ON THE MENU: Supper in the Sky

We asked an in-flight dining expert where to find the best food and drink at 35,000 feet.

In-flight dining has a bad reputation. So says Nik Loukas, an in-flight food expert who’s been reviewing airline meals for more than a decade at InflightFeed.com. Yet according to Loukas, who flies up to 300 times per year, there’s a lot of impressive cuisine being served in the skies. We caught up with him to get the details.

WHICH AIRLINES OFFER THE MOST CONSISTENTLY GOOD IN-FLIGHT MEALS?

Turkish Airlines has fantastic meals. You get great service in business class, and even a bit of a theater with the inflight chef, who offers an array of meal choices. Most of the items served on board are made by their catering company from scratch.Not a lot of airline caterers can say that.

Air France’s food is chic and always on point. They worked with Michelin-starred chef Michel Roth to create typically French dishes for passengers in premium cabins. Champagne in economy class is always a big hit, too—not many airlines still offer this. But what I love most about Air France is their commitment to offering 100 percent French meat, dairy and eggs, and sustainably caught fish on all flights from Paris, in all cabins.

Taiwanese airline EVA Air offers restaurant-style service in business class. Everything is served directly onto your tray table and no trays are used. And they work with international celebrity chef Huang Ching-Biao, a master of Chinese cuisine. I recently flew Bangkok to Vienna and couldn’t believe how good it was.

WHAT ABOUT BEVERAGES? DO ANY AIRLINES STAND OUT FOR THEIR DRINK OFFERINGS?

Emirates has a fantastic wine cellar. They’re always adding to it and winning awards for it.

WHAT ARE SOME INFLIGHT DINING TRENDS?

Dine on demand, tray-less service, restaurant-style dining and personalized dining.

Turkish Airlines, Air France and EVA Air are standouts in in-flight dining, says expert Nik Loukas.

I think they’re all great concepts. Maybe I want to sleep as soon as I board, so I will dine later. I think personalization is the future. Many airlines are now offering you the option to pick your meal before your flight. It helps them reduce wastage and you get your chosen meal during the flight.

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU’VE EATEN ON A RECENT FLIGHT THAT REALLY WOWED YOU?

Arabic mezze, on a flight from Jeddah to Amsterdam with Saudia Airlines in business class. The in-flight chef actually recommended it. It consisted of tabbouleh, hummus and muhammara, served with some cheese sambousek. It sounds simple, but the dips were amazing— just totally delectable and so fresh. What I liked most was the authenticity of the meal and the opportunity to have a taste of what locals eat in the Middle East.

WHAT’S A TRICK OR A HACK MANY PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT IN-FLIGHT DINING?

Some flights let you upgrade your economy-class meal to a business option. I recently did this on an Air Canada flight from Montreal to Los Angeles and I received a lovely business-class meal while seated in economy. Highly recommend!