New locally inspired menus are set to roll out on select American Airlines flights to the US from Tokyo, Sydney and Auckland.
Passengers in Flagship Business on all flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Los Angeles from Tokyo (Narita and Haneda) will be served a Japanese menu developed by Tokyo-based chef, Jun Kurogi. Kurogi is behind the menu of his restaurant Kurogi Shiba Daimon Tokyo and has also supervised menus served on board Japan Airlines flights.
“The dishes are prepared with great care to ensure the full satisfaction of discerning Japanese customers,” said Thomas Scruby, American Airlines’ commercial director, Japan and Korea – sales. “Going forward, American Airlines will continue attracting Japanese customers with superior value-added services.”
The new menus is as follows:
Zensai appetisers
- Nikujaga beef and potato stew
- Simmered okara bean-curd lees with vegetables
- Japanese spring vegetables in tosazu bonito broth and soy sauce-flavoured vinegar jelly
- Broiled eel fillet wrapped in thick omelette
- Spicy sautéed lotus root kinpira
- Asparagus wrapped in kamo duck breast
- Seared squid with ondo tamago soft-boiled egg
- Tuna and jellyfish salad dressed with sesame vinegar sauce
Dainomono main dishes
- Grilled salmon with sliced bamboo shoots and starchy sauce
- Beef tongue stew
- Seasoned rice with braised kakuni beef and vegetables
- Miso soup
- Japanese pickles
Meanwhile, English-born Australian celebrity chef Sean Connolly has designed a new menu for premium cabins on flights from Auckland and Sydney to the US. Connolly currently has six restaurants located in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai.
The menus comprise a small plate, a salad, four main dishes and a dessert. A preliminary menu shared with Business Traveller for business class on the airline’s Sydney-Los Angeles route is as follows:
Small plate
- Queensland prawns
Salad
- Butter lettuce with microgreens
Main plates
- Beef short rib
- Moroccan chicken
- Herb-crusted blue-eyed cod
- Potato gnocchi
- Mezze plate
Dessert
- Traditional ice cream sundae
- Crème caramel
- Hand-selected local cheeses
American Airlines also plans to roll out new menus in the premium cabins on board its flights from China to the US this summer. Though details have so far not been announced, chef Maneet Chauhan, who designs the premium cabin menus on the airline’s flights from the US to Europe as well as between the US and South America, will be behind the new menus.
A number of other airlines also recently have unveiled new in-flight menus. Japan Airlines recently began serving new menus developed by Michelin-starred Japanese chefs on board its flights to Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, while Virgin Australia has rolled out new dishes on its Hong Kong, Los Angeles and domestic routes.
Take a look at these six airlines that have recently begun offering new in-flight menus on board their Asia-Pacific routes.
