Although I’ve never flown with them in the past, I was excited to try the Lufthansa business class food on a flight that I booked from Frankfurt, Germany to Bengaluru, India.

These days flights usually offer the chance to pre-order your meal days before the flight is set to depart. This flight, however, didn’t provide much ahead of time. I had the standard option of selecting “special meals” such as asian vegetarian or vegan meals, but didn’t have the option to pre-select standard meals that would be served onboard. Lufthansa does post menus on their website and has a section to search by flight. Oddly enough,  the menu that was provided onboard was different than what was posted online.

I was flying on a less popular flight route, so I wasn’t too surprised or disappointed in not being able to pre select meals.

I had a few hour layover in Frankfurt where I checked out the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge and more importantly the food spread. It wasn’t the best selection that I’ve seen, but the food was tasty enough. I didn’t fill up too much on the pre-flight meal, instead saving my appetite for the dining experience on board.

I boarded the 747, or the “queen of the skies”, and of was able to secure one of the coveted upper deck seats.

The cabin felt exclusive, with a limited number of seats, and they provided a ton of storage, especially in the window seats. Apparently there is no window storage on the lower deck, but I didn’t  get an opportunity to look at that cabin. As soon as I boarded we were whisked up the stairs and right to our seats. This really gave an exclusive feeling to the entire experience.

The upper deck was already intimate, and only seemed to be half full upon our departure. I settled in for a great flight.

I started with pre-departure service of white wine and mixed almonds. Departing from Germany, I went with an authentic German selection, and so I choose the 2017 Saar Riesling, which retails for about $21 per bottle.

What immediately stood out to me was the branded wine glass. It was a very nice touch. Being a German carrier I knew the drinkware and dinnerware would be top class, and I wasn’t disappointed.

As we were taking off, I browsed through the menu and had a difficult time choosing my meal. I was en route to India, so of course I was craving Indian food. But that’s all I would be eating when I got there, so I reckoned I should try something else. Luckily Lufthansa made a compromise easy. Being a 9 hour flight, they actually provided 2 meals during the duration of the flight. So I could choose one western meal and one Indian meal. Perfect.

However, when it came time to pick my first appetizer I couldn’t resist the chatpate baby corn option. While it was originally supposed to only be provided for the Asian vegetarian menu, since the flight was only full they happily accommodated my request.

The appetizer was served with a side of Indian roti and was presented beautifully and tasted delicious. It was well seasoned with a little bit of heat, but was accompanied with yogurt that provide a cooling touch. This was one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had on a flight. After I poked around the menu in more detail, I quickly realized why.

The Indian food on Lufthansa is curated by Chef Vinod Saina, a master chef of the Leela Hotel Group. If you haven’t had the pleasure of staying in one of their resorts, the properties are a treat, and they have locations all over India.

After I settled in further, it was time for the main dish.

I ordered the Roasted Poularde with a carrot ragu and mashed chanterelles. Although it wasn’t the most appetizing to look at, it tasted decent enough. I enjoyed the poularde, and it was paired well with the creamy sauce.

It wasn’t the most exciting meal that I’ve eaten on a flight, but it still bested the options in economy.

As I finished up my meal meal, I was stuffed. I passed on dessert menu, but still received two complimentary little chocolates that I gladly accepted. A rich and delicious palate cleanser.

While I caught a few hours of sleep, I woke up still exhausted but ready for my second meal. This was set to be the full Indian spread that I was eagerly waiting for.

With the cabin still dark, I squinted to see a presentation of prawn curry, lemon rice, and vegetable saggu made with cauliflower, carrots, and beans. Again served with Indian roti, masala avocado, and a yogurt riata, as well as Kheer (an Indian rice dessert).

The food was very well flavored and not too spicy (although I really like spicy food). The masala avocado was a great starter and combined nicely with the roti to make a truly great dish. I didn’t care too much for the dessert option, but maybe that’s just me. Rice deserts were never my thing.

This meal was easily much better in flavor and presentation than the first one.  Thinking back, I should have gone for Indian for both meals.

As we were approaching our landing it was already 2am local time, so I figured my sleep for the night was already shot and decided to order an espresso.

I’ve noticed that many US carriers don’t serve espresso, even on business class flights, so it was nice that Lufthansa has it available.

Usually coffee on airplanes is objectively awful, but the espresso on this flight was well made and had plenty of cream.

