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Photo taken by: SM
Route: Delhi DEL - Frankfurt FRA, January 2004
Flight duration: 8h25m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-300, Business Class
Meal type: Cocktails
Contents of the meal: Barbeque flavour potato chips (Lays), Salted roast almonds
Drink: Champagne (Piper Heidseck)
Comments: Nice way to relax as we set off on our westbound flight (delayed 30 mins due to fog)
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 8 - I'd prefer slightly more imaginative snacks, but I guess the chips were good enough

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Photo taken by: SM
Route: Delhi DEL - Frankfurt FRA, January 2004
Flight duration: 8h25m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-300, Business Class
Meal type: Lunch
Hors d'oeuvres: Smoked salmon, Chicken salad canape
Entrée: Kesari Malai Prawn Curry, Jeera Pulao, Spiced Vegetables
Accompaniments: Yoghurt, Papad, Butter Naan, Pickle, Bread, Cheese, Crackers
Dessert: Hazelnut Mousse, Chocolate Bar
Drink: Piper Heidseck Champagne, Water, Coffee
Comments: Presentation was poor. Crew were operating at minimum complement so they could only do one run through the cabin and served the entire meal on a single tray. Nonetheless, the food was exceptional as always. The hazelnut mousse was divine - better than what my mom makes (sorry mom!).
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): Presentation: 4 (they poured the wines properly and handed out menus), Quality: 10

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Photo taken by: SM
Route: Delhi DEL to Frankfurt FRA, January 2004
Flight duration: 8h25m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-300, Business Class
Meal type: Pre-landing light snack
Contents of the meal: 2 batter fried jumbo shrimp, 3 chicken tikka, 2 aloo tikki (potato); Papaya and Pineapple salad; Mango shrikhand dessert
Drink: 7-Up, Coffee
Comments: The jumbo shrimp were huge and delicious. I was surprised how crispy they were despite this being almost 8 hours into the flight. Light snack be damned, this was a filling meal in itself!
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 10 - Air India's food can do no wrong in my book. I wish I could find an Indian restaurant this good in most cities!

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Photo taken by: SM
Route: Mumbai BOM to Delhi DEL, January 2004
Flight duration: 1h28m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-300, Business Class
Meal type: Breakfast
Contents of the meal: Fresh Fruit Appetizer; Creole Poached Eggs with Buerre Blanc, Lamb Croquettes, Potato Roesti, Grilled Cherry Tomato; Fresh Croissant; Yoghurt; Jam Preserve
Drink: Orange Juice, Coffee
Comments: Menu cards were distributed before takeoff with our options. Four selections offered (2 Vegetarian, 2 Non-Vegetarian). The other options were a Masala Dosa (Veg), Uppama with Chole Kalwa (Veg) and Asparagus/Mushroom Omelette with Chicken Pojasky (Non-Veg). The tray included a printed apology note for the plastic cutlery due to "security regulations".
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 10 - Haven't seen a better breakfast on a 1.5 hr domestic flight anywhere!

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Photo taken by: SM
Route: London LHR to Mumbai BOM, December 2003
Flight duration: 8h09m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-400, First Class
Meal type: Lunch
026 - Cocktails: Cashewnuts and Almonds
027 - Salad course: Tossed salad with choice of dressing (Thousand Island pictured - poured from silver gravy boat), Fresh bread rolls offered from basket
028 - Hors D'Ouerves: Malassol Caviar with all the garnishes, served with Melba toast. Assorted appetizers from the cart (make your selections from a silver platter) - Lobster & Shrimp Canape, Smoked Salmon, Chicken Breast Rondelle. Also available but not pictured - Asparagus rolls, Dates stuffed with Mozzarella cheese, Grilled baby peppers with sundried tomato filling. Accompanied by sliced Italian bread offered from basket.
029 - Soup: Cream of mushroom soup with croutons. Accompanied by crostini offered from basket.
030 - Main Course: Grilled jumbo shrimp, Jeera Pulao Rice, Lamb Nilgiri with mint/coriander sauce, Black Lentil Dal, Chicken Biryani (make your selections of items and quantity from the cart). Also available but not pictured - Khichdi with Undhiyu (Gujarati delicacy), Assorted vegetables, Ducchess potatoes, Grilled Chicken Breast. Accompanied by Mint paratha, Papadums, Garlic bread (all pictured) as well as pickles, sliced lemons, onions, yogurt raita (not pictured).
031, 032, 033, 034 - Desserts: Pastry cart featuring Chocolate Cake, Fudge Brownies, Fruit tarts; Fruit Salad mixed to order as you watch - pick from platter of Melon, Papaya, Strawberry, Kiwi, Orange, Sweet Lime, Pineapple; Rasmalai (Indian dessert made with Ricotta Cheese, Milk and Cashewnuts); Chocolate Fondante; Cheese tray (all options pictured) Also available but not pictured - Ice cream/sundaes.
035 - Liqueurs: Bailey's Irish Cream with Ice (many other selections available)

