t get to try this though lol.
MAS serves abalone too, look at the thickness! In First Class cabins lah. Like the scallops and lobsters, we didn’t try this too. Expensive stuffs were solely for presentation and photography purposes only lol.
I have no idea what is this, but I am guessing it was some sort of lunch meal consisting of stir fried chicken and rice.
The displayed pomfret had some chili sauce on it but the one we had was Steamed Pomfret with XO sauce. It was very fresh and sweet tasting but I felt it was slightly overcooked due to the rubbery flesh. I didn’t take any photo because it looked very messy on my plate lol. Same goes for the nasi lemak and lamb shank.
This is a typical lunch meal enjoyed by MAS passengers flying from KL to London, the way water is served is very interesting don’t you think? I have never seen anything like this before haha, I always travel economy class only. By the way LHR is the airport code for London, I see these codes every single day since I start working in Subang Airport lol.
A light meal consisting of salad, fresh fruits, bun and butter. The butter may look normal but in fact it was a PREMIUM butter called Isigny Ste Mere Beurre D’isigny – a cow’s milk unsalted natural butter. I have to emphasize the word premium because it is actually voted one of the best butters in the world!
A platter of fresh local fruits – dragon fruit, honeydew, papaya, pineapple and watermelon. The arrangement was very well done, so vibrant what a wonderful contrast of colors.
Besides fruits, two types of desserts were available too. Creme Brulee is a dessert of custard base with a layer of hard caramel created by caramelizing sugar with a blowtorch. It had a jelly like texture and tasted sweet (no surprise here), very nice.
Panna Cotta (an Italian dessert made with cream, milk, sugar then mixed with gelatin) was the other dessert. And just when we thought we were done with the wonderful treat by MAS, we were given a food souvenir – a box containing some Ferrero Rocher, Beryl’s Bitter Sweet Chocolate and a freshly baked Apple Crumble Cake.
Man, the Apple Crumble Cake was DELICIOUS! Even though I had it for dinner which was hours after the tour, the cake’s outer layer was still nice and crispy. I think I have found a new favorite cake after this lol.
Being able to take part in MAS’ Inflight Kitchen Tour is probably one of the best experience for me as far as being a food blogger is concerned. I am really thankful for Fleishman and Malaysia Airlines for extending the invitation to me.
Truthfully I don’t think I would be flying First Class anytime unless I become freaking rich one day. So, being able to sample some of the food being offered in a First Class Cabin without having to pay for the ticket, lol I think you know what a great feeling that must be right?
But one day if I have the ability to fly First Class with MAS (fingers crossed) then Lamb Shank, the delicious Satay and Creme Brulee would definitely be my choices!
I love the satay on board…wonder about the Lamb Shank though.
wmw’s last blog post..Lunch In My Neighbourhood
enjoyed this post… very informative. the water is always placed like this in MAS flights, even if it’s a domestic flight and in economy class.
jasmine’s last blog post..Yung Kee, Hong Kong.
sigh..to pay so much so we can eat premium…really worth it?
lotsofcravings’s last blog post..Dessert’s Bar @ Subang Parade
vk: Not worth it haha. If you are serious about premium food I think the restaurants are there for it. These are just the goodies you get for flying First Class
the food looks so nice and tasty here but once it’s packed up to flight… different story already… economy class usually have all the lower end meals… and depending on where you sit and where the air stewardess start distributing the food, you may end up with no selection for you to choose…
anyway…i still enjoy on flight meals….i believe i have more than 10 of them already… and depending on which country you are going, you sometimes even have ice cream…
kokweng’s last blog post..1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009
vk: Hehe yalor, I bet they look different on flight. But from what I see in the kitchen before they were loaded into planes, they looked very nice already.
nice meeting you vkeong!! very informative post haha..do u know what’s the next event? even more fun..dunwana give spoiler now…:p
kampungboycitygal’s last blog post..Moxie Restaurant & Bar @ Damansara Heights
vk: I don’t know wor.. why you guys so fast know already one haha
waa how come the food i got from the flights never looked that good wan?
Duckie’s last blog post..Malay Rice, McAllistair Road
vk: haha, I don’t know. I’ve never had any inflight meals before so far in my flying experience
business class got lobster in the menu or not …. :P~~~
email2me’s last blog post..Lingzie Tummy Treats! – One Of The Pioneer Penang Food Blogger
vk: lol I don’t know
of course it’s only for 1st and business class la.. if only they paid closer attention to what they dish out to economy.. huh?! haha
cumidanciki’s last blog post..Tasting Room: A mile high experience?
vk: lol I am starting to feel the anger from Economy flyers like us :P
Harumph…food didn’t look this good when I was flying MAS last time.