I found that the Lufthansa business class food was excellent, and the service was also on point. I would highly recommend getting the specialized menu anywhere you fly. Next time that’s all I’ll be ordering, regardless of my destination.

The post Food Review: Lufthansa 747 Business Class from Frankfurt to Bengaluru appeared first on Travel Season.

Booked to fly out of their hub at Frankfurt airport, I was excited to experience how they treat their business class passengers, but more importantly was eager to see how they feed them.

I arrived at the Business Class lounge in terminal 1 near gate Z50 at around 10:00am, early for the flight but just in time to grab some breakfast. I was preparing for my next flight, which would be on a Lufthansa 747 Business Class from Frankfurt to Bengaluru.

At this time of morning the lounge was surprisingly crowded. Like, extremely crowded. It was a challenge to even find an open seat. But luckily after waiting around for a few minutes, I spotted someone get up and I was able to rush over and claim the seat before heading over to try some of the food.

For such a large lounge, the food section was disappointingly small. While they had another satellite kitchen, it only served coffee and soft drinks, so all of the food options were clustered in this little area. As new food started rolling out it became crowded.

For breakfast they had a standard layout of scrambled eggs, baked beans, and sausage. Nothing too exciting, and frankly it was a selection that I would expect in any standard airline’s lounge.

In addition to the hot bar, they had a basket of croissants as well as a fresh salad station. At this point I decided breakfast was not worth the calories and I decided to wait it out until lunch since I still had a few hours to pass in the lounge.

I grabbed an espresso and settled in.

I was tempted by the candy selection. But I reminded myself what that it was still early, and my jet lag was no excuse to crush candy for breakfast.

While I waited I thought I would check out the dinnerware. After all we are in Germany, and they’re known to produce some of the best and highest quality products.

I really liked these little snack bowls that were stacked near the candy section. They would be great in any kitchen to keep salt, spices, sauces, or even for serving a tiny snack when during cooking prep.

The larger bowls had an identical design, and in my opinion are the perfect size bowls to use for cooking prep and presentation.

I discovered that all of the dinnerware is made by ASA selection and specifically from their A Table collection. A German brand founded in 1976, they make a high quality, classic style china that works well for multipurpose plating.

After a little while I noticed a cart rolling out with a new variety of food.  I knew this meant that lunch was being served, so I quickly got up and made sure I was one of the first in line.

The spread appeared to be a dish with farro, roasted carrots, rice, and some sort of simmering chili. At this point I was completely starving so didn’t ask questions and immediately fixed myself a plate.

To accompany lunch they started laying out bowls of pumpkin soup and what appeared to be a pudding style chocolate dessert. While I usually wouldn’t pick up a bowl, it looked and smelled delicious so i grabbed a serving.

As I finished up heaping food onto my plate, I realized that I had overlooked something – a baked pretzel. I was in Germany, so of course I needed to try one of their most iconic food items.

As I made my way back to the basket I could only find a sunflower seed option available. While it wasn’t my first choice, I knew that I had to try it.

I sat down to enjoy my meal at this point. I had helped myself to a selection of all of the available dishes accompanied by a light salad and shaved carrots that I spotted at the cold food station.

After digging in, I was actually super impressed with the quality of flavors from the hot dishes. They were well- balanced and paired together nicely.

The pretzel itself I found to be just OK. It was missing that burst of a salt that is needed on every pretzel. This one wasn’t terrible, but the lack of sodium made it rather bready.

With my meal finished and the slight disappointment of the pretzel burning inside of me, something caught my eye as I was walking out of the lounge.  They were refilling the pretzel basket, with a larger variety of options!

Could I really eat another whole pretzel? Especially when I’m boarding a flight that will be served food right away?

I sure could.

This time I spotted exactly what I wanted and immediately grabbed a classic pretzel sprinkled with sea salt. I inhaled it and made my way out the door, full but already dreaming about my next meal.

I would rate the Lufthansa Frankfurt lounge food as decent enough, but nothing truly special. From what I sampled, the quality seemed to be solid enough while the selection seemed rather thin, especially for a premium lounge of it’s size and nestled within the hub airport. Maybe I passed through at an off time of day? Perhaps the selection expands, but given the cramped space available to serve food I think thats is probably unlikely.

If you find yourself passing through the Lufthansa Frankfurt lounge before a flight I would say the food should be a pass. However, the lounge is enjoyable to catch some rest and worth a visit.

The post Food Review: Lufthansa Business Lounge at Frankfurt Airport appeared first on Travel Season.