Drink: Coca-Cola (with nuts), Water, Champagne (with the appetizers), Vodka Shot (with the caviar), Beaujolais (with the main course), Coffee (with dessert), Baileys Irish Cream (after the meal)

Comments: Where do I begin? Not only were the portion sizes enough to feed a small country, but the food quality was also incredible. The only minor drawback was the plastic cutlery that has to be used on UK/US routes for "security reasons". Still, it was top quality plastic and preferable to a hybrid metal/plastic mix that most other airlines use. Nonetheless, the service was impeccable with everything dished out from silver platters onto Royal Doulton china. The Purser was also on the ball with some excellent wine reccomendations to accompany each course (the Vodka shot with the caviar was a great touch).The crew kept my wine/champagne/water glasses filled at all times. Alas, I was so stuffed by the time dessert rolled around that I could not sample everything I would have liked to despite the Purser's urgings. Special thanks to Purser S.K. and Inflight Supervisor R.R. for their great hospitality and a memorable flight.

Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 11! - An absolutely unbelievably fantastic meal fit for a Maharaja. Truly the "Palace In The Sky".

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Photo taken by: SM
Route: London LHR to Mumbai BOM, December 2003
Flight duration: 8h09m
Aircraft type & class: Boeing 747-400, First Class
Meal type: Light snack/supper before landing
Contents of the meal: Chicken Cutlet, Lamb mince with potato patty, Corn croquette, Kachori (vegetarian puff) all served with mint chutney. Fruit salad bowl. Mango shrikhand dessert.
Drink: Water, Coffee
Comments: Catered by "Veeraswamy of Piccadilly", the leading Indian restaurant in Britain. Extremely tasty and a perfect snack prior to a midnight arrival. Only drawback was the plastic cutlery used on all USA routes because the flight had started off in Chicago. A shame because everything is served on elegant custom-designed Royal Doulton bone china.
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 9

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Photo taken by: Mikey Kinesis
Route: London LHR - New York JFK, 24 Oct 2003
Flight duration: 7 hours
Aircraft type & class: 747 economy
Business or leisure trip: Business
Meal type: Dinner
Contents of the meal: Vegetable curry/rice/spinach, salad, carrot pudding, yoghurt, bread roll, crackers.
Drink: Red Wine (French)
Comments: The plane was so old, it didn't have any TV screens in the seats, therefore no entertainment options. Lucky the food was good. Air India are very generous with drinks. My initial gin and tonic was freepoured from the bottle, almost filling the plastic cup, before the tonic. When ordering wine they gave me two mini-bottles at once (cheap French red). Either they picked me as an alcoholic, or they assumed a second order and chose not to waste time. Either way, I was completely trashed by the time I began eating, however I do remember the vegetable curry being quite spicy. Not vindaloo spicy, but enough to start ordering beer. Curry always tastes good reheated the next day so it's an ideal airline food. The salad, with chick peas and some greens was tasty, and the sweet shredded carrot pudding was curiously appetising. There was even a mini poppadom. Not a bad meal. Better than BA rubbish.
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 7

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Photo taken by: NVU
Route: Delhi (DEL) to Dubai (DXB), 15 Oct 2003
Ticket price: US$555 (r/t)
Flight duration: 3hrs45mins
Aircraft type & class: A310-304 VT-EVI "Brahmaputra", business class
Business or leisure trip: Leisure
Meal type: Dinner
Contents of the meal: Bread roll, Vijaya butter, Roast chicken-bell peppers-smoked salmon salad. Entree was Kerala prawn curry, steam rice sprinkled with two raisins and half a cashewnut, and spiced vegetables. Accompanied by pickle, papad, romali roti, Mother Dairy dahi (yoghurt), Britannia Cream crackers (no cheese). Dessert was chocolate cake and cadbury's 5 star chocolate. For style, they added a red rose!
Drink: Heineken, followed by tea.
Comments: There were no menus provided. The prawn curry was amazing. Perfect flavour of the south and it was piping hot. Smoked salmon was fresh and a nice touch. The meal itself was tasty, the quantity enough. Air-India's business meals are a slghtly glorified economy meal of Singapore Airlines. The only difference I found is the quantity is a bit more and of course the red rose!! On board service warm and attentive. Aircraft and seats are tired.
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 8

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Photo taken by: NVU
Route: Delhi (DEL) to Dubai (DXB), 15 Oct 2003
Ticket price: US$555 (r/t)
Flight duration: 3hrs45mins
Aircraft type & class: A310-304 VT-EVI "Brahmaputra", Business class
Business or leisure trip: Leisure
Meal type: Drinks service prior to dinner
Contents: Chilled Heineken beer, cornflakes savoury mix, Blue diamond smoked almonds
Comments: Nice. Three rounds of drinks before dinner and unlimited amounts of nik-naks. Some hot canapes in the form samosas,kebabs or chicken tikkas would be a welcome addition as the flight is long enough. Primitive style of service though. This was an ex Kenya Airways aircraft, and the seating was 2x3x2 instead of the regular 2x2x2 seating on AI's own fleet of 310's. It felt uncomfortable and cramped.
Rating 1-10 (worst-best): 8