And at 300,000km above sea level, the low air pressure will affect the taste buds… =P
Bangsar-bAbE’s last blog post..Brother John Burger, Damansara Utama
vk: Oh yeah about the taste thing, it is said that our taste buds would be 30-40% less effective in the air. So we were told that passengers are given some pink crystal salt to promote saliva production to fix this problem wor
Interesting enough! MAS inflight kitchen tour… what a once in a lifetime experience for a food blogger :)
allie’s last blog post..Penang Food | Ah Keat Bah Kut Teh
Wow the satays definitely looked appetizing! Didn’t have the chance to taste them yet. I only flew economy before… :) And they served lunch the same way as the tray for KUL-LHR you know. The water was actually placed inside the cup for convenience I think. Once it’s served to the customers, the plastic cup will be used to serve hot drinks according to our order (either tea, coffee, or sometimes milo). :) And goodness, the abalone is HUGE!!!
iamthewitch’s last blog post..Feasting like a Prince
SQ generate 60% of their revenue from the front-end 10%. No need to wonder the food is a few notches above the cattle class:)
Chin’s last blog post..Anugraha – Pulai Springs Resort, Skudai, Johore
Hmmm… delicious food but so far I have not tasted this variety of food on MAS flight, maybe these food are for first class. Lobster on board ?? Hmmm… I rather eat at the restaurant when it really cooked out from the restaurant kitchen.
The most I remember was the apple pie I tasted on board, it was absolutely good. I even stole my partner’s portion to “ta-pao” back home..haha..
Elaine’s last blog post..风云Ⅱ
We know the next goodies because we were in the same car as Jon lol. Can’t wait for the good news to be confirmed.
Simon Seow’s last blog post..Restoran Ruby, Jalan Landak, Pudu
must have been a really great experience!! very cool! happy for you :)
from what i remember, my inflight meal experiences have been rather mundane… cos travel economy mah! lol
my most memorable inflight meal has got to be getting haagen-dazs vanilla ice cream when i was traveling to the US about 10 years ago! hehe
lingzie’s last blog post..Cake Decorating & Tiramisu Baking Class in Penang!
Hey vK!
Wow, what a great write-up… and your pics make mine look like rubbish la… LOL!
For the record everyone, you don’t just pay premium for food – you pay for the ENTIRE experience – that is: hassle-free, nearer and more sophisticated airport, more comfortable seats etc. It’s not entirely about food, but definitely one of the key assets. Chef Zainuddin also mentioned that they are trying to upscale the economy meals a bit more – so, give it some time :)
Btw, for all bloggers who are interested to join us for future outings – join our Malaysia Airlines Travel fanpage on Facebook. We’re always looking for more kakis to show what Malaysian Hospitality (MH!) is really about :)
Cheers!
Jon
Jonathan Tan’s last blog post..The truth of the matter.
vk: wah, don’t say that >.< Your dreamy lamb shank photo was very nice also, got a different feel to it. Thanks for the clarification about the food man
very interesting post. and informative. never knew they serve lobsters and abalones on plane!!!
really give the journey a touch of class.
of course lah, satay and nasi lemak will do the same for Econ class. :)
how to get invited to such fancy event eh?
J2Kfm’s last blog post..Sitiawan Cendol, Nasi Ayam Mama @ Seri Manjung & I Discovered Teluk Batik !!!
Well this all looks really great, but I’m inclined to hold judgement till the real test when I next get on MAS in Economy class for a long-haul flight. The first meal usually scrapes by, but the second or third meal… eugh.. .don’t even think about it!
550ml jar of faith’s last blog post..Out of the wilderness, into the woods!
Lifetime experience! Bravo! Btw, I thought the water is always served like this too in economy class? No?
cariso’s last blog post..Karaikudi Restaurant (Part 2)
MAS definitely has quite good varieties of food at Golden Lounge for gold members and of course the on-board food that will require more and more improvements!
I do hope they put sushis and unagi’s onboard the air flight etc and it’ll be nice!
RollsRoyce’s last blog post..Suu-paawanpaku 2nd Purchased!
wow they really do serve great food while jetting on the air space!
Big Boys Oven’s last blog post..
nice to meet you again vkeong! and i very like your piktures!!
wingz’s last blog post..TenKot You is Ahbeng!
wow, so privillage….hope to get a chance like that some where in the future….did not know that MAS offer such a meal on air.. usually what I took was not as what you had describe. Maybe they had change and improve but surely they look very tempting on the pic. Hopefully it is as nice as what you had describe~
bok’s last blog post..Pho Hoa @ Tropicana City Mall
Wow, lucky you. Sucks to fly economy class all the time.
Hangmen’s last blog post..NORTH KOREA FINAL BOSS FIGHT
I have been travelling on MAS business class since I was a kid and I’m now 20 and I remember asking for 2nd, 3rd or maybe even 4th serving when it came to their satays! Until now, I still can’t find any satays which are as good as this.
Btw, your blog is amazing!
vk: Hi VG, thanks for your comment. May I suggest that you join MAS’ facebook page? There are many on going contests and promotions that are very easy to win! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malaysia-Airlines-Travel/52798899711?ref=nf
[…] hash brown and sausage. I picked nasi lemak because I knew it’d be great based on my previous food tasting session. Glad to say it didn’t […]
Great post!
I never have a flight..>.<
I hope I can try the satay, they look tasty!
Jean’s last blog post..Pavilion – Dragon-i 龙的传人
lamb shank looks fantastic!!
everything looks so fantastic on ground. But looks a little different on board though. hahaha.
It’s good that they try to improve their menu and serve better food to travelers!
nice post =D ….
Van’s last blog post..
I was actually invited also for this but couldn’t make it! :(