Air New Zealand’s new in-flight menu for vegetarians

Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Air New Zealand has launched its new menu for business premier continuing with its “a taste journey through Aotearoa” theme.

The meals are served on long-haul services leaving New Zealand and were rolled out this week.

The airline serves 7 million in-flight meals annually and the menu gets changed twice a year.

Air New Zealand culinary lead Justin Koen told media at a preview lunch that this menu was “a bit more hearty, a bit more flavoursome” than the one before it.

Stuff Travel went along to see what’s on offer for vegetarian passengers.

The roasted cauliflower dish served in business premier on Air New Zealand.

Plated up on white dishes, just as they would be in the air, vegetarians can expect to be served an amuse bouche of Air New Zealand’s play on Kiwi onion dip made with confit onion, radish and chives, served with a New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

It was the most popular dish of those doing the hard job of taste testing.

Breads with olive oil from The Village Press came next followed by a mushroom purée with truffle oil, green olives and cashew.

One of two tofu and rice dishes that Air New Zealand will be serving up for vegetarian business premier customers.

The entrée for vegetarians and vegans is roasted cauliflower with cauli rice and shiitake mushrooms atop cashew cream and sprinkled with chives.

Two choices of main, though both tofu with rice options, one with ginger and bok choy on rice, the other with sticky Asian hoisin-based sauce with basmati rice and steamed bok choy.

Duck Island ice cream will be available on board Air New Zealand business premier flights from April 2024.

To round out the meal, ice cream from Duck Island for dessert - boysenberry cheesecake flavour.

The meat eaters haven’t been forgotten. Stuff Travel glimpsed what was on offer for them: the potato and onion dip amuse bouche or a smoked kahawai rillette, sourced from Ngāti Porou in Gisborne with capers and celery.

The “signature dish” crayfish bisque would come before wild venison from Fiordland, the first time Air New Zealand has had it on board. That gets washed down with a syrah from Man O War winery on Waiheke Island.

Or if fish is more to your taste, snapper on a bed of vegetables aside a pinot gris.

And there’s more Duck Island ice cream, either the boysenberry cheesecake flavour, or ambrosia flavour with marshmallows and chocolate to round it out.