Vegan and vegetarian inflight meals review

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals

Vegan and vegetarian inflight meals (in economy class) have improved a lot over the years. We have flown with various airlines and captured some of the inflight meals we’ve had since 2011. Each meal has its own international code which are explained in this infographic of all the vegan and vegetarian inflight meal codes. Now let’s talk about our most recent long distance flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong.

China Southern Airlines

It was our first time flying with China Southern Airlines. After hearing some horror stories from our friends, we had low expectations of their service and food. Fortunately our experiences were quite the opposite. It also helped that we aren’t very picky eaters to begin with. For us, plain rice and boiled veggies will do.

VGML: Vegetarian Vegan Meal

We were greatly surprised to see Alpro’s chocolate mousse on the tray. There was even a strawberry fruit bar for us to snack on. And the main dish was pasta with courgettes, cherry tomatoes and olives.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VGML

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VGML

Next up is penne pasta with broccoli and tomatoes. Not bad, just very oily which was the case for all of their meals. On a side note, the bread that everyone normally gets, aren’t vegan. Some airlines don’t really pay attention to that. But luckily China Southern did!

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VGML

VOML: Vegetarian Oriental Meal

Our mum is more traditional when it comes to food, so we ordered the VOML for her. The main dish was a stir-fried wide noodles with shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts. It came with the usual sides of salad and fruits.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VOML

Plain and simple was how we described the white rice with celery, black fungus and carrots. This was basically a dish that couldn’t go wrong.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VOML

The stir-fried noodles with assorted vegetables wasn’t bad either. But the mochi was definitely the highlight of this meal (or perhaps of all meals)!

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VOML

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals china southern airlines VOML

Cathay Pacific

We flew with Cathay Pacific plenty of times and have many cute childhood memories of this airline. Before going vegan, we tended to order the VLML a lot. But we got curious about the other options, so we decided to give the VOML and FPML a go.

VLML: Vegetarian Lacto Ovo Meal

Without a doubt, pasta is a popular dish to be served on airplanes. So it was no shocker to see pasta on our plates again.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals cathay pacific VLML

VOML: Vegetarian Oriental Meal

This was the first time we actually wanted to dig in after opening the lid. The sight of rice noodles with Cha Siu seitan and Choy Sum (Chinese leafy vegetable) made us happy people. The dessert was some kind of pudding with coconut/ pandan flavours and tasted really nice with the corn. This meal deserved two thumbs up and was one of our favourites so far.

A little girl who was sitting in the row next to us, stared at us the entire meal. She kept whining to her mum that she also wanted the rice noodles we were having. So her mum finally asked the flight attendant to get her rice noodles, only to get told off that such option didn’t exist. The girl just continued staring at us with a sad face. *Evil laughter*

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals cathay pacific VOML

FPML: Fruit Platter Meal

This was supposed to be our dinner, but look at the amount of fruits given. Literally 1 banana, 1 strawberry, 1 piece of watermelon, 1 piece pineapple, 2 small pieces of melon and 2 tiny pieces of kiwi. We felt like we got leftovers from a fruit platter rather than a full meal, seriously disappointing!

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals cathay pacific FPML

KLM

Ever since we were early teens, we remember from our trips with KLM that their food was exceptionally unpleasant with very limited vegetarian choices. We thought they must have improved after all these years, but the last time we checked, the food was still so-so (or perhaps their food just didn’t suit our taste).

VLML: Vegetarian Lacto Ovo Meal

By the looks of it, this meal didn’t look unappetising. Once we took a bite of the green stuff, all our hopes were gone. It tasted like jarred baby food long past its expiration date. The green asparagus tips and baby corn were nice though. As well as the grilled veggies and fruits.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals klm VLML

Malaysia Airlines

Before flying we read many negative reviews about Malaysia Airlines, so we didn’t have our hopes up high. On our flight, the cabin crew didn’t know how to smile. But everything else was satisfactory, especially the food.

VLML: Vegetarian Lacto Ovo Meal

Even though we ordered the VLML, the main dish was actually vegan. And yes we liked seeing rice with tofu, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, baby corn and sugar snaps. Simple and clean, exactly how we usually eat.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals malaysia airlines VLML

For breakfast we had the typical eggs, tomatoes, spinach and potatoes. Even as vegetarians, we were not fond of eggs. So on many flights, we found ourselves eating the veggies only. The egg is always dry and tasteless anyways.

vegan and vegetarian inflight meals malaysia airlines VLML

Overall impression

We’ve tried many different inflight meals over the years. Some were good quality and some were significantly below average. However, you should always be aware of the bread and butter. They are not vegan, unless the packaging says so. Several airlines serve these, even when you have requested the vegan meals (like VGML or VOML). Ultimately we hope all airlines will continue to improve their vegan and vegetarian options.

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