Our Etihad Airways business class experience

As we read more and more in the media about how airlines are offering delicious and nutritious vegan meals in their premium cabins, you might think that now is the perfect time to turn left if you’re flying vegan. However, we decided to write our experience with a series of flights in the best cabins with a selection of airlines. Below you will find our honest review of the latest series of business class flights with Etihad Airways including what they got right, and where there was room for improvement with our *VGML feed.

*VGML is the airline’s special universal food code for vegan food, so it must be free of all animal-derived ingredients.

Singapore to Abu Dhabi in business class

On our first flight from Singapore to Abu Dhabi, we were served a salad consisting of sweet potato, chick peas, roasted potatoes, tomatoes and mixed leaves as a starter. There was no salad dressing which meant it was dry and tasteless. This came with a small fruit salad and bread without butter which was a no-brainer as the bread was cold, hard, and easily eaten. After the request, the flight attendant kindly offered another salad from the main menu with sweet potato, beetroot, walnut and mixed greens. This salad came with small pitta breads and a lemon vinaigrette and was much superior to the VGML option we were loaded with.

The main course was a vegetable-based meal topped with nuts, perhaps dukkah? None of the cabin crew knew exactly what the dish was, as is often the case with specialty foods, with no name and description available and the crew was left to guesswork. It tasted great with eggplant, cauliflower, carrots, cruciferous vegetables and cherry tomatoes, but we really need rice, quinoa or another grain. For dessert, there is no dessert, so we were given fruits. Why offer a vegan option but not dessert? Some passengers had a choice of dessert, as well as small pots of Haagen Dazs ice cream to choose from during the flight. For us, none of the dishes or snacks available on the entire flight were suitable for vegans.

Etihad Business Lounge at Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi

It was a struggle but we got there in the end with the help of the lounge manager. Apart from lots of good food in the fancy new lounge which is all clearly labelled, nothing hot is labeled vegan. Lots of salads, grains, hummus and dips, but we really loved the hot food. After being served pumpkin soup that contained milk, we found the lounge manager and asked him for help. He spoke to the chef and it wasn’t long before we were enjoying three curries served with rice. Everything tasted very good and was exactly what we were looking for, but why not have one or two of these curries available on the buffet? There were also bags of potato chips, packets of nuts and date bars available all labeled vegan, the date bars were delicious so we took a couple on our next flight.

Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow in business class

Due to timings, we slept our entire flight from Abu Dhabi to London, but were woken up for breakfast on request. We were served a mix of beans and avocado, with tomato salsa and rocket. Fresh orange juice, peppermint tea, fruit and warm bread with vegan butter were also part of our breakfast. We were very glad that this leg we had another way of spreading our bread, and all in all our breakfast was satisfactory, but not good.

Etihad Business Lounge at Heathrow Airport, London

The Etihad Business Lounge at Heathrow Airport was the highlight of our vegan journey on this recent trip. Oat milk lattes, freshly squeezed orange juice, coconut milk chia puddings with mixed berries, and a ‘full English’ breakfast complete with vegan sausages and toast with vegan butter. There were salads, hummus, stuffed grape leaves and messy medame for anyone who fancied a Middle Eastern inspired breakfast. Excellent labeling and a variety of options made this a perfect plant-based breakfast. Very impressive.

London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi in business class

The closest so far would be the best way to describe the vegan food served on our flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi. Lunch started with a hearty lentil and roasted vegetable salad, a side salad with balsamic dressing and bread with vegan butter. Next up was one of the tastiest dishes we’ve ever had, tofu and chili skewers with a lightly spiced tomato sauce and basmati rice. We couldn’t fault the food and eagerly awaited our dessert, which if good, would have completed a memorable lunch. But we were given fruits. Fruit is not a dessert, it is fruit. Don’t get rid of it, we love the fruit but it’s a terrible alternative to the warm chocolate fondants and pavlovas that other riders have been enjoying. The cabin crew admitted it wasn’t very encouraging and hunted down a refreshing citrus sorbet from first class. This was better than fruit, but it wasn’t warm chocolate fondant or pavlova.

Etihad Business Lounge at Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi

Also, the freezing warm options at the flagship lounge at Zayed International Airport, would it make sense to have at least one vegan option? We built our mezze platter with the best selection on offer, and it was excellent. There is no dessert option so we enjoyed a few vegan date bars and it gave us a sweet fix before our next flight.

Abu Dhabi to Singapore in Business Class

While we waited to hear what was loaded as our VGML option from Abu Dhabi to Singapore, we read the Business Class menu. This was our fourth flight with Etihad in as many days, and so far the in-flight menu has had nothing labeled vegan or potentially vegan. So we were surprised that the starters included a vegan laksa soup that we had to order. Is it any wonder that we have had so much success in the lounge and on board with the Vegan Food Quest, that on our last flight there was a vegan option on the main menu? It was really lucky that vegan laksa is available, as the three courses loaded with my vegan food were explained by the staff like this: “First you get chickpeas, tomato main pasta and fruit for dessert”. How disappointing, uninspiring, and unacceptable. The vegan laksa was delicious, but lacked vegetables or tofu for that protein. It was a fragrant broth, with vermicelli noodles and bean sprouts, so delicious to eat. The wonderful team also made us a vegan mezze dish, with fattoush and beetroot hummus. We certainly didn’t go hungry, but we would have liked dessert!

We can describe the whole experience as the opposite of well-thought-out meals, nutritious and delicious meals, and missed opportunities due to forgotten items, unclear labeling and thinking that fruit is good for dessert. The cooking on Etihad is top notch, the food was excellent, and looking at the dishes served to other passengers we could see that a lot of thought and effort went into creating the menus. But as meat-eaters we felt we were an afterthought and sorely missed the full business class experience. The last word must go to the lounge staff and the staff on each flight, they did everything they could to improve our vegan dining experience, and they were really apologetic about missing items and sometimes uninspiring choices, which we really appreciated.

Paul Eyers

Paul Eyers is the founder of Vegan Food Quest who writes about luxury hotels and resorts in Southeast Asia focusing on sustainable travel, eco travel and vegan travel. Currently based in Malaysia, Paul also covers sporting events and other top golf courses across the region.