I read a lot of blogs, food blogs, travel blogs and AvGeek blogs. When it comes to reviews on board a flight, I scan right to the food. So imagine how excited I was when I was invited to visit Alpha Flight Services at Sydney Airport to taste test the First and Business Class food offerings on board Qatar Airways.

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Alpha Flight Services operate from 2 locations at Sydney Airport, and the venue we are visiting today is the HALAL operation which caters for several airlines including Qatar Airways. Although the dishes are not going to be served as how it would be on a flight, it is representative of the dishes.

Cold Dishes

I’ve never had foie gras before, neither goose or duck. Tasting just like pate yet smoother and more buttery, it paired well with the smoked duck breast, the citrusy tartness of the orange and nutty sweetness of the candied walnut.

The eggy flavour of the crostarde overshadowed the usually strong flavour of goats cheese, although this dish was enhanced by the peppery rocket. The purple kipfler potato’s were nicely cooked, their mild waxy flavour an interesting addition to the dish.

Some of the nicest smoked salmon I have had was on this plate. The thick pieces of gelatinous salmon was lightly smoked, not overpoweringly so, bringing out the natural salmony flavours.

Think Australian and French artesian cheeses with dried fruits, fresh fruit and nuts, the perfect accompaniment to Champagne or wine while watching an inflight movie. Yum.

Hot Dishes

Coconut is not one of my favourite flavours but the Coconut Crab Cakes were delicate in texture and taste. The Green Mango Salad was the real hit here and I went back for several servings.

Melting in the mouth, the pink slices of sous vide lamb was amazing. Sous vide is a method of cooking in a vacuum sealed bag in water cooking it at a lower temperature than usual making the meat uber tender.

With distinctive Middle Eastern flavours of cardamon, cinnamon and cloves, the chicken was moist and rice fluffy although this was my least favourite dish.

Wow! Cooked perfectly with the right amount of creaminess and cheesiness the lobster was my – and most others – favourite dish. I found myself – embarrassingly – scraping the shell for the last remnants of any lobster meat.

Raspberry Cheesecake, ok, so this isn’t one of the premium classes deserts but Economy Class. Still nice and probably more likely what I’ll be eating should I choose to fly Qatar Airways.

Coming up next, I tour one of Qatar Airways Airbus a380’s.

FreakyFlier was a guest of Qatar Airways and Alpha Flight Services but all opinions remain his own.