One of the worst things about ending a trip in southeast Asia is the journey home. Not only is your body and spirit devastated with a crash from a traveler’s high. But you must endure a ridiculously long travel day(s). The one glimmer of joy is the promise of a few in flight meals I get to review.
(Curious about my favorite airline food yet? Check THIS out!)
Jeremy and I booked our return journey from Bangkok to NYC on Philippine Airlines, and here’s rundown of all the eats along the way.
Philippine Airlines Flight One: Bangkok to Manila, 3.5 hours
I’ve flown in and out of the Bangkok airport numerous times, and it’s always a breeze. Lines move quickly, everything in clean, and there’s never too much hubbub. This time was no different, and the journey from check-in to row 53 on a Philippine Airlines Airbus went perfectly.
My one gripe was that there were no USB chargers on the seats. Nor were there little TVs. But on the bright side, no one sat next to us in our row of three seats. About 45 minutes into the flight, the meal service came rolling down the aisle.
There were two options—pork with noodles or chicken with rice. Jeremy and I both opted for the latter.
The main dish was a minced chicken curry of sorts with a couple sprigs of bok choy, carrots and rice. It was surprisingly tasty! There was a tickle of spice and it had a nice heartiness. The little side slaw was crunchy and fresh. I didn’t bother with the roll in the bag. The chocolate cake was a bit dry, but I’ve certainly had dryer in my life.
I was surprised to get a meal service at all. Let alone a not bad one! Overall it was a good first impression of Philippine Airlines.
A Not-So-Pleasant Layover in Manila…
We got off the plane with dreams of a finding a burger. Instead of juicy patties in toasted buns, we were faced with a winding line for a security screening to get into the transfer area. There was one scanner for a couple hundred people. It’s cool, we’ll be fine. 35ish minutes later and we were through en route to our gate.
Blow number 1 was no good burger in sight. Blow number 2 was yet another screening line to get into the US transfer area. One woman checked boarding passes. The next reviewed each passenger’s passport in-depth, like a tight-laced college English teacher fishing for mistakes. Then, all our belongings were x-rayed once more before finally getting to our gate.
Finally, we settled into gate 5 with 30 minutes before boarding.
But ending there would be too easy.
The speaker system crackled on, “Flight PR126, your flight has been delayed one hour.” A communal moan danced through the air.
The speaker system crackled on once more, “Will the following guests please see the gate agent…” My name was the first of a long list. I was informed that there was a battery in my checked bag that needed to be removed, which was news to me.
A wiry man escorted me and a few other passengers at the speed of light through the airport to a room with our luggage. “What battery do I have?!” My question was answered with a shrug and gesture indicating for me to find the mystery battery. Turned out my rechargeable light I use for content wasn’t allowed, which I found odd given the fact it had made it through 5 flights no problem.
I had to go back through the security screening and as I was coming in, Jeremy was heading out for the same problem.
Finally, just after midnight we began boarding.
Flight 2, Manila to JFK, 15 hours 40 minutes
We were in the middle middle, which sucked. But at least there were TVs, USB chargers, and standard blankets and pillows to provide some glimmer of comfort. Philippine Airlines menus came down the aisle– a small feature I get a huge amount of joy from.
Meal 1
For dinner, I opted for the beef. Kalderta is a traditional Filipino meat stew that is traditionally made with goat, potatoes, peppers, and liver spread all in a tomato sauce. I’ve never had it, and something tells me my Filipino sister-in-law would have a few critiques of the Philippine Airlines rendition. The beef was tough and fatty, and the sauce was too acidic for my liking. The side pasta salad with shrimp was suspiciously fishy. And while the menu promised moist chocolate cake, it was anything but.
Snacktime
Around hour 9, a “snack” came down the aisle. I got the spaghetti bolognese.
It looked like it had already been eaten once. Luckily, it tasted better than it looked. The sauce had a subtle sweetness, and there’s something comforting about a big serving of piping hot pasta.
Meal 3
Two hours before landing, it was time for breakfast. To my chagrin, the chicken adobo was out and I was left with a hash brown, egg, and sausage number.
The hash browns were soggy, the eggs were dry, and the sausage was flavorless. I was over getting served yet another roll in a bag, and it wouldn’t have killed them to throw in some pineapple or grapes into the fruit cup.
In summary, the food on Philippine Airlines left something to be desired.
It wasn’t the worst airplane food I’ve experienced, but it was far from the best. Despite the not-so-good eats, the long haul flight went by decently fast. I watched four movies, got a few hours of sleep, and before I knew it we were arriving in NYC.
