Airline Food.

It's been a long time since I've been on a flight longer than an hour and a half. Eleven hours! It takes 11 hours to get to Charles de Gaulle from LAX. That's a huge jump from my usual hour and half flights to the Bay Area. The five hour flight to Kahului, Hawaii last year, you had the option to buy a sandwich—I declined and stuck to Glenlivet. So this time, international flight, everything was provided. I guess you break $1,000, they can hook you up with two meals, alcohol, snacks. Here's what I had on my Air Tahiti Nui flights to and from Paris.

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Dinner:

 

Clockwise from center, beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes, medley of carrots, peas and corn.
Papaya cake.
Grilled chicken and four bean salad.
Dewars on the rocks.
Spring water.
I think that was pineapple juice. I remember not liking it.
Baby brie with mini baguette. Land O Lakes butter. Saltines.

 
Here's a detail of the papaya cake in a cute resin dish.

On a whim, I chose the beef. I don't eat red meat, like, ever. This was good though. Lean, tender. I ate all of it. I even ate most of the chicken/bean salad which is another thing I don't usually like. I was surprised at the quality of airline food. It's better than I remembered and expected. The cake was weird but okay. More cheesecake-like in texture with a flaky crust at the bottom. I ate about a quarter of it. I of course, finished the Dewars and the water. The juice was way off the mark. I stashed the brie and bread in my bag and forgot about it for 2 days. The cheese eventually went into the trash around the Quartier Latin and the rock-hard, days-old bread, I broke into crumbs outside an old church for the pigeons to snack on. Overall, this was a nice start to my vacation.

Breakfast:

Bacon onion frittata with O'Brien potatoes. Tomato.
Fruit cup.
Strawberry yogurt.
Hot tea.
Orange juice.
Croissant, Land O Lakes butter, strawberry jam.

 

Yogurt detail. 
Disappointed that it was American; from Upstate New York.

I really didn't like the yogurt! It tasted sort of artificial and the texture is too runny. What you've heard is true. I've become a yogurt snob. I guess? 

The frittata was a bit overcooked but it was fine. I'm not too into melon, so I picked at the fruit cup as much as I could. The hot tea was tainted by the plastic of the cup; was it melting with the hot temperature? I took a few sips and had to quit it. Juice was better than the previous and the croissant was basic. I liked smearing the butter and jam on it though. 

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Snack:

Pretzels and another Dewars rocks. How can you go wrong?

Lunch:

Okay, I lost the menu! It's possible I forgot to nab it when I "deplaned." Doing this one on memory...
Unlikely as it sounds, on a Tahitian airline between Paris and Los Angeles, I want to say this was chicken with Indian style curry.  Mixed vegetables.
 The salad was shredded orange and yellow carrot, over-sauced with dressing. It reminded me of something I was often served at my childhood best friend's house—her mother was indeed French. 
I didn't touch the lemon wedge and that duo-toned rectangle of what was probably a terrine made with two types of meat.
Diet Coke.
Dinner roll, President butter, Petit Cantal Jeune cheese wedge.

The cheese was mediocre. It made me less disappointed in wasting the cheese from my first flight. They aren't even really cheese. It's like a French equivalent of our American cheese slices. It's a cheese food product. They are okay and satisfying in a pinch, but you wouldn't go buy it in the market. 

Disclaimer: I actually have bought American cheese recently. I had a craving for classic grilled cheeses but it's not a common occurrence.

Hot snack:

 
Cheese tortellini with marinara and parmesan.
What was in that salad? I can't remember. I don't even remember if I ate it. It looks like a smoked salmon but I really have no idea.
Fruit de sucre. Whatever the heck that is. It's still in my refrigerator. I need to chuck it out already.
Spring water.
I'm pretty sure that's a spreadable cheese and the usual dinner roll.

Forgettable. I barely remember being served this tray of food. I was uncomfortable and cramped up between strangers. I was mindlessly watching Midnight in Paris on loop. Really counting down the minutes. The flight to Paris, I lucked out and had an aisle seat and the seat next to me was open. I wasn't enjoying this food, I was deciding in my head, "The next time I fly international, damn the costs, I'm upgrading to business class. This is inhumane!" 

I should note that in the "gallery" between cabins, the flight attendants have beverages and snacks available between meals. I made it a point to take advantage of the spring water and free range of fruit juices. I get terribly dehydrated on flights and was trying my best to avoid leg cramps and headaches. It was then that I caught a glimpse of First Class' offerings. A different drink cart? Top shelf spirits. And I never realized first class gets better food and it's served on ceramic. I need to get there.

Overall, Air Tahiti is recommended! Save some money. I think Air France costs more on average and the pervert sitting next to me on the flight home claims the leg room is stingy. Worse than ATN? He says yes. Idk. It must be horrible then. Big picture, 11 hours on ATN still did less damage to my lower back than three hours at the Silent Movie Theater. The key is to stretch out as much as possible.