HKG - MEL (Cathay)

Cathay Pacific A330-300 lunchtime service to Melbourne, in Premium Economy (9h30). Once again the decision to take advantage of the more spicy AVML meal option worked out well, however the lack of any menu or description of what I was eating was frustrating.

Lunch: Three curries with rice, roti, raita and salad (7/10)

Of the three curries, I found both the kidney bean one and the cauliflower and coconut one very impressive, but the paneer one was not to my personal tastes. The accompanying salad was ok, and the yoghurt was appreciated given the heat of the curries. There was the obligatory? fruit salad, but thankfully made up for with additional Häagen-Dazs Cookies and Chocolate ice-cream.

Dinner: Three curries with rice, naan, raita and salad (6/10)

There were three different curries for dinner; an aloo gobi, green bean and a creamy tasting one with sweet corn. The first two were good, the last one less so. The chickpea salad was also nice, but this time there was nothing to compensate for the predictable fruit salad.

LHR - HKG (Cathay)

Cathay Pacific B777-300ER overnight service to Hong Kong, in Premium Economy (12h45), once again employing the AVML meal selection in a bid to avoid bland vegan dishes.

Dinner: Curries, rice, naan, bean salad, fruit salad (6/10)

Both curries were excellent, but the naan was a bit crusty. Bean salad was nice, and good to see some non-cheese protein. Big yawn though for the tired old fruit salad desert, especially as the "normal" people got ice-cream and Green and Black's chocolate. Looks suspiciously like Asian vegetarian became Asian vegan.

Breakfast: Some sort of bread thing, some sort of grain thing, curry and a bhaji (4/10)

Disappointing. All a bit stodgy and overcooked, none of it best suited to reheating. And seriously two fruit salads?? Apologies for the poor picture quality.

HKG - LHR (Cathay)

Cathay Pacific B777-300ER overnight service to London Heathrow, in Premium Economy (12h45). For me as a Westerner, the decision to go for AVML breaks down a bit at breakfast.

Dinner: Sag paneer, aloo and mushroom curries with naan bread (7/10)

Three good curries, all good, plus naan which didn't look great, but tasted nice. Lame salad, very tired looking, and an equally lame fruit salad. Champagne in a plastic beaker!

Breakfast: Unidentified (5/10)

The round thing was like a very doughy bagel, the white stuff was nice, a bit like couscous. No idea about the yellow stuff. The curry was pretty spicy

MEL - HKG (Cathay)

Cathay Pacific A330-300 lunchtime service to Hong Kong, in Premium Economy (9h30). Once again the decision to take advantage of the more spicy AVML meal option worked out well, however the lack of any menu or description of what I was eating was decidedly non "premium".

Lunch: Coconut Curry, Pilau Rice, Coconut Salad (8/10)

The curry was some sort of coconut sambal style thing, with loads of flavour, same for the pilau rice and lentil and coconut side salad. The other salad also had lentils in; lucky I like lentils! The muffin was nice, carrot I think, and the ice-cream was a nice flavour (although too creamy for my personal taste). The bread roll was fresh and warm, but with rice and roti, not raelly needed. The roti was weakest part, guess due to reheating. Generous serves of wine (in a plastic cup).

 Dinner?: Vegetable dosa, fruit salad (6/10)

The bread was a bit dry, but filling was nice, spicy pander with tomato, courgette and aubergine. Same muffin as lunch, good job I like it. The fruit was fresh but there wasn't much of it.

ASP - MEL (Qantas)

Lunch: Roasted vegetable ciabbata, passion fruit and ginger cookies

MXP - AUH (Etihad)

Etihad A330-200 lunchtime service to Abu Dhabi, in Business Class (6h15).

Starter: Cream of green pea soup with a blue cheese mini scone

Dinner: Gnocchi?

MEL - SIN (Singapore)

For Singapore Airline's evening service to Singapore (7h40) I decided I'd had enough of the bland vegan offerings typical of VLML (Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal) in Economy class, and opted instead for an Indian Vegetarian Meal (AVML). This proved to be a good decision with two unusually tasty (for the back of the plane) dishes contributing to a very relaxed trip in the relatively spacious upstairs of the A380.

Dinner: Aloo gobi, chana massala, rice, naan, papadum and greek yoghurt (6/10)

Supper: Samba and Uttapam (7/10)

MEL - NTL (Virgin)

Lunch: Mediterranean vegetable salad (6/10) 

BNE - MEL (Virgin)

Virgin Australia E190 lunchtime service to Melbourne, in Business Class (2h25). Special meal requests are only accepted on long haul flights, however it seems that one of the two Luke Mangan meal offerings is vegetarian (bad luck vegans). However on this flight there were more vegetarian passengers than vegetarian meals! An oversight that the flight attendant was able to rectify by virtue of her own meal, coincidentally, being vegetarian.

Lunch: Asian salad (flight attendant's meal) 

BKK - MEL (Thai)

Thai Airways overnight B777 service to Melbourne, in business class.

Starter

Main

Dessert